Page 6 of No Going Back
“I don’t know that I’d tell her that.” Troy shot him a grin as he leaned back against the counter. “I’ve heard women don’t like being told what to do.”
Griffin smiled, the fact that Troy remembered his advice warming his chest. “I’ll remember to keep my mouth shut then.”
It was something that would be easier said than done. He already missed the hands-on aspect of running his business. He loved fixing things. Sniffing out problems and coming up with solutions.
And Dianna working herself to death was definitely a problem.
“How was Seattle?” Troy passed over a bottle of his favorite beer. “Everything go as smoothly as you were hoping?”
“Smooth enough.” He didn’t want to admit to his son that moving to Moss Creek had been a mess of epic proportions. “Hopefully I can find a place sooner rather than later so I can have all my stuff shipped over.”
He’d planned to buy a house and move into it before selling his place in Seattle. When things didn’t work out that way, he packed all his belongings into cubes that were now stacked in a warehouse, waiting to be shipped to their final destination once he found it. That meant he was once again living out of a suitcase.
At least this time it wasn’t a less than amicable split that left him in need of a place to crash.
“I’ve been asking around and so has Evelyn, but so far we haven’t heard of anyone looking to sell.” Amelie switched off the stove. “But I’ll keep asking.”
“I appreciate it.” Griffin tipped back a sip of his beer. “I’m meeting with a realtor tomorrow to look at a couple options she found, but they’re a little farther away than I’d like to be.”
His whole reason for moving was to be close to Troy. It was why he restructured his entire business, promoting one of his best employees to a general manager type position so he didn’t have to be as involved anymore. No way was he going through all that to still be over an hour away from the son he desperately wanted to know.
“Too bad some sexy woman moved into Ben’s old place.” Muriel carried a stack of bowls to the table, wiggling her eyebrows as she set them down. “I bet she’d be happy to let you sleep on her couch though.”
“Griffin doesn’t need to sleep on your couch. He’s got a whole bedroom here.” Amelie dumped a collection of spoons next to the bowls before going to the fridge and pulling out cheese and sour cream. “One he can use for as long as he likes.”
The way Troy’s new wife embraced him was almost as unexpected as the way Troy did. Amelie was a little standoffish at first, but once she realized his intentions were good, she’d welcomed him into their life wholeheartedly. Going so far as to invite him to be one of the few witnesses at their courthouse wedding.
“I appreciate that, but you two just got married. You need to spend time together, not entertaining your third-wheeling dad.” At least he assumed they did. He’d never made it to the point of a marriage, but it wasn’t hard to imagine a man wanting his wife to himself.
Especially if that wife was like Dianna. Soft and sweet and gentle, with a ready smile and a body a man could easily never get enough of.
And just like that, he was back to where he swore not to be. Spending the time he should be focused on his son thinking about the woman he would never have. Not just because he’d sworn off women, but because he’d finally started to realize the problem in all the relationships he’d had stemmed from a single source.
Him.
And no matter how much he wanted Dianna, he would never do that to her. Even if Troy wasn’t in the picture.
“I’m not sure how much time we’re going to have alone together as it is.” Amelie’s gaze slid to where Troy stood and a slow smile curved her lips. “We’re going to have a permanent house guest in about seven months.”
Griffin opened his mouth, ready to explain he had zero intentions of staying in their house that long.
Then her words registered. “You’re pregnant?”
Troy’s grin was immediate and wide. “That sounds a whole lot like what I said.” He wrapped one arm around Amelie’s back, pulling her close as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Except I was so shocked I said it about five times in a row.”
He understood completely.
Finding out he was a father rocked his world, turning everything he thought he wanted on its side and tinting the way he viewed himself and the life he’d lived. It made him reevaluate all of it, picking apart the pieces of the future he envisioned before reassembling it in a way that took him out of the center, putting Troy there instead.
But now he wasn’t just going to be a father. He was going to be a grandfather.
After missing out on everything in his son’s life, it was impossible not to see this as an opportunity to take back a little of what was stolen from him.
From them.
Griffin stepped close, grabbing both Troy and Amelie at once and squeezing them tight. He didn’t know what to say. How to convey all he was feeling. So he didn’t try. It was simpler to keep it in since chances were good he’d say it wrong anyway.
Amelie let out a little squeak, followed by a relieved sounding exhale. “I was a little worried you’d be bothered by the thought of being a grandpa before you turned fifty.”
