Page 29 of Sing Me Home
“Griff has a girlfriend?” I asked.
“Oh. Yeah. That’s Maggie. Her family moved to Seddledowne a few years back. They met when they were volunteering at the rescue squad.” Cash shoved his hands into his pockets. "Kind of a weird dynamic. They date whenever they’re both in town. Then, when they head back to college, they date other people. But they both just graduated. She got accepted to med school at UVA and Griff starts recruit school for Honeyville Fire Department next week, so they’re finally exclusive.”
“Wait. Griffin is going to be a firefighter. Like as a career?” He’d talked about it all the time as a kid, the same way I’d talked about being a school bus driver when I grew up. But I came to my senses. “Like he’s going to run into burning buildings to save people?”
“Says he can’t wait. He starts training next week.”
“Wow.” My head gave a little shake. “You like her? Maggie?”
“Yeah. She’s cool. She and Bowen can’t get along for five seconds though, which makes it hard for all of us to hang out.”
“Oh gracious.”
Jane, my fourteen-year-old sister, jogged over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me away from him. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she squealed.
“Me too, cutie. Is Mom doing the race?”
“No. The baby is due a couple of weeks before that, so she’s just cheering us all on. She’s going to walk the trail though, just for exercise.”
Mom must’ve heard us talking about her because just then, her eyes met mine and she smiled. I returned the smile but couldn’t hold her gaze. Instead, I glanced at Granny who was rocking black leggings, a Spartan Race T-shirt, and had her shoulder-length gray hair pulled back into a ponytail. She already had her arms out, ready for a hug. I skipped straight into her embrace and breathed in her familiar smell—baby powder and cinnamon.
“How’s our girl this morning?” Gramps pressed a kiss to my temple and the scent of saddle oil and rich Virginia soil drifted down to meet me. “My barn’s never looked better, sugar. You’re hired. Permanently.” Then he slipped fifty bucks into my hand.
“Gramps.” I shoved it back at him. “That’s too much. It only took an hour.”
Granny’s arm was still around my waist. “Slide it into your pocket, now. He won’t take it back.” Fine. I’d split it with Cash.
Speak of the devil—he really needed to aim that heated look somewhere else. I was already burning. Even as he chatted with James, Griffin, and Theo, he watched me with a dark intensity.
Uncle Holden cupped his hands like a megaphone and yelled at Ford and Peyton, bringing up the rear. “Any time today, slow pokes!”
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Dad grumbled. “This humidity is already ridiculous.” He slapped a mosquito that had landed on his forearm.
Mom unzipped a cross-body fanny pack and sprayed bug repellent on him.
Ford pulled his phone from his pocket. “All right, boys. I’ve gotten a Venmo from every family except for yours, Silas.”
“What’s happening?” I asked Granny.
“There’s a money pool. Winner gets all the cash.”
“Well, the winning team,” Gramps corrected. “We’re pairing off.”
I threw my hands up. “Nobody told me there was a pool. I would’ve run these all along.”
Everyone laughed.
“This is the first year we’ve done it,” Silas said, fishing his phone from his pocket like it physically pained him.
“How much is the pool?” I asked, curious.
“Right now, it’s up to…” Ford tapped on his phone. “$8,172.”
“What?” I yelped.
But Ford scowled. “Y’all can do better than that. Especially you, Blue. And Ash. Come on now.”
Uncle Ford had the fame, the fortune, and the fan base—but he lived like giving was the point. And he and Blue had plenty to give. My parents did too, now that their spy-romance book series had been turned into movies.
