Page 92 of Under One Roof

Andi holds up her index finger to the woman with the sign, silently asking for a minute, before I drag her out of the auditorium to the small vestibule where two parents are selling concessions at a table. I tow Andi over to the corner, lowering my voice. “I ask again, what the hell are you doing here?’

“I had to see Grace perform.”

I don’t like beating around the bush. “Why aren’t you in LA?”

“Because…” She lifts her arms out at her sides and lets them flop back down. “I…” She puffs up her cheeks and blows out all the air with a shake of her head, like she really has no answer for me.

“Andi. Why?”

I need to hear it. I don’t normally give a shit about what anybody has to say. But in this case, I really, really need to hear it.

Her big brown eyes dart around behind me, but I pin her against the wall so she can’t escape, my hands on either side of her shoulders. I dip my head, closing my eyes. “Please, Andi. You left, and I was okay with it.” I swallow thickly. “I was trying to be okay with it. I will eventually be okay with it. So, I need to know why you’re back already. I need to know how often my heart will break. Make no mistake, I’d rather break it a thousand times than never have you in my life, but I’d just like to know what I’m dealing with so I can prepare.”

When I meet her gaze again, her eyes are watery. She moves her hands to my sides, fisting my T-shirt. “Always so prepared.” She leans up on her toes, reaching to kiss me, but she can’t quite reach without me bending. I don’t, and her lips land on the underside of my jaw. “I came back because I needed to apologize for leaving without telling you that I love you. I love you, Griffin. I love you so much, and I want to be with you. I want to be with the kids. I want us to be a family.”

She ducks down to pull the framed photo I gave her from her purse. The one of the kids and us. “I want to put this in the living room, on the table next to the big couch, and then take a lot more pictures so there’s a different one in every room.”

I feel like I should be mad at her, like I should hold some kind of grudge for being so flighty, coming and going on a whim, but I can’t. I told her to go, and I’m too happy she’s back.

I only want her to be with me. Forever.

“Maybe we should get a big one.” I slide my hands around her waist, lifting her off the floor so she shrieks and throws her arms around my neck, legs around my waist. “One of those obnoxious blown-up photos.”

“All of us in matching clothes,” she says, grinning. “Get a professional to take it outside during the fall.”

I always hated the idea of doing that, but we’ll do it. And I’m going to get a bunch printed. Buy a wallet with little plastic inserts just so I can print tiny photos and carry them around with me like my grandfather used to.

“I love you. I missed you so much,” I say, molding my hand to the back of her head, urging her to me for a kiss that’s one part adoration and one part fear. I don’t want to have to live without her, and maybe I can kiss my desperation into her, so she’ll know. She’ll realize that she’s changed my whole world, and without her in it, gravity doesn’t keep me tethered anymore.

“I love you. I love you. I love you,” she says, punctuating each sentence with a kiss to the corner of my mouth, my cheek, and my jaw before she hugs me tightly, pressing her face into the side of my head, her fingers scratching over the nape of my neck.

Fuck, I’ve missed that.

A throat clears, and I turn with Andi in my arms to see a woman glaring at me with raised eyebrows. I glare right back, carrying Andi to the doors of the auditorium, where I finally set her feet on the floor. “Ready to go back in?”

She takes my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Absolutely.”

Inside, there’s a kid onstage performing magic tricks that are getting a few laughs, and Andi pulls me over to the woman she arrived with, whispering, “This is my best friend, Dahlia.”

I shake her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Dahlia looks me up and down. “Very nice to meet you, Griffin. I hope you’re worth it.”

I curl my hand around Andi’s neck. Now that she’s here, I can’t stop touching her. Not that I could before she left either. “Me too.”

“More than worth it,” Andi assures both of us, then gestures to Logan, who approaches her with a wary frown. Andi speaks so softly to him that I can’t hear what she says over the clapping and laughing of the audience, but Logan responds with a short answer and they hug, so I assume it’s positive.

While the last acts wrap up, Andi and Dahlia whisper things to each other, and I can see Logan melting with every second. I know he was really upset with Andi for leaving. He felt like she was choosing something else over him, which I understand, but it’s not true. We have room in our hearts to love many things. I should know. I learned that lesson in real time.

But it’s wild to watch my son falling back in love with the woman I know he thinks of as his mother in real time. Not that I ever thought he wouldn’t. He adores her, just like his sister does.

Who eventually comes running out after the show is over, heading right to Andi, hitting her with a hug so big, it earns an audible “Oof” from Andi. Then a laugh. She kisses Grace’s head a few times, whispering about how proud she is of her, before finally letting go so I can hug her as well.

But as soon as I do, she’s back to Andi. She introduces Dahlia, who I learn has talked with my kids for a few minutes over FaceTime. “You were great,” Dahlia says. “Very impressive for your first show.”

Grace turns bright pink. “Thanks.”

Andi tightens her grip on her shoulder, rubbing protectively. “Listen. I know we have a lot to talk about, but I was hoping we could do it over ice cream? My treat.”

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