Chapter 24
twenty-four
HARPER
T he weekend after our cooking class, feeling emboldened by how well we did, Finn and I go to the grocery store together to grab some items for a recipe we’re making tonight.
It’s a Mexican lasagna recipe with green chilis.
Not super complicated, but it seems like something that will be good to make a few nights after the baby is born.
Or we can make some ahead of time and freeze it.
Finn grabs a grocery cart, and we make our way through the store, working from the list we made. My appetite is back again, so we’re grabbing some staples too.
“Oh shoot, I need to grab more prenatal vitamins while we’re here. Don’t let me forget.”
“Why don’t I just run and grab them now since they’re not on the list?”
I smile. “Okay, that would be great.”
“Here, you take over.” He rolls the cart in front of me. “Be right back.”
He walks down the aisle, and he has a really nice ass.
It’s perky and muscular. Must be from all his working out.
It’s getting colder out at night now, but I’ll still find him in the backyard going through his routine from time to time.
He said he plans to join the gym in Sunrise Bay once it gets too cold outside.
I glance at the list and push the cart down the aisle but stop when I hear a familiar laugh from around the corner.
“Shit,” I whisper, wondering if I should turn and head down the other way.
But it’s too late when my mom and dad come around the corner together, my mom pushing a grocery cart as my dad looks to be chasing her. Gross, can’t they at least keep their hands off each other while grocery shopping?
“Eww,” I say, and my mom looks up. My dad’s hand smacks my mom’s ass.
Double eww.
“Harp,” Dad says.
The next second, Finn says behind me, “Are these the ones you need?”
And this is the problem with small towns. Only one grocery store and my parents decide to go shopping the exact same time Finn and I do, meaning their first meeting is in the bread aisle. Great.
Giving my parents a smile, I motion to Finn beside me.
“Mom. Dad. This is Finn. The baby daddy.” I hold out my arm to him as if I’m a game show host showing the prize they won.
Hello, this is Finn, and he’s going to be a part of your life forever because he’s the father of your first grandchild. I hope you like him.
Finn makes a choking sound and whips his head in my direction then looks back at my parents.
My mom rolls her eyes and shakes her head while my dad looks him up and down, appraising him as if he’s the new RV he just won.
My mom is the first one to recover from the shock. She wheels her cart to meet mine and holds her hand out to Finn. “Forgive my daughter’s bluntness. I’m Holly Bailey. It’s good to finally meet you, Finn.”
He shakes her hand, his face as red as the tomatoes we picked while asking how we know if they’re ripe. “Likewise. Good to meet you too, sir.” Finn moves his hand in front of my dad.
“Austin.” The four of us stand in awkward silence before my dad breaks it. “Any luck finding a place?”
“No, sir. Nothing has come up in Lake Starlight. I’d considered moving to Anchorage for the time being, even if it wasn’t ideal, but that feels too far from Harper and the baby. Plus, I’m working at the fire station here in town now, so?—”
“Yes, congratulations,” my mom interrupts, and I give her a look of gratefulness that she’s stopped the conversation of us living together. “Stella told me you got your foot in the door there. That’s wonderful. You were a firefighter back in Vermont, I take it?”
Finn goes on to explain how long he’d been in firefighting in Vermont and how he got into it in the first place.
I listen with rapt attention as he details a fire at one of his friend’s houses when he was there for a sleepover growing up and how as soon as he saw the firefighters fighting the blaze, he knew that’s what he wanted to do.
He’s still holding the prenatal vitamins, and I reach for them while he’s talking. He passes them over while chatting with my parents, and I realize these aren’t the ones I want.
“I’m just going to go grab the right ones,” I say.
“Shit. Sorry, I thought those are the ones you have on the counter.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
I turn to leave, but my mom calls, “I’ll come with you.” She steps up beside me.
“Holly,” Dad says.
“You boys can find something to talk about until we get back.” She hooks her arm through mine. When we’re walking down the aisle that houses the vitamins and supplements, she leans in and says, “You two look… comfortable with each other.”
We stop in front of the vitamins, and I jut out my hip and cross my arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She raises her hands in front of her. “Nothing at all. Just that living together must be going well.”
I roll my eyes. “There’s nothing going on between us.”
She nods slowly. “Hmm.”
“I’m serious.”
She raises her hands. “It’s not any of my business.”
My head tilts. “True. But just so you know, there is nothing going on.”
“All right, all right. I’ll just say that, as your mother, if you were considering pursuing something, be very sure you think it has legs. Getting into something casual with the father of your child could make for problems down the road.”
I huff out a sigh. “I know, Mom.”
“I just worry about you, sweetie. And this little one.” She pats the small bump on my stomach, eyes alite with joy. “You’ve popped.”
“Yes.”
My hands drop to my sides. As annoying as it is sometimes, I know my mom is coming from a good place. Oh god, that’s going to be me some day offering unsolicited advice to this little one, isn’t it? The thought makes me want to groan, but the realization tempers my mood.
“I know, Mom. Honestly, Finn and I have discussed it, and we both feel it’s best to remain friends only.”
To my surprise, she looks almost disappointed by this news. Isn’t that what she just warned me about?
“All right, well, your dad and I would like to have you and Finn over for dinner so we can get to know him a little better. We were talking about it last night. We’ve laid off so that you guys could settle into…
whatever you’ve settled into. Your brother will be back in town for a while once his season is done next week. How does that sound?”
I give her a tight smile. It doesn’t sound ideal to me, but the fact is that Finn will be a part of their lives too, and it would make things easier if they at least knew him by more than his name and face.
“Just let me know a date, and I’ll check with Finn and his work schedule.”
She squeezes my shoulder. “Perfect. Well, I’m off. Your dad and I are headed over to Savannah and Liam’s for game night, and you know how she gets when you’re late.”
We both laugh. My aunt can be a bit of a drill sergeant sometimes and is known to be super competitive on game nights.
“Have fun and tell them I said hi.”
“Will do. I’ll send Finn back your way.” She waves over her shoulder and disappears around the corner.
I return the bottle in my hand to where it belongs and look for the bottle I want. A minute later, I’m hunched down, grabbing said bottle from the bottom shelf.
“Let me do that.”
I turn my head to find Finn rushing down the aisle, pushing the cart in front of him.
“I’m fine.” I grab the bottle and straighten. “There will be a time soon enough when I can’t pull off that maneuver, and you can grab them. You don’t need to baby me yet.”
“I’m not trying to baby you.” He takes the pill bottle from me and sets it in the cart. “I’m just trying to be helpful.”
“You are. You have been.” I glance behind him to make sure my parents are out of sight. “Sorry about the parental ambush.”
He shrugs. “That’s okay. I’ve been wanting to meet your parents anyway.”
“You were?”
“Yeah.” He heads down the aisle, and I walk beside him. “They’re going to be the grandparents of our child. I feel like I should develop some kind of relationship with them, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
He smiles and holds out his hand. “Let’s see what’s left on the list so we can get out of here and start that lasagna. I’m starving.”
I dig into my pocket and pull out the now crinkled piece of paper, passing it to him.
I know I just told my mom that nothing will happen between Finn and me, but he’s making it really hard when he shows what a great guy he is. At least he’ll be a great dad.