Chapter 15 #2
He stepped into the doorway, broad shoulders sealing off my escape. Suspicion was carved into every line of his face. “I know who you are,” he said under his breath.
I edged back, my heart lodged somewhere near my tonsils. “Excuse me?” I asked, far calmer than I felt.
He slipped inside and locked the door.
I stumbled back, nearly falling onto the toilet. “What’re you doing?” This would look so bad if someone saw us in here together.
He crossed his arms, making himself even more imposing. “Don’t play coy with me,” he seethed. At least he tried. But he was a nice guy underneath it all, and this made him uncomfortable. That was obvious from the way he was shifting from foot to foot. “I won’t let you hurt Griffin.”
“Good,” I said. “I would never want to hurt Griffin.”
His eyes narrowed. “Who you are is hurting Griffin; he just doesn’t know it yet.” That accusation brought relief. So he hadn’t told Griffin whatever it was he knew. “I know what you’re involved in—”
When footsteps pounded up the hall, I held up a hand, stopping him. Someone knocked on the bathroom door.
“Jules?” It was Griffin. “Are you coming?”
“Yes, be right there,” I said sweetly. I glared at Liam, edging past him to stand by the door. “Give me thirty more seconds.”
“Okay. I just don’t want you to miss it. It’s gonna be epic.”
I could hear the grin in his voice. I felt like a fraud.
The best man I’d ever known stood just outside the door, excited and unsuspecting, while I was inside whisper-shouting with his cousin, who was about to accuse me of things that would shatter him.
And the most devastating part?
None of it was fiction.
I had done exactly what Liam thought I had.
But I had no choice.
You have choices, Julie Bean. You always have choices.
Fine. I hadn’t thought I had choices. Not until Griffin showed up. Once he had, I’d chosen him. And I would keep choosing him every day, God willing.
“I think this was exactly the thing James needed right now,” Griffin said excitedly.
My hands were shaking, and my stomach was knotted so hard it hurt, but I couldn’t hold back a smile. “I think so too. I’m so glad you thought of it.”
“Hurry,” he said. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Once he’d walked away, I turned back to face Liam.
“Let’s get one thing straight,” I said. “I’m not who I once was.
” He went still at what was, effectively, a confession.
“I am now Griffin’s wife. And believe it or not, regardless of how close you two used to be, or how long you’ve known each other—”
He scoffed. “You mean our whole lives?”
I closed the distance between us and snapped my fingers in his face.
“We don’t have time for this.” My voice shook with anger.
Or fear. Okay, both. “Regardless of any of that, I love him,” I power-whispered.
“Like the kind of love that makes you willing to lay down your life for another person. I never thought I’d have that kind of love, and now I do.
” His eyes widened in shock. “And I won’t let you mess that up.
So before your imagination outruns your intelligence—” I flicked him in the forehead, “—remember this: the only way you could know what you think you know is if you’d been somewhere you had no business being, doing things you shouldn’t have been doing.
Things that would stain the Dupree name beyond repair—and very likely end your NFL career.
The truth wouldn’t ruin me alone. It would take you down with me. Are you prepared for that?”
Liam’s face slackened, a silent admission that no, he wasn’t.
Well, good. My work here was done.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to my husband before someone discovers us in here alone together.” I whirled on my heel.
As I was about to yank the door open, Liam said, “Griffin is a good guy, you know.”
I stopped, hand on the doorframe. “I know. Trust me.”
“You’re not living that lifestyle anymore?” Liam asked. “Because it’s not fair to Griffin if you are.”
I turned back to look at him. “No. And I won’t. I left it behind the minute I met him.”
He watched me like he still wasn’t quite convinced. “So you told DayGlow that you don’t want to do that anymore?” Disbelief threaded through every word. “And they were cool with it?” He clearly knew enough about DayGlow to understand they didn’t let people walk.
We were well over the thirty seconds I’d promised Griffin. “No, they’re not cool with it. But I don’t care. I’m not going back. Ever.”
Then I pulled the door open and peeked out to make sure it was clear.
“Five!” everyone yelled. I jogged into the hall. “Four! Three! Two!”
I made it around the corner just in time to watch James drag the clippers through the side of Ford’s famous curls.
Sixty seconds later, it was done. Ford Dupree, America’s reigning country heartthrob, now looked like the lovechild of a punk rock band, a Chia Pet, and a Pride parade.
But more importantly, even with the ever-present tears in his eyes, James was smiling.
Griffin grinned, so proud of himself for coming up with the idea. I blew him a kiss and pressed a hand to my heart.
When I felt Liam watching, I glanced over. For the first time since I’d met him, his expression wasn’t wary or hard. He didn’t smile, but he nodded—once, slowly.
“James, no,” Sophie cried.
James’s brow was furrowed, jaw set, hands pressing into the armrests, trying to stand.
Griffin stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
Bowen held him on the other side. “What do you need, dude? We’ll get it for you.”
James’s legs wobbled, and he flopped back in the chair. “I’m fre-eaking useless.”
“You’re not useless,” Lemon said. “You just need to heal.” She knelt in front of him.
Silas followed suit.
James waved Scott over. “Willow,” he rasped. “Can you bring her to me, please?”
Willow had fallen asleep in her grandpa’s arms. They made the trade-off carefully, as if she were precious royalty. But it wasn’t careful enough. Swaddled tight, her bum wriggled, trying to break free. She cried, protesting the wakeup.
“Hey now,” James hushed. “It’s not as bad as all that.”
Just like that, her crying stopped. I eased around the group to see her staring up at him, eyes wide open. He studied her as if this were the first time he’d really seen her. Then he unswaddled one of her hands and ran his index finger over her tiny palm. She made a fist around it.
“Oh, you’ve got a tight grip,” James whispered.
“She’s gonna be a roper,” Silas said.
“That’s right,” James said to Willow. “We’re gonna have to get you some boots and a hat.”
“Already got her first pair of Wranglers,” Lemon said.
James glanced up at everyone. “She’s the prettiest baby I’ve ever seen.”
“She is,” everyone said in unison.
She was. Like a porcelain doll.
“A perfect combination of you and Sage,” Heidi said.
“No, she doesn’t look anything like me.” James shook his head. “She’s all… Sa-age.” He broke on his wife’s name, curling in, chest heaving like he couldn’t bear the weight of her name.
I stayed put as everyone else circled around him, dropping to their knees, hanging over the back of his chair, sitting on either armrest, to touch him.
James was so incredibly blessed.
He had uncles who loved him, cousins who were best friends, siblings, parents, and in-laws, rallying together to comfort him.
Griffin smiled and waved me over. “C’mon, Jules. You’re a Dupree now too.”
He was right. I was.
I walked over to him. As he pulled me between his knees and wrapped an arm around my waist, my lungs swelled.
Maybe Griffin was the type of person who could grow up immersed in this kind of love and then walk away, returning only once or twice a year to visit.
But I had no idea how I was going to do it.
I grew up learning that homes were temporary. You kept your bags half-packed, and you never let yourself believe it would last. But this place and this family felt like roots pushing into soil that had decided I was worth holding onto. At long last.
The thought of leaving here in a few days? Felt a lot like the moment a foster kid hears the words Time to pack your things.
As if Griffin knew I needed it right then, he pressed a kiss into my hair.
I could do this. Yes, we were heading back to Phoenix, but he was my home now.
Wherever he was, that would be enough.