Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I’ll take the cheeseburger and fries, and can I get a side of ranch with it, please?” Finn asks as he flashes a cheesy grin to Doris.
“You and that dang ranch, Finn. I’ll never understand.
” Doris shakes her head and looks to me.
“What about you, darlin’?” Doris and her family have run The Forrest Falls Diner for generations, but everyone just calls it the diner.
I’m too much of a gentleman to ask Doris her age, but I feel like she felt old when I was kid … even though she looks the same now.
Maybe she’s a vampire and has looked old for centuries.
“I’ll have the fish and chips, please. Oh, and can I get an iced tea when you get a chance, too?”
Doris writes down our orders, although she probably knew them from the moment we walked through the door. “Sure thing, hon.”
“Thanks, Doris.” I hand her the menu, and she departs with a nod and a smile.
With five—no, six—siblings, it’s important that we make time to connect one-on-one. And it’s also where we share info like insider trade secrets and keep tabs on everyone.
All of us do it with each other, even if none of us outright admit it.
“How do you think Christmas went with everything?” I ask Finn. The girls planned a significant emotional gift for Cami in honor of her first Christmas with us, and I wasn’t sure how it would land, but I’m so glad it went over even better than I hoped it would.
“I think it went as well as it could have, all things considered. But hold on, are we just glossing over The Cavalry alert from the other night?”
“Oh, that?”
“Yeah, that. No one told me what happened after the barrage of text messages.” He looks at me accusatory, and I lift my hands in defense.
“Sorry, I was a little busy.”
“Oh, reaaaalllllly?” Finn’s eyebrows shoot up as he grins like the little shit he can be.
“Not like that, not … yet, anyway,” I admit as I grab the back of my neck.
“But yeah, Jack let me borrow his jet, so I went and got Harlow, then brought her home. She stayed in the guest room, for the record.” I can’t do anything to protect Harlow from the dangers she faces daily in her job, but I’ll do whatever I can to shield her from what I’m quickly discovering is her parents’ unique brand of bullshit.
“You mean you brought her back to your home. Is she coming to New Year’s Eve at Dad’s?” Finn asks before taking a big drink of his Coke.
I’m dumbstruck and blink at my brother before he about spits out his soda and asks, “You do realize that New Year’s Eve is in three days, right?”
“No, I actually didn’t, not until right now. But … is it too early to bring her to a family thing? We haven’t even had our first official date yet.”
“Psh. Technicalities. If you borrowed Jack’s jet to go get the girl, I think it’s safe to say it wouldn’t be too early to bring her along. In fact, it sounds more like it might only be a matter of time. You seem to be quite smitten, brother.”
I feel the right side of my mouth tug up in a half-smile.
“Yeah, she’s pretty amazing. Also, she’s friends with Sav and Viv, but she’s asked that we keep whatever this is between us off Walker’s radar for the time being.
He’s her boss, and they’re friends, but she just wants a little space before having all sides of her life merge. ”
“That makes sense, and honestly, I think Walker would get it. He understands boundaries.” Finn nods and takes another drink. “She’s the doctor on Walker’s team, right?”
I scowl at that. “Well, that’s what she does, but that’s not who she is. She’s so much more.” And why do I feel like I need to defend her to my brother?
“Hey, I’m not saying that’s all she is. Calm down, Hulk.” Finn throws his straw wrapper at me.
“She is so incredibly sweet and thoughtful, it’s remarkable, really. I know she’s smart and has a ton of degrees, but those are all just facts about her, those aren’t the things that make Harlow … Harlow. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah, and it doesn’t hurt that with that dark brown hair, chocolate eyes, and curves for days that she’s a stacked shorty bombshell either.”
My head rears back. “The fuck? Don’t look at her chocolate eyes—or at her stack, for that matter.”
Finn throws his head back in laughter. “See? You’re ready to claim her. Me caveman, she mine. No look,” he grunts through his grin.
“I wouldn’t phrase it like that but … yes. No look.” I point at him with a glare, but before he can respond with some other smartass comment, his cell phone rings and he nods to it. I lift my chin in acknowledgment.
“Hey, Tess, what’s up?” Once again, Finn is saved by Tess.
Finn is a phenomenal carpenter with his own residential construction company, but the man would be lost without his office manager, Tess.
She handles important things like invoices, bills, and making sure Finn gets paid.
“Nah, I ended up grabbing lunch with Ryan, but I can swing by the jobsite after this. Was the flooring delivered on time?” He continues talking about technicalities for one of his job sites as my thoughts wander.
I don’t necessarily want to act like a caveman, but the idea of throwing Harlow over my shoulder and keeping her in my cave does sound like a good time.
While Finn finishes up getting his marching orders from Tess, I grab my phone and call Harlow. It goes to voicemail, and I leave a message for her to call me back before my phone vibrates with an incoming text.
Harlow
Hi! I’m on a conference call but can text. What’s up?
Me
Hey, this may be somewhat last minute and that’s on me for not realizing the date, but what are you doing for New Year’s Eve?
The bubbles pop up, disappear for a moment, and pop back up as I wait for her reply.
Harlow
I don’t have any specific plans yet, and to be honest, I didn’t realize it was so close either.
Me
Great, then it isn’t too late to ask if you would like to spend it with me?
Harlow
I’d love to.
Me
I should warn you, my family does a big thing every year so we would be at my dad’s for part of it too, but Viv and Sav will both be there if that helps sweeten the offer?
Harlow
I already said yes, Ryan :) And of course, that makes it even better. I can’t wait.
Me
Me either. Will you let me know when you’re done with work today and we can talk through the details?
Harlow
Sure, I’ll call you when I get out of here.
Me
Can’t wait.
Harlow Lane reacted to your message with a heart emoji.
“Sorry about that. I swear, if Tess as a work wife is any indication of what an actual wife would be like, I don’t know how I feel about marriage in my future.” Finn makes a face.
“What do you mean?” I thought Tess was like Finn’s lifeline at work.
“Oh, she’s great, but she micromanages every detail of that business and has zero chill about anything.”
“So, no office romance in your future?” I tease.
“With Tess?” Finn barks out a laugh. “No way, I think that would be some BDSM style story, and female doms aren’t my thing.
She’s more like another sister—a very bossy sister.
There’s never been anything other than friendship with her.
She’s not really my type at all. Plus, she’s dating, or is she engaged, no, I think they’re just together, but whatever.
She’s happy, and I’m happy her control is limited to the office. ”
“If she’s not your type, then what is?” Tess is pretty, she’s not Harlow, but I never had a spark with Finn’s office manager either or thought of her much outside of his office.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I think … I think I need someone that’s going to keep things interesting. I don’t know, maybe make me work for it a bit, you know?” Finn wiggles his eyebrows.
“So, drama.”
“Not necessarily, I mean, maybe? I don’t know. I just want something that’s extraordinary and different, I guess.” Finn shrugs as Doris delivers our food.
“I think chemistry and connection matter more than entertainment value, Finn,” I tell him as he waves me off.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, so happy for you and Harlow, blah, blah, blah, happily ever after.” He grins, and I know he is genuinely happy for me, but I don’t think he knows quite what he’s asking the universe for when it comes to his own HEA.