Page 98 of A False Start
Truthfully, it’s huge. Epic. But I still have this niggling feeling that it isn’t quite right. Like we deserve a cleaner start than this. Like we both still have a metric ton of shit to work out, and maybe neither of us should bring that into a new relationship. Like we were damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
Seeing that beautiful, conniving woman threatening him was living, breathing proof of that.
But my days of running away from my problems are over. I can face this because I know I’m strong. I know I’m capable. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
I reach out to grab the handle, but the front door is jerked open before I can apply any pressure. Mira stands in the entryway, smirking at me. “I was just coming to look for you.”
I give her a closed-mouth smile. “Here I am. You found me.”
She snorts. “It’s fucking awkward in there. Come join the fun.”
I groan and tip my head back as she wraps an arm around my shoulders and tugs me into the house with her, enjoying this way too much.
“Come on.” She squeezes me. “It won’t be so bad. Everyone herelovesyou.”
My chin dips to my chest, and I try not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the way she emphasized that word. “Good God, does Stef tell you everything?”
She chuckles, eyes twinkling with amusement. “Literally, everything. You know he’s a stickler for honesty.”
I roll my eyes and kick my shoes off before following her into the open kitchen and out onto the back deck where my brother is barbecuing. Violet and Cole’s two girls are frolicking in the yard with Silas, peering into a mesh cage while squealing happily about the bugs they’ve captured in there. Cole and Violet are sitting beside each other, chairs pressed impossibly close. “Why don’t you just crawl into his lap, Vi?” I joke as I step through the sliding doors.
Violet’s cheeks flush but Cole hits me with a wolfish grin. “Great idea,” he says as he picks up his petite wife and drags her onto his lap, completely ignoring her weak protests and surprised squeal.
They’re fucking adorable.
My eyes snag on Griffin, sitting at the head of the table spinning a can of soda water between his hands, watching me. But his expression isn’t a happy one.
I offer him a shy smile. He winks back from beneath the brim of his hat, and I realize that it’s a tell for how he’s feeling. On days he’s feeling confident and like he could take on the world, he’s got his hair slicked back, looking like a hot, young, bearded Keanu Reeves. But when he wants to hide from reality, that dirty old cap gets pulled out, the brim shadowing his eyes like it did the first night we collided.
“Hey, Stef,” I call to his back. “Smells amazing.”
“Hey.” His reply is stiff.
Super fucking awkward.
“That’s my Nana’s tandoori chicken recipe!” Mira calls from the kitchen.
“Nice!” I call back, genuinely excited to try it out. Because everything her Nana makes is incredible. “How’s Billie?” I ask as I flop down in a chair at the wrought-iron table. Mira slides me a soda water. Pineapple. My favorite. I can pretend I’m on a tropical vacation.
“She’s good. Babies are good. Long labor that ended in a c-section. They’re resting up at the hospital in Garnet Ridge for now. Hank and Trixie are there with them.”
I smile as I sip the bubbly liquid. This little family out at Gold Rush Ranch is really something to behold. My heart squeezes at the thought of Billie showing up on Hank’s front step, looking for a job as a runaway teenager. And now she’s here, living her happily-ever-after with her hot husband on her beautiful farm, with Hank acting as the father she never had.
My eyes prickle at the beauty of it.
“Did you go see her?” I ask.
Violet pipes up. “Not yet. Giving them some space.”
Cole cuts in to add, “I called to congratulate them, and all they did was bicker about what names they were going to pick and whether Vaughn was going to trade in his ‘bitch baby’ sports car for a safer option.” He huffs out a laugh and rolls his eyes. “Like they haven’t had nine months to figure these things out.”
Everyone chuckles, even my brother’s shoulders shake.
Mira leans back with a sigh, staring up at the sky. “I think I’d be worried about those two if theyweren’tat each other’s throats. It’s like foreplay for them.”
Cole groans and hides his face in Violet’s icy blonde hair. “Pass.”
Violet giggles and changes the subject. “How’s Cowboy, Nadia? I peeked at him when we arrived. He looks incredible.”
