Page 40 of A Baby for the Firefighter
“If you really don’t mind…” his mother said. “I’d like to see your house.” She gave her son a soft smile. “I’ve always wanted to know what it looks like from the inside.”
Griff returned her smile, but his looked rueful, and I could imagine why. The two of them had a lot to discuss, but maybe not right now.
“Shall we go, then?” I asked, still holding Griff’s hand firmly in my own to remind him that he had my support in everything he chose to do.
“Yeah, I think we should. I have to call Eli too, when we’re home.”
I could see on his face that the thought made him slightly uncomfortable. Knowing his family’s history, I understood why. If Griff had a difficult relationship with his parents, Eli’s was catastrophic. Griff probably feared that his brother was going to be mad at him for taking their mother in, but I couldn’t imagine that to be the case. Griff needed to give his brother a little more credit. I squeezed his hand.
“Let’s be on our way, then. Are you coming as well?” I asked Mrs. Stevens, because it was entirely possible she wanted to remain at her injured husband’s side for a while longer, but she nodded and stood.
“I’m ready,” she said with a last look at the man she’d married. “Let’s go.”
“Good,” I said, because I couldn’t wait to get out of this hospital and away from all the bad memories it was stirring up inside me. I couldn’t unload any of them on Griff, not while he needed me. Maybe not ever.
17
Griffin
We passedthe ride back to my house in relative quiet—a feat I was proud of, considering how hard it was to keep myself from babbling the whole way. But staying quiet forced me to remain in my own head, to think about all that happened and all that my mother had said. It was obvious that she wanted to make up. Part of me wanted that too, but I couldn’t deny that there was also a part of me that was mad at her, still, and I feared it wouldn’t go away so easily. And if this was difficult for me, I could only imagine how Eli was feeling.
I looked out the window at the small-town houses passing us by. Oceanport always looked so deceptively peaceful. You wouldn’t think that there’d been a fire here today. You wouldn’t think that it had almost killed someone. Wouldn’t think that it had almost killed my dad before I had a chance to talk to him again after almost ten years of silence.
I took a deep, shaky breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. How was any of this real?
I had to stop thinking. At least I had my mom with me now. I wasn’t going to loseherafter having another conversation and mending this rift somehow. I didn’t knowhowyet, but I was going to do it.
We arrived at my house after another few minutes and got out of the car. I showed my mom in and was extremely grateful that Dean decided to come in with us as well. I wasn’t ready for him to leave yet. In fact, I wasn’t ready for him to leaveat all, but could I ask him to stay the night when I had no intention of putting out or was that going to put a strain on our relationship?
I didn’t know, and I was tired of thinking about it. Fortunately, Dean offered to make some coffee as soon as we stepped into the house as if sensing my exhaustion somehow.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a quick kiss. “For everything.”
“It’s fine. Go show your mother where she’ll be sleeping.”
“Right.” I rubbed my face and turned to my mom. “Ready for a tour?” I asked, putting on a smile.
“I would love that.” Her smile looked almost as weak as mine, but it had been a trying day for both of us. She’d almost lost her husband.
Don’t let your thoughts go there again.
I started my tour off by showing my mom the kitchen, the living room and the downstairs bathroom.
“You used to live here with Eli?” she asked.
“Yes. But he’s moved out now to live with his husband, and they bought this house so I could stay here.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s generous. But then, I guess they can afford it.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. Matt had a lot of money since he’d recently inherited his family’s fortune. I couldn’t help but wonder though, if our parents would still have kicked Eli out if he’d told them his baby’s father was the richest bachelor in town. Would it have made a difference?
But I was the only one Eli had told, and I’d kept his secret, so we were never going to find out now.
“They’re not worrying about money,” I said eventually and led her up the stairs.
“And how are you doing?” she asked. “Do you have enough money? Do you need help?”
“I’m fine. People pay a lot more for a good graphic designer than you’d think.” I was pretty decent, and super glad that I didn’t have to ask for help from my parents to pay my bills. It had been difficult for Eli and me in the beginning, but we’d made it work. Just barely, sometimes, but still.
