Man Of The Family. Leigh Riker

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СКАЧАТЬ but it was Griffin who moved a foot away. “I’m not exactly free to socialize. I have two kids to raise.”

      “That doesn’t mean you need to be a martyr. Don’t you ever get lonely?”

      Griffin didn’t answer. For a long time after Rachel had left, he would have been able to say no. He hadn’t felt a thing then. He didn’t want to, even now.

      Chris tried again. “My sister’s home. You remember Sunny? She’s feeling sort of unhinged, my mother says.”

      “Unhinged? And that’s a recommendation?” Griffin remembered her from Chris and Bron’s wedding. He’d been best man, and Sunny Donovan had been matron of honor. Tall, blond hair, gray-blue eyes...similar coloring to Rachel’s. She wasn’t his type now. No one was, really. “A hotshot lawyer, isn’t she? Driven?” Which was about as far as possible from Griffin’s present life.

      Chris laughed. “I know she comes across that way sometimes, but Sunny’s all right. She has a big heart. She’s just having a rough time. Maybe the four of us could get together some night. No obligation. Just a fun evening out. With adults.”

      Griffin tried to switch topics as if he were changing channels on the TV. “Your sister’s married. So am I.”

      “After two years?” Chris wouldn’t give up. “Rachel isn’t coming back, Griff.”

      “Maybe not, but I have my standards.”

      “You don’t even know where she is.”

      “I’m still looking,” he said.

      “Know what I think? You should file for divorce.” He paused. “Sunny’s already divorced. As of a few days ago, it’s a done deal. Then, after that—”

      “No, thanks.”

      Not quite to his relief, he heard Amanda in the hall. He and Chris turned as she came into the room, and Griffin’s heart rolled over. He couldn’t believe she was already a teenager, though barely.

      “It’s late,” he said. “Why are you still up?”

      “I’m hungry.” Her shy smile blossomed, but not for him. “Hi, Uncle Chris.”

      “You knew I was here.”

      She nodded. Her dark blond hair hung to her waist and shimmered in the light. Her hazel eyes warmed.

      “Josh knew, too. But he fell asleep while you and Daddy were fighting.”

      “We’re not fighting,” Griffin said quickly. “We were having a discussion.”

      “Did Aunt Bronwyn do something bad?”

      Looking guilty, Chris closed the distance between them to hug her. “No, Mandi. She’s good, and I love her. You, too.” He tapped her nose with a forefinger that probably smelled like tuna, but she giggled. “Now be a good kid.” He lightly spun her toward the kitchen. “Get your snack and go back to bed.”

      She would have given Griffin an argument, guaranteed. Josh at five was still manageable, despite his tendency to worry about everything; but with Mandi he no longer seemed able to connect.

      “It’ll be time for school before you know it,” Chris added.

      “I hate school.”

      That didn’t bother Chris. “So did I. Par for the course.” As she went into the kitchen he lowered his voice. “You think she was standing in the hall, listening?”

      “Probably.” He hoped not, especially the part about Rachel. Griffin said no more until Amanda came back with a banana and a glass of milk. He didn’t look at her when she drifted down the hall, didn’t want to ask himself why. The spray of freckles across her nose made him yearn for simpler times when she’d been the little girl who worshipped him. “Good night, baby.”

      “I’m not a baby,” she said. “Night, Uncle Chris.”

      “Keep taking those Gorgeous pills.” He grinned at Griffin. “Man, I don’t envy you in another few years. Scrawny boys ringing your bell day and night. She’s going to be a beauty, Griff.”

      “She already is.” Like Rachel.

      He walked Chris to the door, but his brother-in-law lingered without opening it. He gazed at Griffin’s forearm and the smeary tattoo he hadn’t seemed to notice before.

      “That’s a great look for you,” he finally said, then let himself out into the night.

      Shaking his head, Griffin locked up. He didn’t envy his brother-in-law, having to make adjustments to his new marriage with Bronwyn. She’d been born strong-willed, bent on getting her way, but he’d never seen a happier couple the day they married—except for him and Rachel long ago.

      He shut off the lights and went to his room. Never mind the talk about Sunshine Donovan. Divorced now, was she? Yet Chris’s words stayed with him. Every night Griffin looked forward to his few moments of quiet time, to his solitary thoughts. And every night he ended up wishing he wasn’t alone with them.

      Maybe for the rest of his life.

       CHAPTER TWO

      AS IF IT were her first day in court, Sunny gazed at her sister-in-law’s classroom filled with middle school students. She’d only been home for a week. Why had she let Bronwyn talk her into taking part in Career Day?

      Sunny had never been much of a speech maker. Funny, for a woman who earned her living by performing in front of a jury. But in a courtroom, before making a motion to the judge or examining a witness, she had plenty of time to prepare.

      Now she shuffled her notes. And rubbed at the ache in her lower back. Her dad’s sofa bed was living up to its reputation.

      What could she tell these kids about her dedication to a legal process that had recently failed her? She still believed wholeheartedly in the law, but the Wallace Day verdict had shaken her confidence.

      Bron’s students had listened raptly to the minor league ball player now squeezed behind a desk in the front row, and to the bulky city police officer next to him. Would they listen to her?

      As if in answer, a pair of spitballs sailed across the room, and all at once she knew how to begin.

      “Good morning,” she said. “It seems we have some future felons in our audience today.” She leveled a look at two lanky boys in the rear who were obviously the culprits. “No more missiles, gentlemen,” she said with a smile and a pointed glance at the police officer.

      A few kids laughed. The boys turned red.

      Sunny set her watch on the teacher’s desk in front of her. She had twenty minutes to sway this jury, and the oversized timepiece with its thick band of multicolored glass beads would keep her on track. Sunny had bought it one weekend down in SoHo. She liked to wear it as a contrast to her usual prim business suits—today, a subtle navy blue pinstripe.

      “So СКАЧАТЬ