Things didn’t feel real to either of them, but they forged ahead anyway. The euphoria kept them moving on. It would either be a love affair to end all others or a tragedy worthy of writing about. Whatever their future was, both were excited about and willing to take the risks that came with it.
Chapter 39
“What do you mean, stay here, Griff?” Jess asked as she rolled over in his bed and looked at him.
Griffin pushed her hair back off her face as he told her once more, “I want you to stay here, Jess. Live here with me. I can honestly say that this place has always been my home, but it’s never felt more like home until I brought you here.”
“How could I stay here?” she asked. “I have school and work, Griff.”
“You can change schools. We have lots of colleges here where you can continue with your animal biology degree. And as far as work goes, we could give you an internship with Montana Matrix which will give you tons of experience working with animals. You’d get a better education here, anyway.” He ran his hand over her cheek that was pink where his beard had rubbed it. “So say you’ll stay with me, baby.”
“What would your family think, Griff?” she asked as she looked into the hazel of his eyes and saw pure happiness in them.
“This place is monstrous. Mom, Dad, and my younger brother are the only ones who live here. And I know they’ll all love you. And you want to know the best part?”
She laughed at how enthusiastic he was. “What’s the best part?”
“The best part,” he said as he pulled her close to him, “is that I get to have you in my bed each night and work with you each day too. It’s been forever since I was interested enough to put actual work into the company. But with you by my side, I think I’ve found interest in it again.”
“I’ll have to talk to Dad,” Jess said. “Those student loans are …”
He kissed her to shut her up, making her quiver as she felt his cock thump against her. When he ended the kiss, he said, “As part of the internship, we’ll pay off those loans, and we’ll pay for the rest of your college, Jess. There’s absolutely nothing to lose by accepting both of my offers. The first, being my girl and moving in here with me. The second, taking the job. We pay our interns. We aren’t like other companies who pay little to nothing.”
“Money, a good man, and an education?” she asked. “Did I die and go to heaven?”
“Nope, just Montana,” he answered with a chuckle. “So can I take that as a yes, baby?”
“I’d be an idiot to turn all this down, wouldn’t I?” she asked him as she moved her body as close to his as she could get it.
“You would,” he answered as he eased her onto her back, covering her with his body.
“I’m no idiot,” she whispered. “Internship or not, I’d be a fool to turn down the offer of being your girl, Griff.”
With a smile, he kissed her, sealing their deal. She’d be staying; he’d have his first real relationship. He’d thought he’d be more afraid to make such a commitment. But with Jess, it was as easy as riding a bike.
His only worry was how her family would take the news that he’d taken the baby girl of the family away with him.
Chapter 40
Ethan and Kel pulled up in front of her family’s home right at dinner time. A cab was dropping Phoenix and Cait off and behind that was a town car that was about to drop off Jess and Griffin. All were back home as promised when they left. All had big news to tell.
It was Kel who spotted the rings on Phoenix and Cait’s fingers. She grabbed her sister’s hand as they met at the front door. “What’s this mean?” Kel asked.
Phoenix smiled as he said, “I think you know what it means, Kel. We’ve just come back from Vegas.”
“No!” Kel shouted, and then the front door opened.
Their father stood at it, wearing nothing but a pair of gray-striped underwear and a white T-shirt. “Home so soon?” he asked as he backed up so they all could go inside.
Kel walked in first and kissed her father’s cheek. “Are we interrupting something, Dad?”
“No, why do you ask that?” he asked as he made his way to his recliner.
All his daughters and all their men had made it inside and found their mother coming down the dark hallway. “I have a pot roast and potatoes almost ready. How were your weekend dates?” She stopped short as she looked at Cait. “What’ve ya done?”
Cait smiled and held up her left hand. “Phoenix and I got married last night.”
Mrs. Flannigan felt faint with her daughter’s news and landed on her bottom on the staircase. “You’ve what?”
Mr. Flannigan turned down the television and asked, “What’d you do to your mother?”
“Tell your father, Cait!” her mother shouted.
“Dad,” Cait said as she and Phoenix walked up to him.
Phoenix put his arm around her shoulders. “Mr. Flannigan, your daughter and I got married last night in Vegas.”
Mr. Flannigan sat still and blinked with the news. “Married?”
“Married, Dad,” Cait said.
“But you share a bedroom with your sisters. What’re they supposed to do now?” he asked, as he seemed more than a bit confused.
“Um, we have news too, Dad,” Kel called out.
“Not you too, Kel,” her mother whined. “You’re the level-headed one of the bunch.”
“No, we didn’t get married,” Kel told her mother. “But we are going to move in together. As a matter of fact, Ethan and I are going to be staying at the O’Toole’s Bed and Breakfast while he looks for us a house here in town.”
“Then I suppose you and your husband can sleep in the bedroom and we’ll put Jess on the sofa until you two find your own home,” their father said.
“No, we aren’t staying here, either,” Cait said.
Phoenix added, “We’ll be at the O’Toole’s as well while we’re looking for a suitable home.”
Jess looked up at Griff, then whispered, “Should I tell them about us?”
He nodded. “Might as well get all this out in the open, baby.”
“Mom, Dad,” Jess said, taking their attention. “Griff and I would like to spend the night here. Will that be okay?”
“I don’t like it!” her mother shouted. “Not one bit!”
“Now you’ve gone and made your mother mad,” their father groaned.
Mrs. Flannigan began her sermon, “My youngest wants to bring a man to sleep with her in the bedroom she’s shared with her sisters since she was born. My middle daughter has eloped with a man she barely knows, and who we know next to nothin’ about. And my oldest and most trusted child is moving in with a man, to live in sin. At least Cait’s married to her man. What have I done to deserve this punishment, Lord?” She looked up and raised her hands as if asking for help.
“This isn’t about you, Mom,” Kel hissed. “Can’t you tell any one of us congratulations?”
Jess stood still and quiet, but Griff thought their news should be out in the open so the parents could deal with it all. Much like one rips a bandage off to deal with the pain all at once. “Um, just to let everyone know what’s going on here with us,” he said as he pulled Jess closer to him, wrapping his arm around her, tightly. “Jess is going to change schools and come live with me in Montana. She’s going to take an internship with Montana Matrix, my family’s company.”
“No!” her mother shouted and got up. “She’s a baby! She can’t go!” She walked straight up to Griffin, shaking her finger. “You cannot have her!”
Jess was red with embarrassment. “Stop, Mom! Damn!”
With the curse word hanging in the air, Mrs. Flannigan went red in the face and walked silently to her husband’s side. “Fix this.”
Her husband looked up at her and shrugged. “They’re grown. What would you have me do?”
Kel went to her mother and pulled her in for a hug. “Mom, this is all great news. Your daughters have all found good men. Great men, actual
ly. And what’s more is they’re all financially stable. You don’t have to worry about any of us.”
Ethan came to Kel’s side, adding, “We’re more than financially stable, Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan. All three of us are billionaires. And the debt of their student loans will no longer be a burden to you.”
Phoenix pulled Cait along with him as he stepped forward. “Along with that taken off your plate, we’d like to buy you a new home for your thirtieth wedding anniversary that Cait told me was coming up this year.”
Griffin saw an opportunity to win some brownie points and pulled Jess to step up with him as he said, “And Jess and I want to give you both new cars for that prestigious thirtieth anniversary. Not many make it that long. It’s a great achievement and deserves great gifts.”
Jess gave him a smile that told him she approved of his gifts. And all thought things were going well as Mr. Flannigan began to laugh. “Really? No more student loan debt? A new house and cars? Really?”
Mrs. Flannigan pulled away from Kel and left the room in tears. Silent tears, the likes of which none of her family had ever seen. “My God, we’ve killed her,” Kel whispered. Then she ran after her mother, who’d gone up the stairs to her bedroom.
Kel tapped at the closed door and got no answer. So she went in anyway. She wasn’t going to let a rift grow in their family merely because all the sisters had managed to find love at the same time.
She found her mother lying face down on the bed. Placing her hand on her mother’s shoulder, she said, “Mom, I know this is a lot to take in all at one time. We’re all leaving the home you made for us. A great home that we’re all thankful for having come from. We’re thankful for you and Dad and all you’ve done for us.”
“Then why are you doing this?” her mother mumbled as her face was buried in the mattress.
“Because we’ve all found love, Mom. Why else?” Kel kissed her mother on top of the head. “I’ve never felt happier. Doesn’t that count for something?”
She rolled over to face her daughter as she asked, “Don’t you recall what happened the last time you put your faith in a man, Kel? It ended with devastation. Live at home, let the man get himself a place, and you two can date and see what happens. What will people say to two of my daughters living in sin? One here and one so far away?”
“I waited before, and I lost my man, Mom. I don’t want to lose Ethan, and I don’t want to wait to start our life together,” Kel told her.
“Then tell him to marry you,” her mother snapped. “Let him know that you’re not a piece of trash. Make him marry you if he wants the goods. Why buy the cow …”
“When you can get the milk for free,” Kel finished the term her mother used often. “You see, Mom, times have changed. I don’t want to make Ethan marry me. If we decide to marry down the road, then that’s our decision to make. I don’t want to marry a man just because you think society dictates that.”
“So I am to hang my head in shame when I see anyone?” her mother asked. “Is that what you want me to do?”
“I can’t not live my life the way I want to just so you feel like you can hold your head up. That’s your thing to work out, not ours. Not many see living together as shameful anymore, Mom. For a lot of years now, it’s been considered something that was okay to do. Even smart, for some couples.”
Her mother sat up, suddenly and took both of her hands. “Promise me that you’ll get married before you have children. I think I can accept this if you promise me that!”
Kel stood there staring at her mother. And it hit her just how much she and her sisters had done as their mother had said to. All three of them had wanted to live in the dorms when they started college. All were told they couldn’t. It was dangerous.
Kel recalled a time when Cait had wanted to take a job close to her college in an upscale restaurant that used cutting-edge equipment and products to make their meals. Being as that was Cait’s passion, she had wanted to get some insight into what people would eat and not eat. But she was told that would take away from their restaurant, and it would be selfish to do such a thing.
So Kel looked into her mother’s eyes and, for the first time ever, she let her know she was done following her orders as she said, “Mom, I love you. I really do. And I know you mean the best for us with the things you say and want from us. But we’re not without brains. We’re not without morals. And we are not going to be told what to do with our lives any longer.”
“So you won’t promise me this one thing?” her mother whined. “One little thing! Get married before you have kids!” Her voice grew louder. “One little thing!”
Kel wasn’t going to be bullied into another thing by her mother. “I will not make you a promise that I don’t intend to keep. I have no idea how things will work between Ethan and I. I can promise you that we will make the best decisions we know how to. Now, can we put this drama to rest and go eat dinner as a family? Or will you pout in your room like a spoiled child?”
“I am no spoiled child!” her mother said as she found herself incensed.
“Then prove it,” Kel said as she stepped back and began walking to the door. “Tell your daughters that you’re proud of them and that they’re still your children, no matter what. And try telling our men thank you for all they’re doing for you and Dad. I’ll see you at the table if you decide to take hold of your temper.” Kel left the room and her mother staring after her.
Chapter 41
Jess and Cait had set the table and placed the steaming pot roast and potatoes in the middle. Kel grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter as she came through the kitchen, noticing her father had changed into pants and a button-down. “I see you decided to get dressed, Dad.” She filled a glass with red wine and handed it to him. “This isn’t a bad thing, you know.”
He nodded and took the glass from her hand. “I do. But your mother will be …”
“What will I be?” Mrs. Flannigan asked as she came into the room. Her head was held high and her shoulders were squared.
“Um, nothing, my sweet,” he cleverly remarked. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, I am. Much better.” She held out her arms to her oldest child. Kel moved into them, giving her mother a hug. “Thanks to a little lecture from my oldest and most respected child, I am doing much better.” She let Kel go, but held her hand. “You’re right about me acting like a spoiled brat. I suppose I thought I’d get to keep you all here with me forever. That was a foolish thought. And most of you will be around town. I should be thankful.”
“And you can go up to see, Jess,” Kel told her. “It’ll be like a vacation.”
Her mother huffed as she tried hard to accept the fact that her baby girl would be leaving them for extended periods of time to live in the wilderness. That’s how she thought of Montana: wild territory with wolves and bears, and she had no idea why anyone would even want to live there.
But she was trying hard to put that out of her mind. She took her husband’s hand and whispered as they followed Kel into the dining room, “Soon it’ll just be us. Our son will be grown up and gone before we know it.”
“That’s a little scary, huh?” he asked, then reached around to pinch her on the bottom.
She yelped and smacked him on his arm as she blushed and thought that being alone with her husband after all those years might not be so bad after all.
Mrs. Flannigan ran her hand over each man’s back as she walked around the round table. “I’m sorry for my outburst. The news took me by surprise. That said,” she said as she took the seat her husband had pulled out for her, “I expect you three to do right by my girls. They’re good girls, with level heads, and all three of them are smarter than your average woman.”
Griff gave Jess’s hand a squeeze as he whispered, “That you are.”
Jess smiled at him as her cheeks went pink. “Oh, Griff.”
He kissed her cheek, drawing her mother’s attention. “So, this Montana Matrix, tell me what the company’s ab
out, Griffin.”
“Well, it’s pretty exciting, cutting edge kind of stuff. We were a cattle company, you know, all about the meat and little else,” Griffin told her. “A few years ago, my father stumbled onto something even more profitable. It seemed we had some great bloodlines that other ranchers all over the world were willing to pay high dollar for. So we got into the breeding business and found that was a huge pain in the rump roast.”
“Ha, rump roast,” Ethan laughed. “You’re a funny fella, Griffin.” Mrs. Flannigan had to give Ethan a smile as he passed her a plate he’d already filled for her. “Here ya go, Mrs. Flannigan.”
“Thank you, Ethan. You have lovely manners,” she remarked as she picked up her fork. “So you went out of the breeding business then, Griffin?
“No, we went tech with it, extracting our prize-winning bulls’ sperm and shipping it wherever anyone wanted it. And it turned out that many want it. Jess can gain a wealth of education from working for our company,” Griffin said, then kissed Jess’ cheek again. “And I really love this girl, Mrs. Flannigan.”
“You both glow,” Mrs. Flannigan said, then looked around the table where only their son was absent as he had a baseball game he was attending that night. “You all are glowing. You men must be magical. All of my daughters look happier than I recall seeing them look before.”
Cait ran her hand across Phoenix’s cheek, the light reflected off her diamond wedding band. “I am happier than I’ve ever been.”
Phoenix left a little kiss on her lips. “Me too, Mrs. Nelson.”
Kel giggled as she watched her younger sister look at her husband. “I can’t believe you two did that without telling a soul,” Kel commented.
“They’re pretty sneaky,” Ethan said. “Not a peep out of either of them.”
Phoenix looked at Mr. Flannigan and said, “Sir, I’d have waited to ask for your permission, but I was champing at the bit to get a ring on Cait’s finger and make it all official. I’ve never known something was so right until I met your daughter.”
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