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I turn my head. He’s still looking at the steering wheel. His hands are in his lap. He doesn’t look angry, just tired.

“It’s one thing to keep what we do private,” he says quietly. “That’s… That’s ours. That’s for us. But this is different. This is me lying to my brother’s face. Making up a story about how we ended up in the same car? Telling my mother I can’t come to Sunday dinner because I’m working when I’m not? Telling Taylen I can’t get drinks because I’m busy when I’m actually cooking dinner with you in my kitchen?”

I don’t say anything.

“I don’t like it, Fox.”

I look at him for a long moment. Once again, the words I want to say become stuck in my throat. Let’s not lie. Let’s tell them we’re together. I love you.

I want to say all of it. All of it.

But I don’t, so Finn starts the car and pulls out of the parking spot where he practically abandoned the car last night.

We drive to the farm without saying anything else. My hand isn’t on Finn’s thigh this time. His right hand isn’t reaching for mine over the gearshift. We just sit in our respective seats and watch the road, and every mile between his apartment and Hall Farm feels longer than the one before it.

Halfway there, without looking at me, Finn reaches across the console.

He doesn’t take my hand. He just rests his fingers on top of mine where they’re sitting on my knee.

I turn my palm over and curl my fingers around his.

We drive the rest of the way like that.

Neither of us says a word.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

FINN

The drive to the farm is quiet.

It’s really an accomplishment that I keep the car on the road and don’t cause any major accidents because my brain is split in two, and both sides are working overtime.

One side is making mental lists of everything I need to accomplish in the next four hours, and the other is completely focused on Fox’s hand over mine on the gearshift.

When we come around the bend in the farm road, I see all the vehicles clustered at the field’s edge. We are the last ones to arrive.

I pull in beside Bastian’s truck and my blood pressure rises when I see Bastian and Taylen having some kind of intense non-conversation next to Taylen’s truck door. I don’t know what their problem is, but I wish Taylen would just back the fuck off my brother. We both know Bastian has the right to come back to run the farm like he’s always wanted, and he’s also good at it.

Nikko is huddled into his coat, his sunglasses failing to hide what is possibly the mother of all hangovers. I hope he didn’t drive himself to the farm last night.

He straightens as Fox approaches.

“Where have you been?”

Fox shrugs. “At the house. Slept late, saw Finn’s car coming up the drive and jumped in.”

I clear my throat. “Anyway. Let’s get this show on the road.”

I gesture toward the two men standing near the field.

“This is Marcus Chen, our public works coordinator.”

Marcus works his way around the group, shaking hands. “Pleasure to meet you all. My daughter’s going to lose her mind when I tell her who I met today.”

“And this is Chief Dan Morrison, our fire marshal,” I continue. “He’s the one who’ll make sure we don’t burn down half of Vermont with our holiday lights.”

“Just making sure everyone stays safe,” Chief Morrison says. “Though I’ll admit, this is probably the most high-profile safety inspection I’ve done in Winterberry.”