Page 23 of Griffin (Stone Brothers #5)

TWENTY-ONE

GRIFFIN

I was on the scaffolding hanging drywall when I saw Shay's car coming up the drive to the lot.

I paused my task long enough to watch her get out of the car and walk across to the trailer.

I was stupidly happy when she stopped and looked toward the work area.

I waved and she spotted me. A white smile splashed across her face, and she waved back before heading inside.

It was only a wave, but it was enough to get me through until break time.

I had to play it cool and not show up constantly at the trailer, but it wasn't going to be easy.

Just seeing her reminded me of all the time we'd spent naked in each other's arms this weekend. Those were hard memories to tamp down.

"I told you I never touched her!" A yell came from the next building site.

Derek and John, two framers who always walked on site together with tools ready to go, had joined us last month.

They were good workers, but I knew Dad was still double checking their framing because of the occasional screwup.

Derek was waving a nail gun around as if accidentally shooting it would have no consequences.

His buddy, John, was holding a piece of drywall in front of him like a shield.

"C'mon, Derek, put the damn nail gun down. I'm telling you I never went near Rhonda. I know you like her, and I'm a better friend than that."

"Then why the hell did I just see her name come up on your phone?"

I hurried over, and Greg, the other foreman, joined from the opposite side.

"Put the nail gun down or turn in your hard hat and leave the site, Derek," I said as I reached the scene.

Derek seemed to be weighing his options or, at the very least, he was weighing how serious my threat was.

"Put it down now or leave," I repeated without pause.

Derek lowered the tool and shook his head. "You think someone is your friend and then they stab you in the fucking back." His face was red as his words shot out.

"You know what? Take a walk, Derek. See if you can cool off.

John, you switch with Adam on my team for now.

I think you two should work separately for the day, then you can clean up this personal mess on your free time and preferably out of reach of deadly tools.

" I looked at John. "Head over there now and get started on the south wall. "

John put down the drywall and hurried away just like a friend who had indeed stabbed his buddy in the back by making a move on his girlfriend.

Derek yanked off his hard hat, threw it at a pile of lumber and marched away.

"Those two have been at it all morning," Greg said. "You might want to keep John with you. Something tells me a brisk walk isn't going to do all that much to cool Derek off."

The rest of the morning moved along without anyone waving around a nail gun.

John stayed with me, but he kept glancing around, apparently worried he might be blindsided by his buddy with the dangerous tool.

The two friends even managed a few civil words together as they headed over to the picnic tables with their lunch coolers.

It seemed they'd patched things up, which was one less thing for me to worry about.

Dad had a meeting at the developer's office, so he'd put me in charge while he was gone.

Aside from the scuffle between the two friends, the morning went smoothly but I was just as glad to see Dad's truck roll up to the site.

It meant I could focus on my own tasks. Which I was doing until I spotted Shay walking out of the trailer with her lunch bag.

She was wearing a light pink sweater that hugged her in all the right places.

I'd only seen her briefly in the morning when we waved to each other.

With Dad off site all morning, I hadn't had time for a visit, and I didn't need to give Dad any more reason to be disappointed with me.

I was sure if I stopped in to say hello, some grand fucking catastrophe would happen and then Dad would ask where the hell I was, and I was fairly sure that if I answered inside the office trailer that would give him the perfect opportunity to tell me I had to knock it off.

I just didn't see myself walking away from Shay.

I wasn't finished with my work yet, but at least part of our lunch breaks would overlap.

I returned to my task cutting plywood for a subfloor.

I had three pieces left. I'd finished two.

The ear protection and goggles had put me in my own quiet world, but as I turned to set aside the piece I'd cut, my gaze swept across to the lunch tables.

Shay jumped up from the bench as John and Derek wrestled with each other.

I yanked off my ear covers and goggles and ran toward the benches.

A few others had put down their tools and were heading toward the fight.

The few workers who'd been at the tables had gotten up and were yelling at the two to cool it, but no one wanted to step into the hurricane of flailing fists.

Derek threw John on the ground, right at Shay's feet.

She screamed and backed up. Derek jumped on John just as I reached the benches.

The trailer door flew open, and Dad ran down the steps and toward us.

I grabbed Derek and yanked him back. His fists were still flying in every direction, and I had to bob and weave to avoid getting clobbered.

John took advantage of Derek being restrained and flew at both of us, but Dad snatched him back before he could throw a punch.

It took them both a good minute to cool down and realize the fight was over.

"What's this about?" Dad asked. He'd missed the prequel to the fight this morning, but Derek quickly filled him in.

"That asshole has been hooking up with my girl." Spittle mixed with blood flew from Derek's mouth.

"I told you, you're crazy! It never happened," John said.

"Right. Well, I took you two on based on recommendations from your references, and you should use those to find another job. I want both of you to turn in your equipment and clear out your lockers. I have a zero-tolerance policy for fighting on the jobsite."

John pointed at Derek. "You stupid idiot. Look what you've done."

"John, you go first to clear out your locker. I don't want the two of you in that small space together," Dad said.

Derek pulled angrily out of my grasp and walked to his water flask on the table. Shay hurried back to the office. I followed her to make sure she was all right. She'd already slipped inside before I reached the trailer door.

I opened it, but she didn't turn around as she headed toward her desk.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

"Why the hell does it always have to be violence with men?" she said angrily.

I had no response because she wasn't wrong. I walked toward her. She held up her hand to stop me.

"I'm sorry, Fin. I just need some time. I'm shaken, yes, but I wasn't hurt. I just don't get it. I don't understand why everyone resorts to throwing fists." She leaned against the front edge of her desk, and her shoulders slumped. She covered her face, and her body shuddered. She was crying.

She'd told me to stop, but my feet shot forward. "Shay, hey, did they hurt you?"

She kept her face covered, and shook her head.

"No, I'm not hurt," she mumbled through sobs behind her hands.

I stood there helplessly, not sure how to soothe her.

It seemed I was totally out of my depth here.

Shay's life had broken her in so many ways, and I didn't have a clue how to put the pieces back together.

Shay lowered her hands. Her eyes and nose were red, but the tears had stopped.

"My friend, Annie—I met her on the bus and she's—she knows about me, about my life because she lived through the same life, only with a different monster.

And she had a daughter—" The tears flowed again, and she fell forward into my arms. "It's too hard, sometimes," she said.

"Too hard to understand why it has to be like this. "

I held her, but I didn't say a word. I couldn't. I was no saint when it came to throwing an angry fist, but I'd never throw one at a woman or child or anyone who didn't deserve it. At least not in my mind.

The trailer door opened, and Shay abruptly yanked out of my arms. She quickly wiped away any tears and sniffled a few times as she circled around to her chair. I glanced back and my gaze clashed with Dad's.

"Fin, I need you out there to make sure those two clear off without any more trouble." His words were short and clipped.

"Yep. Heading out right now." I looked over at Shay.

She was busy shuffling papers together into a pile.

"Are you all right?" I heard Dad ask as I walked out of the trailer.

I was going to hear from him later for sure.

That was fine. I wasn't backing down, and he was just going to have to deal with it.

Shay was fragile, and I'd taken on way more than I realized, but deep down, I knew she was worth fighting for in every sense of the word.