40. Chapter 40
Chapter 40
Dawson
Willow called and no matter how many times I’ve poked my head into Finn’s room, telling him we need to leave, he won’t hang up. Is he purposely ignoring me? I told Chloe we’d be there hours ago. The truck and trailer I borrowed from Dad are loaded up and ready to go.
I can’t wait any longer. Chloe may have taken over the festival, but I still need this night to go well with Creative Solutions. Going into Finn’s room, I rip my phone out of his hand.
“Hey!” he screams. “Give it back. I’m not done talking.”
I look at my ex of four months. She’s on the other line painting her toenails. “This isn’t your normal call day. Finn and I have somewhere we need to be. He’ll call you later.”
“Sorry,” she says snarkily. “I was enjoying time with my son.”
Right. Like she didn’t have years to do so when we lived in the same state. I shake my head. “I can’t do this right now. Goodbye, Willow.” I hang up before she can say anything else. “Finn, people are waiting for us and have been for a while. Please get your shoe and let’s go.”
“I don’t want to.”
“You promised you’d help today, remember?”
“No! I’m not going!”
Of all the days for him to have a stubborn meltdown. Lord, grant me strength.
My phone pings. “Shoe, please.” I check my phone and my stomach drops to the floor. Chloe’s texted and called more than a dozen times. We might not be together anymore, but I never meant to leave her hanging or thinking I’m a jerk.
“I said I’m not going.”
I’m at my wits’ end. I get it. We’ve had a rough year, but my patience is out. “You can get your shoe and get in the truck on your own, or I can do it for you.”
Finn jumps off his bed, scrambling under it.
I appreciate his hiding skills, but he’s so not helping the situation right now. “Finn,” I warn. “We. Do. Not. Have. Time. For. This.”
He grunts.
Yanking the bed away from the wall, I pick up Finn and carry him to the truck, buckling him in and locking the doors. Running back inside, I get his shoe and reply to Chloe, letting her know we’re coming. I get back outside to find Finn trying to escape.
Oh joy, this is going to be such a lovely day.
The entire drive to the festival, Finn screams. I call Mom and she agrees to pick Finn up at This Is The Place so I can stay and help Chloe. The moment we arrive, a switch flips in Finn. He hobbles on his crutches (the other foot is bare because I didn’t grab the right shoe) through the rain into the barn.
“Chloe? Are you in here?” Finn shouts.
“Yes,” she says, coming out of a back room.
The moment I see Chloe, I stop breathing. She’s wearing leggings and a red shirt. Her hair’s pulled into a ponytail showing off her long neck. She’s stunning. And ticked off, based on the hard glint in her eyes.
Finn wraps his arms around her, squeezing her tight. Her features soften as she hugs Finn. “Hey, bud. How’s that leg of yours?”
He doesn’t let go of her. “Fine. I broke it. But people gave me lots of extra candy when they saw me walking funny with my crutches. I think they felt bad for me. I have enough candy to last until next Halloween! Pretty cool, huh?”
Chloe’s eyes close and her shoulders drop. We planned to go trick-or-treating together. Is she sad about Finn’s ankle? The missed outing? Both?
“Oh no. I’m sorry, Finn. I feel horrible.”
Finn yanks away from her. “Is that why you stopped coming to see us?”
Tears stream down Chloe’s cheeks. My chest hurts. I have to look away.
“Oh, no, bud,” Chloe says, her voice all wobbly. “I’ve been busy with the festival. I wanted to come see you, but I knew you needed rest. We can spend tonight together though, right?”
“Yeah! We have lots of hay for you. ”
“Oh good. Do you think you can check out the book nook and tell me your thoughts while your dad and I carry in all the stuff?”
“Yeah!”
I have to face Chloe. Meeting her gaze, the pain in my chest increases.
She swipes at her cheeks. “Thanks for coming. Should we get everything brought in?”
“Yeah,” my voice comes out pitchy. I clear my throat. “Sorry we were late. Willow called, and I didn’t see your texts.”
“Well, you’re here now,” she states. “Let’s get everything brought in.”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, missing the Chloe who smiled at me. “Let’s do it.”
We don’t speak as we bring in load after load. Once the last box is inside, I ask, “What can I do?”
“I need three bales of hay by each post,” she says without inflection.
“You got it.”
I loathe this tenseness between us. I miss her as a friend. But I’m not sure how to break this barrier.
I get the last bale where it needs to go. From what I remember, the scarecrows went by every other pole. Grabbing one, I turn around to take it to its rightful place, but bump into Chloe.
“Sorry,” I say, grabbing her arm to steady her.
She stares up at me, and I swallow hard. When she texted me right after Finn’s injury, I should have taken time to respond. I was way too stressed about Finn and work, so I didn’t, but I regret my actions.
I miss looking into her amber eyes. There’s a dullness in her irises that wasn’t there before. Is it stress? Pain? I can’t tell. What I do know is I like her. A lot. The past week and a half were torture not having her to talk to at night after Finn went to bed, or have her be around for dinner and to help with homework. It’s not just the domestic aspects that were eased when she was around either.
When I kissed Chloe, I thought I’d explode. I’d never felt like that when kissing someone before. I hate that I’m looking at her and I can’t press my lips to hers. I loathe feeling alone again.
“I just need to get into the box over there,” she says, pointing behind me.
We shuffle around each other. I suck in my stomach, doing my best not to touch her. But her finger brushes my hand—most likely on accident—sending a zap through my nerves.
“Chloe, can—”
“We’re already way behind schedule. I don’t have time for distractions.”
She’s right. We have a ton left to do, and it’s my fault we’re nowhere near ready. My focus can’t be on Chloe. This festival has to go well. Tonight, work is my priority.