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They’d reached the other side of the bridge.

Maisie was the first to look away, snapping their connection in two like a brittle cracker, but that feeling from before remained inside Finn.

He was a flirt. He didn’t have time for a relationship. He was deathly afraid of disappointing his family, he didn’t need someone else to disappoint.

And yet, in those moments on that bridge, the connection he’d felt with her, the trust she’d shown in him, and the desire he’d had to protect her, he could no longer deny it.

He was falling for Maisie. And he was falling hard.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Maisie was able to cross the bridge back on her own. Finn stood right behind her, speaking words of encouragement, but she hadn’t needed it as she kept her eyes fixed forward, her pace steady and unhurried.

While she felt encouraged, accomplished, and invigorated returning to the mainland—especially with having seen Rathlin Island across the sparkling sea—by the time she made it back to the bus, she was thoroughly exhausted.

Not only was she still recovering from her embarrassing breakdown in front of total strangers on and off the bridge, she was also trying to make sense of what happened between her and Finn. Her mind teemed with images and memories of his hands on hers, the way he’d encouraged her to finish crossing, and how a connection had been made between them, despite her stress, as they moved together.

So many things were keeping them apart. They couldn’t date. She was going back to America. Daphne needed her. Finn needed his job. Maisie’s dreams couldn’t drift to him, and yet, she was beginning to see that’s exactly where they were headed.

This morning, she’d felt lonely and controlled. Now, driving to their next stop, knowing Finn had shown up exactly when she’d needed someone most, Maisie was overcome with disappointment.

She should have known this would happen, falling for someone completely unavailable to her. Such was the way of her life. Such was the way of her dreams.

With only a short, fifteen-minute drive to Giant’s Causeway, Maisie still hadn’t found time to unwind, so instead of heading directly down to the causeway with the rest of the tour—Finn included—Maisie headed to the museum and gift shop first, where she meandered around in silence, clearing her loud thoughts and trying to be present.

After exploring the museum, she purchased a pair of sea-blue, teardrop earrings for her mom, a photographic print of Northern Ireland’s green hills for her dad, and a magnet for Daphne, Maisie headed to the causeway, hoping she could remain alone—though the irony wasn’t lost on her that she’d been upset about being alone only that morning.

The last bus driving down to the causeway had already left, so Maisie began the twenty-minute walk down the paved road, focusing on the cascading hills swooping down to meet the sea with dark, wet stones and vibrant green grass.

When the actual causeway came into view, her breath escaped her, just as the bridge had caused. The unique formations of tens of thousands of connecting columns made up of stone trailed down into the sea like irregular stairs. Finn had said they’d been formed by volcanic activity, though legend described a giant building a pathway to Scotland with the stones, instead.

She kept her eyes trained on the unique sight, then took her time walking across the basalt columns, using them as stepping-stones as she made her way farther from society and closer to the sea.

With the tide coming in, the waves were rough, slapping against the columns at the base of the mounds with choppy, blue and white crests.

The sun was past its highest point, and though it wasn’t near setting, the calming light it brought as it lowered near the horizon carried a peace across the land and into Maisie’s soul.

As the air cooled around her, she began to see things a little more clearly. She drew closely toward the lower parts of the columns away from the waves’ reach, sitting down so she was mostly hidden to those still traversing the rocks. With the sea stretching out in a broad expanse before her and no one’s voices around to distract her, she grounded herself. Breathing, watching, being.

There, she allowed herself to feel all the emotions she’d suppressed for too long. Disappointment from unfulfilled dreams. Fear and sorrow that they’d never be realized. Relief when Finn had come to her rescue. Sadness that their relationship could be nothing more. All the while, she forced self-compassion, refusing to criticize herself for falling for the man so hard and so swiftly.

At the thought of him, the feel of his hands on hers returned, and she closed her eyes, as if he held her then.

Her reaction to him had been more than tangible excitement. It was a magnetism she’d never experienced before. One that pulled her close and refused to let go. One that told her that there was something more than mere physical attraction she held for Finn, but that she trusted him with her very life.

It was a strange feeling, knowing she could rely on a man she’d known for less than a week. But already, he’d proven himself worthy, not only to keep her safe, but to read her needs, encourage her wants, and comfort her desires.

How was this even possible? And how, how, was she going to move on? Nothing could happen between them. But she couldn’t deny any longer that something already had.

So much so that when she heard Finn’s voice behind her, she’d somehow half-expected it already.

“Hi, there,” he said.

She turned to look up at him, hands in his pockets, muscles edging along his forearm.

“Hi,” she greeted simply.

“I won’t stay,” he said. “I just came to make sure you’re alright. Breathin’ and thinkin’ of me eyes still.”