Page 61 of Billionaire Retreat

“Where?”

“Just drive!” I shouted. I was a ball of nerves and I knew I was being irrational. Griffin didn’t know where to go in town. He wasn’t from here.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said softly.

“She’s the spitting image of my little sister,” he said after a while. “We don’t even have the same father, but she looks just like Nora.”

I didn’t comment. I was too busy texting Kenny to keep an eye on Sadie.

He texted back, “I already have that covered. Good luck!”

I sat back and rested my head against the headrest. And then I abruptly sat up. “What the hell was that all about, Griffin? What the hell were you thinking showing up like that?” I was close to shouting, but managed to keep my voice down. It was a struggle to say the least.

“Yeah, I messed up.”

“How did you know where I was? Or where I lived?”

“That part was easy. Richard gave me your address.”

“Richard is terrible with confidentiality.”

“Yeah, you can’t trust him.”

“No kidding.”

“Anyway, he gave me your address, but I was still having trouble finding you so I stopped in town and ran into Kenny at the grocery store when I stopped to ask for directions.”

“And of course he led you to me.”

“Well, he tried to pretend that he didn’t see me. He hid behind his jacket and tried to sneak out, which made him even more noticeable... so don’t be too mad at him.”

The image he conjured of Kenny sneaking around trying to look inconspicuous would have made me laugh on a normal day. Today wasn’t a normal day.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I’m too emotionally spent to talk to you right now. My dad is in the hospital, my mom needs me. I don’t have the luxury of playing house with you right now.”

He winced. “What happened to your dad?”

“He had a stroke. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Is he okay?”

“I said I don’t want to talk about it.” It came out more forcefully than I’d intended.

“Ok...”

We drove in silence and finally I gave in. “He’s going to be fine. He’ll just need physical therapy and a diet change.”

“Yikes.”

“That’s what I said. The man loves pork chops smothered in gravy.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad he’s going to be alright. I know how much you love him.” He glanced at me and said, “Should I just keep driving in circles?”

“I don’t know.” Suddenly I realized that I honestly didn’t know. I didn’t know what was next for my dad or my mom. I didn’t know what was next for Kenny and Cyril. And I didn’t know what was next for me and Sadie. So maybe I had to deal with the here and now... which meant dealing with Griffin.

“I know that we need to talk.”

“Yeah, we do. Is there any place private we can go?”

I thought about what would be open at this time of morning and would also give us at least a little privacy. “The mall?”

Not the most romantic spot, I thought, and then admonished myself. We didn’t need romantic, we needed practical. The mall would be just fine. I gave him directions all the while wondering just how exactly Griffin’s trip would play out. And I also wondered how many ways his sudden presence here would change not only my life, but Sadie’s as well.