Chapter 15
“What do you say we hit the hay?” Finn asked Chloe after his dad and Chelsea had followed Evelyn up to bed. Baby Summer had been asleep in Chelsea’s arms for an hour by the time they finally took her up to the portable crib they’d brought for her.
“I’m ready when you are,” Chloe said.
Finn went to tend to the fire, making sure every ember was extinguished before he closed the flue and the glass doors. Then he went to the sofa and held out his hands to carefully help her up.
She winced as she stood upright.
Finn hated to see her in pain from the rheumatoid arthritis that plagued her, especially during weather events like the current storm. The dampness seemed to make everything worse. “Are you okay?”
She thought he couldn’t see how she battled through the pain to give him a reassuring smile, but he saw it. He saw it all with her, and he ached for her when the pain was bad.
Finn offered his arm, and she curled her hand around his bent elbow. As always, he let her set the pace as they made their way slowly up the stairs with their dog, Ranger, following them at the same slow pace.
“I hate this,” she whispered, sounding tearful.
“You hate what?”
“Feeling and moving like I’m eighty when I’m only thirty. You should be having hot hurricane sex on a night like this, and instead, you’re helping me up the stairs.”
It made him mad when she said things like that, but he kept the anger to himself since it was directed at her condition, never at her. “There’s no one in this entire world I’d rather snuggle with during a hurricane than you, and you know that, so quit trying to get rid of me.”
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t like when I say stuff like that.”
He dropped her off at the bathroom in the hallway and went into the room they used whenever they stayed with Riley and Nikki at Eastward Look. The big old house had become like a second home to them, and they loved being there. After he turned down the bed, he went to check on Chloe.
The bathroom door opened, and she came out wearing nothing more than a tank and the boy shorts that did wondrous things for her ass. On the way by, he gave that wondrous ass a squeeze, while wishing there was a way he could take away her pain.
“Go get comfy,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Be right there.”
Finn had brought the foam mattress topper from their bed at home because she was so much more comfortable with it than without it.
When she’d caught him rolling it up earlier, she’d told him he didn’t have to bring that.
“Yes, I do,” he’d said. “You need it, so we’ll bring it.
Besides, I’ve gotten used to it, too, and now I’m spoiled. ”
She’d frowned but hadn’t said anything else about it.
He took a leak and brushed his teeth, then crossed the hall to their room and closed the door. The roar of the storm had gotten much louder in the last few hours, and he wondered how much worse it would get before it was over.
Finn joined Chloe in the bed but left the bedside light on so he could see her as he turned on his side to face her. “Hi.”
“Hi yourself.”
“What’s up?”
“Other than the hurricane?”
“Yes, other than that.”
“Not much.”
“Don’t lie to your fiancé. It’s poor form. You’re stewing about something, and you know it’s easier to just tell me than to make me kiss it out of you.”
“But kissing you is my favorite thing ever.”
Smiling, he moved close enough to kiss her. “Talk to me.”
“It’s the same old thing.” Her lovely violet eyes went shiny with unshed tears as she touched the engagement necklace he’d given her because her hands were too swollen for rings.
“I hate this body I’m stuck with, how it limits me and you and how it’s gotten worse rather than better with the new meds, and I can’t stand being such a sad sack all the time.
I miss cutting hair, and I want you to have everything—”
He kissed her again, before she could say something that could never be unsaid.
“If I have you, I have everything I’ve ever wanted and more than I could’ve ever hoped for.
I wish more than anything that you didn’t have to deal with pain and frustration, but please don’t include me on the list of things you hate. ”
“Finn… Of course you’re not on that list. You’re at the very top of the list of things I love with all my heart.”
“That’s the only thing that truly matters to me.
That and your comfort, your happiness, anything you need.
I’ve told you before that I don’t want you to worry about me or dwell on things you think I’m missing out on by being with you.
If you’re near me, I’m content. I don’t care what we’re doing.
” He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “I just need you, Chloe. That’s all.”
“I’m very lucky to be loved by you.”
“And I’m lucky to be loved by you. Let’s stay focused on the positives, okay? Such as our wedding, which I can’t wait for. How much longer?”
“You know exactly how long.”
“Nine months, fourteen days, twelve hours.”
Her laughter made him happy because she spent so much of her life in terrible pain. “Can you remind me again why we’re waiting so damned long?”
“Because that was the soonest we could book the Wayfarer.”
“We own the joint.” Each of the McCarthys owned a piece of the business they’d purchased as a group, and their first season had been a smashing success until the hurricane had forced them to shut down, losing a precious September weekend.
“And it’s booked until the end of June, as you know.”
“You’d think my future sister-in-law could’ve gotten us in sooner,” Finn grumbled.
“Nikki did what she could for us, and you know that, too, so quit being grumpy.”
“You know what would be cool?”
“What’s that?”
“A hurricane wedding.”
“No one in the history of weddings has ever said a hurricane wedding would be cool.”
“Then I guess I’m making history by saying why don’t we just do it this weekend? My uncle Frank would come over and the rest of the family. No one is doing anything else.”
“Except cleaning up after a major storm.”
“Eh, it’ll all get done, and people need to eat. So we invite them over for food and throw a wedding in the mix.”
“We don’t have a license.”
“We can take care of the legalities after the fact. I don’t want to wait nine more months to be married to you, Chlo. I want you to be my wife now.”
“Because you’re afraid I’ll change my mind.”
The fact that she said that as a statement and not a question struck fear in his heart. “No, that’s not why.”
“Yes, it is, Finn, so don’t pretend otherwise.”
“It’s really not. I know how much you love me even if you worry about burdening me and other silly things that don’t warrant discussion.”
“They do warrant discussion.”
“Don’t.”
“Do.”
“So you’ll marry me this weekend?”
“Finn…”
“It’s a simple yes-or-no question. Shall we have a hurricane wedding and then party it up next June as planned?”
“You really want this?”
“I really do. I want all the questions answered once and for all, so you can’t suddenly decide you’re sick of me and show me the door.”
“That’s not going to happen,” she said with a resigned expression. “You’ve made yourself completely essential to me.”
“Then my work here is nearly finished.”
“It’s just getting started, mister.”
“Yes, it is. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
“You’re sure about shackling yourself to this situation for life?” she asked tentatively.
“All I know is that you and your situation make my life complete, so yes, I’m sure.”
“Then let’s have a hurricane wedding.”
He fist-pumped the air. “She said yes!”
“Don’t sprain something. What good will you be to me then?”
“Baby, I’ll always be so good to you.”
She drew him into a deep, soulful kiss. “I love you more than anything in this entire world.”
“I love you all the way around the world and back again. We’re going to be the happiest married people in the history of married people.”
“You make me believe that.”
“It’s safe to believe it because we both know it’s true.” As he held her close, he shortened the countdown to their wedding to two days. He liked that number much better than the other one.
“Is she the cutest baby girl ever, or am I biased?” Kevin asked Chelsea as they watched Summer sleep on the bed between them.
“I think you might be biased, but I do have to agree that she’s the cutest baby ever.”
He was completely besotted by his little girl, with hair and eyebrows so blonde, they were nearly white.
She had big blue eyes and the cutest pink lips.
Her tiny fingers and toes were the source of endless fascination to him, as if he’d never had a baby in his life before.
With Riley and Finn close to thirty, it felt like a lifetime ago since he’d been equally obsessed with them.
“Thank you for giving her to me.” Kevin ran a finger lightly over her arm. She had the softest skin he’d ever felt. “I would’ve said my life was complete before, but she’s the frosting on the cake.”
“She’s perfection, and I should be the one thanking you for taking a second spin on fatherhood when your sons are already grown men.”
“A couple of years ago, I would’ve laughed if someone told me I’d be remarried with a new baby. I had no idea what was missing from my life until I found you and Summer.”
“I’m so glad you feel that way. I was worried it might be too much for you.”
“It’s too much in the best possible way. I can’t believe how perfect she is or how much I love her, like she’s always been here. It’s hard to explain.”
“I get what you mean. I feel the same way.”
“We’re having another one, right?” he asked. “She really shouldn’t grow up alone.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d want to.”
“I want to. ASAP.”
“I’m ready when you are, Doc. How about I put Miss Summer in her crib, and we get to work on a brother or sister for her?”
“Um, do you have to ask? You want me to move her?”
“Sure.”