32. Vivian
thirty-two
Vivian
“ I ’m doing this all wrong,” Finn grumbles. “I should be picking you up at your door with an obscenely large bouquet of flowers and then driving you to the finest restaurant on the mainland.”
The way Finn pouts like a despondent puppy is the cutest thing. And my heart can’t help but do a happy little skip at his casual use of “the mainland” when referring to the city where he used to reside. Maybe Finn is a step closer to considering this small stretch of beach home?
“I don’t want any of that. I want this,” I say, squeezing our interlaced fingers as we walk to Bayside Table.
“You could have at least let me get you flowers,” he mutters under his breath.
I pull us across Sand Bend Road into Judith Abernathy’s front yard. Blue hydrangea bushes form a hedge around her white siding exterior.
“Just pinch one of those.”
His mouth drops open, but there’s a teasing flash in his gaze. “Vivian Hutchinson, town sweetheart, are you encouraging me to steal from one of your neighbors?”
“If it’ll keep you from whining on my first first date.” I place my free hand on my hip, firming my lips in a mock stern expression.
Finn instantly softens, using his other hand to tuck a curl behind my ear. “Sorry, gorgeous. No more complaining from me.” He brushes a quick kiss over my cheek before hovering his lips over my ear. “But next time, your flowers will be nothing short of opulent.”
I lean back with a teasing smirk. “I’d expect nothing less from someone as dramatic as you.”
Finn laughs, and I want to bottle that carefree sound and wear it in a locket around my neck.
“Come on.” I tug him toward the restaurant.
At Finn’s hesitation as I bypass the restaurant’s main door in favor of the expansive outdoor space, I send him a challenging glance.
He rubs the back of his neck with an audible sigh, pulling a laugh from my belly.
Before we can even make it around the corner to the green space, Finn’s hand is on my jaw, tilting my lips up to his.
The kiss is inexplicably hot and sweet at the same time.
A delectable sense of satiation corkscrews down my spine.
“I love when you do that,” he murmurs against my lips.
“What?” My answer is little more than a puff of breath.
“Laugh. Smile.” He tilts back so I can see the curve of his mouth. “Exist.”
My entire body feels awash with starlight, and for the first time in a long time in Finn’s presence, I’m speechless. Something changes in his expression as my parted lips shudder on a halting exhale. His strong features become sharper, more reverent.
“Vivi—”
“Hey! Are you two here for the dance lessons?” Patricia and Gary step behind us on the path around to the patio space.
We separate a polite distance, but my chest soars when Finn doesn’t release our intertwined fingers.
“Dance lessons?” My brow wrinkles as I glance at Finn.
“Sorry. I forgot to mention it.” He winces slightly. “Letitia coordinated with Margot to give waltz lessons tonight since she’d been unable to host on Wednesday.”
Finn probably forgot because he’d been distracted by his terrifying fear of being immersed in water.
It’d been profound to watch such a confident, capable man lay his vulnerability bare.
I’d been flitting around the bathroom, filling the tub, making jokes to lighten the mood.
The split second when Finn met my gaze, the panic plain in his eyes, before he stepped in the tub anyway, a concentric pulse thrummed through my body.
I was proud of him for taking that risk, for being brave enough to do so with an audience.
In the moment after, when Finn lowered himself with a held breath, all the while trying to distract me with his sculpted torso, I realized the emotion I hadn’t been sure about already thrived in every cell of my body.
Patricia pats Finn’s arm. “We’ve all been working like dogs this week. Time for a little revelry!”
“To be sure!” I beam, leaning into Finn’s arm.
His eyes catch mine, enjoying our shared joke over my fondness for Regency words and phrases.
The four of us turn the corner as an eight-piece 80s rock band, complete with neon clothes and big hair, begin their set. The keytar player is completely in her groove during the opening bars to Europe’s “The Final Countdown.”
“How are we going to waltz to a rock band?” I ask through a laugh. “Not that they aren’t incredible.”
I’ve only heard the immensely popular 80s group The Deloreans Band playing from my apartment window, since Brynn and I don’t venture out on Saturdays. One of the vocalists begins the lyrics as Patricia leans in to answer.
“We’re going to learn the basic steps with Margot in the grassy area, and then the band is supposed to play “Open Arms,” “Take it to the Limit,” and “Electric Heartbeat.” Those all should have a waltz feel to them so we can practice. Next week, we’ll have a more formal lesson at the library.”
I grin at the last song title. It’s one of my Raven Sacaria favorites. Just as the band is really getting into their song, the audio cuts out. They continue a few beats acoustically before the bassist yells out to the crowd. “Give us a second, and we’ll be right back!”
Several hoots and hollers arise in response. The Deloreans Band usually pulls more mainlanders to our island than the regular Saturday night bands.
Geneva strides by in her signature black heels and snug black dress. She gives Finn a tight nod, but the corner of her mouth quirks when she catches my gaze.
“I’m surprised to see Geneva here,” Finn says after she’s passed us by.
“Why? She’s here almost every Saturday night.” Not that I know this information firsthand, but it’s well known throughout town. “I’ve heard she enjoys shooting down the mainlanders who try to hit on her.”
As if on cue, an unfamiliar man sidles up to the bar where Geneva is speaking to Cynthia.
The mustached man says a greeting over her ear, setting his hand on Geneva’s back.
Except, his hand is so low he’s essentially cupping her backside.
Finn drops my hand as he surges forward, but before he can intervene, the man is met with a whip-quick elbow to the solar plexus.
Geneva doesn’t even take her attention away from the tattooed bartender during the movement.
She just keeps chatting with Cynthia like nothing happened.
“Hey!” one of the man’s friends shouts as he rushes to aid his doubled-over friend. “That was uncalled for.”
The crowd turns from watching the band resetting the audio to the scene at the bar.
“What was?” Geneva blinks at the second man with doe-eyed innocence, her voice artificially airy. “Me flinching when he touched me? There’s no way I could have hurt him with a little twitch.”
He glares. “That was way more than a twitch.”
“Looked like a flinch to me,” Cynthia says, setting two orange crush cocktails in front of the couple to Geneva’s left.
The man looks around, but no one—absolutely no one—offers him backup. Since his friend is still wheezing, he human-crutch-walks him to a picnic table by the water. Barely restrained chuckles echo in the bar area before the strum of an electric guitar diverts everyone’s attention back to the stage.
Finn continues to frown. “I hate when men do that—take advantage just because they can.”
“It’s disgusting,” I agree, my stomach churning as Geneva lets out a slow deliberate breath.
I want to go over and talk to Geneva, preferably wrap her in a hug, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to be approached. If she’d been giving don’t-talk-to-me vibes before, she’s giving poison-barbed-angry-wolverine vibes now.
“Fortunately, Geneva is a force to be reckoned with.”
“Yeah, but…” I tilt my head. “As much as she projects that Live, Laugh, Toaster Bath exterior, I think she’s really all marshmallowy gooeyness inside.”
I don’t share the observation I made on my way to Finn’s house earlier.
Geneva had been working out in her gym alone.
One of the garage doors had been half open, Paramore pouring out into the air.
She’d been absolutely destroying a punching bag with not only hits but a series of barefooted kicks.
But then there’d been this moment I wasn’t supposed to see.
Geneva placed one glove on the bag, bracing herself as her head hung low.
I’d thought she was just resting, but then she used her other forearm to wipe away tears.
Of course, she could have been wiping sweat out of her eyes.
Either way, I made a decision at that moment.
Geneva is officially added to part four of the plan: make new friends.
Things went great with Summer this morning, but somehow, I know I’ll need to tread lightly in befriending Geneva.
When she’d arrived, out of the blue, five years ago, it’d taken Noah over a year to finally convince her that he was nothing like their estranged father.
Luckily, I’m three thousand times more lovable than that cheating dirtbag.
Finn chuckles at my description of Geneva before offering his elbow like a proper gentleman. “Shall we, my lady?”
“Yes, let’s.” I wrap my fingers around his strong arm, and he escorts me toward the people awaiting dance lessons.
We’re exactly three steps into Margot’s instruction when I snort. “You already know how to waltz.”
“It was expected.” Finn keeps his gaze over my shoulder, his expression too stony for the relaxed atmosphere.
I’m carefully considering my next question when Karen’s ring-laden hand slaps me in the ribs after Todd sent her out in a sloppy spin. The two are in rare form tonight, overly affectionate as they waltz along. Usually when they’re out in public, they’re fighting.
“Sorry,” Finn murmurs, pushing me closer to him with one broad hand between my shoulder blades and effortlessly steering us away.
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I should have kept you out of the reach of those menaces. I don’t know how everyone puts up with them.”
“They’re locals.” I shrug.
Finn makes a disapproving sound in his throat, turning me again until we’re even farther away, almost to the edge of the property. The proximity to the darkening bay makes a muscle in Finn’s jaw twitch.
“Have I told you part three of my self-improvement plan?” I ask him, hoping to distract him.
Finn finally looks at me with a whisper of a smile. “You’ve been surprisingly closed off about that, which is strange because you usually spill your secrets with little prompting.” His lips brush my ear. “I believe all that is required is rosé.”
I’m ill-equipped to be in this man’s arms when he’s flirting with me. This is my first first date, but I’m ready for it to be over before we even order food in favor of kissing his lips for the rest of the night. Who needs sustenance when you’ve got a flirty librarian to kiss, am I right?
“At this point, you just need to waft this scent under my nose, and that’ll be just as effective.” I nuzzle Finn’s throat, taking a noisy inhale.
Finn laughs, his chest rising and falling against me. Suddenly, it occurs to me how strange this situation is. This is my first first date. I should be a ball of nerves, barely able to function, but being in Finn’s arms is as natural to me as the breaststroke.
The way he effortlessly leads me through the grass in perfect sync with the music has me even more excited for the ball than I already was.
Since I’ll be living out my Regency dreams, that level was astronomically high to begin with.
I smile, imagining the way the skirts of my dress will swish with each practiced turn.
My gown is already patterned in muslin—just to be absolutely certain I love it before I start construction.
With all the alterations I’m doing for the town, I won’t have time to start over.
“So what’s part three?” Finn’s question pulls me from thinking about embellishment details.
I lean back to catch his gaze, steadying myself as I tell someone my last secret.
This is something I have wanted for longer than my foolhardy crush on Atticus, longer than I wanted an independent store of my own, longer than I envisioned selling my work to anyone other than fellow townspeople.
I’d honestly never thought I’d have the opportunity, but then the singer-songwriter I love so much decided to come out of retirement for a six-month residency in Vegas.
“I want to see Raven Sacaria perform. Her residency starts in July, and I’m hoping to convince Brynn to come to Vegas with me. Neither of us have ever vacationed outside of Wilks Beach with the exception of the YMCA camp Aunt Tammy sent us to in Virginia Beach as kids.”
Almost instantly, I feel guilty for complaining. Lots of families don’t go on lavish vacations, only to visit family. It’s just that all my family lived in the same apartment as me.
“To be fair, we live in a prime vacation destination, so there’s no reason to leave—”
Finn gently kisses me. “You should be able to do whatever you want, Vivian. If you want to travel, travel.”
My grin triples in size, causing Finn’s to grow, the corners creasing in near-perfect parentheses.
“I’m looking forward to flying for the first time.
When Raven’s show was announced eight months ago, I started saving.
I’ve got enough for bargain airline tickets, and with all the extra work from the fundraiser, I should be able to book a room off-strip instead of the budget motel I’d been planning on,” I say, nearly breathless with excitement.
His smile fades as a flicker of something dark slips across his brow. Before I can ask, Finn tucks it away.
“I’m sure you and Brynn will have a great time.”
I take my hand off Finn’s impressive deltoid to tuck a curl behind my ear with a nervous laugh. “I have to tell her first.” I hesitate a moment, not wanting to betray my sister but also needing to be honest with the man I’ve fallen in love with. “Brynn doesn’t like change.”
His expression softens. “I’m sure she’d make an exception for you.”
“She usually does,” I tell him, the corner of my mouth quirking.
Finn’s relaxed grin lifts his lips as he expertly guides me through the dance.
Since I didn’t know waltzing would be part of tonight, I abandoned my sandals at the start of the lesson.
The cool grass is soothing on my bare feet, and the outdoor string lights behind Finn’s head give him an ethereal quality.
A fizzy sensation tickles down my chest. Now would be just as good a time as any to tell him I love him, but it’s also our first date .
I have zero experience, but I’m pretty sure that’s frowned upon.
Instead, I say, “This is the best date I’ve ever been on.”
Finn leans me closer until my cheek is nearly resting on his chest, whispering something in my hair.
I can’t quite make out the words over Raven’s soulful voice belting the heartfelt lyrics of “Electric Heartbeat,” but it sounded a lot like, “Last first date.”