The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass by Maisey Yates

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

BYTHETIMEthey were finished, she was hungry. And more than ready for some kind of a break, and a snack. Baked goods weren’t going to cut it.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” She immediately wished that she could take it back, because she did wonder if it wasn’t good to ask him out. They could stay in. They could stay in and eat any one of her preprepared meals, but that’s what they’d been doing.

“Sure,” he said. “Want to go down to the saloon?”

She hadn’t expected that. But it did sound like a pretty good idea. She was at war with herself, though. Because if she went to the saloon, the odds were high that she would run into someone she knew. She might even run into a member of her family. On the other hand, plain Iris Daniels, walking into the Gold Valley Saloon with a man as good-looking as Griffin on her arm... Well, she did kind of like that. Because not only was Griffin handsome, he looked kind of dangerous, and that was a compelling thought. Her, being with someone dangerous. Talk about challenging the status quo.

“Yes. I would like that.”

“Great.”

They walked out of the bakery, and down the street. She wondered if he would hold her hand. But of course that didn’t mesh with what they were talking about doing with each other. That wasn’t friendship in one room, and making love in another. And that was sort of what it seemed like they were trying to do. Because he was right. It was great to have somebody to walk into this new phase of her life with. Somebody she could ask questions of. Somebody she could gain experience with, and who she could trust. And she did trust Griffin. And he needed... Well, he needed somebody right now too. A woman who wasn’t going to get needy on him. Because he had too much going on to have to put up with someone else’s emotions too.

They could need each other in the right ways.

And that would work. It would.

But she was ashamed to admit that she did wish that he would hold her hand, and as they walked, their hands not touching, she felt somewhat bereft.

Don’t be like that. You’re older, you know better. You’re not a sixteen-year-old girl. You don’t believe automatically that having slept with him means that you’re going to fall in love with him. And you don’t even want that.

She didn’t.

So she ignored the way that her knuckles burned as they hung so close to his during their walk. Ignored the fact that she did wish that he might take possessive hold of her as they did. That he might show the whole town that she was with him.

They walked into the Gold Valley Saloon, and he held the door open for her, and that did bring a flush of pleasure to her face.

She was disappointed to see that no one in her immediate circle was there. Laz was standing behind the bar, as always, his new wedding ring gleaming on his finger, and he smiled when she saw him.

Well, Laz would see her. So there was that. Griffin led the way over to the bar. “I’d like a beer. Whatever you have on tap.”

“Light or dark?” Laz asked.

“I don’t know. What do you recommend?”

“That’s a loaded question. We could stand here and talk about microbrews for quite some time.”

“No thanks,” Griffin said. “Just a beer. Hold the dissertation.”

She saw a flash of who he’d been. Charming. Personable. Light.

Laz shook his head. “Beer is pretty serious business.”

“I’ll have a soda,” Iris said.

“The lady will have a soda,” Griffin added.

“Will she? Okay then.” Laz looked between them with some interest, then went off to fulfill the requests.

The door opened, and Iris turned, and a sharp pang of glee hit her square in the stomach. Because there he was.

Elliott.

The khaki-wearing bane of the last few months of her existence.

The man that Rose had thought she should be with.

The man who had loved Rose instead of her, who had absolutely enraged her, because she hadn’t even liked him, and then he had gone and hurt her feelings. That man.

“Stand closer to me,” she hissed.

“What?” Griffin lifted a dark brow, his beautiful mouth turning down.

“Um, please stand next to me because the boring guy that my sister tried to set me up with just walked in, and the fact that I’m with you makes me giddy.”

“Iris,” he said. “Are you being petty?”

“I am. I’m being very petty. Down into my soul. But you are the most beautiful man that I have ever seen in my entire life, and knowing that Elliott will see me with you brings me great pleasure.”

His lips quirked upward into a smile then. “I’m beautiful?”

“Yeah, kind of like a sheer rock face. Hard and dangerous.”

“Craggy.”

“In a good way.”

He chuckled. And then, Laz returned with their drinks. Griffin lifted his glass, and clinked it against hers. “To your pettiness.”

Elliott saw her then, and looked at her, frowned, then looked away. But he didn’t come over.

Of course he didn’t, he never liked you.

“He didn’t like me,” she said. “He liked my sister. It was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Oh,” he said.

“Like I told you when we first met. That day we went horse riding. My sisters are... They’re really something else. I mean they’re both adventurous and energetic and...and I’m just... Me.”

“Just you has proven to be pretty miraculous for me.”

Suddenly, she felt flushed with pride. And it didn’t matter that Elliott had ignored her. She didn’t like him, so what did he matter? Sure, there was the way that her feelings had been agitated during that whole experience, but he didn’t matter.

Griffin did.

“I’m very glad to hear that.” She stretched up on her toes, and kissed his cheek.

His hand went to her hip, and the casual contact that she’d made with him became decidedly un-casual. She was suddenly heavy with need. She could feel a pull starting low in her midsection and dragging down even lower.

“Griffin...”

The door opened again, and in walked a collection of her worst nightmares.

Her brother-in-law, West, her future brother-in-law Logan, Rose and Pansy.

The only silver lining was that Ryder and Sammy weren’t with them. But honestly, of all the things, most of her family had to walk in. That was just annoying.

Is it? Or is it a little bit what you wanted...

She squirmed uncomfortably as that reality went home to roost.

All right. He was gorgeous, and showing him off was fun. And yeah, that was getting a little bit tangled. And she worried then, that she had thrown Griffin into something without giving him full warning about it. Because that wasn’t fair.

Logan, West and her sisters saw her, and then redirected, heading straight for the bar.

“That’s my family,” she said, smiling and speaking quickly to Griffin. He still had his hand on her hip. “And they’re coming this way.”

“Okay, which one of the guys is most likely to punch me out?”

“Neither of them are Ryder, so you’re good.”

“All right.” He pasted a smile on his face, and it was... A little bit rusty, but there was the ghost of something there she hadn’t seen before. She’d seen him smile, but she hadn’t seen him interact with other people. And the rustiness faded in a moment, and suddenly she could see...

Well, this was who he must have been.

The businessman who could work a room. He must have been that man at some time. He had a family, a mother and father, a sister. He’d fallen in love and gotten married. He had probably charmed his wife’s family, and he’d been a groom in a wedding.

He must have worn a tux, and said vows in front of a crowd. He would have smiled, and given a speech maybe.

For some reason all those images cut her deep, and filled her with hope all at the same time.

“Hi there, Iris,” Logan said. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, directing that to Griffin.

“We haven’t,” he said, extending his right hand in order to shake Logan’s, but leaving his left on her hip. “I’m Griffin Chance.”

“I see. Logan Heath. I’m Iris’s brother-in-law.”

“Not quite yet,” Rose said, poking his ribs. “I’m Rose. I’m Iris’s sister.”

“Pansy,” Pansy said. “Same.” She was wearing her uniform, so she imagined that Griffin had probably guessed that.

“West Caldwell,” West said. “Brother-in-law.”

“Good to meet you.”

“Well, we’ve all met,” Iris said. “Griffin is my boss. My landlord.” She could not introduce him as her lover.

Logan’s gaze went straight to where Griffin’s hand was resting on her. “Obviously.”

“You all just out drinking tonight?”

“Indeed,” Rose said. “Sammy and Ryder have a bad case of parenting exhaustion. So they aren’t coming out.”

“Well, that’s too bad.”

“How’s the bakery going?” Pansy asked.

“Great.”

“So,” Logan said. “Griffin. Is it?”

“I think you know it is,” Iris said, narrowing her eyes.

“What is it you do?” He continued speaking as if Iris had said nothing.

“Why don’t you all order drinks,” Pansy said. “We’ll go get a table.” She grabbed hold of Iris, and dragged her away from Griffin and the bar. Griffin, for his part, looked entirely relaxed, but she had a feeling that was because he didn’t actually know what he was getting himself into. Her family was a whole thing. Then, so was Griffin.

“Damn,” Rose said. “I mean, damn.”

“What?” Iris asked.

“He is... He is so hot.”

“So hot,” Pansy agreed.

“He is, right?” Iris asked.

“I mean, you said that he was good-looking.” Rose shook her head. “But you didn’t say that he was that good-looking.”

“Well, I thought he was. I mean, I really did. But you know, I didn’t know if I was just biased.”

“You knew. That’s why you’re sitting here looking smug.”

“I do feel smug. Elliott is here.”

“Really.” Pansy looked around, until she saw him. “Oh, that is unfortunate. He suffers by comparison.”

“He does,” Rose agreed.

“And you,” she continued, “look like a cat that got into the cream.”

Iris squirmed. “Yeah, well, I kind of am.”

“Respect.”

The men came over to the table then, laden with drinks, and Griffin took a seat beside her. She turned to him. “You know, you don’t have to stay.”

“I’m not going to leave.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, it’s just that... I know this is maybe more than you were expecting.”

“I’m fine.” He lifted his head and addressed the group. “West and Logan were just explaining to me which beer here is the best. I maintain that I don’t have an opinion.”

“That isn’t going to fly here,” Pansy said. “Everybody’s very opinionated about their beer.”

“Well, I confess I haven’t had anything much better than a grocery store bottled beer in a long time. Until Iris started coming up and bringing me food. Because sometimes she’s nice and throws a bottle or two in.”

“You probably took that out of our fridge,” Logan said.

“I probably grocery shop for it,” she said.

She smiled, and Logan had the decency to look a little bit shamefaced. But only a little bit.

“But she won’t be grocery shopping for us anymore,” Rose said. “Because she moved out.”

“That I did,” Iris said. “So... I guess you’re going to have to learn to be a little bit more self-sufficient.”

“Or a little self-sufficient in general,” Pansy said.

“I’m sure that Iris has explained to you our whole... Situation,” Rose said.

“Yes,” Griffin said. And he proceeded to make conversation and charm everyone, and in general be great. And by the end of it all, she had a feeling that if Ryder did ask about Griffin, he would get nothing more than a good report.

The evening wound to a close sooner than Iris expected, but she was glad, because she figured they would go back to her place and... She felt very ready for that.

But when they walked back to the bakery, they stopped in front of the door, and he kissed her.

Not a little kiss. A deep kiss.

“It was nice to meet your family.”

“Oh yes?”

“Very much. But I should probably be headed home.”

“Oh.”

“I’m going to come down tomorrow. Is there anything I can get you from the store for the bakery?”

“What kind of thing?”

“Well, I noticed you had a loose floorboard up at the front of the store. I’d like to fix it for you. And, if you need anything else...”

“I was supposed to be cleaning your house,” she said.

“I know. But I’d like to help you out.”

“I... Yeah that would be good. And some putty or something to patch holes in the wall.”

“I’m happy to do that,” he said. “More than happy.”

“Thank you.”

He kissed her again, and then he left her standing there, unsure of what had happened, but absolutely certain that she had waded into deeper water than she had intended to. And she found herself wishing that they just had sex. Because somehow that felt like less uncharted territory than whatever had happened tonight.

HEWALKEDINto Big R, which was host to many different sorts of supplies, mostly focusing on ranching, but filled with basically anything you could want for most essential repairs, plus flowers and other garden supplies. There was a woman working the front, with a couple of dogs sitting behind the counter. The place was sparse, serviceable. No unnecessary decorations or anything like that. He’d been in a couple times since moving to Gold Valley. But it had been a while.

And this was the first time he wasn’t shopping for himself.

He had a hammer and nails, and he brought that down with him from the homestead, but got some drywall patching kits and paint patching supplies, and then paused in front of a display with flats of flowers. Various blooms in many shades of pink that he thought might complement her cookie jar sign.

And he wanted to get them for her.

He wanted to make her smile.

He pulled a notepad out of his pocket and formulated a quick construction plan, picking up wood and soil, and every pink flower available.

There were great, tall windows at the front of Iris’s store, and it would be the perfect place to build and install planter boxes. He could make a few matching planter boxes to go outside those upstairs windows of hers.

Just to add a little bit of cheer and color, and to differentiate her from the other redbrick buildings around her.

He loaded it all up in his truck and headed down toward The Cookie Jar, where he found Iris already hard at work scrubbing down counters.

“Good morning,” he said.

She looked up at him, a strange expression on her face. “Good morning.”

“I told you that I would come bearing supplies, and I have.”

“Good.”

He would surprise her with the flowers.

The first thing he did was set to work on that loose board, repairing it quickly, before moving on to any gouges or holes in any of the walls.

“I really appreciate you doing this.”

“It’s not a problem.”

Really, it was a damn sight more than not a problem. A smile curved his lips. “You know, it’s a weird thing, but I haven’t done much to help other people in a long time. I mean, I give money. I told you, there is that equestrian center. I give money because she loved horses. And I love horses. I know I would’ve taught our daughter to love them too. So it feels like something. Something that I can keep that belongs to that other life. But I don’t go there. I don’t actually do anything. I realized that when I was picking up supplies for this place. That it’s been a long damned time since I’ve actually thought of someone else. Even giving to the equestrian center is thinking about me.”

“Well, I’ve done all kinds of giving over the last many years of my life. When people don’t need you anymore it’s...” She looked up at him, a stark horror filling her eyes. “It’s hard when you have a lot in you, and people don’t need you to give to them anymore.”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. It is. I had all that in me...”

He thought back to what he’d said to her that night. About how he wasn’t a husband and a father anymore. About how the feelings didn’t go away. And suddenly that felt all mixed-up inside of him. What he was, and what he wasn’t. What he’d done was shut himself off. Was cut off an essential piece of him. He’d been a caregiver. That’s what he’d been. He’d failed, and that had... Well, it had stopped him from doing any of it at all. And this simple act made him feel connected on a deeper level, to who he’d been, and who he was now.

It was bittersweet, in that way. But he’d been living in a world of bitter. So a little bit of sweet underneath seemed like... Well, a fresh-baked cookie after years of canned chili, quite frankly.

“Is there a... Back to this building?”

“Yeah,” she said. “A little gravel lot behind.”

“I’m going to pull my truck around. I have a feeling that the next project is going to have to be set about there.”

“What did you do?”

“You’ll see. Want to go for a very short ride in my truck?”

She went out, and started to scurry from the passenger door to the bed of the truck, but he jerked the door open. “Get in. Don’t ruin the surprise.”

He drove around the block, to the back of the building, to the barren lot behind.

“Am I allowed to get out of the truck?”

“Not quite yet.” He looked at her for a long moment, at the expectant expression on her face. Those greenish eyes, full lips. And he leaned in and kissed her. She whimpered, and his body went instantly hard.

He regretted, in that moment, leaving her last night without taking her to bed.

He’d been about to. But he’d stopped. Because he’d gone out to the bar with her, and he’d met her family. Because he had wanted to do some things to fix her bakery as much as he’d wanted to strip her naked, and he’d... He just felt like he needed to build in more moments with her where they had clothes on. And maybe that was part of this real-life learning situation.

But whatever it was, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Iris was special. She was special, and he wanted to be sure that he let her know it. She didn’t feel it, he knew that. He remembered as much from that very first long conversation they’d had. That she felt for whatever reason her sisters were special, in a way that she wasn’t. He liked her sisters. But they weren’t her. Nobody was.

Iris was the woman who had come up the mountain and not flinched in the face of his anger, which he knew he wore like a shield over his grief. She was determined, and strong. She had taken her own trauma and turned outward, rather than inward like he had.

She was innocent and sensual, honest. He had never in all his life met anyone quite like her. And he didn’t think he would have appreciated her before.

Not before. But now, he was a man who had experienced a particular kind of hell. Who had been through something that few people would ever understand.

But Iris was a breed of flower grown in the rockiest of soil. Unique and blooming bright in spite of the adversity that she’d faced. And it was exactly what called to him now.

There was another person that could possibly walk out of the darkness with him.

He’d pushed his family away. Had felt like they didn’t understand. They loved him, but they didn’t know how to sit with his pain.

His friends hadn’t been helpful at all. They had simply wanted him to go back.

He couldn’t go back. Iris knew that without him having to tell her.

You could never be what you were before.

Grief like that marked you down deep in your soul.

But he was beginning to think that walking forward was possible in a way he hadn’t believed before. Yeah, he was beginning to believe in that. And it was something of a miracle. One he wouldn’t have found if it weren’t for her. He didn’t know all the ways he might honor that. But he wanted to.

Maybe she’d been right, after all. Maybe he still had some heart left, after all, because what was this if not...

Caring.

“Now you can get out.”

She was slightly unsteady when she did, and he brought her to the bed of the truck and opened it. Her eyes widened, then brightened. “Flowers?”

“Yeah. I thought... I thought I might make a planter box. Actually, a few planter boxes.”

“For my windows.”

“Yeah. I thought it would look good with your sign. Pink.”

“Griffin,” she said softly. “That is the nicest thing.”

“Weird, because I would’ve told you that I’m not nice. But you kind of make a man want to try.”

She looked away, her cheeks turning pink.

“Why is it that me being nice to you seems to throw you off more than when I yell at you and tell you to leave my cabin?”

“A very good question,” she said, looking up at him. “I just... I don’t know. Thank you, Griffin. Nobody’s ever done anything quite like this for me before. We all took care of each other, when my parents died. But you know, some of us were older, some of us were kids. It was up to the older ones to keep things going. That’s just how it was. It’s not a bad thing. It just is.”

“But you were a kid.”

“I was. And then I wasn’t. It’s all right. I mean, I was on the way to growing up. I wasn’t the baby. Rose was... Rose was a firecracker. So much trouble. My mom had to watch her all the time. And then there was Pansy, who was also just kind of... A little bit wild. And I never was. So in the end, it was good. But they had me. Because if they didn’t, then it might be a lot harder for them. And it certainly would’ve been harder for me. But I... You know. I liked being home. I liked baking.”

“It doesn’t mean you didn’t want other things.”

She tried to force a smile. “I forgot what they were. If I ever did.”

“Is that true?”

She lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it’s a choice. But it’s true.”

“Well, it’s a different time now. You can have this. Want this. And I’m going to help.”

“Why?”

“You’re special, Iris. And you deserve everything.”

The words came out of his mouth with so much conviction that they shocked him. Really, the only conviction he’d felt for the last few years was that life was hell, and he was stuck living it. But now he believed in something else. He believed in her. The realization was enough to knock him on his ass, but thankfully, he remained standing. Instead, he got the wood out of the back of the truck, and his notebook out of his pocket.

“I worked up a quick design for these while I was at the store.”

“You can just... Do that?” She wasn’t responding to what he’d said about her being special. Rather, gawking at the little drawing he’d done.

“Yeah. I’ve gotten pretty familiar with construction. With how things work. Since I’ve been...”

She looked at him.

“I’m building that house.”

She nodded. But she didn’t press.

Just like he didn’t press her accepting what he’d said about her being special.

Apparently, no matter what they’d said, there were still some boundaries. Because if he pushed that, he had a feeling he was going to have to answer some questions inside of him that he didn’t quite feel like answering.

And if she pushed about the house, it might lead to a deeper discussion than either of them wanted to have.

So they started to focus on the planter boxes. Iris hovered over him while he started.

“You know, you can go do other things if you have things you need to do.”

“I know,” she said. “I just... I like watching you work.” She blushed. He loved when she did that.

“Well, appreciated. But I don’t want to keep you from what you had in mind.”

“Honestly, this is where I want to be.”

She sat perched on the bed of his truck, he worked. She went and got some cookies and coffee from inside the bakery, and brought them out to him. And they both sat on the tailgate of the truck, eating pink frosted cookies with a sea of pink flowers behind them. And if he’d ever been told before that something like that might make him feel content, feel happy, he would’ve told them they were crazy.

The fact of the matter was, since leaving the business world behind, he hadn’t been happy. Of course, there had been reasons for that. Circumstances. So he hadn’t thought that he particularly liked country living. The slower life. This life where making things with his hands, and connecting to the world in a very real way was the way of it. A day spent building planter boxes, and just talking to someone. And not talking.

But feeling their presence, and sweet, quiet way. Yeah. He never thought that would be something he liked.

It hit him then that he hadn’t fully taken on board the ways in which he’d changed.

Because that change had been enforced. Brought about by an initial trauma. It never occurred to him that there might be some good things in this life he’d chosen.

He didn’t miss the city. And that had nothing to do with Mel. Or what he’d lost. That had everything to do with... Well, it was all linked. He couldn’t really separate them out. But the problem was, he realized, that there were things in his life that were desperately shallow. Things he’d chosen when he’d wanted something different. And he’d been on a path that would lead him here, but mostly because it was what Mel had wanted. And he’d wanted to make her happy.

And in no scenario had he imagined himself living like this.

But right now, right now, things felt okay. Right now, they felt pretty good.