He let go of me when we reached the truck. “Grab the sign please. I’ll untie the cans.”
I opened the slightly smaller back door on the passenger side and peeked at the black and white kitten in a travel carrier. “Hi there, cutie. Are you excited about your new home?” Climbing onto the seat, I pulled the sheet of paper from the window where it had been taped. “Don’t mind your new daddy. He’s grumpy right now, but I promise, he’s a nice guy.”
“Can I have that, please?” Griffin asked from behind me.
I backed out of the truck, embarrassed that I’d probably just flashed him my underwear, which was not particularly sexy. “Here you go.”
He took off with the cans and sign, marching onto the porch and dumping them right inside the screen door. I got into the truck’s front seat and waited for him, listening to the kitten meow in the back. “It’s okay, kitty,” I said, wondering if it was a boy or girl and if it had a name.
Griffin got behind the wheel and slammed his door shut. “Told you my family is obnoxious.”
“They do like giving you a hard time, don’t they?”
“Yeah.” He turned on the engine but left the truck in park. “Somehow it was easier to take when my dad was alive. Now it always feels like two against one.”
“How long has he been gone?”
“A little over two years.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “That’s life, I guess. I just wish he could have lived long enough to retire. Enjoy his life more. He worked so hard every day of his life. For what?”
I stared at him. Did he really not know? “For this, Griffin.” I gestured to his house, the neighborhood, toward him. “For his family. For security. For a business he was proud of and could pass on to his son.”
“I guess.”
I thought of my own father and how he did business. “I bet your dad was honest.”
“Always.”
“And paid his employees fairly.”
“He did.”
“And never completed a job he didn’t stand behind. Never scammed anyone. Never did things the easy or cheap way when his reputation was on the line. And I bet he paid his taxes, even if he didn’t like it.”
“He definitely did not like it. But you’re right, he never cheated.”
“And do you think if he were here right now, he’d tell you he had regrets?”
“No,” he said grudgingly.
“Because he was a good man. A good father. I bet your mother would say he was a good husband too. That’s worth a lot.”
Griffin continued to stare out the windshield.
“I mean, I think about my dad, and I feel . . . ashamed. It doesn’t mean I don’t love him—he’s still my dad. But I’m not proud of the things he did. He cared more about money than what was right,” I said, getting all worked up. “I never want to be that person.”
He looked at me. “You’re not, Blair.”
“And as for my mother, she told me I was being a complete imbecile when I left. She said I was delusional and naive and wouldn’t last a month on my own.”
“She’s wrong.”
“What if she isn’t?” I fretted, knitting my fingers together, feeling my heart begin to race. “What if she knows more because she’s older and wiser and raised me to be this one specific way in a specific type of environment where everything is handed to me, and all these setbacks I’m facing are just the tip of the massive iceberg lurking beneath the surface and I’m doomed to fail?”
“Hey.” He reached over and took one of my hands. “She’s wrong, okay? Stop talking and take a breath.”
Closing my eyes, I inhaled and exhaled slowly a couple times. When I looked at him again, I felt silly. “Thanks. Sorry for the panic attack—that conversation was supposed to be about you.”
“It’s okay. I don’t really want to talk about myself anyway.” He squeezed my hand. “Now listen. I only just met you last night, but I can already tell you are not the kind of person to turn around and run scared when you face a problem. Maybe you’re a little bit, uh . . .”
“Careful,” I warned.
“ . . . inexperienced in the real world,” he finished, in what I considered a triumph, “but you’ll learn fast. You’re smart, you’re determined, and you can talk to anyone—in two languages, no less.”
“Three, actually.”
“Three?”
“I speak Latin too.”
“Latin?”
“It’s the universal language of western civilization,” I said defensively. “Although not terribly useful in modern life, I admit.”
Griffin