A flicker of some unnamed emotion crossed his features, one that his father was quick to erase, but Shane caught it nonetheless.
It looked like remorse.
“No, I don’t. Pine Mountain is where I belong.” Shane had meant to deliver the words with a sting in his voice, but they’d simply arrived as the truth.
“I suppose it might help you to know why this is difficult for me.” His father drew in a breath while Shane did a terrible job of keeping the shock from his face.
“People who are raised in small towns either love them or can’t wait to leave them. There’s really no middle ground. Your grandfather’s a lifer.” A small, wry smile crossed his father’s lips, but it didn’t last. “But I never was. The old man never quite understood why I wanted to leave Pine Mountain for the city. He’s a man of a simpler life, but I wanted more. At the time, and for a long time, I thought what I wanted was a better life. So, the minute after I graduated high school, I left. My mother recognized that I just wasn’t cut out to stay here, but your grandfather could never quite come to grips with the whole thing.
“So, when she died, I felt there was nothing left here for me. My father disapproved of my choices, and I wasn’t interested in defending myself. I was an adult, with a career I’d worked hard for and loved, but to him, it never made sense. So, I stayed resentful and kept my distance. But I was foolish.”
His last words snapped Shane’s head up, just in time to see that odd smile cross his father’s lips again.
“You were what?”
“I was foolish,” his father repeated. “All that time, I saw disapproval. But really, it was disappointment that my passion was for something else. Only I was too stubborn to recognize it, and he was too stubborn to point it out. Until today.”
His father’s words scattered around him, all the pieces falling into place with startling clarity, and Shane kept listening, too shocked to speak.
“In hindsight, I think I always knew you didn’t have a love for the law like I do. I just didn’t want to admit it. Don’t get me wrong. You were good at it, no doubt. But you never got that light in your eyes for it like you did when you talked about that car. And when Grady had his first heart attack, you were so quick to come out here. Even quicker to stay.”
Shane said, “I wasn’t trying to run away.” He’d had no idea he wouldn’t go back until he’d arrived in Pine Mountain and realized the truth.
“I know that now. But at the time, I was too proud to admit that your passion might be for that simple thing that I left here rather than the law. Let’s face it, working at the firm isn’t exactly low-pressure. I’ll admit, I thought you were taking an easy out. But last night you showed me that’s not the case.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all of this when I left?” Shane asked, his mind spinning.
This time his father’s smile was more genuine. “Because I was mad. We Griffins tend to be a bit hotheaded and stubborn, in case you hadn’t noticed. I thought your grandfather would get back on his feet, you’d get being a mechanic out of your system, and things would go back to normal. But then you didn’t come back, and I said I’d be damned if I was coming out here to get you.”
His father exhaled in a long breath. “When the bank called my office last week and I found out how hard you’d been struggling to repay your loan all this time, I’ll admit that I initially paid it off so you’d owe me. I really thought…” He paused, letting out a gruff sigh. “I thought it was just the thing to make you come to your senses. But I can see now what you’re made for. It’s not disapproval on my face when I look at you, son. It’s disappointment that I didn’t pass on my love for the law.”
Shane shook his head, trying to make sense of it all. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You can start by thanking the old man. He’s the one who pointed it out to me, even though I didn’t want to hear it. He said he couldn’t live with himself if another twenty years went by and two more Griffins didn’t make amends.”
Make it right…make it right. Jesus. This was what Grady had meant last night, with all of his talk about making amends.
Suddenly, everything made perfect sense. Shane hadn’t realized it, but he’d spent the last fourteen months—hell, the last seven years, really—covering up who he really was. It was time for the out-loud truth, no matter the consequences.
“I owe you an apology,” Shane said, and although he’d expected the words to stick to his throat, they flowed easily. “I should’ve been honest with you from the beginning about not wanting to go to law school, but I didn’t think you’d understand.”
His father arched a dark brow. “Before now, I doubt I would’ve.”
“I will pay the loan back,” Shane insisted.
His father chuckled, and in that moment, Shane could see something familiar cross the man’s features. There was no rasp in his father’s laugh, but it was a reflection of Grady’s nonetheless.
“I know you will.”
“Grady told you. About the garage.”
His father nodded once. “He did. All things considered, it makes sense for you to run the place. After all, it’s a family business.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Shane’s brow creased, his face laced with doubt.
“I’m not going to lie to you. It’ll take a bit of time for me to be truly okay with it. But it’s the right thing. For you and for Grady.”
“I’m just not cut out for the city, Dad. I’m sorry, but I’m never leaving Pine Mountain.”
“Don’t apologize for who you are.” His father’s voice broke slightly over his words, startling Shane. “You belong here. That’s just something I’ll have to learn to live with.”
As he met his father’s eyes with respect and conviction, Shane realized that while he belonged on the mountain, there was still an empty part of him that had gone to the city.
And he was going to get it back.
Bellamy rang the bell of the elegant, three-story brownstone and waited, fidgeting like mad on the brick threshold. It was cold enough for her to see her breath on every nervous exhale, and she drummed her gloved fingers together to a tuneless beat.
“Bellamy! Oh, sweetheart, why do you ring the bell like that when it’s freezing outside? Come in, before you catch your death.” Her mother pulled the door wide, ushering her inside with a warm embrace.
“Hi, Mom. Sorry to barge in on you and Daddy like this.” Bellamy’s heart raced, and she hoped her mother couldn’t feel it as she returned her hug.
“Nonsense. You grew up in this house. You can barge in any time you want. Have you eaten dinner yet? Maybe we can talk your dad into ordering pad Thai.” Her mom grinned, moving through the living room toward the kitchen.
Bellamy followed, resisting the urge to start fidgeting again. “Oh, uh, I’m not hungry.” She thought of the tons of food she’d had her hands on in the last eight hours, none of which she’d been hungry for. “I actually came because I need to talk to you guys.”