Page 114 of No Way Home
“I just got off,” Abilene said. “I’ll come with.”
When I told the family I was going to get food and asked if they wanted anything, Ford handed me his credit card and instructed me to get plenty for everyone.
Forty-five minutes later, Abilene and I walked back in, both of us lugging a huge IHOP bag in each hand—complete with pancakes, bacon, crepes, and omelets.
As we stepped off the elevator and into the hall, I came to a dead stop, my breath lodged in my throat.
Abilene nearly stumbled into me. “What the?—”
“Shhh.” My head tilted to one side, my brain trying to comprehend if what I was seeing was real. A very tall man with fiery red hair was striding urgently down the hall in front of us. But all I could see was his backside.
“Is that…Griffin?” Abilene wheezed.
That’s what I was trying to figure out. The hair color was right, and the height, but everything else was different.
He stopped a nurse rushing past, turning his head to speak to her, giving us a side profile view. Holy crap. It was him.
But this was not the Griffin Dupree I’d dated. This Griffin was allman—broad shoulders, cut jawline where baby fat used to be, a coppery shadow of scruff making him look older than he was. His henley clung to muscles that hadn’t existed two years ago, and his hair wasn’t buzzed like in all the Hollister advertisements. Now it was trimmed into a sharp, textured crop.
“Where can I find James Dupree?” his voice rumbled, low and confident. Deeper than it used to be.
The nurse’s head snapped back like she thought she might be dreaming. She blinked. Then blinked again. “Are…” She swallowed visibly. “Are you a relative?”
“Yes,” Griffin’s voice reverberated off the walls, not the least bit aware of what he was doing to the poor woman. “His brother.”
She nodded. “Your family is just down the hall. James’s surgery is wrapping up right now, I believe.”
Griff’s shoulders, which had been stiff and slightly hunched, dropped in relief. He’d probably been terrified his entire flight here, worried that James might not make it. “Thanks.” He gave her an all-business smile and continued up the hall. She turned to watch him walk away appreciatively.
I was happy for him. He’d always hated his red hair, that his eyes were green instead of the Duprees’ trademark light blue-gray, and he’d despised his ‘gangly’ body that refused to gain weight no matter what he did. But now? He was owning every piece of himself.
Looked like I hadn’t been a stumbling block for him after all. I’d simply been a stepping stone. The question was whether he’d figured it out yet.
Abilene yanked me along. “Let’s go. He’s getting away.”
I dug in my heels, fear gripping my chest.
“Maggie,” she power-whispered as Griffin turned right and vanished from our view. “Come on. I want to see the reunion.” She lifted the bags she was carrying. “And my arms hurt.”
“Yeah, okay.” I made myself put one foot in front of the other. But the closer we got to the waiting room, the more my instincts screamed to run the other way. The only thing waiting for me up ahead was rejection.
I was the last person Griffin wanted to see right now. But even more terrifying than facing the man whose heart I’d destroyed was facing the man who always destroyed me whenever Griffin was around. Bowen said he’d choose me over Griff. It’s easy to say what you would do in the face of a non-threatening, hypothetical situation. Now that Griffin was actually here and James’s life was hanging in the balance?
I couldn’t be a wedge between them. Not again.
If they wanted to repair their relationship, I had to get outof their way. If the Duprees ever needed peace, it was right now.
Just before Abbie and I rounded the corner, shouts of excitement rent the air, ramping my nerves even higher. As we stepped into the waiting room, in one single inhale, my lungs expanded, filling my entire chest cavity with overwhelming happiness.
Griffin was dead center in the biggest group hug I’d ever seen. The Duprees were probably breaking a world record at that very moment. Griff was sandwiched between Lemon, Silas, and Sophie. But right outside of that was Granny and Gramps, Christy and Holden, Ashton and Tally, Anna and Blue, Ford and Peyton, along with every child and grandchild—each leaning in, trying to touch Griff.
The only two not in on it? Liam, who was scowling, arms folded, eyes narrowed at his ex-bestie, and Bowen, who looked like he was about to pass out from shock, hands fisted in his hair. My heart hurt that he felt like he couldn’t be a part of the hug.
Sage’s parents stood off to the side, loving on Willow, determined to be happy for the Duprees even as their own hearts bled out onto the floor.
“You did this, didn’t you?” Silas asked Ford, chuckling through his tears.
“It was nothing.” Ford shrugged humbly. “Griff needed to be here ASAP and all the flights were sold out.”
