25. Griffin

Chapter Twenty-Five

Griffin

"Oh, hey there, Griffin and—" Phoebe paused, her voice slowing. "I can't remember your name."

Hudson, one of the newer firefighters, cracked a quick smile. "Hudson Fox."

"That's it! I'd know your name if I was still firefighting full-time," Phoebe replied. She gestured from us to Tish. "Griffin, you know Tish, but Hudson, this is Tish, a good friend of mine and sort of new to town. She is now running the show for the offices here at Fireweed Industries."

Hudson dipped his head. "Nice to meet you, Tish."

I wanted to kiss Tish, right this very second. Her cheeks were pink, and I could tell from the uncertainty in her eyes that she wasn't sure how to greet me. This was a conversation we hadn't had. Maybe she was okay with us being public, but I didn't know.

Her lips curled in a smile as she glanced toward Hudson. "Nice to meet you."

Her eyes bounced to mine and away again, the flush deepening on her cheeks. She fiddled with the strap on her purse. Phoebe was saying something to Hudson, so I stepped closer to Tish. "How's your day going?" I kept my voice low.

She peered up quickly. "Good. Yours?"

"Pretty good." I found myself wanting to ask her all kinds of questions, anything to keep her talking. I was also legitimately curious about how the planning with the brewery was going. "What is the time frame for the new distribution place to be up and running?"

Tish cocked her head to the side. "I need to confirm with Archer, but I think it's in about a year. So far, the restaurant is only open for events and all the alcohol they serve is from the production center in Fireweed Harbor."

Phoebe jumped in, "We're all impatient for the brewery." She nudged me with her elbow. "You're going to be the brewer, pretty please."

I chuckled. "Eventually."

After we ordered our coffees, I wanted to linger, mostly because I wanted to spend more time with Tish. While I was pondering how to do that, Nate Fox, a pilot who handled a lot of flights for hotshot crews, came walking in with his wife Holly. I'd met both of them briefly the other day.

"Hey, man" Nate said, clapping Hudson on the shoulder before pulling him into a back-slapping hug.

As Nate stepped back, I glanced to Hudson. "You two know each other?"

Nate waggled his brows. "We're cousins."

Holly lifted her hands to tighten her ponytail, her long blonde hair swinging when she released it. She glanced toward Tish. "How are you? Glad to be back at work?"

Tish smiled. "I'm struggling with guilt, but it's nice to be at work."

Nate looked between them. "Holly struggled with the mom guilt."

Holly rolled her eyes. "I'm so grateful we've made it to pre-school. I love it."

Nate slid his arm around her waist and gave her a lingering kiss on the side of her neck. Holly's cheeks went pink. It felt as if we were all interrupting them, but the moment passed. When I looked over at Tish again, my heart felt literally pulled in her direction.

I didn't think of myself as a romantic guy. I sure as hell didn't believe in fate. I was probably more cynical than the average person, especially when it came to family and relationships. Although all freaking six of my siblings were happily married now, our childhood had been filled with shadows and darkness. I'd been barely a toddler when our father had died unexpectedly. He and our mom had both been only children and they'd wanted a big family. That left our single, grieving mom completely overwhelmed when he passed. Our father's parents stepped in to help because they lived in Fireweed Harbor, and our grandfather had set in motion a series of events that left a trail of pain behind.

He'd been verbally and emotionally abusive to all of us and knocked our oldest brothers around with Rhys and Jake being his primary targets. Jake had buried his feelings in alcohol during college, and drank himself to death one night. It was only years after his death that we found out from Archer that our grandfather had also raped Jake. Archer had panic attacks for years until he finally talked about what he'd witnessed.

It wasn't all bad though. I was tight with all of my siblings and we took care of each other. A nice surprise in our messy family was discovering our half-brother, Chase. Our father had a relationship with another woman before he'd even met our mom, and she'd never told him she had a baby.

When Chase's sister signed them up for an online genealogy place, she'd found us. Although I had moved to Willow Brook for the hotshot crew, I was glad Archer and Chase were here.

"Griffin?" Tish's voice was soft.

I glanced down, realizing my mind had wandered far afield. "Yeah?"

"Your coffee is ready." She gestured to the counter.

"Thanks, Janet!" I flashed her a grin before stuffing a hefty tip in the jar.

Phoebe slipped over to Tish's side, sliding her hand through Tish's elbow. "We should get back to the office."

She glanced over at me. "Good to see you, Griffin."

I wanted to kiss her goodbye, but I checked the urge.

Nate, Holly, and Hudson were still there after Tish and Phoebe departed. Holly pinned me with her sharp gaze. "What's going on with you and Tish?"

"Uh, what?" I sputtered.

Hudson chuckled and Nate cracked a wide smile. "It's a small town, and Holly stays on top of everything."

"Why do you ask?" I hedged.

Holly rolled her eyes. "Because you couldn't keep your eyes off her and it's obvious you totally have a thing for her." The twinkle in her eyes took the edge off her bluntness. "Tish is a good person and you need to be nice to her."

I held Holly's gaze for a long beat before concluding honesty was the best policy. Maybe I didn't know if Tish was comfortable having anyone know anything about us, but I didn't mind being open about my feelings.

"I like Tish. A lot."

Holly tipped her head to the side, her eyes narrowing before a slow smile unfurled across her face. "Excellent. That's how it should be. Now, you better not be an asshole. I don't know enough about you to know if you are."

Nate cut in, "Slow your roll, Holly. He hasn't done anything to demonstrate he's an asshole."

"Maybe not, but you never know," she grumbled.

"I'm not planning to be an asshole," I offered.

"Well, what are you planning to do?"