“Jesus Christ, Ma. It wasn’t divine intervention, it was a flat tire.”

Darlene quirked a brow. “You say tomato, I say tomahto.”

“Anyway,” I went on, rising from the couch, “I’m really grateful for the short-term work at the garage. I feel very lucky.”

“Well, I’m tickled pink that Griffin has someone to help out while I’m laid up.” Darlene fell back on the couch and made a big show of lifting both legs onto the cushions, even though she’d seemed fine a moment before. “You never know how long I’ll be out.”

“Mom, you just said earlier the doctor said you could go back to work sometime next week,” Cheyenne said.

“You hush, Cheyenne Dempsey. That’s not at all what the doctor said.”

“I was in the room, Mom.”

“You must have misheard, darling.” Darlene shot her daughter an evil look. “So thank the Lord for sending sweet, lovely Blair to fill in for me as long as we need her.”

Griffin cleared his throat. “So, Mom. Blair needs somewhere to stay while she’s in town. Know anyone who’s renting a room?”

“I thought she was staying at your place.”

“That was an emergency situation.”

“Well, you can’t just kick her out, Griffin. What’s the matter with you?”

Griffin breathed heavily through his nose. “No one’s kicking anyone anywhere, Mom. Now do you know someone renting a room or not?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I need to think about it.” She smiled indulgently at him. “You’re always such a bear when you’re hungry. How about some nice chicken salad?”

“No, thank you.” Griffin came over and grabbed me by the forearm. “Let’s go, Blair.”

“Nice meeting you, Darlene. Cheyenne,” I called over my shoulder as Griffin dragged me toward the front door. His legs were much longer than mine, and I stumbled once or twice.

“You too!” Cheyenne shouted. “And congrats again on tying the knot!”

Griffin shook his head as he pulled me onto the porch, the screen door slamming shut behind us. He held my arm as we went down the steps, then he stopped short. “Oh my God.”

I looked in the direction of his gaze and saw that someone—probably Cheyenne—had tied several aluminum cans to the bumper of Griffin’s truck, and a sign that said JUST MARRIED was stuck in the rear window. Mariah and her damp little friends stood giggling next to the car, and when they saw us, they came running.

“Congratulations!” they shouted, showering us with handfuls of rice. “Yay! You got married!”

“We didn’t get married,” Griffin barked at them.

Mariah looked crestfallen. “But Miss Cheyenne said—”

“Miss Cheyenne lies.”

Laughing, I stumbled forward through the shower of rice as he started marching across the lawn. His grip on me was tight but not painful, and I sort of liked how worked up he was. He was cute when he smiled, but he was smoking hot when he was mad, and the stubborn clenched jaw was doing things to me.

“Sorry, girls,” I said with a smile. “It’s just a joke. We aren’t really married.”

The three girls looked disappointed. “Nothing fun ever happens around here,” one of them complained. But a minute later, they were tossing the rice at each other, shrieking and racing back toward the sprinkler.

“I’m going to throttle my sister,” Griffin grumbled, pulling his keys from his pocket.

“Come on, she’s funny.”

“She’s a pain in the ass.” 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?”