Book 20 Yours After Dark #3
Chelsea shrugs. “Victoria says it is.”
Nikki places a hand on Chelsea’s baby belly. “It’s so cool how you can feel her moving around in there.”
Finn raises a brow. “Her? Do you guys know something I don’t?”
“Nik is psychic.” Riley smiles all the time when she’s around. “She has a feeling.”
Kevin takes Chelsea’s hand and brings it to his lips. “A little girl would be fine with us. As long as she is healthy.”
Standing in a room full of people, surrounded by loved ones, Finn is lonelier than he’s ever been. His dad and Riley would do anything for him. He knows that, but Nikki and Chelsea come first with them, as they should. That leaves him as the odd man out in his own family.
“I wanted to tell you guys that I’m going home after the Wayfarer’s opening.” Finn hadn’t planned to tell them until closer to his departure, so they couldn’t talk him out of it. But the words are out before he can consider whether the timing is right.
Chelsea is upset he won’t be there when the baby is born, and Nikki is sad because she was hoping he’d move into her garage apartment and stay with them.
Riley asks if he’s talked to Mac yet. “I was going to talk to him at Janey’s.
” Their cousin is hosting a celebration for the crew that renovated the Wayfarer, a family effort that had involved some family members more than others, thus Janey’s desire to feed everyone who’d done the heavy lifting for the rest of them.
“He’s going to be bummed. I think he’s counting on you for the summer and then the hotel reno.”
“Enough with the guilt trip. It’s time to go.
I never signed on to be a lifer when I came to Laura’s wedding.
” To his own ears, Finn sounds like a petulant child.
The subtle lift of his father’s brow confirms that he sounds that way to them, too.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to let everyone down. I just want to go home.”
On Monday, Finn works hard to finish up at the Wayfarer while looking forward to dinner at Janey’s. He’s surprised when Chloe keeps their appointment to see the Wayfarer.
“What do you think?” Finn asks when he joins her.
She points to the huge windows that provide an incredible view of the ocean. “I’m trying to figure out how you installed them.”
“Carefully. It took four freezing days in February, two cherry pickers and seven men to make the building hurricane-proof. Those were some good times.”
A smile lights up her extraordinary violet eyes. He stares at the face he’s tried—and failed—to forget after she gave him the brush-off.
“That’s very cool.” She shifts her gaze from the windows to him. “I was impossibly rude to you the other night, and I apologize. I’ve felt bad about it ever since.”
“You weren’t rude. You were honest.”
“I wasn’t, actually.”
Is it his imagination, or is she blushing? The idea of this badass woman blushing does funny things to his insides. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not uninterested.”
“Oh.” Finn can’t think of a single other thing to say, because his brain has gone completely blank.
“So not only was I rude, but I’m also a liar.”
He laughs at the self-deprecating face she makes. “Most true liars don’t confess their sins, so you should probably cut yourself a break.”
“I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. We had a nice evening, and I was a jerk.”
“You weren’t a jerk, and you can make it up to my hurt feelings by coming to a party with me tonight.”
Finn gives Chloe a tour of the Wayfarer. “The whole place is really something. I love how your family came together to make this happen.”
“It was my uncle Big Mac’s idea. I only have a small stake, but I do love being an owner with the rest of my family. It was a very satisfying project to be part of.”
“You have a really amazing family. You know that, don’t you?”
“I do. I’m going to miss them.”
“How come?”
Finn glances at her. “I, um, I’m heading back to the mainland after we open the Wayfarer.”
“Oh.”
Is that disappointment he hears or wishful thinking on his part? “The job is done, and it’s time to figure out what’s next. I never intended to move here forever.”
“I didn’t either. Like I said, I came out for a bachelorette party and found out there was no salon. I secured a storefront with affordable rent, and five years later, I’m still here. It’s become home.”
Finn walks her out the front, and at the bottom of the stairs, she turns and looks up at him. “I’m really sorry to hear you’re planning to leave.” She gives a little wave and is on her way before he can begin to process what she said. What did that mean?
Chloe meets Katie for lunch at the diner.
Katie catches Chloe talking to herself, questioning why she said that to Finn.
She tells Katie she met Finn and is interested in him, but he’s leaving.
Katie, who has asked Chloe to be a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding, feels like Chloe holds back on revealing herself to people.
Katie talks about growing up with an abusive father who is now in jail, freeing her, her mother and siblings to live peaceful lives.
Chloe’s parents were always fighting, which escalated to her father shooting her mother and then himself when Chloe was seven.
She ended up in foster care and lived with a nice family.
She shrugs. “I was one of the lucky ones.”
“I’m so sorry you went through such an awful thing.”
“You know what I’ve figured out?”
“What’s that?”
“Everyone has been through something awful. Some may be worse than others, but no one slides through life unscathed. Take you and what you went through. I’ve known you more than a year, and I never would’ve guessed you grew up in an abusive home.”
“My siblings and I have often said the victory is in surviving and thriving. That’s what we’ve tried to do. It’s our way of showing him that he didn’t win.”
“I love that,” Chloe says. “I didn’t mean to bring down our lunch.”
“You didn’t. Not at all. I feel like we went from fun girlfriends to true friends in the last half hour.
” Katie adds, “There are a lot of people like you and me here. Jenny Martinez’s fiancé was killed on 9/11.
He was Erin Barton’s twin brother. Jenny’s sister-in-law Hope’s ex-husband is in jail for having sex with minors when he was a high school coach.
Stephanie McCarthy waged a fourteen-year battle to get her stepfather out of prison after he was falsely accused of abusing her. ”
“I know them all, and I had no idea.”
“It’s like you said, everyone is carrying something. I don’t want you to feel alone with your stuff. People around here care about you.”
Finn finishes up at work and rushes home to change and pick up Chloe.
When she comes out of her house and gets in his truck, he feels like he’s been punched by the impact she makes every time he sees her.
He tells Chloe he feels something when he sees her and thinks about her in between, and that’s never happened to him before.
She agrees there’s something between them, but with him leaving, it doesn’t matter.
They agree to have fun at Janey’s and then end whatever is brewing between them.
Finn enjoys dinner with his family and friends.
Afterward, Riley corners him to ask what’s up with him.
Something weird is going on with Chloe. Is he making a mistake confiding in Riley?
Probably, but he needs someone to explain it to him.
“The minute I saw her…” Shaking his head, he can’t articulate the thoughts circling through his mind.
“What?”
Finn tries to find the words he needs while praying his brother won’t make light of something that is so important to him, perhaps the most important thing that has ever happened to him. “It was like someone had electrified the air. That sounds so stupid, but that’s what happened.”
Riley’s eyes widened. “What else?”
“I had this, like, tingling thing here.” Finn raises a hand to the back of his neck. “And elsewhere.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“What?” Finn asks, alarmed.
“You’ve met her.”
“Who?”
“The one. Your Nikki.”
Riley tells him he has to pursue this relationship. If he doesn’t try, he’ll have regrets. Finn tells him to let it go because Chloe isn’t interested. Mac finds them and asks about an upcoming job. Riley tells him he’s in, but Finn says he’s planning to return to Connecticut after Shane’s wedding.
“We’ll miss you,” Mac says, sighing with resignation. “It won’t be the same without you.”
“I’m sorry to let you down.”
“Oh, stop. You’re not. We’ll figure something out.
I just hope you find what you’re looking for on the mainland.
Funny how I had to come back here to find everything I ever wanted.
” He glances at Maddie. “Sometimes what you’re looking for is right under your nose.
And on that note, I need to check on my wife. ”
After Mac leaves them, Riley says, “He’s right, you know. What if she’s the one for you and you walk away without ever knowing what could have been?”
Riley’s question makes Finn feel worse.
I wish you weren’t leaving. As her words come to mind, her gaze collides with his, and she smiles at him. In that moment, he questions everything, especially his plan to leave.
Mac issues a sharp whistle that gets everyone’s attention. “So, um, Maddie says I have to tell you guys that she didn’t actually swallow an elephant.”
“Honestly, Mac.” He can hear the amusement in her tone.
“The truth is, she’s having twins. Girls. Two of them.”
The family is euphoric over their news.
On the way home, inspiration strikes Finn. “I’m here for a couple more weeks. Spend that time with me. No promises, no commitments, just two people who enjoy each other hanging out together.”
She rolls her bottom lip between her teeth and eyes him with hesitation. “I’m not sure I can do that.”
“How come?”
“I’m afraid I’ll get attached and be heartbroken when you leave.”
Her honesty guts him. “I already know I’m going to be heartbroken if I never get the chance to know you better. I’ll be careful with you. I promise.”