"Me, too." He reached between us and stroked my cheek. "Want to hear a secret?"
Leaning into his touch, I gave a silent nod.
His voice was quiet. "I would'vegivenyou the money, but I didn't think you'd take it."
He was right.Even now, I felt like I'd taken far too much. "Yeah, well…I hate to take advantage."
"AndIhate to see you in trouble." His gaze met mine."Andyou deserved a break."
I smiled up at him. "You gave me more than a break. You saved everything. And you didn't even tell me."
"Yeah, well…maybe I liked being a regular guy."
"Is that why you didn't tell me who you were?"
His mouth twitched at the corners. "No. I didn't tell you because I was an ass."
"Oh, stop it," I laughed. "You were not. If anyone was the ass, it was me. I should've given us more of a chance." My voice filled with tenderness as I confessed, "That's the other thing I put in the letter."
A grin tugged at his lips. "So it was a two-parter?"
"I guess so – half apology, half...well, crazy hope that you'd come back."
His fingers trailed along my back. "Yeah?"
I nodded. "So when I saw you walk into the shop, I wassosure you'd gotten it." I winced at the recollection of everything I'd said and done, especially near the end. "Anyway…I'mreallysorry."
"Hey…"
"Hey what?"
"I oweyouan apology, too."
Not the wayIsaw it. "After everything you've done for me and the shop? You don't owe me anything."
"Wanna bet?" He gave a slow shake of his head. "I should've been straight with you – maybe not at first, but once I got to know you,reallyknow you, I should've laid it all out there."
I hesitated. "Even the thing with your dad?"
He stiffened for a half a beat before his shoulders finally relaxed. And yet, his voice was far from warm as he said,"Him."He said it like the single word held a lifetime of baggage.
But I couldn't let it dropnow. "Yeah. Him."
"I never lied to you, not outright." He drew in a slow breath. "But yeah, I left out the things I didn't like. And he's definitely one of them."
"So youreallydidn't know him? Growing up, I mean?"
Griff shook his head. "Nope. And neither did Mom. He was just a guy she met in a hotel bar – a smooth talking rich guy named Montgomery."
"So youwerenamed after him?"
Griff let out a scoff. "Yeah. Except she thought Montgomery was hisfirstname, not his last. Or at least, that's the way she tells it." A smile ghosted across his face. "She was a lot wilder back in the day."
He'd said so before. And now that I'd met her, I could totally see it. "She seems really awesome."
With a boyish smile, Griff said, "Yeah. She is."
"So what happened?" I asked. "I mean…you found him eventually, right?"
