Chapter 11 #3
He holds out a hand for me to take, but I’m still lagging about thirty seconds behind. He sees this and takes my hand, silently leading me back toward the festival and toward his mother.
Finn didn’t want me to regret that kiss, or our almost kiss earlier today.
My mind spins and whirrs and offers up a slideshow of emotions. I have no idea what to think, what to feel, all of my thoughts and feelings are jumbled and illegible. All I know is that my heart is racing and my chest tightening, but I have no idea why.
“Oakleigh!” I take a second to plaster on a smile before looking up at Wanda. She barrels into me as she wraps me up in her arms.
I just wish I could look as young as Wanda does when I’m her age.
She looks so effortlessly beautiful—not an ounce of makeup on her skin and not a single visible pore.
I keep asking for her skincare routine and all she ever says is, “Oh, my routine is for old people, dear. It’s called soap and water. Very old-fashioned.”
I think that if Finn and Wanda were biologically related, hers would be the explanation for Finn’s and Wren’s amazing skin.
“Hey, Mama.” I’ve always called Wanda “Mama,” mostly because she’s always been one to me.
When we were in college, she gave me a spare key to the house, and I always used to stop by to see her whether Wren was home or not.
My mom and I are close, sure, but I barely see her since she and my sister both moved to Australia four years ago. “How are you?”
“Better now that I’m seeing you and my son again,” she says with a wide grin. “I was beginning to think you were avoiding me!”
“As if I could.”
“Thankfully, Finn invited me to this, and I was just so glad I got the chance to spend some time with you both.”
Finn sends his mother a look. “You and I both know that’s not what happened.”
She puts a playful slap on Finn’s chest. “Oh, pish posh, whatever. Come! Let’s see what they have!”
The festival is everything I imagined it would be.
How I love cherries as much as I do, but never knew this festival existed, I have no idea.
Then again, Merton is not really somewhere I’ve been many times.
The majority of it is just open fields so there’s nothing to really visit, but had I known that there was a cherry farm here, I would have come every summer.
Cherry trees stand in roughly ten-yard increments behind the stalls, creating a walkway that would be here even if the stalls weren’t lined up neatly on either side of us.
They’re selling everything here—cherry-scented candles and bath bombs; cherry jewelry; cherry jams and sauces.
I worry for my paycheck because it came in yesterday and appears to be going out today.
Wanda points out all of the things that she thinks I’d like. She pays particular attention to the two of us at times, watching how close we stand to one another, looking out for any public displays of affection. The more she looks, the more forlorn she seems to be.
I link my arm in hers.
“You seem lost in thought,” I tell her.
She pats my hand and leaves hers resting on mine. “Finn’s father says that I need to stop butting my nose into things.”
I turn to see Finn at a stall not too far away, close enough that when he looks up and sees us talking, he pays close attention.
“Any advice you have, I’d happily take.”
She takes in our surroundings—the trees, the grass, the crowds of people making their way past us.
“I just thought that the two of you would be excited that you no longer need to hide things. I thought there would be affection and kissing and whispering sweet nothings to one another, you know?”
My heart hurts for Wanda, and for the first time, I see exactly why Finn has done what he’s done.
I see the concern in Wanda’s eyes for her son, the only one left in her small family that has no one to return home to and love unconditionally.
Finn just wants to put her mind at ease and show her that he isn’t alone.
But he is. He still goes home to be by himself, with no one to do any of that with.
I look back at him one more time and our eyes meet. Finn’s dark eyes are swimming with concern, and I shake my head hoping to settle his nerves.
I turn back to Wanda and offer her a reassuring smile. “It’s an adjustment. The two of us have gone eight months pretending to be nothing more than inconveniences to one another. Even though we don’t have to pretend, it’s still a habit for us to. We’re breaking it slowly, though, I promise.”
Her shoulders relax and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I squeeze her arm tighter to my side in a sort of hug that earns me one of her signature smiles.
Two strong arms suddenly rest on each of our shoulders; one on Wanda’s and one on mine, and Finn’s head separates ours.
“Anyone up for some cherry pie?” he asks.
With Wanda’s words stuck in my head, I utilize this moment, bringing Finn’s face closer to mine and planting a slow, lingering kiss on his cheek that has his neck going from a warm shade of brown to bright red.
“Lead the way.”