Chapter 6

Finn

A swift kick in the nuts is not how I wanted to start my Monday. I avoid talking to my parents like the plague, but I can’t avoid it forever, so today I answered the phone. My brother, Jackson, just graduated law school and got a position at a top law firm in Seattle, so of course, my mother had to call to tell me. She also couldn’t help taking jabs at my “little” building project that I’m working on.

“Oh, sweetie, how is that little building you’re working on over there in Greenville?”

“It’s Evergreen, Mom. It’s not that far from Seattle. It’s actually a big project that I’m really excited about. It’s not the boring style of architecture that is all over the place nowadays. Mason has really channeled the old attention to detail, and it’s going to be really great.”

“See, honey, an architect. You could have finished school and become an architect, and then you wouldn’t be breaking your back and getting all dirty every day.”

I grit my teeth so hard I think I might literally pulverize them into powder, but I feel like if I don’t, I will say something I might regret to my mother. “Mom, I’ve never wanted to be an architect, and you know that I love working with my hands. I don’t consider it a fall back career. This is what I have always wanted to do with my life, and I’m happy. I get such a sense of pride seeing something finished that my team and that I put our blood and sweat into.”

She lets out a long sigh, and I can tell that she is also holding back what she wants to say when she replies, “Okay, honey. I suppose it’s good that you’re happy, but would you consider at least doing bigger projects in Seattle? It’s such good money here, and you would be closer to us. Now that Jackson is back from college and working in the city, you could see your brother more.”

I’m about to go into a whole spiel about how I haven’t actually moved from Seattle. I just relocated for a few months for this project, and if she only knew the kind of money I made as a contractor, maybe she would back off a bit. However, I will never tell her because it is beside the point. I will never be what she and my dad want me to be. I will never be a suit, and I’m pretty sure that fact is embarrassing for them. They feel like they failed in some way. Even though their son is happy and thriving. Well, except for this insecurity that rears its ugly head every time I get on the phone with one of them. Which reminds me why I never answer the phone, and why a rebuttal would be absolutely pointless. So, I need to just end this phone call and be on with my day.

“Yes, Mom, after this project, I will be back in Seattle and we can all be together more.”

“Alright, sweetie. You take care of yourself and make sure you use your bug spray.”

Where does she think I am? I’m only a few hours from the city, not in some remote jungle somewhere. “Okay, Mom. I love you and I’ll talk to you later.”

“Love you, too. Bye, honey.”

I bounce my forehead on the steering wheel in frustration. Will anything ever be good enough for them? Probably not. I’ll always be the son they don’t want to talk about when they go to their fancy galas in the city. Everyone will ask how their sons are doing, and they’ll try to detract from me. They’ll gush about Jackson and how he graduated law school with honors and will be a junior partner in a law firm in a couple of years. They’ll do their best to keep the conversation on Jackson and just say that I’m doing great.

I bet if someone asked my mom what project I was working on now, she wouldn’t be able to tell them anything at all, even though I just gave her details. I’m destined to always be the black sheep of my family because I’m not well-educated, and maybe they’re right. Maybe I wouldn’t be twenty-eight, single, and living in random vacation rentals on job sites if I went to college. Maybe I would have a wife, the two-point-five kids, and a craftsman with a white picket fence in the suburbs. I wouldn’t be as happy, but from the outside, it would look like I had it all together.

I’m so lost in my thoughts I forgot that I need to stop at Evergreen Hardware to pick up a small order. Seeing Riley’s beautiful face is just what I need to turn this day around, but I’m just not in the mood to turn on the charm today. She isn’t into me, anyway. She has made that quite clear. So, I park and head in, then stop short again when I see her through the window. She’s smiling—she’s actually smiling—at the customer she’s helping. Some guy that I haven’t seen around before.

The twinge of jealousy is blooming in my chest. Especially when I walk through the door and she looks up to greet me. Her face falls. She’s not scowling at me like she usually is, but she’s not smiling at me, either, like she was smiling at this Joe schmo at the register. I give a little wave and wait for it to be my turn.

Once Joe is done, I walk up and give her a small smile. “Hey, Riley. I’m here to pick up that small order I put in over the weekend.”

Her brow is furrowed as she looks at me for a moment. “Hi, Finn. Yeah, I have it right here, a pretty small order. It’s just this one box, but it’s pretty heavy. Just a sec.”

She bends down to pick up the box, using only her back, and I see bad things happening. As she is trying to lift it, I walk behind the register to stop her before she hurts herself. “Riley, let me get that. You’re going to throw your back out.”

“I know how to lift a box. I’ve worked here for the past five years. I think I can handle it.”

I give her a second to “handle it.” She gets the box up to counter height but then starts to sway backward. I step up behind her so she’s caged in on both sides. My front brushes her back as I take the box from her, and I instantly miss the heat on my skin when she clears her throat and moves to step out of my arms. She has to duck down to go underneath my arms, and her face is right at my junk level.

She lets out a squeak and says, “Sorry! I’m just trying to move out of the way. I definitely wasn’t trying to put my face… there, and I told you I had it! I would have been able to get it up; I just needed a second.”

I cannot hide my smirk as her eyes widen. “Get the box up. I didn’t just say get it up to you after my face was in your junk. I was talking about the box. I could have gotten the box up onto the counter.”

She buries her face in her hands, and I decide to let it go and not embarrass her further. “Riley, it’s fine. I was just trying to help. I know you can handle it on your own, but you don’t always have to.”

She gives me a thoughtful look. “Well, thank you, and thanks for stopping in to grab that order. I’ll see you next time.”

“See ya later, Riles.”

I walk back to my truck with a smile on my face. How is it that a five-minute interaction with Riley can turn my whole crappy day around? I’m no longer feeling sorry for myself. I’m laughing at the girl with walls a mile high, and I can’t wait to figure out how to break them down. I already feel like I’ve torn down a couple of bricks, so maybe it will be enough to make the whole wall come tumbling down.

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