I glance at Brady. “Brady and I were just talking about that. I have some loose ends to tie up. I imagine it will take at least a week. And then I’ll have to come back to sign paperwork for the sale of the house.”
“And then?” Finn asks.
“I’m not sure. It sort of depends on what I find at the bank.” If there’s no money to be found in her accounts, I’m in the same place I’ve always been in. And if there’s money, it’s hard to know what I’ll do. Maybe try and spend time finding something I’m passionate about. Something that sets my soul on fire.
Brady nudges me. “Let me know if you need a lawyer.”
“Don’t take offense to this, but I really hope I don’t need one. It’d be nice if everything with the sale of the house and her bank accounts are cut and dry.”
Brady lifts his mug. “Here’s hoping.”
Finn and I raise our cups. “What about you?” I ask Finn.
Finn glances around. “This is it. For now, anyhow. I have some ideas, but I’ll work on them when I feel like it. I’m waiting on a couple patents, but otherwise”—he lifts his shoulders and drops them—“this is where you can find me.”
Brady draws his legs into his body and rests his forearms on his knees, coffee cup in hand. “Finn, tell us the truth about your job.”
Finn gazes out at the lake. “I had a government contract, and the contract ended.”
My lips twist disapprovingly. “So you weren’t fired?”
Finn shakes his head. “Not exactly. But I’m not at liberty to talk about my contract, so don’t ask.”
My fisted hand shoots into the air, celebrating. “I was right,” I shout.
Brady and Finn laugh.
“And I really had two failed start-ups. I wasn’t lying about that.” Finn shrugs.
“So you’re only, like, a half-liar?” I smile at Finn over the edge of my coffee cup.
He laughs out a breath from his nose, shaking his head at my made up word.
“And you?” I ask Brady. “Going back to Chicago?”
“Pretty soon, I guess. My colleagues are probably ready to hand my cases back over to me.”
“I’m sorry I used up all your vacation time.” I feel bad.
Brady winks. “Not all of it. Besides, it was worth it. You needed me and that was the end of it.”
Tears prick my eyes. It’s so unexpected I don’t have time to fight them.
“I’m so lucky, you guys. I’d be lucky to have one best friend like you, but to have two? I don’t know how it happened, but I’m grateful for you both. My whole life you’ve been keeping me afloat. You’ve given me things I didn’t think I deserved, and I don’t know how I could ever say thank you enough. I hope you both know how much I love you.”
Finn’s lips turn down. “Why do I get the feeling you’re breaking up with us?”
I take a deep breath, and this is when the tears flow down my cheeks like a river. “Because I am, in a way. I can’t choose, and this isn’t fair to either of you. So, this is me telling you it’s okay for you to move on. I want you two to have the kind of friendship you’d have if I wasn’t in the picture. You deserve that. I can’t come between you.”
Finn groans. “Lennon, don’t be dumb.”
“Yeah, Lennon. Don’t be dumb.” Brady frowns at me. “We’re adults. We’re allowing this competition to happen. You don’t see either of us bowing out. Nobody here is going to martyr themselves, including you. I’m fighting for your heart because I want to.”
“What happens when you go back to Chicago? Or when I go back to Dallas?”
“Hopefully soon I’ll be on the end of a phone call from you, breathlessly telling me you’ve come to your senses and realized you’re in love with me.” Brady grins and glances at Finn.
Finn flips him off.
