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I desperately hoped it was going to go well today, because I loved living in the Rocky Mountains. I didn’t know how I’d ever survive in the Arizona desert.
Throughout my drive, I tried to give myself a pep talk. I could do this. I had to do this.
This was my chance. My opportunity to rebuild my life and get back to being who I was.
Indy Watson: smart, cautious, and responsible.
No more messing around. No more crazy ideas or taking chances.
Whether I got this job or not, there was one thing I was absolutely certain of. No matter what, I was putting myself first again. I had to focus on me.
Of course, that meant my prospects for a relationship were going to be nonexistent.
I couldn’t pay attention to anything outside of the things I needed to survive right now.
Happiness with a partner was going to be secondary, because at this point, I had to be honest. I wasn’t sure if I could trust someone to understand my needs and make them a priority.
If that meant I was going to live a lonely and boring life, so be it. At least I wouldn’t be worried about having to spend the rest of the winter living out of my car and possibly freezing to death.
THREE
Griffin
“I can only assume you’re leaving again.”
I’d just walked back into the house, assaulted by the warmth and delicious scents of my mom cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Eggs, bacon, and French toast.
They were my favorites.
Smiling at her, I moved to the opposite side of the island, snatched up a piece of bacon, and took a bite. “I can only assume you’re making this breakfast as a means to keep me from going.”
She smiled back at me and shrugged her shoulders. “You can’t blame me for trying. It always makes me so nervous.”
“What makes you nervous?”
That question came from my dad, who’d just walked into the kitchen and wanted to join the conversation.
“Griffin Ross,” my mom answered, using our last name to indicate just how frustrated she was feeling. “Who else would I be talking about? It’s a wonder I haven’t experienced some medical emergency for all the worrying I do about him.”
“Darling, the sooner you accept that this is the man you raised him to be, the better off you’re going to be,” my dad returned.
I grinned. “Thanks, Dad.”
He clapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “No problem, Griffin. Are you staying local this time?”
Without me needing to confirm anything or spell it out, my father already knew what I was up to. Unlike my mom, he never tried to convince me to do anything other than what I wanted to do.
Nodding, I confirmed, “Yeah. We’re supposed to be getting a lot of snow with this one.”
“You know you don’t always have to run,” my mom chimed in. “You could stay here, where you’ll be warm and safe.”
“First of all, I’m a grown man, Mom. It’s one thing to pop in for a visit and stay for a few days, but I’m not moving back in with my parents, especially when I don’t need to,” I noted.
She flipped the French Toast over on the griddle before she poured the eggs into the pan to cook and scramble them. “You just got here two days ago,” she argued.
Technically, she was telling the truth, but I’d been here a lot longer than that.
Two days ago, I’d returned from my trip to Utah, where I’d spent two and a half weeks snowboarding at a couple of ski resorts. I’d had a blast, but had been checking the weather, and I knew it was a wise idea to head home.
