A New Leaf (Hemlock #1)

Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Charlie

Thankfully, the kitten has a loving home, and we were able to drop him off safely with his owners. There’s no way in hell I’m becoming the mom to another animal . . . except possibly Frank, the klepto pup.

Slumping back onto my couch, I kick my feet up on the coffee table and wrap a soft blanket around Vera and I. After yesterday’s festival, I decided to close the store today. I desperately need a mental health day to recover.

Vera and I are on the couch eating vanilla ice cream and watching rich housewives in a faraway city fight over rich people things. My brain isn’t registering what’s on the TV because my mind is elsewhere—specifically, on yesterday’s breakdown.

What no one tells you about grief is how the smallest reminder of a lost loved one could set you off at a moment’s notice.

For me, it was the bustling crowds of the festival on a sunny morning in the fall.

For Jack, it’s the scent of plywood being sanded down on a rainy afternoon.

For Joey, it’s the taste of blueberries on a warm spring morning.

Any of these tiny moments can send you into a spiral. A spiral that leaves you on the floor alone in a puddle of tears with the only person who can pull you out of that deep place—yourself.

It pains me to admit it, but I was thankful that Finn saw me. For so long, I’ve kept my emotions tightly locked inside of me. I built up an impenetrable wall to keep myself safe. But in the end, all it took was one memory.

A single passing moment that caused all of my walls to crumble.

Strawberries. It was the strawberries that derailed me from a plant-selling machine to a puddle of tears laying on the floor. I saw a customer come up to our tent with three cartons of strawberries. They were my mom’s favorite fruit. Every single summer growing up, she would buy them by the bushel and make every kind of strawberry dessert imaginable. When I saw that customer with strawberries, I got a tight, constricting feeling in my chest. My vision turned foggy, and I knew I had to get out before it was too late.

The moment I entered the store, I collapsed into a heap of tears and anxiety. The pain in my chest was indescribable. It felt like my heart was shattering over and over again. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop the pain from consuming me.

As goofy as I think they are, the dogs immediately knew something was wrong and rushed over to me. When I heard the creak of the store door open, I knew it was Finn. I tried to be silent, but my sniffles betrayed me.

This guy, who probably should’ve looked the other way, sat beside me on the cold, hard ground, handing me tissues and trying to make me smile, if only for a quick moment.

Pushing the memory of yesterday’s breakdown aside, I finish my ice cream and give Vera the leftover remnants in the carton. I prefer strawberry ice cream, but Vera loves vanilla. So I always buy vanilla to share with her. My mom and dad are most definitely rolling in their urns at the fact that I base my ice cream purchases off of Vera's preferences rather than my own. This is my first experience being a full-time dog owner, so every day is a new adventure and a learning experience.

I give Vera’s soft, fluffy ears a good scratch as she continues to lick the practically empty ice cream carton.

“You have good life with me. Don’t you forget it.”

Although she doesn’t talk back, it doesn’t stop me from talking to her. I’m still scratching Vera’s ear when I hear a soft knock at the door. Getting up off of the couch with a groan, I quickly shut off the TV because I refuse to admit to anyone what trashy shows I watch. Quietly, I walk over to the door and peer out of the peephole.

Finn.

What is he doing here so late?

I open the door more forcefully than needed, and he jolts back.

“Uh. Is everything okay?” I question.

He smirks down at me. “You opened that door like you were a woman on a mission. I should be asking if you are okay. Where’s your golf club, by the way?”

His head casually dips inside my house in search of my 5-iron. When he doesn’t find it, he turns back to me. Those cute dimples and those perfect white teeth are staring back at me with an amused gleam in his eye. I know he’s joking, but the weapon is safely secured in the closet.

Suddenly insecure about how I abruptly opened the door, I clear my throat and make up a lie. “I thought you were a salesperson. They’ve come around here twice already today.” I shrug.

Finn’s eyes narrow, clearly detecting my lie, but he’s too polite to say anything. “Right. Well, I’ve come to give you this.” He hands me my wallet. “I noticed your store was closed today and figured you’d need this. Frank stole it . . . obviously.”

Finn tucks his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. It’s obvious his dog’s sticky paws embarrass him.

I chuckle, my hand goes up to scratch my forehead.

Oh no.

I forgot to take my forehead wrinkle patch off. I smack my hand over my forehead in a panic, feeling my face go hot.

Finn’s laughing now. “I was wondering if you knew that was on your forehead. What is that, by the way?”

My head drops in embarrassment. “They’re for my . . . forehead wrinkles. Eyebrow wrinkles. As you know, it’s a whole thing. Marnie gave these to me. Can we forget that this happened?” I manage to say all that without taking a breath—the words stream together in one very long sentence.

He nods his head, smirking. “Not to correct you, but I think Marnie called them ‘ grumpy gremlin wrinkles.’ ”

I’m writing Marnie out of my will. Definitely calling my lawyer tomorrow.

Finn rocks back and forth on his heels again. “So . . . what are you up to tonight?”

I feel too defeated and exhausted to deliver a clever quip. I know exactly what he wants, so I open the door wider and motion for him to come in. Granted, I may be oblivious to social cues, but Finn is as subtle as a firework.

“I thought you’d never ask,” he says. Finn breezes inside and takes his shoes off before joining Vera on the couch, where he immediately proceeds to rub her belly. Vera is so happy to see Finn, her tail makes thumping noises against the couch cushions.

For someone who has never been inside my house, he sure knows how to make himself comfortable.

“Please. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable,” I say with a wry smile.

“Already did, sweetheart.” He looks back at me and winks. I hate the way that wink makes me feel. It’s a panty-dropping wink. One where he could have his way with me, and I would happily thank him for it.

I shake my head, amused, and let out a sigh. “I’ll be right back. I need to take this thing off my forehead.” I shuffle quietly in my frog slippers over to the small bathroom, where I immediately set about removing the anti-wrinkle patch from my forehead. After peeling it off, I’m convinced it took at least two layers of skin off with it.

When I take a good glance at myself in the mirror, I shake my head.

I’m a sight to behold.

The outfit of the night consists of green pajama pants with a gray sweatshirt that says “ Lookin’ Sharp ” with a prickly cactus on the front. My hair is in a claw clip with my baby hairs sticking out in every direction.

I am the epitome of sex appeal.

I don’t see any point in fixing how I look right now. Finn has officially seen me at my worst, on so many levels. Some flyaway hairs and a wrinkle patch won’t keep him from relaxing on my couch, apparently.

When I emerge into the living room, I wish I could capture the moment before me and hold on to it forever. He doesn’t see me right away, but Finn is cradling Vera’s face. Both are staring deep into each other’s eyes. I catch Finn quietly murmuring, “ Are you being good for your sister? You take care of her when I’m not around, okay? We’ll trade shifts. When I’m here, you can take a break. But when I’m not there, I need you to take the lead. Deal? ” With tenderness, he places a kiss on her forehead.

Is that what Finn feels like he’s doing? Taking care of me? I mean, sure, he brings me coffee with a side of his signature charm, and we go for walks where I feel freer than I usually do.

It hits me then.

Finn is taking care of me in small ways. So small that it’s easy for them to go unnoticed by anyone but me. Granted, I still hate coffee with a burning passion, but it does seem like he comes in every day just to check in on me. It’s comforting to know that someone cares enough about me to make sure I’m doing okay. The way he cares for me with these simple acts goes above and beyond anything I could have imagined.

My slippers scuff across the wooden floors, and both human and dog perk up at the sight of me.

“Am I interrupting?” I softly laugh. “You two look deep in conversation.”

Finn clears his throat, and his tone turns serious. “Yes, Charlotte. Vera and I have a strong bond and have developed many top-secret mutual agreements. It’s very serious business, you wouldn’t understand.”

I nod, biting back a smile. “Gotcha. Okay. I won’t pry, out of respect.”

“I deeply appreciate your understanding. Now, please, sit down. Preferably next to me.”

A boyish smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he pats the open spot on the couch next to him. Still biting back my smile, I roll my eyes, walk over, and sit down. I turn my body to face him, and I swear he’s even more handsome in the warm, glowing light of my living room, with my dog on his lap.

He looks at me, studying my face as if it holds the answers to every question he has about me. Usually, I’d be self-conscious about my hair, clothes, and lack of makeup. But with Finn, it feels like all of that doesn’t matter. It’s as if he truly sees me for who I am—unafraid to smash my walls down to get to a part of me that no one has reached before.

“So,” he begins, “I can’t help but notice you don’t have many plants in here. Actually, I think I have more plants in my house than you do in yours.” Finn glances around my living room. “You have two plants. Two. And that one in the corner looks fake. Woman, explain yourself.” He cocks one eyebrow at me, looking devastatingly handsome.

“Before my parents passed away, I was horrible at keeping stuff alive.” I pause. “Wait, that came out so wrong.”

Finn’s expression turns appalled. “Jesus, Charlie. Did I just become an accessory to a crime?”

I hit him with a pillow. “You’re the absolute worst, you know that?” A fit of laughter bubbles out of me.

“Yeah, but I got you to laugh. Worth it.” He flashes me a smile that makes my stomach flip.

“Anyway, when I lived in the city, I tried to take care of a plant here and there. No surprise, they died. All of them. Even air plants. It was impressive. An ex of mine thought it was a good idea to get me a goldfish. I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”

“Whoa. Hold up. You had a fish? What was its name?”

I swallow. “Fish.”

He gives me a look of disbelief, and I sheepishly shrug my shoulders.

Finn takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. He then looks up to the ceiling, thinking deeply. I can see millions of questions running through his mind. I set my arm on the back of the couch and rest my head in my hand, waiting for him to unleash it all.

Finn slides his glasses back on, his eyes peering over the frames as he looks intently at me. “Okay, okay. If you kill everything, how do you keep Vera alive? She looks pretty happy and well-fed,” he says, giving Vera more scratches.

A heavy sigh escapes my nose.

“Uh oh. I have to buckle up for this story.” He laughs.

Sighing, I thoughtfully nod. “So, Joey travels too much and can’t handle a dog. Jack was worried about leaving Vera at home for too long because he works long hours. So, Vera was left with me. But Joey and Jack love Vera, and they were very concerned for her well-being, knowing she’d be staying with me.”

Finn runs his hands through his hair as he impatiently waits for me to finish the story. His blue eyes are bright with anticipation, giving me his undivided attention.

I continue. “Jack took three months to train Vera to bring her food bowl to me whenever she got hungry. Now, whenever Vera needs food, she will pick up her bowl and set it at my feet. It was a weird doggy boot camp.” My hand covers my mouth. Just thinking back to that time in our lives still makes me giggle.

Finn is silent for a moment too long. A moment just long enough to make me wonder if this was the final tipping point that will cause him to run out that door as fast as he can. I stop laughing and begin to fidget with the hem of my sweatshirt.

Finn doesn’t run from me, though. Instead, a deep, rumbly laugh bellows out of him. He’s wiping his eyes because tears are falling from laughing so hard.

“That is the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time.” He gasps. “And the fact your brother and sister were both in on it? Training Vera? Charlie. Wow. Okay, remind me to never trust you to watch Frank.”

“Honestly, that’s the smartest choice you can make. I wouldn’t trust me either.” I sigh, gazing down at Vera on Finn’s lap.

He stops laughing and pauses briefly. “Wait. How do you know so much about plants, then?”

My head rears back in mock offense. “Google. Duh. Do you not see my computer out on the counter? I never leave home without it. I have about fifty tabs open at any given time with random information about soil, pruning, lighting, pests—you name it.” His jaw is practically on the floor, and I can’t help but laugh again. “I leaned into the ‘fake it until I make it’ plan because I have no idea what I’m doing with those things,” I say, nodding toward the single, real plant that I own.

Finn’s piercing eyes study me. His tongue darts out, tracing his lower lip before disappearing back into his mouth. The gesture is more erotic than it should be.

“Charlie, I do believe I like you even more now.”