Chapter 28
TWENTY-EIGHT
PARKER
Granny’s land sits an hour or so outside of the city and everything feels quieter except when you turn onto the unpaved road and gravel pops under the wheels.
It’s not silent out here. There’s a hush blanketing the landscape that surrounds you and settles into your bones. The kind of place where the air smells like trees, not fast food. A place where you can breathe.
I glance over at Annika in the passenger seat. She’s been quiet and didn’t laugh when I told her that Jaylen got a drink thrown at him last night at a bar.
Her fingers rest against her thigh, tapping once every few seconds. Grounding like she taught me. So now when I line up, I tap my fingers against my leg to zone in.
“Nervous?” I ask.
She exhales gently. “A little.”
“Of Granny?” I can’t help the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.
She shoots me a look. “There’s a lot of you and if she can wrangle all of you then yes, I’m scared.”
“That’s fair. Dad says we get our competitiveness from her side, even though he was the one to play in college and pro.”
I slow as the party barn comes into view, strings of lights already glowing against the early evening sky. Cars line the wide-open grass parking lot, and we hear laughter carrying across the open space.
“She’s going to love you,” I add.
“You don’t know that. What if she thinks I’m a gold digger?” “She won’t. I’m not a king. I have no gold,” I counter.
She scoffs, “Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean. You’re a professional football player making millions.”
A harsh, almost maniacal laugh escapes. “Nope. I didn’t go top ten in the draft.
I wanted to play with my brothers, so I took way less money.
This is my contract year so if I don’t catch the ball, Sutton can’t pay me what I’m worth.
I need to lock in because I want to stay in Austin… with you and my family.”
She studies me for a beat like she’s trying to decide if I’m being truthful.
That’s the thing. I understand why she’s hesitant. And why she calculates every decision. But I don’t do that with her. There’s no second guessing. She feels part of me.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.
I shrug and raise a brow. “That I’m not making millions?”
“No, I don’t care about that. About it being a contract year is extra pressure.”
I push the gearshift into park, jump out and open her door.
“You didn’t have to open my door.”
“Are you joking? Granny would skin me alive if I didn’t perform my gentlemanly duties,” I tease, sort of.
She squeezes my hand, pressing on her toes to give me a quick peck on the cheek. She has on a blue-jean jacket layered over a floral v neck dress. I can’t take my eyes off her. How her cleavage shows just enough to make my mouth water and the sway of her hips when she walks.
The moment we turn to walk up to the barn, the noise hits us. Kids running in and out. Music drifting through the air. Voices overlapping in a way that may feel chaotic to some but it’s simply my life. Always has been.
Granny’s house is home. Noelle spots us first, baby tucked into her chest, one hand waving, the other holding Matt’s hand while he holds Kane’s hand.
“You made it!” Noelle shouts.
Matt shakes my hand then says, “Good to see you Anna.”
Noelle hugs Anna before me. Guess I’m getting sent to the back of the line.
Before I can say anything, Granny’s voice cuts through the noise.
“Well, it’s about time.”
Annika stiffens beside me. I glance at her, brushing my fingers over her hand. She doesn’t pull away. It’s a small win but I’ll take it.
Granny steps out of the barn, wiping her hands on a towel like she’s been cooking all day. She stops in front of us, eyes moving from me to Annika and back again.
Assessing. Always assessing. Not just anyone is good enough for her grandchildren.
“Granny, this is Anna. My girlfriend.”
“So,” she says, tilting her head. “You’re the one fixing my grandson’s head.”
I choke on a laugh.
Annika freezes for a few seconds, then to her credit she recovers.
“I’m trying,” she says, cautious and reserved.
Granny snorts and grabs her elbow. “Well, good luck with that. He’s been hardheaded since birth.”
“Granny.”
“Oh hush,” she waves me off and turns back to Annika. “At least he’s pretty. That helps.”
Annika blinks, a rolling chuckle escaping her throat. And just like that, the tension cracks.
Granny pulls her into a hug like she’s known her forever. “Welcome to the O’Ryan Family chaos,” she says with a grin on her face. She loves it when the entire family is together.
The barn is full. Tables set up end to end, food or flowers covering every surface. Kids weaving between legs like it’s a sport. I have five nieces and nephews under five. Paulina, the only teenager. She darts past us, hair flying, asking if we can start with cake.
It’s loud and unfiltered. Annika stays close to me, not clinging but staying within my reach.
J.D. and Greyson’s boys are sword fighting with sticks while dressed like superheroes.
Noelle and Matt’s son, Kane, is rolling around on the wooden floor acting like they killed him.
It makes me think of how it must have been for my mom. Having J.D. and Greyson and then ten years later having Noelle, then me and Witt.
Everyone has come to celebrate with Granny. Friends, employees that work on the farm and of course our whole family.
I ask J.D., “Where’s Dad and Witt?”
“Cutting the brisket Granny smoked all day.” J.D. leans in and whispers in my ear. “Witt’s acting weird.”
“That’s normal.”
“Weirder than usual. Sutton tried to talk to him about a permanent position with the Armadillos and he blew her off.”
I nod. “Has Birdie talked to him? He listens to her because she has a soft spot for him.”
“Yeah, same result. Something is on his mind.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
He slaps my back. “I’m glad you two have gotten close. It’s good for him.”
I press my lips into a smile. It’s good for me to have Witt. But now I’m wondering if he’s being weird because he knows more than I do about Annika and she’s here. He may have said five sentences at margarita night. I think he gets the analyzing portion of his DNA from Granny.
Granny finds us again. Looping her arm through Annika’s and pulling her toward a table. “Come here,” she says, “Let me tell you about this one.”
Sutton chimes in. “Don’t worry Granny. We’ve been filling her in.”
I groan.
“Granny don’t.”
“Oh I’m absolutely going to.”
Annika glances back at me, eyes round and I’m not sure if I should stick around or head for the hills. I shrug and throw my hands up.
“Each day after school my Little Bit would call me. ‘Granny I got an A.’ ‘Granny I ran the fastest forty-yard dash.’ ‘Granny, I scored a goal.’”
I can feel heat rising on my skin. “I was young.”
“You were in high school. You were proud and couldn’t wait to tell me.”
When Annika’s gaze shifts to me, I suddenly feel ten years old again and my mind drifts to the ten year old picture of her that Witt found.
Granny pats me on the cheek. “He still calls. Almost every day. Called me two days ago to tell me he has a girlfriend.”
She just proved her point. I’m Granny’s Little Bit.
Annika settles in more with every passing minute—laughing with Sutton, listening to Birdie’s groupie stories, holding Emma for Noelle while my sister finally has a chance to eat. It’s like she belongs here. With me. With my family.
And she does.
That’s what keeps catching me off guard.
How she fits perfectly into our giant puzzle of a family without even trying.
She’s who she is. I’m left thinking how rare this must be, J.D.
and Greyson went through countless women, but none made it here to Granny’s house except Birdie and Sutton.
And here I am with Annika, my second girlfriend in eight years.
After we eat, Granny opens her presents. She said no gifts, but I’ve learned never to come empty handed no matter what the woman says. I bought her a new saddle blanket with all our names printed on it.
“You ready to get out of here for a minute?” I ask Annika.
Her eyes drift up to mine. “Escape the chaos?”
“Yeah, the kids are too hyped up on sugar. And so is Granny.”
She nods. “Lead the way.”
We hop in the car and park close to the tree line. The path to the waterfall is worn and familiar. Every step, tied to a memory layered over other memories.
I feel her beside me, quiet again, but this time it’s different.
She’s just taking it all in as the sun dips lower. Nature’s glory and she hasn’t seen the best part.
“This is where my mom used to come,” I say as the sound of water starts to cut through the trees. “She said it helped her think.”
Annika doesn’t interrupt, instead listens.
We keep walking. “Greyson was married here. Dad, Greyson and I built the party barn for Granny for the reception and now she uses it as a secondary income for weddings and parties. Paulina’s sweet sixteen was here only a few months ago.”
“You should make something in the off-season and auction it off for the funds to go to your foundation.”
She looks up at me and I swear I see my future. Someone who cares about the same things I do.
She follows my gaze as we go out into the clearing and the waterfall looks more beautiful than I’ve ever seen it. Purples and oranges from the sunset reflecting off the water.
“It’s majestic… gorgeous.”
“It is.”
The waterfall isn’t massive but it’s steady. Water spilling over rock into a pool. This place has always felt like it was a place to cure your mind and body.
Urban sprawl hasn’t touched this place. Granny is committed to keeping the horses and vegetable fields far away and keeping this place as a respite for all of us.
“Wow,” she says under her breath.
I watch her more than the water. The way her shoulders drop and her breathing slows like she feels the peace of this place too.
“Have you ever done something reckless but fun?” I ask.
Her chin falls an inch as she arches a manicured brow. “That depends on your definition of reckless. I guess hooking up with you is reckless since it can cost me my profession.”