“I’ve gotta talk to her, Momma. She’s in charge of things at town hall now.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, her displeasure hitting him like a ton of bricks, even through the phone line. “What exactly do you think’s gonna happen between y’all, with your history?”
Honestly? He had no fucking idea, but he sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell his momma that. He knew what hewantedto happen. Could finally admit to himself he didn’t just want to see Willow happy, but he wanted to see her happywith him. A connection like theirs was once in a lifetime, and he’d be damned if he let her pretend it wasn’t there. He just had no idea how to go about getting her on board with it.
“I know what I’m doin’,” he said.
She tutted. “From where I’m sittin’, you don’t know much of anything. Honestly, Griffin… Stringin’ that poor girl along. I raised you better than that.” Silence hung from her side of the line for a moment. “Unless…unless you’re thinkin’ about stayin’?” she asked, her voice tinged with something that sounded an awful lot like hope. But that couldn’t be right. Why would him moving back to Havenbrook make herhappy?
She’d wrung her hands when he and Drew had told her of their plans, so worked up over the two of them going back to a place that’d done nothing but try to force the three of them out. A place that’d never, ever welcomed them into its fold, despite years of trying. Despite their momma being an active part of the community. True, she hadn’t been a doctor or a lawyer, hadn’t been on the school board or the PTA. But she’d paid her bills, had tried her damnedest to keep her boys out of trouble—though it’d been hard as a young, single mom, working two or three jobs to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Even if she’d been home more, Finn and Drew would’ve found trouble anyhow. It was in their blood. But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. They could’ve followed every ridiculous law in Havenbrook, could’ve played along with the do-gooders of the town, and it still would’ve done fuck-all to change the minds of many of the residents of Havenbrook. The Thomases, along with their friends, had been brandedwrongsimply because they couldn’t afford a lot of their own or a house with a foundation instead of a single wide trailer.
Which was why opening up this business with their own money, no help at all from the Bank of Havenbrook, felt so damn good.
“I already called Sammy and let him know what was goin’ on. Right now, the plan is to stay for a couple weeks,” he said, hating how the words lit a fire in his gut, burning all the way up to his chest. He couldn’t imagine leaving so soon. Not now…not after having Willow under his hands again. Not since having her taste on his tongue after ten long years without it.
“Mmm…plans change,” his momma said.
They did. Situations changed…people changed. He could only hope he could get Willow to see that.
After a few more minutes of conversation and a promise to call tomorrow, Finn hung up and dropped his head back on the couch as he scrubbed a hand down his face.
“You wanna tell me why you came in practically whistling before talkin’ to Momma?” Drew asked.
“Not really.”
“Sounds like I’m shit outta luck, then. I’ll never be able to crack the unbreakable code that is Griffin Thomas,” Drew said, his voice ringing with sarcasm.
Finn rolled his eyes, standing to grab himself a beer. “If you already know, why’d you ask?”
Drew didn’t say anything. Not until Finn sat back on the couch, beer in his hand. “You start somethin’ with her?”
Finn thought back to the kiss, to her hips under his fingers, the lush curves of her pressed up against every inch of him. Lord had he wanted to. He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Well, somethin’ happened.”
“You didn’t ask if somethin’ happened. You asked if I started somethin’ with her. And I haven’t.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” Finn confirmed with a nod.
Drew just stared at him before shaking his head. “She’s got you all kinds of fucked up, you know that, right?”
He did, but what the hell was he supposed to do? He’d walked away from her once, and it’d been the single greatest mistake of his entire life. He’d be damned if he made the same one again, if he walked away without giving this thing between them a chance to actually become something. Not now that he was older, wiser… Now that he wouldn’t allow her asshole of a father to stand between them as he had back then.
“Nothin’ I can do about that,” he said.
“So, what’s your plan? We stayin’ here indefinitely, or what?”
Drew had exactly as many ties to California as Finn did. Namely, zero. As long as they got their momma back to Havenbrook, they’d be fine. And whether or not Drew agreed with what Finn was doing where Willow was concerned, he’d stand behind his brother, have his back every step of the way. Where Finn went, Drew followed, and vice versa.
Knowing that made it easier to move forward, since Finn didn’t know what the hell was coming. If he’d be in Havenbrook or California…New York or Nashville. Right now, he had one goal, and that was to get in the good graces of one Willow Haven.
“My plan is to find out if I can make her see me as more than just the asshole who left. Everything else will come after.”
Drew snorted, shaking his head. “Man, you’re a damn idiot. That girl does nothin’ but spit fire when you’re around.”
