To which Ty grunted.
Men.
After dinner I helped clear the table and do the dishes. Grandma promised that Ty and Fin often offered to help but she didn’t trust them near the China. And while I dried every dish carefully, very, very carefully, she explained what an honor it was to be able to help in the kitchen. I was apparently the first person she had let in there in over thirty six years, since Fin’s mom which she professed was a terrible mistake.
And in the end I did feel privileged. Especially when she took my forearm in her little grasp and started crying all over again because of how happy she was Fin found a girl for him, a girl he like enough to bring home and meet her.
He interrupted our waterworks and asked me to go sit out back with him.
Grandma patted my arm and said, “Go on then, when a good man like that asks you to sit with him you just say yes.”
“Ok, yes,” I smiled down at her and then followed Fin out back.
The backyard was just as charming as the front of the house with big flower beds and a charming patio swing that was shaded underneath a huge maple tree. We sat swinging for a little while in silence just enjoying the warm spring afternoon and each other.
“You should have told me about your back up plan,” I scolded, only barely holding on to my resentment over the whole thing.
“I should have. But I was a little bit afraid. You were so upset over the idea of me just forgiving the debt, I didn’t think the fact that I didn’t need the money would make much of a difference. It was never a big deal for me. Even in the beginning. I’ve had losers walk away from their debt before and I’ve taken the loss, but you were by far the biggest amount. I just didn’t know how to tell you and still keep you.” Fin took a breath and admitted, “I’ve known for a while that the debt wasn’t yours.”
“What?” I gasped not exactly expecting him to lead with that. “You made me go through all of that and you didn’t think I ever lost all that money?”
“No, at first, there wasn’t really another explanation. I thought you were just scared of your own consequences. But as soon as I got to know you I realized you wouldn’t have tried to flake out on losing, and you never would have got involved unless you could have paid in the first place. But by then I liked having you around and I didn’t know how to get out of the mess I’d made. It seemed I was always falling for you, since that first time in your apartment when you thought I was a drug dealer. And I just kept falling, harder, faster…. forever, until finally I was in love with you and there was nothing else I could do about it.”
I officially stopped breathing. Turning my head so I could meet his gaze, I asked, “You’re in love with me?”
“Since you made me your Burgerwich,” he said seriously. “I was never going to make you pay that money, I just didn’t want you to stop coming over. I didn’t want to have to work any harder for you; I just wanted you to be mine. And then I didn’t know how to tell you that, how to make you forget about it. You threw all that moral high ground at me and I realized what a huge mistake I’d make. I was an idiot. Will you forgive me?”
“Yes,” I nodded quickly. And I did, for everything.
Fin broke out into a blinding smile that lit up his whole face. “And will you let me help you fall in love with me too?”
I sucked in a breath at his question. He was the vulnerable Fin again, the one that opened himself up so carefully and asked for the simplest things…. a better place for the brother he lived, a nice life for his grandma, the love of a girl that was already way past loving him.
“You don’t have to,” I shrugged, loving that instead of giving up his eyes became steely with determination. “I’m way past loving you; I’m onto the next thing, like really, really loving you or something.”
“Don’t joke around, Ellie, tell me your serious,” he demanded, the authoritative tone cutting the air between us.
“Yeesh, you’re always so bossy!” I grumbled but fell forward, grabbing at his shirt to hold myself against his chest. I looked up at him and smiled. “I’m being serious, Finley Hunter. I love you. I have for a while now, although not as early as the Burgerwich.”
His palm cupped my jaw and his thumb brushed against my cheekbone, “The real kind of love? Not just the kind you say but don’t mean?”
“The real kind,” I promised. “The kind that has a future, so you better hope you don’t get tired of me.”
“Does that mean you’ll introduce me to your family?” he asked carefully.
“Sure,” I tilted up so I could kiss his chin and he pulled me against him, tucking me into him. “Apparently you’ve already met Lennox and Grayson.”
I felt it through his whole body when he smiled. “They had no idea why you were so worried.”
I snorted something unintelligible. We were silent again and then I said, “You should probably tell me you love me again.”
He chuckled, his chest shaking against me, “I love you, Ellie. You came into my life and demanded that I paid attention. I’m not letting you go, I won’t. I’ve let a lot of things go in my life, things that needed to be set free, things that if I didn’t release I would have become bitter and empty. You are not one of those things; you are one of the rare, beautiful things that I am desperate to keep. I want you forever, Ellie.”
I turned to face him, ignoring the tears pooling in my eyes and kissed him long and hard until cat calls and whistles could be heard through the window from Declan and Ty. Finally I said, “I love you too.”
And Fin said, “Good.”
