CHAPTER SIX
KNOX
“Thanks for dinner.” Griffin clapped me on the shoulder as we stood on the front porch of his house.
“Welcome.”
The macaroni and cheese I’d made Memphis last week had given me a craving, so I’d made a huge batch today with plenty to spare. Before coming to see Griff and Winn with a pan for dinner, I’d dropped one off at Mom and Dad’s place too.
“Nice night.” Griffin drew in a long breath. The scent of leaves and rain and cooler temperatures was in the air.
“Sure is.” I leaned against one of the wooden beams, glancing out across the land as I took a sip from my beer.
Surrounded by trees with the mountains in the distance, Griffin’s place was the reason I’d built my own.
I’d wanted my own haven away from the bustle of town.
Our styles were entirely different. Griff preferred a traditional look with an abundance of wood, while I favored the sleek, modern lines of glass.
Though our houses were different, the setting was the same.
Rugged mountain countryside. Evergreens with the year-round scent of pine. Sunshine and blue sky. Home.
A cry came from inside the house and Griffin straightened, turning toward the front door as Winn came outside with my two-month-old nephew, Hudson, fussing in her arms.
“Tag, you’re it.” She handed her son to his father. “He wants me during the day but only Griff at night.”
My brother nodded at his son. “We’ve got lots to talk about at night, don’t we, cowboy? And sometimes you just need a new set of arms.”
Hudson’s fussing ceased as my brother walked the length of the porch.
My heart twisted at the sight.
I loved Hudson. But his birth had triggered memories I’d done my best to forget these past five years. Memories that weren’t as buried as I’d once thought.
Griffin hadn’t known Gianna, nor had any of my siblings. Mom and Dad had met her once on a vacation to San Francisco, but that had been before Jadon. My family knew what had happened, but it was something I’d refused to discuss after I’d moved home.
No one knew how hard it was to be around a baby.
“Dinner was amazing.” Winn gave me a sleepy smile. “Exactly what I was craving.”
“Anytime.” I winked as she pressed a hand to her belly.
It was early in her second pregnancy, but I suspected before too long they’d all come to the restaurant more frequently. While she’d been pregnant with Hudson, I’d taken it as my personal challenge to feed my sister-in-law’s cravings.
“How are things at the restaurant?” she asked, sinking into one of the porch’s rocking chairs.
“Good. Busy.” Roxanne was running the show tonight. Wednesdays were typically slow this time of year, so when she’d told me to stop hovering and head home after lunch, I’d actually listened.
Griffin kept pacing with Hudson, murmuring words to his son that I couldn’t make out.
“It’s his voice.” Winn followed my gaze. “I think because it’s deeper. This time of night, Griff’s voice is about the only thing that will put him to sleep.”
“Makes sense.” It wasn’t always easy to see Griffin with his son, but that wasn’t something I’d admit to them. To anyone.
“You feeling okay?” I asked Winn.
“Just a little tired. But I think that will be the norm for a few years.”
Griffin strode our way. “Maybe by the time we have this next one, Hudson will sleep through the night.”
“That’s the dream.” Winn crossed her fingers. “How’s it going with Memphis?”
“All right. I don’t see her much.” And that had been by design. There was a reason that I hadn’t taken much time off lately. That I hovered at Knuckles. There was a reason that on my rare night away from the restaurant, I’d escaped to the comfort of my brother’s home and not my own.
Griffin and I had a bond formed from youthful years of hiding mischief and suffering the consequences when our parents inevitably caught us causing trouble.
He’d been my best friend since birth. We knew each other better than most, which was probably why he hadn’t asked about Memphis.
He could sense I didn’t want to talk about her.
What would I say? I was attracted to her. Every time she walked into the room, my heart stopped and my dick twitched. If that had been the end of the story, if it had been just a woman passing through town, I would have chased her that first night.
But she wasn’t a tourist here today, gone tomorrow. There was no escaping her, at work or at home. Then there was the kid.
Seeing Drake was harder than seeing Hudson. I wasn’t sure why but every time he cried, it cut right through my chest. Maybe it was because Memphis was dealing with it alone. She bore the brunt of his screams. She carried the weight on her slender shoulders.
But it wasn’t my business. It wasn’t my place to interfere.
I’d had enough dramatics for a lifetime and Memphis had drama written all over her pretty face.
It had taken me five years to build a life in Quincy. I’d walked away from San Francisco a broken man. I’d come home to recover. To start again. To return to a place where I’d had good days in the hope of finding them again.
Five years and I was there. I loved my job. I loved my family. I loved my life.
Unchanged.
As soon as Memphis was gone from the loft, it would be easier to put her out of my head.
I drained the last swallow of my beer as Hudson’s eyelids began to droop. “I’d better get home. Let you guys get him to bed.”
“Thanks, Knox.” Winn yawned.
“Have a good night.” I walked over, bent to kiss her cheek, then shook my brother’s free hand. I ruffled the dark hair on my nephew’s head and touched his button nose. “Give your parents some rest, kid.”
Hudson had a tiny hand over Griff’s heart.
Damn, that stung. As Hudson grew, it had dulled, but not disappeared. I let it spread through my chest, then jogged down the porch steps for my truck.
My drive home was through a maze of gravel roads. The highway was more of a direct route to home, but taking the back roads gave me time to roll down the windows and simply think.
When I’d stopped at Mom and Dad’s earlier, they’d asked me if I’d made my decision about the hotel. Uncle Briggs had had a rough week. He’d gone out for a hike without telling anyone, and though he’d probably been lucid at first, he’d had an episode and gotten lost.
Lost on the land where he’d lived his entire life.
Thankfully, Dad had found him just before dark. Briggs had tripped and twisted his ankle. So after a trip to the ER—Talia had been the doctor on call—they’d gotten Briggs home. But the scare had spurred Dad’s urgency to get my answer.
An answer I didn’t have to give.
Part of me wanted to agree, simply because it would make them happy.
I had the best parents in the world. They let us fail when we needed to fail.
They gave us a hand when it was clear we couldn’t get back up on our own two feet.
They loved us unconditionally. They’d given us every advantage possible.
But if I said yes to the hotel, it wouldn’t be for me. It would be for them.
Did I want The Eloise? I didn’t want it to go to someone outside of the family. But me? Maybe. I just wasn’t sure. Not yet.
I reached my turnout and rolled toward Juniper Hill, disappearing through the trees to my secluded corner of the world. As the house came into view, my eyes went to the loft. Even hidden behind walls and doors and windows, Memphis drew my attention. She had since the day she’d arrived.
Her Volvo was parked beside the stairs, and that car was as much of a mystery as my tenant. It was a newer model and Volvos weren’t exactly inexpensive. So why was she surviving on cheap meals and spare change?
Not my business.
I’d flown to Gianna’s rescue all those years ago when I should have minded my own fucking business. Lesson learned.
Parking in the space closest to my door, I headed inside. Before winter, I’d have to figure out a different parking situation so both of our rigs weren’t left outside in the snow, but for now, leaving my truck outside meant one more way to keep my distance.
The house was quiet. The scent of macaroni and cheese lingered in the kitchen. I walked to the fridge, getting another beer, then retreated to the living room to watch TV until dark.
The abundance of windows meant that when the sun began to set below the crest of Juniper Hill, I caught it from all angles. Pink and orange and blue light cascaded over the walls, fading with every minute until the silver glow of moonlight took its place.
It should have been relaxing. The number one trending movie on Netflix should have kept my attention. This was supposed to be my sanctuary, yet since the day Memphis had moved in, she’d held a constant chain to my thoughts. A distraction.
Was she cooking dinner? Was she sleeping? Was the place big enough for her? Was she searching for another apartment? Did I want her to find another apartment?
Yes. She had to leave. We couldn’t do this forever, right? I needed my home back. Yet the idea of her in town, on her own, made me uneasy.
She wasn’t my responsibility. She was a grown woman, an adult, capable of living alone.
She was twenty-five, the same age as Eloise.
Close to the same age as Lyla and Talia, who were twenty-seven.
Did I feel the need to keep my sisters close?
No. So why Memphis? And where the hell were her parents?
What had happened with those siblings she’d mentioned?
I stared at the TV, realizing I’d watched almost the entire thriller and hadn’t a damn clue what it was about. “Christ.”
Restlessness rattled beneath my skin. I shoved off the couch, went to my bedroom for a pair of workout shorts, then disappeared to the gym I’d set up in my basement.
After an hour spent alternating between the treadmill and the heavy bag, I climbed the stairs, drenched in sweat. Thankfully, the workout had served its purpose and my pent-up energy had burned out, so I headed to the shower.