Whispers Turn to Whimpers: Could He Ever Change? novel Chapter 1266

Acting in secret… always doing good deeds for Sherilyn from the shadows. He worried she might be bullied by the Martin family at the reburial, so he had specifically asked Francis to be there.

"Don't you want Sherilyn to know?" Francis pressed. "If she knew, maybe…"

"She doesn't need to know," Gilbert said with a bitter smile. "Compared to everything she's suffered, the little things I do are insignificant. I should just be grateful I still have the chance to do anything for her at all." He was terrified that one day, Sherilyn would no longer need him in any capacity. And wasn't that already starting to happen?

…

The next morning, on the day of the reburial, Sherilyn was awake before dawn.

She had just come downstairs when Joyce arrived. "Joyce, good morning." Sherilyn greeted her, then did a double-take at the person behind her. Why was Nanson here?

"Here's the thing…" Joyce explained, pulling her aside. "There aren't many of us, and Rebecca and I are both women. Galen will be there, but he'll be with his family." They trusted Galen, but there was no telling what the rest of his family might do. "I figured it would be better to have another man with us, so I asked my brother to come."

"Sherilyn," Nanson greeted her with a gentle smile. "I hope I'm not intruding."

"Not at all," Sherilyn quickly replied, shaking her head. "This is incredibly thoughtful of you both. I can't thank you enough." She just hadn't had a chance to tell Joyce that Francis would be coming too.

"Actually…" she began, but the doorbell rang.

This time, it was Francis.

"Brother Francis." Sherilyn opened the door and welcomed him in.

"I'm not late, am I?" Francis asked as he walked inside.

Footsteps sounded from upstairs. Sophia was coming down, carrying Jenna. It was still dark outside. Jenna was fast asleep in Sophia's arms, showing no signs of waking.

"Is it time to go?" Joyce asked.

"Yes." Sherilyn nodded, checking her phone. "Galen just texted. He's about to leave too."

"Then let's go."

One by one, they filed out of the house. At the end of the driveway, Sherilyn froze. Gilbert's black Bentley was parked right behind Francis's Cayenne. Gilbert himself was standing beside his car, hands in his pockets. When he saw them emerge, he offered a smile. "Brother Francis, Sherilyn…"

Then his eyes landed on Nanson, and his expression instantly darkened.