Chapter 18
Griffin
“He’s the best thing in my life.” Cricket covers her chest with her hands clasped, and joyful tears fill the corners of her eyes, and says, “The best thing I ever did.” Leaning against my leg, she looks at me with a glow that shines from the inside.
I thought she couldn’t be any more beautiful than she already is, but here she is, proving me wrong.
Again. “He’s silly, so funny, and the cutest kid I’ve ever seen, if I do say so myself. ” I like her sass.
“That’s fair.” Her smile is contagious and causes me to react.
Her smile falters as she hesitates. Angling away, she slips from the confines of the arm I had resting on her hip and busies herself by shifting a table that didn’t need shifting.
Swiping the dust from the top with her hand, she says, “I think it looks better here, don’t you? ”
I’m not sure how to read her reaction. It’s just his name that her family called him.
Shouldn’t inspire any reaction, much less her discomfort.
And she was talking so openly about him before that I’m confused by the shift.
“Looks great.” I stand, wondering if I’ve overstayed my welcome.
“I didn’t mean to pry. I figured since your—”
“It’s okay. This is new with you, but you didn’t say anything wrong.” She’s still gripping the side of the table when she replies, “His name is Jacob.” Even looking down, she can’t hide the love that shines through the smile that follows as if just saying the name evoked it. “Jacob Justin.”
“It’s a good name. Strong.”
“Thanks,” she replies quietly. I hadn’t given any thought to the possibility of Cricket being a mom, though I shouldn’t be shocked.
We’re in our thirties. It’s not like it would be uncommon.
I’ve gone out with a few women who had kids, so it’s not new to me.
But it does have me wondering why she kept that part of her life a secret.
Thinking back over the interactions we’ve had, did she have an opportunity to tell me, or a reason that slipping that information in wouldn’t have come off as out of the blue?
Or maybe she just wanted us to get to know each other better before parading the kids out and an ex that’s tangled in her life.
Is that what it is? The dad is still hanging around, and he’s the jealous type of any man stepping into his son’s life or even Cricket’s?
Will I be dealing with a difficult ex? Is that why she’s not comfortable talking about her son or his dad?
She didn’t have a chance to tell me at the stadium. I still need to redeem myself from those encounters, especially for splashing her with a puddle. I cringe inside just thinking about it. That she thought it was on purpose . . . I need to make better first impressions and make it up to her.
Last night, she could have told me at the pizzeria or later in the boat, or even in the truck, if it was something on her mind she was ready to share.
That’s the most logical explanation. She wasn’t ready to share.
Her family forced the issue. Is it wrong for me to do the same?
I need to know what I’m dealing with. “Is his father still in the picture?”
With her eyes cast down, she squeezes them shut. She grounds her jaw before looking up and replying, “Kind of.” Her voice isn’t any louder, but it’s more determined in tone.
“Kind of?” I ask, grimacing. How do I navigate a situation with the response being “kind of”?
“It’s complicated and something we should talk about soon.” She’s not shut it down entirely. That’s good, so I can respect her not wanting to delve into it right now.
Since I have every intention of spending more time with her, and that includes the son I just found out about, I ask, “What is he into? Cars? Horses? Dinosaurs?”
She nibbles on her bottom lip, but a giggle bursts free. “Don’t laugh, okay?”
“You think so highly of me,” I reply, sarcastically. “I’m not going to laugh at a kid.”
She takes a deep breath as if she’s bracing herself for an onslaught. Damn, what is this kid into? She says, “Baseball.”
“Baseball?” My eyebrows hit the ceiling, and my mouth drops open like an idiot to the floor.
“That’s what he likes to do?” I ask while a smirk takes hold of my face.
“I did not expect to hear you say baseball. You had me worried by your behavior. All that buildup over baseball.” I nod, feeling pride for something I had no part in making happen. “Sounds like my kind of kid.”
“Something like that,” she mumbles.
“Huh?”
Batting her eyelids a couple of times, she smiles so sweetly. “I was saying he got a glove and bat for Christmas and hasn’t stopped playing with it since.”
“You have any scouts calling to recruit him into the majors?”
She laughs. “Not yet, but there’s still time.”
“There sure is.” Moving closer to the windows to see how the building is situated on the property, I cross my arms over my chest. “I had early encounters with scouts coming out to Peachtree Pass to watch me play.”
She comes to lean on the other side of the large window and appears to relax under the change in topic. “I bet you were quite the player then as well.”
“I was young and dumb and played like I was running after the last train leaving town. Fast and aggressive. Just what colleges are looking to tame—the next hotshot they can add to their claim-to-fame wall.” I look through the glass at a group of women walking across the lawn with wineglasses in hand.
“My brother is rebuilding Peachtree Pass to bring more people to town.” Looking across at her, I add, “Seems the Dovers figured it out a long time ago.”
“Alcohol is always a draw.” Her eyes slide back from the people below to me, and she says, “Why did you leave?”
“I left for college.”
Her head tilts, and she rests it against the wall. With a half smile relaxing on her face, she asks, “Why did you never return? Even when your career in the majors ended, you didn’t come back. Why?”
“What was here that I couldn’t get anywhere else in the world?”
“Your family.”
“Ah.” I roll my shoulders to the flat of the wall and chuckle as I stare across the office.
“You got me there.” I go with my old standby and pretend we weren’t going where I didn’t want to travel.
Pushing off the wall, I weave through the pieces of furniture, thinking it’s probably about time to go. “I know you’re busy, so I should—”
“Please talk to me, Griffin.”
I stop with my back to her, the pleas in the sound of her voice pulling me to respond. I turn my head, keeping her in my periphery. “Opening wounds doesn’t heal them. It only exposes them to new pain.”
She slowly starts toward me as if I’m skittish around confrontation. I’m not. I just avoid it when it’s unnecessary. “I told you about Jacob. That wasn’t easy for me.”
I drop my head, my chin hitting my chest, and close my eyes. “My family became the last people I could face because I failed them.”
Her hands run over the tops of my shoulders from behind, and she rests her cheek against my back.
“I saw how close you and your dad were at the pizzeria. You talk about your brother and the respect you have for your sister. I can’t imagine a world where your family would rather have you gone than see the amazing man you are on a daily basis. ”
Turning around slowly, I take her in my arms. With her tucked against me, I rest my head on the top of hers before tilting to kiss it.
“You barely know me, and you already have me all figured out.” Leaning back, I catch her eyes that are filled with sympathy for me instead of the love for her son that put the sparkle into them.
It looks all wrong on her. “I’m back now. ”
“You said it was time to face the next stage of life. What does that mean to you?”
“I’m not sure I have a better answer today than I did yesterday, but I’m starting to see things in a new light. That’s progress.”
“Do you want a family?”
I chuckle, totally unprepared for the gunfire of questions aimed at me. “Um.” I scratch the back of my neck, and reply, “A life I rejected before, maybe isn’t so awful to me now?”
She laughs lightly, looking as confused as I feel. “Are you asking me if that’s how you feel?”
“Do you have the answer? Because I sure don’t.”
She steps back and sits on the couch. Shaking her head, she says, “Nope. That’s for you to figure out, but it does sound like you’re open to the idea of change. Like you said, that’s progress.”
I should still go. Cricket hasn’t made me feel like I’ve overstayed, but I think we both need a break before this gets any heavier.
“I’m going to take off and let Savvy, who I have a strong suspicion is waiting in the hallway for me to leave, back in.
” I start for the door but turn back to kiss her.
It’s not slow or romantic, but for purely selfish reasons.
It fills a need I have inside me to taste and feel her once more until I see her again.
Backing toward the door again, I grin. “You’re going to text me later, right?”
“Yep. I’ll text you as soon as I can.” She stands in the middle of the room where I left her, her gaze fixed on mine, and a smile that I left on her face. “Thank you for helping move the furniture.”
“Anytime.” I open the door to see Savvy stand straighter like she was caught slacking on the job. To Cricket, I say, “Bye, Little Chirp.” I knew I could get an eye roll from her. I chuckle as I pass her cousin. “Thanks for letting us talk.”
I gallop down the stairs to her, saying, “I’m going to be highly disappointed if talk is all you did in there.”
Looking back before I round the split in the staircase, I reply, “I never disappoint.”
Her laughter echoes above as I work my way out.
I’m still smiling like a loon by the time I reach the guard gate. Joe wasn’t on duty earlier, but he makes a show of it now. “Another drop-off, Mr. Greene?”
“Helping Ms. Dover and Ms. Dover move some furniture.”