“Second that.” Lucy jumps in. “So, are you two taking us out for dinner?”
“Lucy,” I hiss under my breath.
“What?” She feigns innocence.
Dad chuckles but says, “We have the camper set up at Juniper Creek, but we do need to clean up a bit. We rushed over here because we were dying to see you two. Let us go change and we will meet you at Perry’s Seafood?”
“Are you serious?” Lucy exclaims at the same time I shout, “For real?”
“We miss good ‘ole Cajun food.” Mom smiles, looping her arm around Dad casually. She turns her attention to me. “Would you please invite Finley?”
“Of course,” I state. “He mentioned he was working on reports, but I can see if he can spare some time this evening.”
“Great!” Mom replies. “Well, we will head on out. We just couldn’t wait another second to see our girls.”
Lucy and I wave them out then immediately start to get ready to meet them at Perry’s. I send a text to Finley asking if he’s available, and he responds with “Anything for you, my Queen.”
My heart warms at his sweetness. I never thought I’d be one to look for romance or affection when it came to a relationship, but now that I have it with Finley, I couldn’t imagine going without that love and care. My heart squeezes at the thought of possibly losing him one day, but I push that thought aside. No sense in wondering about what-ifs.
An hour later, Lucy and I are in Finley’s mustang headed to Perry’s Seafood. He insisted on picking us up since he finally got his beloved old car back from where we left it at the trailhead in Tennessee. Gabriel and Anders tail us in their black sedan, andaccording to Finley, they will not be sitting with us tonight even though I said it would be okay.
“You’ve mentioned your parents are friendly and outgoing and very loving towards one another. How should I behave? Speak to them? Are they going to grill me? What kind of questions should I be prepared for? I’ve—” he swallows, taking one hand off the wheel to run his fingers through his semi-styled blond hair, “never met a girlfriend’s parents before.”
Lucy snickers from the back seat, and I bite my bottom lip to keep from grinning. Finley is obviously in a nervous spiral over meeting my parents, and I need to walk with him through it, but it’s also kind of adorable.
“Just be yourself, Finley. You are great. They know that I wouldn’t settle for anyone that I wasn’t comfortable and confident with.”
“Right,” he says with a shaky voice. He totally does not look convinced by the way he constantly musses up his hair as his leg bounces ninety to nothing.
I place my hand on his thigh, the heat burning through his khaki pants. He ceases the nervous bouncing. “You trust me, right? Believe in me?”
He nods emphatically.
“Well then trust my confidence in you. Trust my belief in you.”
“Aww,” Lucy drawls. I snap laser eyes at her, and she laughs.
“Thanks, Lorelei,” Finley says, looking at me with love in his eyes. “I do trust you. And I love you very much.”
“Aww!” Lucy drawls again but longer and louder. This time I laugh with her. This feels good. Right. Light. Free.
Finley, my twin, my parents… It’s the people I love the most around me tonight.
We pull into the parking lot, get out, and make our way into the restaurant. It’s nothing fancy or huge, but it is one of the higher-priced places in this town. The smells of Creole seasoning, crawfish, and oils assaults my senses, throwing me off balance for a moment.
I forgot how intense the smells of this place were. It’s not a bad smell, just a strong and over-stimulating smell. I’ll be okay as long as I’m able to step outside when I need to. But for now I want to try and adjust to the environment.
Since it’s a Wednesday night, the place is empty. But it does concern me because there are usually a few families here at any given moment.
"Did you rent this place out for the night?" I ask Finley.
"Yes. Primarily so we could eat in peace and try to keep anyone away from discovering I'm still here."
"Ah, that makes sense." I glance at the large hammerhead shark that hangs above the entrance, something that terrified me as a child, but I grew to love it.
I named it Gray.
Because of its gray body.
