Page 177 of On The Rocks

Irene was like a ghost I couldn’t see.

But it didn’t stop me from taking every moment with the little family I’d come to create. I’d hoped to get her to come out with her wife earlier, but her work was insanely time-consuming.

So, we’d go to her.

With the taproom in disarray, and the lineup for the summer shows cemented, we could get away for a little bit.

I wanted Leilani to get to know Lennon.

It mattered more to me that my half-sister know the woman I was going to marry, than my mother. She’d been out of my life for so long that she was more of a stranger than those I’d only known a few years.

Elmer gave one shrieking bark when we pulled up to my place. Another thing I’d have to think about. It worked for us now, but if Lennon and I wanted to build a life, we probably needed a real house with room to grow.

If she wanted that.

I hoped she wanted that.

Her Jeep was in the drive. She hadn’t replied to me, but maybe she’d fallen asleep. We’d all been working our asses off to make the benefit happen.

I hopped out, then I scooped up Elmer and set him on the ground while I grabbed my cooler and duffel bag. I yawned enough to make my jaw crack. Maybe I’d be asleep right next to her. My boot slid into a groove in the gravel, and I stumbled.

“What the hell?” Were those drag marks? One of the flowerpots Laverne had dropped off last time was tipped over, the soil spilling down the stairs. “Lenny?” I called out, running up the steps.

Elmer was right behind me, panting.

Swearing, I fumbled my key into the door. It was dark, save for the bit of moonlight coming in the arched window. That little bit of light showed a form slumped on the couch.

“Lennon?” I rushed in and suddenly, the light flicked on.

Bright as hell after the darkness, I squinted in the sudden brightness, and I lifted my arm to my eyes. Elmer started shriek-barking as only a pit bull could.

“Shut the dog up or I’m going to shoot it.”

I froze.

Irene.

I stared down at Lennon, slumped at an awkward position on the couch. “Come here, Elmer.” My voice was too calm. The voice I often used when Irene was in one of her screaming matches with Baron or Marc.

It had been so long, the foreign tone felt alien on my tongue.

Elmer kept barking at Irene.

“I mean it.” Her voice rose an octave.

I turned away from Lennon, even though I was loathe to do it, and went over to pick him up. Elmer licked my face, shaking in my arms. “It’s okay, buddy.”

“Get rid of him. Put him outside or something.”

“He’s not an outside dog, and if you don’t want everyone in a five-mile radius coming because he’s barking, I’d reconsider it.”

“Whatever.” She turned around, waving the pewter-colored Glock. “This place is practically a studio bedroom. This is what you’ve come to, Griffin? Slumming it with your slut bartender?”

I stiffened, but I gritted my teeth against replying. Irene lived for a reaction.

She sighed. “You’re so pathetic. This is what you ruined our lives for?” She aimed the gun at Lennon’s prone body.

Quickly, I moved in front of her.

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