Chapter 32
Finn
I t was a bit of a feat getting a black car to Evergreen Ridge, but I wanted Riley to have the full red carpet treatment for her debut design project, Evergreen Flats. The look of pride on her face when I told her the name Mason had landed on for the project was priceless. I knew she could do it all this time, but it’s something truly special to see that she’s finally gaining the confidence in her work that is well deserved. The project looks truly amazing, and it is every bit due to her interior design as it is the design of the building itself. You can’t have one without the other.
I pull up to her house to pick her up, and I’m both nervous and excited. I have some surprises up my sleeve for today, but she is also going to meet my mother. My father couldn’t be bothered to come; he had a “prior engagement” that he couldn’t possibly change to come to his son’s event. I’m kind of glad, though, that he’s not coming, because out of the two, he’s the more difficult one to deal with, the most hard to impress. My mother will at least pretend to be proud, while slipping in a few subtle insults along the way.
I exit the car and button my suit jacket as I make my way to her front door. I knock, and I can hear some fumbling around inside and I smile to myself. I can only imagine how scattered and nervous she is right now, and I love that after such a short time, I know my girl so well. “One second,” she yells from the other side of the door, and then what seems like an eternity later, she opens the door and I’m stunned into silence.
I know my girl’s beautiful, but oh my gosh, I don’t even want to go to the party anymore. She looks so good, I want to keep her here where no one else can look at her. She’s wearing a sexy black number that hugs her curves in all the right places and is covered in lace. I hope the bra and panties match; knowing her, they do. Her short hair is pinned up on the sides, and she has red lipstick on those luscious lips of hers. I know she’s not going to want me to kiss her and mess up her lipstick, and it’s making me want to do it even more.
“Hi,” she says shyly.
“Since when are you shy around me, Riles?”
“I dunno. I’ve never been this dressed up in front of you before, and I’m a little self conscious, okay?”
I step forward and wrap my arms around her waist and look down at her. “Baby, you know I love you in your sweats, but you look so incredibly sexy. It’s taking everything in me not to take you inside and never let you leave, but I know how important this party is for you, so I’ll restrain myself so we can go.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Now shall we?” I hold my arm out for her to grab and guide her to the car and help her inside while sneaking a peek at her backside.
The drive to Evergreen Flats isn’t very long, so I take this short time to warn her about my mother being there.
“So, as you know, my mother and Jackson are coming tonight.”
“Yeah, I know, you mentioned that. How are you feeling about it?”
“I’m excited for Jackson to come. I’ve talked to him a few times since that brunch we had in Seattle, and things are going well with us, but I just wanted to warn you about my mother.”
“Okay…”
“I have every intention of introducing you as my girlfriend. I just want to warn you that she isn’t going to welcome you all warm and fuzzy like.”
“Yeah, well, based on what you’ve told me, I wasn’t really expecting rainbows and sunshine.”
“Yeah, you should expect storm clouds and lightning.” She smacks me playfully on the chest and laughs.
“Finn, it’s fine. I’m not going to be upset if I don’t get a warm welcome from your mom. I know you don’t even get that. I just want to make sure you’re okay with how she acts at the party, that’s all.”
I kiss her on the cheek. “Thank you. I’m so lucky to have you by my side, and I’m grateful you look out for me, but can we just agree that I’ll introduce you, then you can go off with Chloe for a while? I don’t want her to ruin a single moment for you on your big night.”
“She won’t, but if that’s what you want, that’s fine with me.” I grab her hand and intertwine her fingers with mine and kiss the back of it.
We ride the rest of the way in comfortable silence, and I realize that our relationship is just that. Not silent, quite the opposite, actually, but comfortable. The way I can talk to her about my family and the issues we have, and the way she can do the same with me. The way we can sit here and not feel like we have to fill the silence. We can just simply be together.
I made sure that we got there first so we could have a few moments by ourselves so I could show her some of the surprise touches Mason and I decided to incorporate. I want her to be able to take it all in, in private, before being swarmed with people pulling us in every direction.
We pull up and I help her out of the car and lead her up the cobblestone path to Evergreen Flats. The red brick exterior goes rather nicely with the stone walkway, if I do say so myself. The front door is dark wood, with a stained glass cutout toward the top and an old Victorian handle, which I turn, and lead Riley inside.
“Close your eyes, Riles. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Um, Finn, I’ve already seen it. I kinda designed it, remember?”
“I know, but we may have added a couple elements you haven’t seen yet.”
“Okay… now I’m a bit worried.”
“It’s nothing major, just a little something that only we will know about.” I lead her over to the reception desk and give her hand a little squeeze. “Okay, open.” She does and lets out a gasp and drops my hand to cover her mouth.
“Oh, Finn,” she says with a crack in her voice. On the reception desk is a beautiful Tiffany vase, filled with fully bloomed white lilies.
“The lilies are obviously in remembrance of your mother, and the vase is because she deserved something designer after everything she did for you and the kind of woman she was. I know she loved to shop vintage, so it’s vintage, and designer.”
Now tears are really streaming down her face, and she’s trying to stop them, so she doesn’t ruin her makeup. I pull the pocket square out of my jacket and hand it to her. “Thank you, Finn. So much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“She’s the reason you love design so much, and she would be so incredibly proud of you, Riles. You brought this place to life. You gave it character and made it feel like a home, not just a building. The future tenants here are lucky that someone took such care with this place. These lilies won’t just be here today. The front desk manager knows that there will be a weekly delivery from the florist.”
She stands up on her tiptoes and places a light kiss on my lips. “I’m so thankful to have you in my life. Thank you for this, and thank you for supporting me through this whole process. I know you don’t like to take any credit, which I can appreciate, but I truly couldn’t have done it without you. You gave me the confidence and the push that I needed to go for it. Working on this has changed my life, and you’re part of that.”
It takes everything in me not to tell her how I feel right now, in this moment, but I know right now is not the time because people are going to start arriving. So I give her another quick kiss, careful not to mess up her lipstick. “Everyone is going to start arriving soon. Do you want to take a few minutes to fidget and move things around a bit, even though it’s already perfect?”
She grins up at me. “You know me so well.”
I really do, and before the night is over, I’m going to tell her that I am absolutely, without a doubt, in love with her.