Chapter 35 #2
A surge of anger begins to roll through me, but it fizzles out before it makes headway.
I want her to be wrong because if she’s right, I spent years punishing myself for nothing.
I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep the tears away.
Fucking hell. I’m fighting myself at this point.
It wasn’t the world against me. It was me versus me, and my ego won out.
Holding this magnificent woman in my arms, it’s time for a new start.
“I know you’re right, but I missed the calls and got stuck in my head. My game went to shit.”
“You didn’t grieve. One day, you should allow yourself to feel it, to release it, and to heal. Your mom would want that for you.”
“She would,” I admit, which might be a first for me. When I slide down to see those greens I’m so in love with, I say, “There’s no living this life without you in it, though. I want us to be together, Little Chirp.”
“A family,” she says this time with no fear in her eyes. “No more stories of fated love to be told generations from now.” Her smile grows as she coaxes mine to return, too. “We did it. We brought an end to the feud and brought our families together. That’s the power of our love.”
“It is.” I could tell her that being in my life has changed me for the better, but she knows her worth. I find that so fucking sexy. I run my hand over her cheek, then lean over to kiss her temple once, twice, three times before whispering, “I love you.”
This time, she pulls back, grabs hold of my wrists, and looks at me. Her mouth opens, but then a crush of emotions temporarily drags her under. When the wave subsides, she says, “I love you, too, so much.”
“What if they don’t come?” my girl asks as we circle the table with cardboard baseballs and cowboys, placing them down as decorations.
I stop and look at her across from me. “Why wouldn’t they? He’s their grandson. Are they going to hold a grudge against you, which I don’t think they have a right to, based on what you told me, against a four-year-old? If that’s the case, they can stay gone from my family.”
The word family has so much more meaning for me these days. I started with the best, but somehow, it got better and bigger.
My sister comes out of her house to see the table we set.
“Looks great.” She sets down a pile of napkins and small plates with all different floral patterns on them.
“I find it so interesting how Jacob is into the same things as . . .” She stares at me.
The look alone tells me she knows. She still doesn’t say it, even if they’re all thinking it. “As my big brother here.”
Cricket laughs, and nothing is subtle about it. She doesn’t even bother to conceal her expression, which reaffirms my sister’s theory. That traitor will be properly handled later. I smirk.
It’s a day of family in celebration of him, so it’s best to just get it all out on the table so we can enjoy it.
“Jacob’s my son.” I stand at one end of the table, my sister at the far end.
Her smile grows along with the reveal. “I know you know. I know all of you know. So there it is. Your suspicion is confirmed, sis. Happy?”
“Very,” she says, opening her arms wide and making a beeline for Cricket. “I’m so happy to have you both in our lives. I have a nephew. So exciting!”
Their embrace is sincere and warm. To see the woman I love being welcomed into my family without hesitation reminds me of how lucky I really am. I don’t have my mom anymore, but my family is steadfast, and the love is even stronger.
When Cricket turns to look at me, her cheeks are pink. To my sister, she says, “I’m so grateful for your family. Both Jacob and I are so happy to—”
“Be a part of it,” I add, making sure she knows she’s every bit a Greene even though she doesn’t carry the moniker. I come around behind her and wrap her up in my arms. After kissing her head, I look up to see my sister watching us.
“You make a beautiful couple and adorable kids, if I do say so.”
As if cued, Daisy runs from the corner of the house with Jacob in tow and Beckett trying to wrangle them. “Come on, guys, I mean it. We have to wash up.”
Daisy laughs like the maniacal terror she is and yells, “Neveerrr.”
“Never,” Jacob shouts and giggles right after as they leg it up the steps and run into the house.
I say, “That’s trouble if I ever did see it.”
Cricket glances at me over her shoulder. “Should we be concerned?”
“Nope.” He’s led a life that was more on the sheltered side and wasn’t exposed to other kids as much.
He’ll get more than he bargained for on the ranch.
It will do him good, and he’s going to love it.
“We’re going to let that kid be a kid. Sometimes he’s going to fall and scrape his knees.
Sometimes he’s going to lead the charge and start some shit.
But he’s going to have the best childhood. I promise.”
Tagger comes out with a platter of fresh fruit, and my dad follows with two bags of chips. Baylor comes from the other side of the house, holding tongs in his hand. “Are we ready to eat?”
Lauralee comes out of the house as if she can sense her husband’s presence, takes a sip of lemonade, and sits down. Rubbing her baby’s belly, she says, “Two more months.”
Cricket sits next to her, and they start chatting like old friends while I go inside to get my gift for Jacob. I got him something I’d like to share with him privately before the birthday festivities kick off.
I duck inside the house and grab Jacob midair just as they were taking off up the stairs. “Gotcha.”
“I’m playing, Daddy,” he whines with a few kicks, but the sound is music to my ears because he called me Daddy. I’ll never take that for granted.
Spinning him sideways, I carry him under my arms to the living room, where I let his present down earlier.
“I wanted to give you a gift.” Apparently, the magic word was said because he stopped fighting me.
I plop him on the couch and sit next to him.
Taking the small, wrapped box, I hand it to him, and say, “I want you to have this, Champ.”
He tears into it like a gift-opening pro and lifts the lid.
His eyes dart to mine. “Your buckle.” When he looks back at it, he pulls it from the box.
“Your favorite.” He’s the politest kid I’ve ever met and handles it with care as he wiggles it in both his hands to catch the light on the shiny surface. “Whoa. Did you see that?”
He caught a ray of sunshine sneaking in through the window, and it hit just right.
“I did.” For a kid I’m pretty sure is big for his size, he’s still so small next to me.
It’s weird to have this feeling of wanting him to stay this way, with him only seeing the good in the world and rushing for him to get bigger so we can do all the things together. “Do you like that?”
Nodding, he holds it to his heart. “It’s my favorite, too.” He stands next to me, looks at the buckle with a big grin, and throws his arms around me. “Thank you, Daddy.”
I hold him, closing my eyes and feeling the full weight of the blessing this kid is in my life. “You need to take care of it, okay? It was grandpa’s and then mine, and now it’s yours.”
Even when he leans back again, he’s still staring at it in awe. “Okay.” I help him put it on his belt and send the little cowboy out to the pasture to play.
With everyone back outside, I take a moment in the quiet of the house to soak this in—the good I’ve been given, the second chance at having a real life, and the gift of family.
“How ya doing there, Greene?”
I look up to see Cricket standing behind a chair, with nothing less than admiration lifting her features. I’m so fucking lucky. But I’m also starting to think it wasn’t luck at all. It really was the universe bringing us together. “I’m good. How are you?”
“Happy.”
“You deserve that, babe.”
“So do you,” she says, coming to sit next to me on the couch. “That was really nice of you to give him your buckle.”
Sitting back, I stretch my arm over her shoulders. “Figured it would be good to pass something else down other than a feud between families.”
“We squashed that, so we get to focus on the good generational stuff like belt buckles.” She leans over and kisses my cheek. “The hot dogs and burgers are ready.”
“I’m starved.”
The front door opens, and Savvy stops when she sees us.
“Two things.” I’ve gotten to know her cousin enough to know she’s really speaking to Cricket when she has something to get off her chest. She has strong opinions, just like my girl.
“What are they feeding them over here in Greene County? Goodness. They’re giant and gorgeous.
The men working downtown and, well . . .
” She gestures toward me with her hand. “Jesus. Then you got this family.” Looking straight at me, she asks, “Got any spare brothers or cousins around here? Sign me up or, better yet, hook me up, Griffin.”
I start to chuckle along with Cricket when she replies, “Yeah, I’m not sure why we were hanging around Dover County when all this sexiness was just over the county line.”
“What about Blake?” I ask, but am quickly shot down with two level-me-to-the-ground glares. “My bad. I’ll just keep my mouth shut.” Cricket gives my hand a little squeeze.
Savvy says, “Second, Blake and I broke up.”
“What?” Cricket jolts forward.
She waves her off like it’s no big deal.
“I take it you didn’t see the online photos?
Yeah, the team is in Nashville, and photos surfaced of him making out with some girl and then walking into his hotel together, which means the team knew.
” Shaking her head, she half laughs. “If I weren’t so mad, I might be upset, but really, it was a long time coming.
Even when we tried to put in the effort, all was forgotten the next day, and we were back to being better roommates than lovers.
” As if she reminded herself, she says, “The man is horrible in bed. He stares at photos of himself in his baseball uniform to get off.”
“Yikes,” Cricket says, standing up. “Look, you are better off without him. Your guy, someone who will fall madly in love with you, is out there waiting for you. I just know it.”
I follow them back outside just as Tagger asks, “Hey, did you guys meet my brother?”
Savvy’s the first one off the porch with her hand out, ready to greet him. “No, we did not. I’m Savvy Dover.”
“Ace Grange.”
Not sure if it’s her little double skip forward to shake his hand or the way he just looks like he met his soulmate, but I think she’s going to come out of this breakup just fine.
A trail of dust in the distance draws my eyes up to the road by the barn. I immediately glance at Cricket, who’s already spotted the car. I take hold of her hand and ask, “Are you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Taking a deep breath, she says, “Here we go.”