Page 6 of Stay With Me (Griffin’s Den #2)
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Luna
When we get to Noah’s truck, he opens Jess’s door first and helps her in. I reach for my handle, but he settles his hand over mine as he shuts the back door.
“Do you want to swing by your place to get anything?” he asks me softly.
“No, I don’t want to keep Melissa waiting long if that’s okay with you. I can get whatever I need tomorrow,” I tell him as I climb into the truck.
“Of course it’s okay. I have extra stuff for you both to use for tonight. We’ll figure it out together. I promise.” He leans in, and my eyes flutter closed because I think he’s going to kiss me.
I snap my eyes open when I hear the click of the seat belt.
Noah smirks at me and says softly, “Our first kiss won’t be in the truck with your sister as we wait to go to my house for the first time, my Lunabella, but it will be soon.”
My cheeks flame with embarrassment that he knew exactly what I was thinking.
He kisses my cheek, his warm lips lingering for a beat before he leans out of the cab and shuts the door. He walks around to the driver’s side and gets in.
Starting up the truck, he looks from me to Jess and says, “Let’s get out of here, shall we?”
I nod, and he backs out of the spot and turns onto Main Street. As he drives, I realize we’re going in the opposite direction from the farm.
Turning in my seat, I say, “You don’t live anywhere near me, do you?”
I knew this, the girls told me, but I don’t know why I need him to tell me himself.
Flipping on his blinker, he says, “No, I live on the other side of town.”
“Why did you tell me it was on your way that night?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t want to put me out of my way, so I told you that. But it wasn’t a total fib. My mom does live close to Ann and Joe, and since she’s been in the cruise era of her life, I stayed there and did the lawn work and other things I’d put off for too long.”
I shake my head at him and smile. The connection I feel toward him is different from anyone I’ve ever met. He’s one of the reasons I’ve found it harder and harder to leave. Ever since the night he dropped me off at home after girls’ night several months ago.
Guilt creeps up on me again as I think about how he asked me out that night, but I knew that creating a deeper connection than I already had with him wasn’t something I could risk. So I continued to make excuses as to why I couldn’t go out with him.
When I first left The Family, I stayed away from everyone outside of actual working hours. Finding odd jobs and working to have enough money to have a roof over my head and eat while stashing money away for the next move.
Depending on how safe I felt, I would stay about three to six months. The first two years, I didn’t feel safe at all, and it took me a long time to be able to talk to a man and look them in the eye.
I knew Matthew would be mad I left. He was counting down the days until we were married, when he was thirteen and I was sixteen. If he had it his way, we would have been married as soon as Father announced we were the chosen couple, but the marriage rule for a woman’s age was firm in The Family.
After a couple of years on the run, I felt like maybe I didn’t have to look over my shoulder as much. That he had found a new obsession. Someone inside The Family who wanted to be there.
When I found the ad for the bed-and-breakfast in Griffin’s Den, it was the farthest south I could find at the time. After the phone interview, I hopped on the next bus heading south.
Joe and Ann took me in and didn’t ask questions.
They became the parents I wish I had.
They not only gave me a job, but they rent me a cabin for a much lower price than I know it can go for and made me feel like I belonged.
Slowly, I came out of my shell and started to learn to trust. Soon after that, I met Amelia, Pam, and Abby at the farmers’ market, and we just clicked.
I peek out of the corner of my eye and take in Noah. He’s so respectful and patient. The girls told me he was interested in me before he took me home, and he confirmed it that night.
I don’t understand the feelings he stirs in me. I didn’t grow up knowing love. We didn’t get to pick who we spent our life with or who we had children with. In The Family, a husband could allow someone else to father a child with their wife, and many men had several wives.
So as the months passed, I stayed here in Griffin’s Den even though my gut was telling me it was time to move on. My heart just hasn’t let me.
Turning in my seat, I look back at Jess, her head resting on the window with her eyes closed.
My biggest fear is that The Family won’t be far behind her.
They never left our little town hidden in the woods, but I wouldn’t put it past Matthew to find a reason to get permission from Father to come after us.
I turn back around just as we pull into a driveway. I lean forward, and a beautiful farmhouse comes into view. “This is where you live?”
“Yeah, I got it for a steal right before COVID,” he says as he puts the truck in park. “Stay where you are, ladies. I’ll come around and open the doors.”
As he hops out, I unbuckle the seat belt and turn back to Jess. “I know today has been a lot, but are you okay?”
She looks around, taking in the world around her, before drawing in a deep breath. I know exactly what she’s thinking. This is a far cry from the small shacks we lived in.
“Yes, I believe so. You are staying with me, right?”
I smile softly at her. “Of course I am.”
Our doors open, and Noah helps us out of the car as Melissa pulls in behind him.
“Let’s go, ladies. We have a house to see and a snack to eat before bed.”
We greet Melissa, and my nerves come back with a vengeance.
This has to work because if she tells us that Noah can’t be Jess’s emergency foster, I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep her safe.
Walking up to the house with Jess on my right, I feel something brush my left hand and look down, seeing Noah’s hand right next to mine.
I glance up to see if it was an accident, but he smiles at me and does it again.
As we walk up the steps to the wraparound porch, he loops his pinky around mine almost like a promise, and at this moment, I feel like I can face anything thrown my way with him at my side.