Chapter 14 Griffin
GRIFFIN
I’m parked across the street from Monika’s house on Christmas morning, the wrapped painting she bought for me on the passenger seat. It’s the view from her windows, and I found it hidden in my hall closet yesterday, my name on the tag.
I should have given her my gift before she left. Now the tiny cardboard box is burning a hole in my jacket pocket. Not a ring—I’m not that far gone—but a necklace with a tiny silver rose charm I bought in town. Something that I hope reminds her of this place. Of me.
My phone buzzes with a text from Noah.
Get your ass in there or get to the diner. Either way, stop being pathetic.
How do you know where I am?
Mason drove by ten minutes ago and ratted you out.
I shove the phone in my pocket and stare at the house.
She’s in there alone, and it’s my fault.
I drop my head against the steering wheel.
Joey would laugh his ass off if he could see me now.
All those years of running missions, making split-second decisions, and I’m too chicken-shit to knock on a door.
But Joey’s not here, and I feel like I failed him, too.
My phone buzzes again.
Meyer. Diner. Now.
I put the truck in gear and head toward town, adding coward to the list of names I’ve been calling myself lately.
The Salty Dog Diner is packed for Noah’s annual Christmas breakfast, the one he started for “orphans” with no family or place to go on the holiday.
Although at this point, most of us have chosen to be here rather than anywhere else.
I grab a cup of coffee and a plate of food and sit at the empty booth, glaring at Noah when he slides in across from me.
“You look like someone ran over your dog,” he says, stealing a piece of bacon off my plate.
“I don’t have a dog.”
“Which is probably for the best, given your current mood.” He signals for more coffee, then fixes me with the look he gets when he’s about to dispense unsolicited advice. “Why are you here?”
“Free pancakes.”
“Bullshit. Why aren’t you with Monika?”
I set down my fork harder than necessary. “Because I’m an idiot. She left the night before last. The paparazzi showed up, reality crashed the party, and she made it clear we were temporary. As if I didn’t realize that.”
Noah crosses his arms over that massive chest. “So you just gave up?”
“What other option did I have? Follow her around with a baseball bat, threatening every photographer who gets too close?” I drain my coffee like it might wash away the bitter taste in my mouth.
“I overreacted, and just about lost my shit. She just got rid of one asshole. She doesn’t need some hothead making things worse. ”
“You protected her.”
“I scared her.” The memory of her voice calling my name when I grabbed that camera makes my stomach churn. “I’m not meant for red carpets and press tours and people shoving cameras in your face every time you buy groceries.”
Noah is silent for a long moment, which is typical but somehow feels significant in this moment. Not in a good way. When he speaks, his voice holds the edge that used to make junior enlisted guys piss themselves.
“You know your problem?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“You’re forgetting that not every fight involves explosions or shots fired.” He leans forward. “Sometimes the biggest battle is showing up to risk getting your heart shoved back at you in a million pieces.”
“So you’re a fucking philosopher now?”
“I’m serious. Monika Graham looks at you like you hang the damn moon. And you look at her the same way, which is understandable.” He shakes his head. “Not because she’s a movie star, Griff. Because she belongs here. There’s no accounting for taste, but she’s crazy about you.”
The words hit like a sucker punch. “Even if that’s true—”
“It is.”
“How would it work?”
“You’ll figure it out because that’s who you are.
” Noah grabs another piece of bacon. “Besides, it’s Christmas morning.
The day when people believe in miracles and second chances and all that hopeful holiday crap.
Some things are worth the effort. You’d see that if you could pull your head out of your ass for a half a second. ”
He gets out of the booth and walks away before I can respond.
All my life, I’ve known how to fight. First with my fists, then with weapons, strategy, and force. But fighting for love? Fighting for someone who makes me want to be better than I am?
That might be scarier than any mission I was assigned, but Noah’s right. She’s worth it, I think, as hope unfurls in my chest. And I’m done being a coward.
I start to move out of the booth, then pause as the entire diner goes quiet. I look up and forget how to breathe.
Monika’s standing in the doorway, and she’s not the woman with the messy bun I’ve come to know—to love—over the past two weeks.
This is Monika Graham, movie star. Her hair falls in perfect waves past her shoulders, and her makeup is flawless even though she doesn’t need it to be beautiful to me.
She’s wearing dark jeans that probably cost more than my monthly mortgage, boots that definitely do, and a deep red sweater that makes her eyes sparkle.
She also looks like she’s bracing for impact. As if she showed up here to see if anyone would treat her differently and prove that the past two weeks were just people being friendly to her because of me.
The Wild Rose Point locals might pay to see her on the big screen, but right now she’s one of us. Someone who’s come for Christmas breakfast because she belongs here.
“Hey, Graham!” one of the guys who helped with the flooring calls from the corner table. “We’ve got space over here.”
Something flashes across her face. Relief or gratitude—either one will do. And her sweet smile? That’s my Monika.
She starts to move toward them, but I’m already on my feet, crossing the diner in three strides.
“She’s with me,” I say, probably louder than necessary.
Noah flashes a shit-eating grin. “About damn time.”
Monika raises a brow, and I realize how presumptuous that sounded.
“I mean, if you want to be. With me.” Christ, I sound like a teenager asking the head cheerleader to prom. “I want you to be with me.”
Everyone is watching, but I don’t care. All that matters is the woman standing in front of me. She’s everything I never knew I needed.
Instead of answering, she goes up on tiptoe and spreads her hands across my canvas jacket, then pulls me down for a kiss that makes my knees weak. The diner erupts in whistles and catcalls, but all I can focus on is her mouth on mine and the way she fits perfectly against me.
When we finally break apart, she points up. “Mistletoe.”
Sure enough, someone has hung a sprig above where we’re standing.
“Wasn’t my idea,” Noah calls out. “I wouldn’t be caught under that thing.”
“I would,” I say, quiet enough that only she can hear. “I’d stand here all day with you.”
The look she gives me makes it hard to swallow, but we need to talk without an audience. I lace my fingers through hers and start to lead her toward the door, then remember there might be photographers out there.
Instead, I pull her through the kitchen’s swinging door. Noah’s prep cook takes one look at us and disappears.
“Very smooth,” she says, but she’s smiling.
“I want to make this work,” I say the words before I lose my nerve. “I know I can’t protect you from everything and that your life comes with cameras and publicity and a thousand things I don’t understand. But I want to try. I can’t let you go without fighting for us.”
She reaches up to cup my face in her hands. “The last time I trusted someone, he stole from me for years.”
“I’m not him. Yeah, I overreacted with the photographers. I’m not sophisticated or Hollywood material, but—”
“Stop.” She presses her thumb to my lips. “I know who you are, Griffin. You should know I canceled the meeting about the movie.”
My brain stumbles over her words and what they mean for her. For us. “You what?”
“The franchise part. I turned it down.” Her smile turns almost hesitant. “I’m in talks for a series based out of Vancouver. Eight episodes a season, three months of filming. Close enough that I can come home during breaks.”
“Home?”
“Here to Wild Rose Point. With you.” Pink colors her cheeks.” I want to make this work, too.”
I pull her closer, my hands spanning her waist. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I did it for me.” Her smile widens. “For both of us. I’m choosing the life I want instead of the one everyone expects.
” She loops her arms around my neck. “A life that includes burnt pasta and grocery runs and fixing up old houses with a grumpy contractor who makes me happier than I’ve been in years. ”
“I’m not grumpy.”
“You’re adorable when you’re grumpy.”
“I’m never adorable.”
She laughs, and it’s the best sound ever.
“I want to be part of your world, Griffin. And for you to be part of mine. Not the celebrity stuff, even if there will always be some of that. I mean the real bits. I want you to meet Riva. I want morning coffee and nights watching the sun sink below the horizon. All the in-between times.”
“I love the in-between times.” I lean down to rest my forehead against hers. “I love you, Monika. It’s probably too soon, and—”
“I love you too,” she whispers. “Even though you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle.”
“You use all the hot water.”
“You track mud through the house.”
“You can’t cook to save your life.”
“You snore.”
“You steal all the covers. And I love that, too.”
We’re both laughing now, and I kiss her again, pouring everything I feel into it. This beautiful, talented, mesmerizing woman chose me. Chose us.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” I murmur against her lips.
“Merry Christmas.”
Noah sticks his head into the kitchen. “If you two are done making out in my kitchen, the pancakes are getting cold.”
Monika squeezes my fingers. “Ready to face the world?”
“With you? Hell, yeah.”
We walk back into the diner hand in hand, and the room erupts in applause, and we join a group of guys at a large table, the invisible weight I’ve been carrying for far too long shifting into something lighter.
Noah brings over a plate piled high with pancakes and drops it between us. “I figure you two can share.”
Monika picks up a fork and cuts into the stack. “So what happens now?”
I steal the bite she was about to eat. “Now we figure it out as we go.”
“That’s not much of a plan.”
“It’s the best I’ve got.”
She leans against my shoulder. “Good enough for me.”
With Monika on one side and my found family on the other, I realize this is what I’ve been looking for my whole life.
Not just someone to love, but someone who makes every ordinary moment feel like Christmas morning.