Chapter 14
Fourteen
Finn
I receive a text notification as I start up my truck.
Oliver
Plan is underway. Can’t deliver for another two hours.
I reply that it should not be a problem. But that means I have to keep Skylar busy a little longer.
It’s going to be tough to let her think this is not a date.
“What’s going on? Is it something at the store?” Skylar asks.
I tell her the partial truth. “My brother is organizing a crew for the rest of the work at the bookstore. They should be finished by the end of the week.”
“I thought you said you were waiting until it was absolutely essential to hire help so you wouldn’t bleed money?”
What I don’t tell Skylar is that having her around the job site has been less productive than I anticipated. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, because she’s so willing to help.
“What can I say? You did so well, we ended up ahead of schedule.”
“Oh.” She bites her lip, unsure whether I’m telling the truth. “Well, thank you so much for lunch. That was…really over the top, Finn.”
“I wanted to do something special for your birthday.”
“You remembered.”
“I hope I picked a good gift.”
She shakes her head. “To tell you the truth, I’ve always wanted to do one of those train meals, but I could never afford it. So thank you.” Skylar leans in and plants a kiss on my cheek.
“What else have you always wanted to do but didn’t?”
“There’s not a lot around here I haven’t done,” she says.
I laugh, and she takes it the wrong way. “That sounded bad.”
I reach across the distance between us and pull her close to me. “Listen. I don’t care what you did or who you’ve been with. None of that matters to me. You’re with me now.”
I blurted that last part out. Her eyes widen. “I’m…with you?”
“For as long as you want,” I say.
I can’t tell if she’s truly relieved or simply comfortable with no strings attached because it’s familiar.
“I don’t know how to take you, Finn. You’re so serious about me.”
There’s more time to be serious later. We’ve got plenty of time. I don’t want to overload a girl that’s been so damaged. She needs to get used to me treating her right.
“So, what would be the first thing about your town you would want to show an outsider?” I ask.
“That’s easy. Other than the maypole dance, the botanical garden. You can’t leave Songbird Ridge without seeing that.”
Who says I’m leaving? I want to say. “Show me the way.”
The botanical garden is tucked away behind the high school football field, shielded on one end with a row of tall trees and bordered on the other end by the entrance to the state park.
It’s full of winding paths that snake around ponds, grass, and native wildflowers.
Everywhere, volunteers who keep up the garden have placed small surprises: stone bridges, benches, a meditation area, and a Peter Rabbit-themed vegetable garden.
Skylar lights up in a field of yellow daisies, the sun making her red hair glow. I have to capture this moment.
“What are you doing? Are you taking my picture?”
“You need to see what you look like right now.”
When I show her the photo, she goes quiet, takes the phone from me, and just stares.
She looks up at me. “That’s the best photo anyone has ever taken of me.”
Aside from Iris, Skylar has truly been surrounded by the wrong people.
“That’s the way you look to me all the time,” I say.
“I need to sit,” she says, pushing me into oversized chair hidden under an arbor of flowers nearby.
I laugh as she climbs into my lap, circles her arms around my shoulders, and kisses me.
It’s different from the grateful kiss she gave me in the truck.
It’s long, sweet, and intoxicating. The birds chirp above us.
Bees buzz in the flowers. The sun is warm on my skin.
And the girl in my lap has made this the best day of my whole damn life.
“Better slow down. I think our lucky streak of semi-public fooling around is going to run out soon,” I say, gesturing to a school group headed around the lane toward us.
“Damn kids,” she snorts. “But I’m having fun, and I don’t want this day to end.”
“So let’s go somewhere with no kids,” I suggest, letting her choose.
“Oh, I know the perfect place.”