by Deb Kastner
He shrugged and shifted his gaze to the stack of boxes. “Believe what you want.”
“But you’ll be there.” She’d purposefully phrased her sentence as a statement and not a question. “At the house. Around three in the afternoon? I figure it will take us a couple of hours to get everything prepared and decorated, and folks will start arriving about five.”
“A couple of hours? To decorate a house? How many people are you inviting to this party, again?”
It was her turn to shrug. “I’m never certain. Could be around a hundred, give or take a few.”
“A hundred people. In your house.”
“Yes, well, probably not all at once. And we’re barbequing out front, so people don’t all have to cram inside. Folks come and go as it suits them. Stop by for a few minutes to offer us their well-wishes. You know.”
He shook his head and his eyes glazed over.
No, he clearly did not know of the many wonderful aspects of small-town life. But if Alexis had anything to say about it, he was about to learn.
* * *
Friday evening found Griff up to his elbows in papier-mâché. His head was spinning, still trying to wrap his brain around what was happening to him. How had the Grainger women roped him into this whole party thing?
He had no idea. And yet here he was. He must be out of his mind. It sounded as if half the blooming town was going to show up. He could see his dreams of living a peaceful, anonymous life here in Serendipity swirling like wisps of smoke off into the horizon with no hope of him ever being able to catch them.
And instead of running after them—or just plain running for the hills—he was sitting at Alexis’s dining table dunking roughly torn rectangular pieces of newspaper into some kind of goop made of flour and water and then plastering the whole sticky mess on the side of a red balloon.
“Tell me why we are doing this again?” he asked Vivian, who was seated at the opposite side of the table with her own balloon. When Alexis and Vivian had showed up on the bunkhouse doorstep earlier that evening, begging for him to help with party preparations, he’d balked and protested that he had too much to do. But there’d been two of them against one of him and they’d seen right through him and his pretense.
Alexis or Vivian on their own were formidable. Together, they were unstoppable, impossible to refuse. Which was the one and only reason he was sitting here right now with his hands covered in paste.
“We’re making piñatas,” Vivian explained with a long-suffering sigh, since she’d already walked him through the creation process when they’d first started. “Once this part is dry, we will paint them pretty colors. Then tomorrow we’ll pop the balloon with a pin and fill the inside with goodies.”
“That’s all well and good—for kids. But isn’t this an adult party?” He glanced at Viv, who for some reason had, upon her arrival, changed her outfit to match Alexis’s light green, button-up shirt and black skinny jeans. She’d even pulled her hair back into a ponytail. It was the first time he’d ever seen Viv wear her hair that way. He couldn’t fathom what she was trying to accomplish. If she meant to confuse him, she was wasting her time.
He could tell the difference between the twins in the blink of an eye. Alexis’s eyes were a little brighter blue and her smile was softer. Prettier. And when she smiled, she had the hint of a dimple on her left cheek. He was grateful for how often he’d had a glimpse of that particular feature. Alexis was nearly always smiling.
“There will be kids there,” Viv informed him, sounding a bit defensive. “Tons of them. Including Alexis’s brood. It’s a family occasion. But only one of the piñatas will be for the under-eighteen set. Why should the children have all the fun?”
Alexis appeared at the entranceway to the kitchen. “If Vivian had her way, we’d all be playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”
“And what, I ask you, is wrong with that?” Vivian demanded playfully. “Nothing breaks the ice like a rousing game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”
Griff met Alexis’s gaze and she rolled her eyes. When she threw back her head and laughed, a chuckle rumbled from Griff’s throat and warmth filled his chest. One thing he could say about Alexis was that being around her was never boring. She lived life as one adventure after another. If she ignored the bumps in the road, who could blame her? And who could resist helping her along the way?
Sparks of ideas went off in his mind like fireworks and a singular revelation hit him like a freight train. He was going to help her solve her financial problems with Redemption Ranch. He didn’t know the exact moment he’d capitulated from his earlier vow not to get involved, but the resolution was suddenly crystal clear in his mind and had somehow, without his knowledge, lodged deep in his heart.
It was the right thing to do, to assist a woman who dedicated her life to doing things for others. Even this party was for her sister’s sake, not her own.
He could help her. And he would.
“Who wants cookies?” Alexis tempted, producing a platter of fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal-raisin cookies. “I can’t have my worker bees going hungry.”
Griff had only ever had store-bought cookies, he realized as he wiped his hand on a towel so he could indulge in the treat. The sight, smell and touch of a warm cookie was a fresh, invigoratingly new experience for him, and that was nothing to say of the first scrumptious bite. It defied words.
A bell pealed from within the kitchen.
“Oh, that’s the cake. No peeking while it’s cooling, Vivian. I want it to be a surprise for you. I have to slip out and speak to the counselors about the kids’ progress. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“She’s the best sister ever,” Viv said right after Griff heard the back door slam. “The very, very best.”
“I see that,” Griff agreed, slapping another gloppy rectangle of newspaper on his balloon and smoothing it down with his fingers.
“Do you have any siblings?” Vivian asked, her tone conversational. “Roll your balloon over. You missed a spot.”
“I haven’t gotten to that part yet,” he informed her. “And, no, I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”
Thankfully, no one else besides him had had to endure what he’d had to face as a child. If he’d had to look after a sibling, he didn’t know how he would have made it. He’d barely been able to take care of himself.
“Ugh,” he groaned as a glop of homemade glue escaped the slip of newspaper he was holding and dropped onto his blue jeans. He wiped at the lumpy white goo with the back of his hand but only succeeded in smearing it across the front of his thigh. “Yuck. Does this stuff wash off?”
Vivian giggled. “Don’t worry, sweetie. A little dish soap and water will take it right out.”
“Ah. Good.” He glanced up to find Vivian staring at him with an odd, inquisitive expression on her face.
His skin prickled and he was suddenly uncomfortable sitting here with Viv, even if she was the girlfriend of his best buddy. He’d seen that look before—on people who’d wanted something from him, usually having to do with money.
What was this?
“So has she managed to butter you up yet?” Viv suddenly blurted, then followed her question with a giggle that set Griff’s nerves on edge.
“I’m sorry?” Griff’s eyebrows rose and a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. Please don’t let her be talking about Alexis.
“Alexis,” Vivian confirmed with a wide, deceptively innocent grin.
The chains in Griff’s gut tightened painfully. “Alexis…what?” he asked cautiously. He didn’t want to hear this. He had the sudden urge to stand and walk out of the room before she could say another word. And yet he stayed.
“Has she convinced you to champion her cause yet? You know you can help her, Griff. She’s struggling with all that financial stuff having to do with the ranch, ri
ght? You’re the man when it comes to that kind of thing.
“And think about me, too, while you’re at it—and my plans for the spa. Don’t you feel just a little bit sorry for me? You kind of just walked away and left me hanging, you know, after you’d promised to help me.” She dropped her gaze from his and made a big deal of picking up her papier-mâché balloon and surveying it for any open patches she might have missed.
“Is that what she’s been trying to do?” Griff’s voice was low and guttural. Nausea rolled over him in waves. “Butter me up?”
“Well, nothing as overt as all that,” Vivian clarified with a chuckle. “You know Alexis. She would never come right out and ask for something she needed. She’s pretty hush-hush about her problems. But still…”
But still, indeed.
He’d been so certain Alexis was different. The only help she’d ever asked from him was in regard to the teenagers. Was it all a ploy to engage his emotions so he would use his skills to bail her out of her problems? Had she been manipulating him from the start?
“Griff?” Alexis was standing in the doorway of the kitchen again. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard her return. “Is something wrong? You look a little…green around the gills.”
He couldn’t force himself to meet her gaze. He imagined he looked more red than green, as flushed as he was feeling. Heat coursed through him.
“I—I’m not feeling too well all of a sudden.” That, at least, was the plain, honest truth. “I think I need some air. Excuse me.”
He bolted to his feet and zigzagged toward the back door, stumbling along as if he were only now learning how to walk.
Alexis was at his side in an instant, linking her arm through his.
“Let me walk you back,” she said resolutely. “You really don’t look like yourself right now.”
He didn’t feel like himself—or rather, he felt like the very worst version of the man he obviously was—the fellow who could be so easily duped by a pretty face, not just once, but over and over again.
The fool in all his glory.
“No.” Griff was insistent. “I don’t want your help.”
Alexis dropped her arm from his. Were there tears in her eyes?
A woman’s fiercest weapon, tears. Wielded well, they had brought many a man stronger than Griff to his knees.
But Alexis’s tears weren’t falling. They merely glimmered from the corners of her eyes, her gaze filled with sympathy and—something else. If he didn’t know better, he would almost believe he had hurt her feelings.
Almost.
He escaped through the door and didn’t look back.
* * *
Griff prided himself on his ability to sleep like a rock no matter what his circumstances. However bad things got for him, he could always find some solace in sleep.
Until last night.
After leaving Alexis and Vivian to their piñata making and devious scheming, he’d headed straight for the bunkhouse and his bed, but sleep had eluded him no matter what he did. He’d tossed and turned the whole night through. The few times he’d drifted off, he would awake in a panic, his heart thundering and every nerve pricked as if by a knife, yet he was unable to remember what he’d been dreaming about.
And then his mind would flood with thoughts of Alexis—her smile, her laugh, her tears. The love and joy in her gaze when she was working with “her” teenagers. How she’d reached out to him when she had every right to send him packing.
Hers wasn’t the face of someone who used people for their own benefit. Quite the opposite. She was a giver.
She was straightforward in all her dealings. If she was after his expertise, all she had to do was ask.
But she hadn’t. In her independence, she’d not even sought the help of the community around her. He doubted even Viv knew of the silent desperation Alexis hid behind her ready smile.
Alexis was not Caro.
And Griff wasn’t the same man he’d been when he’d first arrived in Serendipity. The place had changed him somehow.
Griff rolled to a sitting position on his bed and draped his legs over the edge. He scrubbed a hand down his face to wipe away the lingering effects of his poor night’s sleep and stretched his tired muscles.
After being long conned by Caro, he’d chosen to walk away from the life he’d made for himself. Run, more like it. It had taken that kind of disaster to make him realize he wasn’t happy with his life the way it was, with the career he’d chosen and the crooked path he was on. He’d been traveling on cruise control for so long that he no longer knew where he was going.
Who knew how long, if ever, it would have been before he would have taken the time to seriously evaluate his life and make the necessary course corrections?
His heart lodged solidly in his throat as he finally acknowledged a fact that had heretofore eluded him.
As horrible as the experience with Caro had been, perhaps it had all been for the best. Because without that, he wouldn’t have come to Serendipity…where he was happy.
Thanks in part to Alexis, he was finally living his life to the hilt. The kids. The horses. The land. The community.
Alexis.
For maybe the first time in his life, he was starting to feel a little less guarded, physically and emotionally.
He might not be ready to knock all his walls down quite yet, but they were definitely starting to crumble.
He couldn’t go backward. He wouldn’t lose the rare gift that had been given him. Maybe Alexis was the woman he believed she was. Maybe she wasn’t. There was one way to know for sure. It wasn’t by hiding from the truth, and it most definitely wasn’t by running away from it.
Fear and doubt were knocking. Maybe it was time to open the door.
Chapter Seven
Alexis wasn’t sure she would see Griff at the party. Something serious had transpired between Vivian and Griff when she’d stepped out to speak to her counselors the night before. Whatever had happened had set him off big time.
Of course, Vivian couldn’t give her anything useful. She was absolutely clueless as to what was up with Griff. When Alexis had pressed her, Vivian had burst into tears and it had taken Alexis twenty minutes just to calm her down. Whatever had happened, Alexis was certain Vivian hadn’t purposefully meant to say anything upsetting. She had too sensitive a heart to cause such trouble. Silly, maybe, but sensitive all the same.
Alexis would have to turn to Griff for answers, but he’d made it clear that she wasn’t welcome around him at the moment, and she wasn’t going to chase him. When he was ready, he’d come to her. She just didn’t expect it to be anytime soon.
But that was just as well, since she had a party to prepare for and six youth currently waiting on her direction.
“Girls, can you take out all of the plates, cups and plastic silverware and arrange them on one of the tables outside? Somewhere in the boxes you’ll find a couple of festive tablecloths—one for the food table and one for the gift table. And feel free to use crepe paper and whatever else you need to decorate. I can’t wait to see what your creative minds will do.”
The three girls giggled in anticipation and immediately started exploring the contents of the boxes, exclaiming to one another when they found something they could use to decorate for the party.
“Guys, I need your superior height to help me hang crepe paper and banners. There are a couple of footstools in the storage closet.”
Connor and Josh raced for the closet, leaving Devon standing alone beside Alexis. He no longer held back as much as he had when he’d first arrived, but Alexis knew she still had a way to go to instill the self-confidence and personal courage she wanted him to possess in his heart by the time he left Redemption Ranch.
“Connor,” she said as the two boys returned, “
why don’t you and Devon go hang that welcome banner across the front porch?”
“Hey, what about me?” Josh protested.
Alexis chuckled. “I need you to help me blow up some balloons.”
“Yeah,” Josh agreed, grinning and posturing as if he’d won a prize. He punched Connor on the arm. “I don’t want to hang out with you losers, anyway.”
Alexis arched a brow but didn’t comment. She didn’t need to. Chagrin immediately covered Josh’s face. He was learning the fine line of what was simply harmless teasing and what was hurtful.
Alexis led Josh to the overstuffed blue couch in the living room and reached for a large package of balloons, which she immediately opened, dumping the contents onto the coffee table and tossing a couple into Josh’s lap.
She was working on her fifth balloon when she heard voices at the front door. Moments later, Griff entered the house. Despite the fact that she’d told herself she was too busy to worry about him, relief flooded her when she saw that he was here.
If he’d come to help them today, things couldn’t be too bad, could they? Maybe she’d imagined the awkwardness of the previous night.
“I saw Devon and Connor outside,” he informed her. She read the surprise in his gaze as he took a seat in the armchair across from her. “They were working together—and not fighting. You’re not going to believe it, but Devon was even laughing.” The way he said the statement, he could have been saying he’d just discovered something as improbable as the moon being made of green cheese.
Alexis chuckled under her breath. How little he knew about her work at the ranch. Amazing was just around every corner.
Without waiting to be asked, he grabbed a handful of balloons from the table and put one to his lips. “I definitely have enough hot air to contribute to this endeavor,” he commented between breaths.
Alexis’s eyes widened, but he just smiled at her and tied his balloon off, then playfully bumped it with his palm, sending it into her lap.
So that was it, then? Crisis averted? Night and day emotions? She scoffed internally. And men said women were confusing.