Found by You (21 page)

“Here’s my Roxie,” Griffin said, pulling me both out of my thoughts and over to him by my elbow.

I didn’t want to freeze up like a deer in headlights, but being naturally reserved, that couldn’t be helped. I had no idea what to do. I was on display, open for judgment.

And they readily gave it. Though surprisingly… not to me.

“You actually dating this string bean, Roxie?” A tall man with a beefy build gave his hand to me. He had a very familiar face. Reminiscent of one I found so handsome since the first day I saw him on campus. This man looked a little older than Griffin, though not by much at all. His messy, sun-stroked hair peeked out from under the cowboy hat tipped back on his head.

Griffin’s eyes lifted to the sky at the comment. “My older brother, Brody.”

“And the best looking,” he said, giving a flirty wink that heated my face.

“Outside of me of course.” Another large blond rose from his own chair. I shook his hand next. “Hayden,” he said. “The oldest. Good to meet you.”

The pair of these men looked like linebackers. They had Griffin’s height, but they were much thicker. More like workers than players on the court.

I mentioned it was good to meet Hayden, and he gestured toward the woman sitting next to his chair. She had a baby on her lap who was messily eating a popsicle. He introduced the pair as his wife, Karen, and daughter, Sarah. After that, the names of the group started to blend into one another. Uncles, Aunts, cousins, and second cousins, but there was one thing I didn’t miss.

To these people I was just Roxie. Griffin’s girlfriend. To them, there was nothing different about me at all. I shouldn’t have been surprised. If they were kin of Griffin it only made sense. He always accepted me. Always…

A beautiful boy who looked eerily similar to the man I was just thinking about came over from the distant food table when Griffin called him. Seriously, he and Griffin could have been clones. Same height, same build, and strong features. The only difference was he had thick curly hair instead of straight.

Griffin wrestled him under his arm. “Meet my mini-me, Colton. Colt’s headed off to Texas State next year. A ball scholarship just like his awesome older brother.”

Groaning, Colton attempted to elbow Griffin, fighting to get out from under his arm, but Griffin was quicker. He shifted out of the way and got him in a headlock, giving him noogies until he caved and stopped fighting.

Griffin ruffled the poor kid’s hair for good measure and then made him bring over two chairs for us after he greeted me. He brought one more back for himself.

“Where’s Pop?” Griffin asked, settling into his chair next to mine.

“It’s called working a job, boy.”

The group turned to where a man, even larger than the other three boys I met today, came down the back porch. His build was most similar to Brody’s, the biggest of the brothers, and he had a blond goatee and the skin of his face appeared weathered and worn looking from under a blue baseball cap. The patch on his cap read,
Carter’s Construction
, and I noticed the same patch on Brody and Hayden’s collared shirts. They must all work together.

Griffin’s three brothers stood tall from their chairs for this man, as if in the military. Griffin was included in the organized line. They did it so fast I nearly felt the need to join them. The other women didn’t stand so I refrained.

He was showered with shakes of respect, and Colton, the youngest brother, asked him if he wanted a beer. He waved him off and Colton gave him his chair willingly. He ended up heading over to the horse fence with some of the younger people.

“Who’s uh…” he said gruffly, gesturing toward me as he relaxed with a huff into his seat.

I shot to attention and was relieved when Griffin handled the introductions yet again by saying, “Pop, this is Roxie. My girlfriend.”

The man leaned out of his seat, tilting his hand to me, which I accepted. His hand was hard and calloused, matching the expression he gave me during the shake. With his lips tight, he released my hand, moving back into his chair.

“So, Roxie, where did you and Griffin meet?” The question was asked by Hayden’s wife, Karen.

I was still kind of frozen by Griffin’s large father, but I managed to answer. “The uh, laundry room. Our campus laundry.”

Brody and Hayden exchange a look, then zapped it Griffin’s way. Brody tipped his chin at Griffin. “Leave it to this ape to be romantic. You could have at least taken the girl out for dinner, Griff.”

Griffin shook his head while the two brothers ragged on him, laughing in taunts. Karen swatted her hand at them around the baby in her lap. “She said that’s how they met. Not their first date.”

Brody and Hayden still jostled Griffin with taunts, and a small smile cracked my face. These guys liked to handle each other. The camaraderie made me wish I had a sibling, but then I was reminded of not so good times. Ones where I technically had that type of relationship, however brief the time. I locked those memories down like I had before, rubbing my hands restlessly on my knees. My gaze wandered, and I caught Griffin’s dad. He eyed my way as if he were studying me.

“What are you going to school for, Roxie?”

My eyes flashed, and I stared ahead of me. Griffin’s grandma had asked me the question, her voice small, but her gaze strong and attentive. Showing her respect, I made sure she had mine. “Education,” I said. “More specifically I want to work with charities and private organizations who help bring education to people with hardships. Those people living on the streets and down on their luck.”

Griffin wasn’t staring at me when I said that, instead he watched his grandma who sat in front of him, but his lips turned up at the information. We talked casually about our education, but I never specifically went into details of what I’d do with mine.

“That’s quite nice, Roxie.” Griffin’s gram looked pleased. “What made you decide to go that route?”

This question came to me a lot when people found out what I was going to school for. My friends. My professors. My answer had always been easy. “These individuals need teachers, too. Someone to fight for them. I guess I just see myself as being one of those people.”

Griffin’s gram tilted her head of white hair. Though her gaze was still attentive, a warmness lined her aging eyes and it was aimed at me. The expression moved feeling in my heart, but another shift within my view took my attention. Griffin’s dad crossed his leg at the knee, seeming like he wanted to look anywhere but in my direction. Did I offend him some way?

The questions continued and I couldn’t dwell on the matter like I wished I could have. These people asked me all kinds of things about myself like they really wanted to know me. They could have just been trying to be polite, but that didn’t seem like the case. Griffin’s aunt Robin joined us at some point and asked where I planned to work after graduation.

“I’m thinking about applying for jobs in the campus’ area. So locally, but really, I can work anywhere with my degree.”

“Oh. So you ain’t going home? Be near your family?” she asked.

I forced myself to smile at the question, though the family I found myself in was the last thing I wanted to talk about. “My family actually lives in town. It’s just my dad. My mom died when I was in middle school.”

I probably shouldn’t have mentioned them. Not Dad. My mom… not at all, and I knew as soon as the looks of remorse flashed around the circle at me. I appreciated their sympathy, but in this case it didn’t feel warranted. It felt inappropriate to mourn for my mom considering the circumstances in which she left me.

A hand moved over mine, one so warm and familiar. I looked up to see blue eyes, clear and always inviting. Griffin didn’t stare at me the way the rest of his family did. There was sadness there, yes, but the expression seemed lighter, less intense, and when he smiled at me I knew it was different. I felt as he was looking through me, telling me something with his eyes. The gaze had me holding his hand tighter, forgetting and releasing everything but him.

A throat cleared and my instinctive reaction was to let go. A cold breeze moved by my hand, the warmth from Griffin’s hand leaving my fingers and palm. He stared in the direction of the noise that separated us. His dad. The man didn’t look at us though, not acknowledging a thing. Griffin’s smile was faint my way and he gripped his hand in his lap like he was feeling for that previous link between us. I knew because my hand was clenching too as if feeling for his.

Griffin’s gram patted my knee. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Roxie. It’s… it’s always quite hard. Losing someone.”

She nodded after she said that, her eyes faraway, and I wondered if she lost someone. She was elderly. I suppose she could have.

I looked at Griffin, and like he knew my thoughts, he mouthed me two words:
my mom
.

I blinked, looking around the group as if to see her. I imagined crystal blue eyes and gorgeous blonde hair like her sons. I didn’t see their features in any of these women before me. It didn’t even occur to me Griffin never introduced her. He’d lost his mother, too? I wondered how and prayed he’d been too young to remember. I hoped he was saved from that pain that not all of us were.

“Oh, Roxie. What happened with your toes? They’re all scratched up.” Griffin’s gram gestured toward my feet.

I gazed down and she was right. I’d gotten welts and scratched from the gravel earlier.

I curled my feet in, pushing them under my chair as if to hide them. “I wore the wrong kind of shoes. My sneakers are in my bag, but the airline misplaced it.”

The older woman looked nearly mortified by my words, and Griffin quickly leaned forward. “They’re delivering it in the morning, Gram. And actually I was going to ask Pop if I could borrow his keys and take her to Walmart. Get her some shoes and things.” He gazed over at him. “Pop?”

He didn’t look like he wanted to, but he lifted his hip and retrieved a ring of keys out of his pocket. Heat blazed my face that I was inconveniencing him.

“That’s not necessary, Griffin.” Griffin’s gram stood to her feet in her boots. “I’ve got plenty of extra things around here. Socks, toothbrushes. All unopened as folks tend to forget to bring things when they come over every year. And Robin,” she gazed at Griffin’s aunt, “she looks about Marlene’s size, doesn’t she?”

Griffin grinned and leaned over the arm of his chair to me. “That’s my cousin. She’s away at college.”

Aunt Robin studied me at all angles. “I think you’re right, Momma. She can use her nightgown and things. Sweetie pie, what size shoes do you wear?”

My mind spun at being fused over. “Nine?”

“Perfect,” Griffin’s gram crooned. “You can wear Marlene’s boots. Let’s get you out of those flip flops.”

The pair swarmed me like bees to honey. Next thing I knew, Griffin’s aunt was pulling me to my feet.

“We’ll also get you out of that dress and into some shorts,” she said. “We’re walking the land later, honey. You’ll need some walking clothes.”

I turned my head back to the group as I was being dragged away, and Griffin simply gave me a small wave, smiling. His attention went to his dad when he called his name.

The large man lifted from his seat. “Why don’t you join me in the kitchen for a beer. I want to talk to you about something.”

The man’s eyes flashed to me, so I didn’t catch Griffin’s response, and when I was tugged forward up the porch steps, I knew I’d never get it. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but I couldn’t help the feeling prickling my brain. Something told me his dad’s drink invitation was less about getting a beverage and more about me.

Chapter Twenty-One

Griffin

I followed my dad’s large frame into my gram’s kitchen, not really knowing what this was about. Pop and I didn’t have heart to hearts. We just didn’t. Maybe he was just curious on how things were with me since the holidays. There really were no new developments. Except for Roxie that was. I always kept my gram in the know of what was going on with me professionally. Everything was still on track for my career, and I was doing fine in school. She relayed that info to the rest of my family. I only hoped this chat didn’t last long. I didn’t know how long Roxie would be and I wanted to talk with her. I had no idea she’d lost her momma, too. Although it was under different circumstances since her mom passed away and my brothers and I were abandoned before I’d even hit kindergarten. That loss connected Roxie and me when I grabbed her hand. I felt that, and I think in a way, she did, too. We needed to talk about so many things. I not only needed to know, but I wanted to know everything about her. And I wanted her to have the same with me. She needed to know she could trust me. Only then could we work through whatever was bothering her.

I was thinking about that when my dad opened the fridge, retrieving the two beers he promised. He handed me one, not really making direct eye contact, but that was Pop. He wasn’t into the bonding thing. That was fine. My gram provided that for us. As rough and county as my brothers and me were, we all had hearts of gold. That showed through in the women we settled down with. Hayden had a great wife. A great kid. And Brody was finally starting to date women worth his time. Colton was still young of course, but he would come around at his own time. Then there was me...

Pop took me out of my thoughts when he settled against the counter, twisting to use that same counter to open his beer. I chose the bottle opener on the kitchen island. Gram would never forgive me if she knew I used her counter.

Pop sipped his longneck bottle back, swishing it in his mouth before swallowing. All the while he didn’t look at me, staring out the window to the side of me. I drank, doing the same to the side of him. I knew if I waited long enough he’d come out with it. He did things on his own time. We all understood that and respected it.

“So, um,” he paused. After clearing his throat, he sniffed. “How are you doing?”

I shrugged. “Fine.”

He took another drink, and I waited while it went down. He wiped his arm across his goatee after he was done. “That’s good. Good.”