Promises of Forever

by Celya Bowers

  He also hated when his baby sister was right. “Okay, so now what?”

  “I don’t know,” Beth said. “What’s in your heart?”

  He told her of the problem he had with Harry, and the deal he’d struck with Kayleigh, but now that was coming to an end. “I want her to stay with me forever. I don’t want her to go back home.”

  “But Finn you’re going to have to let her go.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “Look, Finn, you’re going to have to let her go back to her house. You can’t take away her independence. You’re still a couple, you’re just not staying together. You’re just at two different residences. If you don’t let her go home, she’ll think she’s missing something, and eventually she’ll blame you.”

  He was about to argue with his sister, but he knew deep down in his heart she was right. “Okay, it seems I don’t have any options, do I?”

  “No, you don’t. When are you coming back?”

  “Sunday night.”

  “Just remember what I said. And please don’t try any of your insane tricks to make her stay.”

  He was insulted. How dare Beth talk to him like he was one of her kids. “What are you implying?”

  “Oh, let’s see. I’ll bet you’re going to try ‘what’s a few more days?’ Like you used to when you wanted me to do things for you. Like Christmas shopping, you’d say ‘what’s a few more gifts.’ ”

  Okay, he’d tried that one already and it worked. “So?”

  “Finn!” Beth laughed. “You’re impossible.”

  “I’m not. I just asked her to stay a few more days, then the stuff with Harry happened. It wasn’t a devious plan. I was totally honest with her and she agreed to stay. When Harry went nuts, I told her about what happened in Boston.”

  “You told her about getting beat up? Oh my, this is serious. Outside of the family and the ex, no one knows that story. ”

  “I share.”

  “Not usually. Just remember what I said. Call me when you get back. We’ll have dinner this Friday night. I’ll make something special.” She ended the call.

  Beth was a lot like their mother. She didn’t give you time to accept or refuse an invitation. He wasn’t quite ready for Kayleigh to meet his sister and her family, but as usual, nothing was on his timetable.

  CHAPTER 23

  “Harley, have you lost your mind?” Kayleigh had just entered the office and sat at her desk. Harley plopped the annual report in front of her. The very confidential annual report that only the supervisor is supposed to have. “The idiot is going to kill you!”

  “It’s not the actual report, it’s a copy,” she said in a hushed tone. “I don’t need you blabbing to everyone, so keep your voice down.”

  Kayleigh shook her head. As if she didn’t have enough going on in her life. Harley had started playing detective before she could talk her out of it. “What are you going to do with it?”

  “That’s where you come in.”

  Oh, she so didn’t like the sound of this. “I don’t know anything about financial stuff like that. What are you looking for, anyway?”

  Harley took the report back and locked it in her desk drawer. “I don’t know. I thought you could get Finn to look it over and see if he saw anything suspicious.”

  “And then?”

  “I’ll go to the board with my findings and maybe finally get that waste of space kicked out of here.”

  “Out of the country would be nice.”

  Harley laughed. “We can dream. Do you think Finn would do it?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t ride with him today. I drove my own car.”

  “What?” Harley wheeled her chair next to Kayleigh. “I thought everything was going so well. You just went to California with the man. Don’t tell me you didn’t give him any?”

  Kayleigh laughed. “No, it’s not that. We made a deal weeks ago that I’d go home after Easter. We got back last night, and he brought me to my house.”

  “What are you not telling me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You wanted to stay with him, didn’t you?”

  There was no use lying to Harley, it only fueled her fury when she found out otherwise. “Yes, I did. But I needed to go home. I missed him last night. He always rubs my back.”

  “We are so having a girl’s chat at lunch.” She moved her chair back to her desk. “You guys are still dating, right?”

  “Yes, we’re having dinner at his sister’s house Friday night. She lives near the military base. Her husband is in the army.”

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  “That his sister is a better cook than I am,” she teased. “Yes, I know this is a big deal. He has three nephews. You think I should come bearing gifts?”

  “Depends on how old the boys are,” Harley answered.

  “I think they are teenagers.”

  “Definitely bring gifts.”

  Kayleigh looked at the growing mound of work on her desk. According to company policy, she wasn’t to pay any invoice over ninety days old unless approved by the manager. She had ten invoices ranging from three months to a year old. Harley couldn’t approve them, only the idiot could.

  She grabbed the papers and walked to his office. As usual, there was someone in his office. Today, it was Amber. She was new to the team and yet to do any real work, besides sitting in his office and keeping him company while he did absolutely nothing all day. He waved her inside.

  “I need these approved.” She placed the invoices on his desk. “I’ll come get them later.”

  “No, Kayleigh, sit down. I will sign them now.”

  She noticed he didn’t even look at them. He just scribbled his illegible signature and handed them back to her. “How was your holiday?”

  “It was fine.” She turned to leave the office before she caught something that penicillin couldn’t cure. She went back to her desk.

  “You went in the lion’s den?” Harley asked.

  “Yes, these invoices are over three months old. He had to approve them. He didn’t even look at them. I was expecting him to ask me why they were so old, but I got nothing. Not even the usual sermon that invoices must be paid on time.”

  Harley held out her hand. “Let me see those.”

  Kayleigh didn’t see the harm so she did. “What gives?”

  “Make copies of these and put them in a safe place.”

  “Why?”

  “Look at the letterhead.”

  She did and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “So? I thought the company name was weird. I don’t recall this vendor, but according to the computer it’s a new vendor.”

  “Did you ask him about it?”

  “No, the last time this came up, he told me that occasionally the reconciliation department changes vendor numbers. It looks like a new vendor, but it’s not.”

  “How many times have you come across this?”

  “Maybe three or four times in the last year.” Then she saw the handwriting on the wall. She leaned closer to Harley and whispered, “You think he’s laundering?”

  Harley nodded. “I can’t tell where it’s going, but I’m sure Finn can help in that respect. I’m sure he has access to all kinds of stuff.”

  “I don’t know about him doing all that. He’s got his own drama going on in his office.”

  “Just ask him for me.”

  Like she could say no to her best friend. She just hoped it didn’t cost her the love of her life.

  * * *

  Finn was going nuts. It was day one without Kayleigh. Per his sister’s advice he took Kayleigh home, and it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. He felt like his heart had broken into two pieces.

  Work was a nightmare. Being so close and not being able to touch, talk or even see her was the worse torture he’d endured in a long time. He hoped it didn’t take her a long time to realize that she missed him.

  He’d left work early, hoping to catc
h up on paperwork at home. Thank goodness, Harry didn’t show up today. That would have been all he needed.

  Now as he sat in home office doing absolutely nothing, he chastised himself. “This is insane. If you want to see her, go see her.” He glanced at the clock, and saw it was almost nine.

  If he left now, he could be at her house just as she got home from class. How creepy was that? Realizing he had to sit this one out, he went back to work. His phone rang ten minutes later. “Callahan.”

  “Hi, it’s me, Kayleigh. Are you busy?”

  He smiled. “I’m never too busy to talk to you. How was class?”

  “Fine. Tons of homework. I need to ask you a favor.”

  He heard talking in the background. “Where are you?”

  “In my living room. We got out of class early. I’ve been on the phone with Harley for an hour trying to talk her out of this crazy idea.”

  “What is it?”

  “Well, in a nutshell, we suspect our boss is money laundering.”

  “What?”

  “About six months ago, Harley got promoted to assistant. But our boss wouldn’t let her move into the office next to his. He said he needed her out in the trenches to keep an eye on the rest of us.”

  Finn nodded and listened carefully as Kayleigh continued the story. He made notes and asked questions when things sounded too impossible to believe. “Why is this guy still employed there?”

  “No one turns him in. We make jokes about how stupid he is, and what a racist he is, which is funny in itself because he’s a person of color.”

  “Well, honey, I think there’s some probable cause, but you guys shouldn’t be playing detective. Someone could get hurt.”

  “This is where you come in.” She laughed. “Oh, my, I sounded just like Harley. That’s proof enough this is a crazy idea.”

  “I won’t know if it’s crazy unless you tell me.”

  “Oh, all right. Harley wanted to know if you’d look at the annual report and some invoices to see if anything looked funny to you. If you don’t want to, I totally understand.”

  “Of course I’ll take a look at them. If she’s keeping the papers on company property, she’ll need to get them out of there as quickly as possible. If he suspects anything, he has the right to confiscate anything with company ties.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell her. Thank you, Finn.”

  “Is that the only reason you called?” He hated sounding this desperate.

  “No, I just wanted to hear your voice. I know I said I wanted to come home and I did. But I really miss you.”

  It was what he’d wanted to hear, but he had to stay strong. “I miss you, too. I think this morning was the worst.”

  “For me, too. I kept waiting for you to walk around the corner wrapped in a towel and dripping wet.”

  “So why are we doing this?”

  “We have to. I don’t want you to get tired of me. I want my independence. We have to know this is what we both want. Finn, we’re ten years apart in age, I don’t want to be just a novelty to you. I want to be a permanent part of your life.”

  “You already are.”

  * * *

  Kayleigh thought her heart was going to pop through her chest. Did Finn just say that? She was a part of his life. Just like he was a part of hers. He was going to help Harley for goodness’s sake, what more was there to say.

  “You’re important to me, too. You don’t know how long I’ve wrestled with asking you about this for Harley. At first, I thought Harley’s overactive imagination was at play, but after today, I’m not so sure.”

  “What happened today?”

  He sounded like a lawyer, which was what he was. She explained about the invoices and how quickly he approved them. “Normally, he’d asked if I called the branch to see why the invoices weren’t sent in on time in the first place, but this time he just signed them.”

  “Well, honey, I want you guys to be careful. Are you sure he doesn’t suspect you guys are checking up on him?”

  “I didn’t realize she was watching him so closely until today. What a mess to come back to!”

  “It’s going to be fine. I’ll even keep some bail money ready just in case you guys don’t listen to me.”

  She laughed, and hoped to God that nothing bad happened to her or Harley. “How was your day?”

  “Horrible. I missed you. I couldn’t concentrate on anything so I came home early.”

  “Looks like we both came home early.” Kayleigh closed her eyes and clamped her mouth shut. She was so close to suggesting one of them put the other out of their misery. She had to stay strong. She wasn’t this bad when she dated Manny. What was so different about Finn?

  What had he done to make her go nuts over him? That was easy, he’d seen her at her worst and he hadn’t run when he found out she was sick.

  True, she should have stepped up to the plate and told him in the first place, but it worked out. Her mother would have loved his accent and blue eyes. Her father would have loved his drive for success. What was there not to love about him? He was an excellent lover.

  “Honey?” he called, bringing her out of la-la land. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  He laughed. “No, you’re not. I just told you I was horny and I was coming over and you said, ‘okay.’ ”

  “I did not.” She couldn’t remember anything he’d said, so it was very possible that he said it.

  “Did, too.”

  “I think it’s time for someone to get off the phone,” she said. “I have to get my rest.”

  “Yes. Why don’t you and Harley come for dinner here tomorrow night and bring the papers? You could ride with Harley.”

  She saw right through his little plan and was glad he’d thought of it, but she couldn’t let him get his way that easily. “If you want me to spend the night, you’re going to have to ask me.”

  “Will you spend the night?”

  “Let me check my calendar,” she teased.

  “Oh, come on,” Finn said. “I’m dying here.”

  “Of course I’ll spend the night.” She ended the call. She called Harley and they made plans for the following evening. With their plan taking shape, Kayleigh got ready for bed. She glanced at the calendar and a horrible thought came to mind. She and Finn didn’t use any protection while they were in California. She sat down on the bed with a thud.

  In fact, in the many times that they had made love, they’d hardly used any protection at all.

  CHAPTER 24

  The next evening Kayleigh, Harley and Ben arrived at Finn’s to discuss the problem. Kayleigh pondered mentioning the condom issue to Finn. On one hand, she didn’t think she could get pregnant. On the other, why add more fuel to the flame by explaining all this to Finn when he had so much more going on in his life?

  He opened the door and invited them inside. Harley, being the romantic she was, pulled poor Ben by the arm. “I’m going to show Ben around your house while you and Kayleigh…talk.”

  Finn laughed and put his arms around Kayleigh and kissed her like the plane was going down. “I missed you so much.” He grabbed her hand and led her into the kitchen.

  She inhaled the delicious aromas of dinner. “It smells wonderful. What are you cooking?”

  “Technically, I’m not cooking, I’m heating up. It’s lasagna.”

  “Either way, it smells great.” She wished she could cook something that smelled like this. Her house smelled like a house, not a home.

  He kissed her again. “You think Harley would think it bad taste if I sent her and Ben home right now?” He caressed her back. “You look great.”

  She looked down at her ensemble of jeans and her favorite V-neck navy blue blouse. She didn’t think she looked very great at the moment. She felt humdrum. “Thank you, Finn. You always look good to me.”

  He had on dark slacks and a white silk shirt. The shirt complemented his muscular frame. She hugged him and laid her head on his chest. She co
uld stay like this forever. Forget work, or catching the idiot. She wanted to stay wrapped in Finn’s arms all the time.

  “Hey, are you guys missing class tonight?”

  “No, our teacher gave us the night off to work on our papers.”

  “Hooray for education,” Finn drawled. He touched his lips to hers. “How about something to drink? Sarah, my assistant, told me about this energy drink. It didn’t taste too bad.”

  She shook her head. “Those things are loaded with sugar. My doctor will kill me. Sugar might give me energy, but it robs me of other nutrients that I need to fight my illness.”

  “Okay, how about wine?”

  “You have a winner,” Kayleigh said against his shirt.

  They stood, hugging each other, caressing each other, as if this was their first time together. Finn cleared his throat. “Baby, I would love nothing more than to stand here and hold you, but we have guests.”

  Her heart swooned at the word we. It gave her hope for all the tomorrows to come. Reluctantly, she put space between them. She glanced down at his noticeable erection. “What do you plan on doing about that?”

  He wasn’t embarrassed. “This only happens when you’re in the room. When you leave the kitchen it will go away.”

  “How are you going to get through dinner?”

  “As long as you keep your hands to yourself, I’ll make it. By the time I hear about this mess you and Harley have gotten yourselves into, I’m sure it will be gone completely.”

  “I’m just trying to keep you on your legal toes.” She walked to the cabinet, looking for his wine glasses. “Where are the wine glasses?”

  “In the wine cabinet,” he said. “It’s in the dining room.”

  She grabbed the wine from the refrigerator. “I’ll go find Harley and Ben, while you finish dinner.” She blew him a kiss as she passed him.

  “That’s not fair,” he said, teasing. “I’ll have to make you pay for that later.”

  “Promises, promises,” she shot back.

  He had a very serious look on his face. “When I promise, I promise forever.”

  * * *