Fall With Me(31)
Author: Bella Forrest

But it’s Bill I want to be like, I realize, as I stand there. Bill, in his worn-out jeans, faded Sea Horse Ranch shirt, and black Stetson. He just seems so content in his element. He sees me looking at him and gives me a smile, then lets the kids go at the log themselves. He walks over.

“Griffin,” he says. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” I say.

“You’re pretty good with that thing.” He nods at the saw.

“Thanks. I’ve had some practice.” I glance over at the campers, wrangling with the log. “Hey, Bill, could I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Did you always know you wanted to do this?”

“The ranch? I suppose I did. My great-grandfather built the place, and I just never had the desire to leave. You know how some people get bit by the traveling bug and just can’t seem to stay in one place for long?”

I smile. “Sounds familiar.”

“Oh, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I just always felt like this place where I grew up was the place that I was meant to be. Some people think that sort of thing sounds awfully boring, or like I missed out on a lot in life, but really, I wouldn’t have done it any other way.” His gaze too, goes over to the campers. “I mean, look at them. They’re all having a great time out here—they always do. I get to share this piece of my life with them for a few weeks every summer, and I couldn’t ask for more than that. I guess if I’d been born in a city, or had parents who didn’t care much for the outdoors, it might’ve taken me longer to find this, but one way or another, I would have.”

“Well, I really appreciate you letting me stay on here, Bill. I’m having a blast. I kind of feel like this is what I’ve been looking for all this time, even though I didn’t know I was looking for something to begin with.”

“A lot of the time that’s how it goes: What you’re looking for finds you before you even knew you needed it. Or wanted it. I’ll tell you though, Griffin, you’ve got a good way about you. With the kids, especially. And there are a lot of great opportunities out there for someone like yourself.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, of course. I could put you in touch with a few people, if you’re interested. My pal John runs a teen rehab center up in Marin, and he’s always asking me to send qualified people his way. I’ll give you his number later. You should give him a call.”

I nod. “That would be great.” Maybe once all this over, I’ll just stay in California. The idea doesn’t sound half bad. “Oh yeah, there’s one other thing I wanted to ask you,” I tell him. He looks at me. “How are things looking for Sunday? I was thinking I might take Jill out after she’s done visiting her mom. You know, since it was just her birthday and all.”

“Absolutely,” Bill says, without hesitation. “We’ve got it covered. Jill deserves to go out for a good time, anyway. She works hard. You two go have fun.”

“Thanks,” I say. “I think we will.”

Chapter 20: Jill

On Saturday night, Griffin finds me as I’m coming back from the barn. He lopes over and slings an arm across my shoulders. “Sweetheart,” he says. “What do you have planned for tomorrow night?”

“Just going to visit my mom. Head back here. Why, what’s up?”

“How would you feel about me accompanying you up to the city? I can give you and your mom some time to visit, if you want and then I thought I could take you out.”

I glance at him. “You’re really not going to let this go—taking me out for my birthday, are you?”

“We can pretend it’s for something else.”

I think about this for a minute. “Okay,” I say. “We can do that. I’ll probably be leaving here around two, two-thirty. And you can come meet my mom, if you’d like. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to meet you.”

He grins. “Ah, so you’ve told her about me? Only good things, I’m sure.”

“She’ll be glad to meet you. She keeps wanting me to get back together with my ex, which is never going to happen, and I think she envisions my life being completely devoid of companionship or something.”

He pulls me a little closer and turns his head so his mouth is right by my ear. “I will gladly be your companion.”

We get to my cabin and stand there for a moment, his arm still around me. For a fleeting second, I actually consider asking him in. But instead I just slip out from under his arm.

“So I’ll meet you here tomorrow afternoon,” I tell him.

He winks. “Sounds good, sweetheart.”

As expected, Mom is very pleased to meet Griffin, so much so that I wonder if I should have brought him over before. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her look so happy.

It’s a mild day, so we sit outside on the deck, and Mom asks Griffin questions about all the different places he’s been, and he does have some good stories. He’s wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, a pair of aviator sunglasses, and he does look deliciously handsome. At one point, I slip away and go upstairs to my room. I’m generally a jeans and t-shirt type girl myself, but I do have a few seldom worn, dressier outfits, and I dig one out of the back of my closet. It’s a simple cotton dress, navy blue and tan stripes, giving it sort of a nautical look. I put it on and look at myself in the full-length mirror. I’m not used to seeing myself in a dress, but it doesn’t look bad.

Griffin whistles when I step back outside. “Look at you,” he says.

Mom smiles. “It’s so nice to see you dressed up!” she says. “And that is one of my favorite dresses.”

“Well, I figured since we’re going out after this it might be good if I wore something that didn’t smell like a horse barn.”

When we’re getting ready to leave, I see a different orchid sitting on the kitchen table. It’s as lurid as the others ones, and for a moment, I hate Sean for making me dislike orchids so much.

“When did that come?” I ask.

“A few days ago,” Mom says. “It’s always nice to get flowers.”

“Sure,” I say. This must be the I’m sorry I tried to rape you orchid. I honestly can’t believe he had the gall to send it after that, but then again, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising.

“My ex likes to send orchids,” I tell Griffin.