I grin with the mint pinched between my teeth.
She smiles. “Griff?”
I nod, retaking my seat at the table.
Seconds later, Griffin slides onto the bench next to me and rests his hand on my thigh. “You good?”
“Yeah.”
Dishes are passed around, and we fill everyone in on the shotgun wedding. They ooh and ahh like we didn’t get wasted and do something incredibly impulsive. Then again, Olivia and Wilder didn’t exactly do things the conventional way. Maybe the impulsiveness runs in the family.
“So, we’re all due pretty close together.” Callie breaks off a piece of her roll. “We should have a big joint baby shower here. I don’t have a lot of family, just my sister and Lexi.”
“And all of us.” Olivia squeezes Callie’s hand. “I think that’s a great idea. We won’t need much since we still have everything from when Gracie was born, but I’m always up for a party.”
It’s all so overwhelming to think about. I only just found out I’m pregnant, now I have all these people surrounding me,asking questions I don’t have the answers to, wanting to be a part of my baby’s life even though there’s no real connection between us. I don’t truly feel like I belong here, but if not here, then where?
As though he’s sensed my distress, Griffin’s hand slides up my spine in soothing strokes. “What do you say, Angel?”
The touch brings me back onto solid ground, quelling any looming doubts.
“I’m in. My parents live in Italy, so they probably won’t be able to make it, but I’d love to invite Shawn and Caroline.”
Jess’s parents have been like surrogates to me since the first time Jess brought me home. I love them like they’re my own.
“They’re part of our family, too,” Wilder says. “We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Olivia pulls out her phone and starts scrolling. “Since our due dates are—” She pauses, looking up at me. “Wait, when are you due?”
My pulse thunders in my ears. I swallow down the discomfort and say the thing I’ve been dreading. “February 14th.”
“Aww. Valentine’s day, baby!” Evelyn says. “Just like Wilder.”
I cling to Griffin’s hand and brace for impact, but the blow never comes. Nobody so much as bats an eye.
“Looks like I’m getting a niece or nephew for my birthday,” Wilder says.
The rest of the meal passes in a blur of good food and even better company. Olivia takes on the brunt of planning the baby shower, but that’s just who she is. Event planning is her bread and butter. We have months ahead of us, but she already has a full vision board going.
Everyone stays well into the evening, until the last light of the sun dips below the horizon and the stars shine overhead.
Griffin takes my hand in his and guides me down the gravel drive to his truck. Stopping outside the passenger door,he cages me against it. His palm slides under my shirt to rest on my belly. “How’s my baby mama feeling?”
“I’m okay. Be ready to pull over just in case.”
His fingers brush the underside of my jaw in a gentle caress before his lips descend on mine for a brief but achingly sweet kiss. “I wasn’t talking about the nausea,”
I release a heavy sigh. “I’m good. Relieved.”
He brushes an errant strand of hair away from my forehead and replaces it with his lips. The abundance of tender kisses is a new development, and I like it way too much. “Let’s get you home.”
If only there were some kind of ripple effect through time and space so every version of me could feel such ardent devotion. Maybe then I wouldn’t have been so quick to say yes to Tyler, knowing this has been waiting for me all along. Still, I can’t help the doubts niggling at the back of my mind—a symptom of the wreckage Tyler left behind, I suppose. I can only hope it’ll heal with time.
Griffin
After dropping Angie off at home, I stop by the big barn to close up for the night. Jaxon and Wilder are already there, talking between the stalls.
Wilder stops mid-sentence, eyeing me critically. I already know what’s coming.
