She cocked her head to the side, catching a glimpse of someone in a hoodie standing across the lawn, half hidden by a tree. She swore it was the same hoodie person she’d seen at her house and outside of Garner’s that night when both Dave and Griff had performed. She grabbed Joey’s hand.
“Show me that keyboard, Joey,” she urged, pulling him back toward the house. “I can’t wait to hear you play it.”
“I play with drums sound,” he said.
“You do? That’s awesome.” She hurried him along, her eye on the person in the hoodie, who seemed to be following them. “What songs do you know?”
“Yes,” Joey said. Sometimes if Joey didn’t know how to answer a question, he just said yes.
“What’s wrong?” Griff asked.
Steph jerked her head toward the person following them.
Griff shook his head. “I don’t know how they find me.”
“What’s wrong?” Joey echoed. He stopped and looked up at Steph with wide eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, everything’s okay,” Steph said, pulling him along again. She wasn’t so sure it was a coincidence that the hoodie person had found Griff here. Maybe Griff wanted pictures of the three of them together for some reason.
They went back to the house, where Griff and Joey played on the keyboard together, singing some of Twisted Star’s songs. Joey knew a lot of the words, which meant he must’ve listened to them a lot. She hadn’t realized what an important part of Joey’s life Griff was. She should introduce Joey to Dave soon. Dave was her future.
After their visit, which Steph enjoyed more than she’d ever thought she could with Griff along for the ride, she slipped back into the limo with Griff.
“That was fun,” Griff said as the limo pulled away. He stretched his arms out along the bench seat, his fingers brushing her hair. He rubbed a lock between his thumb and forefinger. “Like old times, huh, Steph?”
“I appreciate how good you are to him,” she said. “He’s—”
“Special,” Griff finished for her.
Tears stung her eyes. “He is.”
“I know. I love him too.”
Her heart squeezed. She nodded, unable to speak over the lump in her throat.
“Steph, about Joey…”
Her heart sped up. “What about him?”
“As long as I can afford it, divorce or not, I’ll pay his tuition. I’ll try to keep the celebrity charity events going too. That’s the easiest way for me to get the cash to Horizon Village.”
Relief rushed through her. “Oh, Griff, you know how much this means to me. And to him.” She took a shaky breath and for the first time in a long time looked at him with something other than anger or aggravation. “Thank you.”
He settled his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You’re welcome.” He let go of her shoulder and leaned toward the minibar. “You want a drink?”
“No, thanks.”
He poured himself a shot of whiskey and tossed it back. “Sometimes I think I would’ve been happier if I was still a guitar teacher, you know? Building a life with you.”
A loud click sounded. Did the doors just lock? She slowly leaned toward the handle and tested it. Locked. Her eyes flew to his.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “The driver locked it for safety. You don’t want to fly out on the freeway, do you?”
She settled uneasily back in the seat.
“We’re having dinner at Grinaldi’s,” he informed her. “Skyline view.”
“I promised to meet Dave for dinner,” she said.
He raised a brow. “Call and tell him you can’t make it.”
“No.”
He lifted one shoulder up and down.
She pulled her cell from her purse, hit Dave’s number, when Griff snatched it out of her hand, tucking it into his back pocket. “Give that back!”
“You’ll get it back after dinner.”
“You can’t kidnap me!”
Griff snorted. “It’s just dinner.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want a second chance.”
“You won’t get one this way. You can’t force someone to dinner and force them back into a marriage. It doesn’t work that way!”