Page 57 of Love Felt Like This

Not my chosen subject but a better one.

“It’s completely empty,” Mom says quickly. “And we won’t tell anyone you’re staying here.”

“Yeah, if Glenn can keep a secret,” Greg mumbles with a smirk.

Dad scoffs, but it’s threaded with laughter. “I would never!”

“You told Eddie about my goat,” Greg says.

“Not your goat—Daisy’s. And that thing was eating Fran’s garden.”

Greg shrugs. “He’s a good goat, all things considered.”

“Since when do you like those goats?” Dad asks.

Suddenly, Nana lets out a heavy sigh. “We won’t tell a soul about Griffin, though, will we?” Nana looks around, leaning in for emphasis. “Will we?”

The table emerges in “No, of course not” and “Our secret” and “He’s not a goat.”

“Good. So.” Nana straightens her hunch. “You’re moving in.”

Mom smiles. “We’ll see that it’s ready for you by tomorrow.”

Griffin clears his throat. “That’s…you don’t have to.”

“You’re our guest,” Nana says. “Yes, we do.”

Griffin’s eyes snap to mine, but my shoulders rise to my ears. Hey, I’m stuck, too, buddy. I wonder if there’s a kinship here. I guess he’s my guest before anyone else’s, but I feel like I know him almost as well as they do, which is not at all.

“I’ll think about it,” Griffin answers.

My heart pounds in my throat.

Sure.

Easy.

We’ll live on the same property.

No biggie.

The rest of dinner is easy in comparison, even though my knee bounces under the table. At least we’re not talking about fish or goats or—oh God—dead partners.

Poor Griffin.

Poor Ava.

But that girl is none the wiser. Ava can’t get enough of Greg’s strawberry cake, and she squeals, “Cat!” when Steak so much as glances in her direction. Eventually he trudges down to the den to be left alone. C’mon, man.

I pack up leftovers while Nana hugs Griffin, handing him the key to the garage and curling his palm around it.

“We’ll see you tomorrow,” she says. He smiles but doesn’t agree, yet he also doesn’t argue. “Beverly, show him the garage apartment before he leaves, will you?”

Oh, boy…

“Sure.”

Griffin crouches down to Ava. “Ready to go, munchkin?” She watches Rob play his video game on the TV over the fireplace. Rob never plays on the big screen, but he keeps looking back at Griffin, as if wanting him to acknowledge it.