Chapter 3 #2
His family didn’t care for her, and his brother and father had gone so far as to come right out and tell him he could do better than Missy.
Sure, she could be a bit clingy and needy at times.
But he’d never met anyone he liked better than her.
After one night with Chloe, he felt like he’d gotten a firsthand look at everything that was missing with Missy.
Dynamic conversation, sizzling attraction, a desire to know more about her. There’d never been any mystery to Missy. Whereas she was the proverbial open book, Chloe was closed off, contained, reserved, cautious. Finn hadn’t known those things would appeal to him until he’d met her.
Whatever. She wasn’t interested, and he wasn’t about to let a couple of hours with an intriguing woman upend his plans.
He was almost to his house when he decided to go to the Beachcomber.
A beer with his dad and brother would be just what he needed after a strange day.
Because of Race Week, the Beachcomber parking lot was nearly full.
He squeezed the truck into the last available space and headed inside, bending his head against the chilly breeze coming in off the water.
It took until about mid-June to really warm up on Gansett, and even then, the evenings were cool for much of the summer.
The first thing he saw when he walked into the bar was Riley’s back.
Though Finn couldn’t see through his brother, he had no doubt that Nikki occupied the stool that Riley stood guard over.
The two of them were inseparable, the way he and Riley had been before his brother fell for Nikki.
In the last few months, Finn had settled into the new normal of having to share Riley with someone else for the first time in their lives.
He nudged his brother, who looked at him with surprise.
“Hey! You made it!”
Chelsea sat on the stool next to Nikki, his dad on the other side of Chelsea.
Riley signaled to the bartender and ordered a beer for Finn. “Thought you had other plans?”
“Plans change.” Finn took a sip of the beer. “What goes on around here?”
“Chelsea is having weird contractions.”
Finn glanced at her. He still found it strange to think of her as his stepmother. “Is that normal?”
Chelsea shrugged. “Victoria says it is.”
Nikki placed a hand on Chelsea’s baby belly. “It’s so cool how you can feel her moving around in there.”
Finn raised a brow. “Her? Do you guys know something I don’t?”
“Nik is psychic.” Riley smiled all the time when she was around. “She has a feeling.”
Kevin took hold of Chelsea’s hand and brought 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 was lonelier than he had ever been. His dad and Riley would do anything for him. He knew that, but Nikki and Chelsea came first with them, as they should. That left him 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 were out before he could consider whether the timing was right.
“You won’t be here when the baby arrives,” Chelsea said, looking sad.
“I’ll come visit.”
His dad eyed him with the laser-sharp intellect that had made it impossible to get away with anything when he and Riley were younger. “What’s so pressing at home?”
“I talked to Clint. He needs a foreman and offered me the job as long as I can be there by June first. Since the lease on the house is up on May thirty-first, I told him I’d be there.”
Nikki made a playful pout face. “I was excited about you living in the garage apartment for the summer. I’ve got it all fixed up for you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I didn’t mind.”
Finn felt Riley staring at him. “What?”
“Have you told Mac yet?”
“I was going to talk to him at Janey’s.” Their cousin was hosting a celebration for the crew that had renovated the Wayfarer, a family effort that had involved some family 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.”
Mac and the crew would be doing a refresh of McCarthy’s Gansett Island Inn in North Harbor after the summer.
There was no shortage of construction work on the island to keep them busy year-round, and Mac had cultivated a sterling reputation that had them turning down more work than they could take on.
“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 sounded like a petulant child.
The subtle lift of his father’s brow confirmed that he sounded that way to them, too.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to let everyone down. I just want to go home.”
“Because of Missy?”
His brother’s question infuriated Finn. It was none of his business.
Riley nodded in response to his own question. “It is because of her.”
“Shut up, Riley.”
Nikki squeezed Riley’s forearm. “Leave him alone, Ri.”
Finn sent Nikki a grateful glance. “It’s not about Missy. It’s about me and what I want that can’t be found here.”
“What’s that?” Riley sounded genuinely baffled, probably because he’d found everything he could want or need in Nikki. He could no longer understand how anyone wouldn’t want to live on a remote island for the rest of their lives.
“You wouldn’t get it.”
“Try me.”
“More. I want more than what can be found here. Since when is that a crime?”
“It’s not a crime, but I thought you liked it here.”
“I do. I did.” Finn shook his head. The restless, edgy feelings that were so much a part of him lately arose once again to remind him of why he wanted a change.
But how could he explain the reasons to the others when he didn’t understand them himself?
“Forget I said anything.” He downed the rest of his beer and put a ten on the bar. “I’ll see you.”
“Finn—”
Finn heard Nikki say something to Riley but didn’t stick around to find out what.
He thought he’d made a clean getaway when he heard his dad calling him.
Rolling his eyes, he expelled a deep breath and turned to find out what the good doctor had to say.
He always had something to say. “What’s up, Dad? ”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. You’re out of sorts tonight.”
“Maybe a little. It happens to all of us, right?”
“Everything okay?”
“Yep. Sorry if I upset Chelsea by saying I’m leaving.”
“You didn’t. She’s disappointed you won’t be here when the baby is born. We both are.”
“I don’t mean to disappoint you.”
“We’ll get over it. What can I do for you?”
The question and the concern were quintessential Kevin McCarthy, who’d always been there for his sons. “Nothing. I’m fine. I’m just ready to get back to normal.”
“I’ll miss you. We all will. Won’t be the same here without you.”
“Don’t guilt-trip me.”
“I don’t mean to. I’m just telling you how I feel. I got used to having you around again and seeing you every day. I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”
“You’ll be so busy with Chelsea and the baby that you won’t even notice.”
“You’re right. I’ll be busy, but I will notice you’re not here. Trust me on that.”
“Look, I appreciate that you guys like having me around. I like having you around, too, but this place isn’t real life, at least not for me.”
“Fair enough. I hope that no matter where you go, you’ll find what you’re looking for.”
“So do I.”
“I’m always here for you. I hope you know that.”
“Of course I do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Sounds good. Sleep well.”
“You, too.” Finn walked away from his father feeling unsettled and uncertain about the plan that had made perfect sense to him only a few hours ago. The push-pull of Chloe’s rejection coupled with his family’s dismay about his pending departure had him questioning everything.
Maybe he should stay until the baby was born. But the baby wasn’t due until mid-June, and he’d promised Clint he’d be back by the first. If he stayed for June, he would end up staying for the summer to finish whatever Mac had lined up for them next. And the cycle would continue.
No, it was time to go.