It’s an invitation for more. More friendship. More time spent together.
And I have to admit to myself that I like the sound of it.
“Deal,” I tell him.
The girls lie down in the grass, pointing to the sky as a few stars twinkle out of the darkness, and I realize I should let them get to bed soon.
I stand to gather the plates, but Finn stops me with a hand on my arm. “I’ll get those.”
His chair scrapes the stone patio as he rises to stack the plates himself. He nudges my arm with his firm chest, leaning across the table and steadying himself with a palm pressed between my shoulder blades. The pressure of it sends warmth to every lonely corner of my body. It’s hard to breathe with him this close, his sage-and-soap scent everywhere around me.
When he straightens, I look up to scan his face, and that thread tightens between us, pulling me closer like I have no control over my own body. The air buzzes as we watch each other in silence, and his navy eyes drop to my mouth. His focused attention makes me lick my lips.
Eloise’s shrill cry startles me from my trance. Finn drops his gaze, and his hand leaves my back as he sets the plates down. Eloise reaches us, crying that Avery’s elbow hit her nose.
I take a deep breath and try to calm my racing heart as Finn drops to his knees, rubbing Eloise’s back.
“It’s okay,piccola. You know, Millie hit me in the nose the other day too,” he says, winking at me over her shoulder.
Avery wails, “It was an accident. I was pointing to the stars, and I bumped her.” She runs to me, and I squat to catch her as she buries her face in my neck, her tears wetting my skin.
She came tome, trusting that I could offer her comfort. I runmy fingers through the tips of her hair, and my lips part in surprise when she calms down.
I look over her shoulder and see Finn watching me over Eloise.
We’re mirror images of each other, crouched on the ground, consoling the girls.
My stomach dips with a swooping sensation like I’m at the top of a roller coaster about to tip over the edge. I’m seeing the world from a new perspective before I careen over the side, into the unknown.
Chapter 13
Finn
The rumbling blender grates on my nerves when I walk into Maggie’s in a daze, exhaustion slowing my steps. Eloise woke me early this morning in a rare bad mood, storming through the house and slamming doors because she couldn’t find Moosey, her favorite stuffed animal.
I file into line behind a woman with auburn hair. It’s not Millie, because this woman is about a foot taller, but her hair color still brings Millie’s face to my mind.
The last two weeks have passed in a haze of Fridays.
Saturday through Thursday are fine, routine, plain.
But Fridays are golden because Millie’s there.
She came over to make us chocolate chip cookies the Friday after pizza night, and then she taught me how to make chicken Alfredo last Friday. She even made a few vegetables that the girls warily took a bite of. Millie supervises and directs me through each recipe from what I now refer to asherbarstool.
She has done all the puzzles the girls own, colored every single time they’ve asked, and prompted more dance parties than I can count. Millie demanded I order some dress-up clothes for the girls, and they sang with delight when the package arrived, then did a fashion show of every outfit combination.
But despite all the good things her friendship has brought us, tension still burns through my body like a sparkler every time she’s around.
When she accidentally bumped her hip against mine in the kitchen last week, I almost choked on my piece of garlic bread. Even the slightest brush of her fingers as I handed her a drink felt like flames licking my skin.
I force myself to shove those feelings into a trunk and fasten the lid tight when she’s around because I don’t want them to interfere with our friendship.
But when I shut the front door every Friday as she drives away, I let myself peer inside the trunk.
And what I discover is a yearning formore.
More time together.
