Page 131 of No Way Home
Aunt Peyton shook her head, disappointed in Griffin’s behavior. Ford deferred to Juliette with a flick of his brows.
But Griffin had underestimated the woman he married. Big time. Her jaw jutted. “Wow,” was all she said. Then she rolled her shoulders back and shoved her hand at Peyton for a shake. “I accept your offer. When do we start?”
Griffin gaped as they shook on it. “Why are you doing this?” he asked Juliette, looking at her like she was suddenly someone he didn’t know. “You know how I feel about this place. This town.”
Juliette turned to face him, expression soft. “I like it here. A lot. Your family is…incredible. And now they’re my family. You know what that means to me.” She put her hands on her hips. “Since the second day we got here, all I could think was, I don’t want to leave. Ever. I want to be here for Christmas and Easter and Halloween and every Sunday dinner. And I want to watch Blaze play football, and see Belle argue with Madden’s son, Christian, the next time he’s at the ranch. Everybody keeps talking about how spicy they are together. I want to castrate a bull and learn to ride a horse. I want to experience all of it. In person. Not over FaceTime.” She sniffed. “That’s why I cried myself to sleep last night—not because I’m about to start my period. Because I was devastated at the thought of leaving.” Her brows met in a V. “I don’t get how you can stand being anywhere but here. Especially with everything going on with James. Just think about it. If we were here, we could help him.”
I thought her explanation might’ve softened him, but no. The longer she talked, the colder Griffin grew. “You don’t want to live here. You’ll be bored in six months. That’s a promise.”
“No,” she said, frustrated. “I won’t. I already know that. I will never get tired of being here. It’s peaceful and quiet, and I could really?—”
“No,” Griffin said, his tone final. “I’m not staying. This is insane. You can’t make life-altering decisions that quickly,” he said flippantly, but it was a cover. I could tell he was panicking inside.
Her head tilted to the side. “You mean, like getting married after knowing someone for three days?” The room went uncomfortably quiet. She pressed a hand to her heart. “Sometimes you justknow.” The way she said it was fierce and censuring.
Now would’ve been the time to tell her she was right and maybe they should give it some thought. Instead, he checked his watch. “We have a plane to catch, Jules. Are you coming or not?” he asked like it was as simple as a yes or no, and he really couldn’t care what she chose.
Juliette watched Griffin for a few seconds, looking devastated. Then she whispered, “Not.”
Griffin’s eyes filled with angry tears. “Fine. Have it your way.” He yanked his wedding band off and slapped it into her hand. “Hope it’s worth it.”
Then he grabbed the handle of his suitcase, threw the door open, and slammed it shut behind him.
Two hours later, he was on a plane to Phoenix.
Alone.
Epilogue
MAGNOLIA
ONE YEAR LATER
Once again,Abilene and I were at a UVA football game. Only this time, I was the one complaining.
“I can’t believe it’s almost halftime and Bowen still isn’t here,” I said, tightening the strings on the hood of my raincoat so only my nose and eyes were visible.
“I can’t believe we’re watching a football game in the rain,” Abilene said, likeWho are we?
On the other side of Abilene, Fletcher shouted at the players on the field like it was eighty degrees and sunny—shirtless, his chest, neck, and face were painted bright orange, with navy blue around his eyes and a V-sabre on his torso. Or he had been when the game started. Now the paint was bleeding down his pants and onto the concrete.
Our best running back intercepted Virginia Tech’s pass, and Fletch lost his mind, jumping up and down, fist pumping in the air. But then the running back slipped on the wet grass and face-planted. But hey, he hung onto the ball.
“Fletch!” Abilene yelled, wiping paint from her forehead. “You’re getting it everywhere!”
He grabbed her by the shoulders and rubbed his cheeks all over hers, laughing. “Sorry, baby.” Then he pulled her in for anextremely wet, extremely messy kiss. And she didn’t complain for another second about getting paint on her face. She was too busy kissing him back.
Yep. Turns out all that puffed-up disdain was actually a cover for some very intense feelings. I mean, three months ago, in the middle of their usual bickering, when Fletch had shut Abilene up with a kiss, she’d slapped him across the face, mouth open in surprise, likehow dare you. But the next second, she shocked us all when she crashed her mouth onto his. They’d been hot and heavy ever since. Looked like she might have Hobbit-toed babies one day after all.
I sent Bowen yet another text. Raindrops plopped onto the screen and I wiped them off—but he didn’t respond. He hadn’t responded for the last half hour. Before that, he’d said he was stuck in traffic. “He should’ve been here by now,” I said, checking his location on Find My Friends. It was turned off. Huh? “Do you think he’s going to disappear on me?” I asked them.
They broke the kiss to look at me. Then they burst out laughing.
“Maggie,” Abilene said as if I was being ridiculous. “He has not ditched you a single time since you became a couple. Give the man some credit.”
“I promise,” Fletcher said with a chuckle. “He’s having trouble breathing at this very minute because his oxygen tank isn’t with him.”
Me. I was Bowen’s oxygen tank. He called me that all the time.
