Don Lost His Donna By Himself

My fiancé, Don Julian Ashford, lost the hearing in his left ear years ago—an ambush by a rival family when he was seventeen. He hears everything through his right ear now.

Three years. Every time I raise my voice at him, he can't make it out.

But he can hear Sienna Vaughn, my closest friend, tap her fingernail against a coffee cup from three meters away.

Sienna never speaks up. She directs him with gestures.

Two soft taps on the table. Julian's on his feet, sliding an Americano across the counter into her hand.

She glances toward the window. He's already up, drawing the blackout blinds.