Page 69 of Two Wrongs

Griffin abandons the conversation to drag me into the storage room. “Are they for real?” he asks as soon as he closes and locks the door.

I nod. “Oh, that is only a small fragment of what they’ve been like tonight.”

He takes a breath and seems to calm down. “What were you and Bess jumping around for?”

“Donovan told her they were getting married and shoved a ring box in her hands. Then told her he promises to pull her hair and fuck her hard every night. Super romantic.” I roll my eyes on the last part.

I’m confused at the turn in his mood, but I know if I push him for answers he’s not going to budge. Unless he wants to that is. Patience is a hard skill, and one I’ve yet to master. “Griff, why are you here tonight?”

“I take it you didn’t see Charlie in the bar earlier, did you?”

“No, is there a problem with him being here? He comes in a lot to pick up women,” I reply.

“The problem is when someone gives you a hard time, and you don’t turn to me. Why did I hear from him that Audrey’s minions were in here giving you shit?”

I raise my eyebrows. “Do you really expect me to run to my daddy when some girls are being mean to me? I can assure you, they were handled.”

His eyes narrow, and some of the tension is back in his body. “Not by me.”

“There’s going to be a lot of fallout from what Liam has done. You’re not going to be able to protect me from all of it. Especially not in public, not in this town.”

Griffin’s hand slips into my hair, and pulls my head back. “Yes, I fucking can. I’m going to prove it to you. We’re going out on your next night off.”

28

Griffin

I swing by Dolores’ house while Wren is dress shopping with Bess. Donovan isn’t letting her sit and think too much about getting married. I admire that about him. He’s making sure he gets to claim his woman in front of everyone he feels is important. If I were in his place I’d have my ring on Wren’s finger and be working on putting my baby in her belly already.

Hearing her talk about wanting a child left me with fantasies about being the one to give her one. When Melinda told me she was pregnant all I felt was fear. I’m ashamed to admit that, even just to myself. I mourned the future I might have had if I had gotten to leave this town.

When the time came, I stepped up, and I was the best father I could have been at eighteen. I made mistakes, but show me a parent who can say they did the perfect job raising their kid. But, it was never something I planned. Doesn’t mean I love my son any less, but I do wonder what it would be like to anticipate becoming a father with joy instead of fear.

I thought spending this time with Wren would let us both live without regrets. I see now you can never escape that completely, it’s just a matter of choosing which ones you can most easily live with. The more time I spend with her, the less sure I am that I’m making the right choice. Choosing a son who steals from me over a woman who is probably the other half of my soul might not be the best one.

Dolores is sitting in a rocking chair on her front porch when I pull into her driveway. I stop in front of her and lean against one of the posts. “I see the house has survived. What was it, termites?”

She laughs mischievously. “Worked, didn’t it? Now, you owe me a favor.”

I roll my eyes. She never changes. “What is it now? You need your gutters cleaned out? A new garden tilled?”

Her watery blue eyes sparkle with amusement. “If you’re offering, sure. But you’ll have to plant that new garden as well.” She looks down at her hands, covered in spots and gnarled with time. “I’m afraid these old bones don’t work as well as they used to. My current flowerbeds are about all I can handle anymore.”

I cross one ankle over the other and prop my hip on the porch rail, settling in for a longer conversation. She’ll make her point when she’s ready to and not a moment before. If anything, she’s gotten more stubborn with age, not less. She did summon me here this morning, so I know there’s something she wants to tell me.

“What are you planning on doing with Wren?” And there it is.

“Are you asking me what my intentions are?” It’s an uncomfortable question, but I’m glad there’s another person who cares enough to ask about Wren’s welfare.

She narrows her eyes at me. “I think she’s been jerked around enough by your son. For that matter, so have you. What I want to know is, do you have the stones to be happy? Mark my words boy, if you let her go, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Have I ever lied to you?”

Leave it to Dolores to strike right to the heart of what’s bothering me. “How do I know the right thing to do?”

“Some things are cliché for a reason. Follow your heart, it already knows what to do,” she answers me.

“That worked so well for my son,” I mumble under my breath.

Dolores might have a hard time getting around and takes a handful of pills daily, but her hearing is still sharp as ever. She shakes her head. “Liam didn’t follow his heart, he followed his wiener. There’s a big difference.”

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