by Geri Foster
“But, you have a right to be here,” David reminded him. “This is your home.” He leaned closer. “I honestly think if you give her a little time and some space, she’ll be okay.”
He lowered his head. “I’m trying.”
“Am I missing something?” Theo asked. “Was Ann right? Are you trying to get back together?” Shaking his head, he said, “I’m sorry, son, I like you, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. You might get to being on friendly terms one day, but I’m not sure you should expect more than that.”
Lucas patted him on the arm. “I’m sorry, but I agree with Theo. I think you’d be smart to forget about ever getting her back. Too much damage has been done—and not all of that is because if you. While you were gone, her heart wasn’t just broken, it was ripped out and tossed in the trash.”
Thinking that over, he grimaced. He heard what they were saying but, catching David’s eye, he remembered what he’d told him. When you knew in your bones it was the right person, you couldn’t just walk away. You had to fight.
Rachel came out to refill their glasses and mentioned she and Amelia were going to pay Olivia a visit.
“Please,” he said. “Don’t make things worse.”
She patted him on the back. “We have no intention of doing that. She’s our friend and we think she needs us right now.”
Nodding, he silently agreed.
A few minutes after they left, a few guys from the station showed up and the conversation was dropped in order to get back to work. He was surprised, and happy, with how quickly his new house was coming together, but his thoughts still strayed to Olivia. Even now, surrounded by the good citizens of Rainwater, he couldn’t help but wonder what she might be doing.
Was she unhappy, crying, considering moving? Or worse, was she closing up and shutting down, rebuilding that part of her wall he’d finally managed to breach. Rachel and Amelia had gone over there after cleaning up from lunch and he couldn’t help but wonder what they were discussing.
He was on a ladder, hanging curtains his mom had purchased, when the two girls returned.
“Is she all right?” he asked. “If she’s still upset, I’ll go over and talk to her.”
Rachel held up her hands. “No, you won’t. Give her some space. She’ll be fine.”
“She still mad?”
“No, she’s just confused, but she’ll figure it out.”
He sat on the top of the ladder, worry making his knees weak. “What’s she not sure about?”
Kendall bit her lip, but then forced out, “If she wants to remain in her house.”
He came off the ladder, tossed the curtains on the couch and stormed out the door. He’d wanted to give her more time, but when had time ever been on his side?
“I’ve had enough of this and I’m sick of fighting. It’s now or never.”
Chapter 7
Olivia came out of the bathroom just as Griff opened her door, marched through her living room, and headed straight toward her. She considered stepping back, but her pride refused to let her move.
The determination in his stormy eyes as he came at her surprised her. She’d seen a glimpse of it just the other day, but this was a whole other level. Her resolve to stand firm faltered a little and she leaned back, unsure of what he would do next. Stopping in front of her, he pulled her into his strong arms and the next thing she knew his lips were on hers. That was the last thing she had expected and she froze, stunned.
At first, he just held his mouth there, but after a moment his lips softened, slowly starting to move back and forth across hers. She let out a gentle sigh at the feel of it and he deepened the kiss, his hand cupping the back of her head, urging her to move with him. When his tongue slipped through her lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to get even closer. The feel of him was so familiar, so comforting, so…right, that she shivered. Taking charge, she pushed even closer and slipped her tongue into his mouth and, when she did, she nearly died at the ecstasy of it.
His mouth was full and sensual against hers, moving with a promise she knew he could deliver on. He applied just the right amount of pressure against her lips. Not threatening, nor demanding...loving, worshipping.
His arms circled her waist and her chest tightened as their breathing increased. The kiss deepened, and she didn’t think her wobbly knees would keep her upright.
He moved his mouth to kiss and nibble his way across her jaw, behind her ear and down her throat, cupping her breast and molding it to his palm at the same time. She clung to him like a life raft, hopelessly unable to do anything but hang on for the ride.
Far too soon, he slowed and lifted his head, eyes closed and breathing heavily for a moment. She took the opportunity to really look at him. The flush to his cheeks, the worry lines creasing his eyes, the way he bit his bottom lip, unsure. And then his eyes opened, a soft, shadowy gray, and what she saw there nearly broke her heart all over again. Insecurity…vulnerability…love.
Her kiss-swollen lips fell open and she just stared. With the way he’d walked in and taken charge, she never would have guessed he’d feel so exposed, so at her mercy afterwards. And that was because of her, she realized. Because she had let him down all those years ago, and he wasn’t sure if she’d do it again.
She was about to say something when his eyes shuttered and the cocky look was back.
“If there’s any doubt how I feel about you, I hope that kiss clarified it.” He leaned down and pecked her on the lips. “If not, I’ll gladly do it again.”
Releasing her, he turned and walked out the door as easily as he’d entered.
She didn’t remember getting to the couch, but she must’ve walked because she now sat there, rubbing her index finger over her bottom lip, tasting his sensuality.
Memories rushed back to her, clear as if they had happened yesterday. Griff had been her first and she wouldn’t have had it any other way, even after all they’d been through. When they were together that first time, they had been madly in love, and that made it so special, so important. At the time, she just knew they would eventually get married and live happily ever after.
But dreams often don’t come true and, in their case, their perfect love paved the way for a nightmare.
She had been in awe of Griff from the beginning. And why wouldn’t she be? He was gorgeous, a tall, golden god with the sexiest eyes on the planet. He was on the football team, a member of the honor’s club, and was chased by every female in school. And he was kind, sweet, funny, smart—so many wonderful things, she couldn’t list them all.
But most of all, he was loyal. Until the episode at the library, he hadn’t given her any reason to mistrust him, and everyone knew it. Friends commented all the time on how much he loved her and what a great couple they made. Her girlfriends would tease her that she was the luckiest girl alive to have Griff so in love with her. And they were right. She was lucky.
So, why had she believed the very worst?
She should’ve laughed it off. Believed what Griff said, no question, and, later, taken it up with Sheila. She should have known it was all Sheila’s doing because the girl had a bad reputation for jealousy and possessiveness.
But she hadn’t.
She’d become so angry that he’d jeopardized their relationship, she couldn’t see or think straight. And she was hurt. So hurt that he’d touched another girl, chosen another girl. One that was prettier and sexier than she was. It made sense to her, then, that he’d secretly been lusting after another. Hadn’t he had Sheila in the past? Maybe he was missing what he’d had.
Looking back, she’d let her insecurities get the best of her. And it was easy to do because he was this awe-inspiring man that all the girls wanted and all the guys wanted to be and she was just…her. But she had to give him credit, he’d tried to explain the whole thing away, he’d declared his love for her a million times, but she was too stubborn to listen. She was young and inexperienced and so focused on her own pain that she never o
nce stopped to think what her distrust was doing to him.
And, then, he went away.
She should have been happy at that. She could finally grieve alone and in peace. But she hadn’t. She often wondered if she had something to do with his leaving. For his parents’ sake, she’d hoped not. They were wonderful people and to think that she’d taken their son from them was hard. But she wouldn’t let herself dwell on that. After all, she was the wronged party, right?
After he left, she’d only allowed herself to think the worst of him. She couldn’t think of all the great, loving things about him or she might change her mind, start to question what she’d seen and start to listen to what he’d been telling her. What everyone had been telling her because, truth was, they’d all believed Griff. Her friends stood by her, of course, but she saw the look in their eyes. The pity. The sadness that said she had done this to herself. And that was when her pride stood up and took charge. She wasn’t going to be pitied. She wasn’t going to be looked at as the sad girl who lost the best guy there was.
The rumors circulating helped. They weren’t widespread, but they were there. Whispers that Sheila was pregnant and Griff was the father. That the two of them planned to get married, he was just off making some money to pay for it. They all proved to be lies, of course. Sheila never showed and never gave birth. If she’d had an abortion everyone would have known—you couldn’t keep that a secret in Rainwater no matter how hard you tried. And Griff never came back.
Seeing things as clearly as she did now, the rumors were no doubt started and fueled by Sheila herself. God, she felt the fool. The silly, naive fool. She’d taken that pain and humiliation and instead of getting stronger, getting smarter, she’d just let herself get angrier, lonelier. So lonely, in fact, that, when she met a handsome new doctor and he offered her the world, she’d leapt at it. They’d had a short-term affair, lasting only until she found out he had a wife and two kids. He’d hid it well, at first, but it wasn’t long until everyone in the hospital knew.
Then Clint Butler came along.
She groaned. God, that was a nightmare. A major nightmare. She’d never live that mistake down. Third time’s a charm, right?
But in all that, she built a wall. An impenetrable fortress to keep herself protected, safe, so that it never happened again. She would never again be pitied or laughed at or taken for a fool. And then Griff walked back into her life and with one look, put a crack in her foundation by proving to her that the basis for that wall was faulty ground, because that first betrayal, the first of three, was not a betrayal on his part at all. It was on her.
The doorbell chimed and she jumped, so lost in her thoughts that she’d forgotten where she was for a second. For a moment, she wondered if Griff came back and her heart sped up, but, then, she remembered that he hadn’t bothered to knock the first time so why would he now.
Standing and walking across the room, she checked her security camera and saw Kendall standing on her porch. She opened the door and smiled. Of all her friends, Kendall and she had the most in common. Both of them had a bad track record of picking horrible men more often than not. But Kendall didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Marcus Matthews had sauntered into her life and swept her off her feet and now they were one of the happiest couples in Rainwater. It wasn’t easy, Kendall fought him on it for sure, but he never gave up and eventually made it through her fortress.
Feeling her lips, she wondered if that was what Griff was doing. Was he battling his way in?
Shaking off her thoughts, she focused on Kendall. “What brings you here?” she asked, opening the door wider. “Done helping my neighbor get settled?”
Kendall laughed. “I think he has enough people over there. It’s you I’m worried about.” Her face scrunched in worry. “I might have let it slip to Griff that you were considering leaving for a while and then he stormed over here and, well, I just wanted to check on you.”
“I’m all right. Good, actually. He’s helping me to see things in a different light,” she confessed quietly.
“Really?” Kendall asked, surprised and, maybe, a little hopeful too.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I realize I have to get past all this bitterness before I let it destroy me. It’s been holding me back for too long and, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m starting to see that it might have been mostly my own doing.”
“Oh, Olivia,” Kendall grabbed her up in a hug. “We all make mistakes when we’re young and stupid. What matters is what we do about it when we realize that.”
She squeezed her briefly then released her, going to the fridge and taking out two beers. “I know, I know, but it’s easier to stay mad and keep my shields up.”
“Been there. But I can promise you, if it’s the right person on the outside asking you to open your doors, it’s worth it.”
She smiled softly. “Like you and Marcus?”
A warm look of love crossed Kendall’s face and she responded, “Like me and Marcus.”
Shaking her head, she handed Kendall a beer and ushered her over to the couch. “I don’t know what to do with you acting so mushy. Go back to the sarcastic, in your face girl I know before I lose my mind.”
“Ha ha,” Kendall fake laughed, sitting down. “Seriously. I can tell something else is on your mind. Spit it out.”
She looked down to the can in her hand, twisting it around. “I don’t know. I’m not sure the wedding debacle is behind me yet.”
“It is if you put it there and leave it.”
“What will people say about me? Jumping from one relationship to the next? It never goes well, you know.”
Nodding, Kendall agreed, “I know. But this isn’t like Clint. This isn’t like that lousy doctor either. You know Griff. We all do. And everyone loves him. No one would blink twice if you two got back together. That is what we’re talking about, right?” Kendall got a worried look on her face. “I mean, do you want to get back together?”
She bit her lip and caught her gaze. “Maybe? There’s a lot to work out, and I have a lot to make up for, but…” She blushed and Kendall, ever astute, caught it.
“What is that?” Kendall pointed to her cheeks. “Did something happen?”
“Well, he kissed me. And it was,” she sighed, looking to the ceiling. “Everything it ever was times about a million.”
Kendall bounced and clapped her hands. “See? It can work out.”
“You don’t know that,” she faced her friend again. “Griff’s been gone for years. What if he’s changed? What if we get together and he decides we’re too different now?”
“I grew up with him right next door, remember? He’s like my brother. I can tell you right now, you two are still a perfect fit for one another.”
“Really?” she asked tentatively.
“Really,” Kendall assured her, squeezing her thigh.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, drinking their beers, when she let out an aggravated breath. “God, I want to hurt Sheila Calhoun for what she did. If she hadn’t gotten in the way, Griff and I wouldn’t have lost so much time. And I hate myself for having been so stupid as to let her do it.”
“I know,” Kendall agreed. “She’s a real bitch. She gets too much pleasure knowing she’s the reason you and Griff aren’t together.”
“Did I ever tell you, that week Clint pulled his little stunt the night before the wedding, she actually laughed in my face about it?”
“She didn’t!” Kendall exclaimed. “You should’ve punched her.”
“I wish I had. At least I could have gotten some of my anger out. With Clint being a fireman, working for my dad, there was nothing either of us could do to him, which only made it worse, if that were possible. My dad and David hated that he was around after what he did to me but they couldn’t just fire him.”
“You got through it. You held up your chin. No one blamed you, you know, for what he did. That was on him.”
She tilted her head sadly. “I heard the whispers afte
rwards, Kendall. Olivia can’t hang on to a man to save her soul. Poor thing. Destined to be alone.”
“That was just small-town gossip. No one says that anymore. And David did run him out of town, practically.”
She laughed. “He did. Leave it to my brother to take up for me.”
Kendall nodded. “But, he never did anything to Griff, right? I don’t remember hearing anything.”
She shrugged. “He didn’t believe it. He was there for me, supported me when I needed him, but he never agreed with me and I knew it.”
“That should’ve told you something.”
She laughed. “That the womanizer of Rainwater believed the guy?”
Kendall threw back her head and chuckled. “He was notorious, wasn’t he?”
“Oh, my God! I don’t even want to go there.”
“Now he has Amelia and there isn’t a woman alive that can drag his eyes off her.”
“Or Leah. He loves his family.”
“You’re right. I’m so glad he’s settled down and happy.”
Silence filled the air. Soon, Kendall reached over and took her hand. “When are you going to let Olivia be happy?”
She chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t know. I’m trying though.”
Kendall squeezed her hand, then released it. “That’s all any of us can do.”
Chapter 8
By Sunday evening Griff had everything pretty much organized in his house, thanks to lots of help from the community. Plus, he had more casseroles than a church social.
With his fridge packed, he’d sent several home with his mom to freeze and, still, the kitchen counter was loaded. Sitting down on his couch, he spread his arms out along the back and settled in. Finally, he had his own home in the town he’d been born.
It didn’t get much better than that.
He glanced at the wall separating him and Olivia. Her home wasn’t fifteen feet away and yet it might as well be hundreds. He hadn’t seen her since he’d marched into her living room and kissed her silly. He hadn’t planned to do it, but hearing that she was thinking of running set something off in him and he’d rushed over there not knowing what he’d do. He just knew he couldn’t let her leave, not when there was still so much between them.
