Free Signs of Love by Kimberly Rae Jordan

could feel you studying me like I’m under a microscope.” He said the words without any inflection. Just a statement.
    She should have known that with a job like his, he’d be acutely aware of what was going on around him. “You’re very different from Beth.”
    His eyebrows rose slightly at her response. “Yes, that’s true.”
    Then it was her turn to feel like she was under the microscope. It was only fair, she supposed, but that didn’t keep her skin from heating and her stomach from clenching.
    “Do you have any siblings?”
    The question took her by surprise. She hadn’t anticipated having to answer any personal questions during their meeting. This was supposed to be about Alana’s experience with hearing loss and how that related to Genevieve.
    “I have an older brother and sister.” Neither of whom cared about her the way that Justin obviously did for Beth.
    “Do they live here?”
    “No.” Knowing what the company Justin worked for did, she wasn’t all that keen to give him too much personal information. He could likely find out all he wanted about her without much trouble. If he hadn’t already.
    She sucked in a quick breath. Had he checked out her background? Now that she thought about it, it made sense. After all, she’d seen how overprotective he was with Beth. He would want to make sure no one in Beth’s life presented a danger to her or Genevieve. The thought that he might already know the ugliness of her past made her nauseous.
    “Have you decided what to order?” Hope, the waitress with the dimples was back, smiling broadly at Justin.
    He looked at Alana. “You sure you don’t want anything?”
    “I’m fine.”
    Alana felt a rush of relief when he turned his attention back to the menu. She had to get this meeting back on track. She’d promised Beth and Daniel she’d try to help Justin understand what was going on. But that hadn’t included talking about herself except in relation to her experience with hearing loss.
    “I’ll have the double cheeseburger with fries and a bowl of the chicken noodle soup. And a vanilla milkshake.”
    Alana fixed her tea with significant amounts of sugar and cream before taking a sip of the hot liquid. Hopefully adding more calories to the beverage would calm her stomach.
    Once the waitress was gone, Alana said, “I’m sure you’ve been doing some research on hearing loss in children. Do you have any specific questions about it?”
    Justin stared at her. His expression hadn’t changed, but Alana didn’t doubt for a minute that he knew what she was doing.
    “Actually, Dan came by yesterday and gave me copies of all the tests Genevieve has had done and what the doctors have said about it so far. I spent some time searching on the internet last night.”
    Alana nodded. “The most difficult part of Genevieve’s diagnosis is that what caused it is unknown. I know Beth and Daniel are both concerned about future children also having hearing loss even though it doesn’t appear to be a genetic form of deafness.”
    “You said your son’s was?” Justin asked.
    She hesitated. Any questions about her and Caden opened the door to revealing too much about her past. “Yes. In his case, we found out fairly quickly he was deaf. He hasn’t known anything else. Genevieve likely won’t remember being able to hear either.”
    “Where is Caden’s father?”
    Hope walked up then with his order, distracting him from their conversation. Alana held her breath, hoping he’d move on to something else. However, when they were alone again, he picked the burger up—but before taking a bite—he prompted, “Caden’s father?”
    “We’re divorced. Something like this can cause strain on a marriage. I’m glad to see that Beth and Daniel are so close. They are definitely taking this on as a team.”
    “So your son being deaf caused your divorce?”
    “Yes. Among other things. As I said, Beth and Daniel seem to have a pretty strong marriage. I doubt something