Untold

by Shannon Richard

  It was then that something warm and wet hit his chest, and this time when Brie took a deep breath it was unsteady. His arms tightened around her, and God he felt his own heart hurting as the words fell from her mouth.

  “Even though she knew who I was, I still introduced myself. I was nervous, hands shaking and sweaty. The moment I said my name her expression changed from that initial look of recognition to one that was totally unreadable. She spent twenty-eight seconds looking at me. I know because I was counting in my head the entire time. It was all I could do.”

  More tears hit his skin and she sniffled.

  “And then she spoke. I will never, in my life, forget those words. She said: ‘I know exactly who you are and I don’t care. Nor do I care why you’re here. I don’t know what heartwarming scene you were expecting when you showed up here, but I can promise you, you aren’t going to get it. You aren’t going to get anything from me now or ever. I didn’t want you in my life eighteen years ago and that fact has not changed today. Nor will it change tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the day after that. So what you need to do is turn around and take your little ass out the way it came in. Don’t bother ever coming back either.’”

  “I’m so sorry, baby,” Finn whispered, closing his eyes as he turned his head, pressing another kiss to her temple.

  God he hated that spiteful, mean, vengeful, vindictive, hateful woman. Never in his life had he wanted to spit on someone’s grave…but he wanted to spit on hers. Too bad she hadn’t been buried.

  “It was probably a total of two minutes,” Brie said after a moment. “That’s it, that’s all the time I will ever know of the woman who gave birth to me.”

  She looked up at him again and the pain in her streaming eyes almost broke him in two, right then and there. He also hated himself for how he’d treated her at first. God he was an idiot. The thought that he’d spend the rest of his life making it up to her crossed his mind. Much like many thoughts when it came to Brie, he didn’t know where it came from. So he did what he always did and pushed it to the back of his mind.

  He did, however, tell Brie the truth when he spoke. “She didn’t deserve you, Brie. She didn’t deserve any part of you.”

  “I know that.” She blinked and more tears fell from her eyes. “But I deserved more. I deserved a lot more than that. And I will never get it from her. I don’t know that I’ll ever learn the things that I want to know. Things that I have spent most of my life wondering. God, Finn, I don’t know who my biological father is and I might never find that out.”

  She pressed her face to his chest again as sob after sob broke from her mouth. Finn wished he could do something, anything, to take away her pain. But he had no clue how to do that.

  So he held her, one hand in her hair, the other on her back, trying to soothe her.

  It took a bit, but her sobs subsided and she was finally able to speak. “I just want to come from something good, Finn. I need to come from something good…someone good.”

  He moved his hand to her chin, pushing up until he had her eyes. Apparently crying made them gold, too.

  “Your genes don’t always define you.” His hand went from her chin to her jaw, cupping the side of her face. “You are something good. God, Brie, you’re amazing. In so many ways. You’re strong and smart, funny, thoughtful, and so beautiful. You come from something good.” After a few seconds, he added, “Your parents, the people who raised you, are they good?”

  “They’re the best people I know.”

  “You come from something good.” He repeated the statement, wanting her to believe it.

  Needing her to believe it.

  “I haven’t told them I’m here…in Mirabelle. That Bethelda died, that she left me everything to deal with.”

  “Why not?”

  “They’d worry, hop on a plane and fly here the first chance they got.”

  “They love you, worrying comes with the territory.”

  “I know, I just wanted to do this on my own. I can’t explain it. And I hate not telling them what’s happening. They know how it all destroyed me before. You know, I haven’t cried like that…cried over her like that, since that day.”

  “In ten years?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t let myself.”

  “You can’t bottle that stuff up. You were due to let it out.”

  “Maybe I was. I think it’s also because since I’ve been here, since I’ve been in that house, I haven’t really been dealing with things that have had history. At least not a history that I want. Everything that I’ve gotten rid of so far, it’s been extra. All of the things she bought in bulk. Or obsessions that didn’t really mean anything to me.”

  “Like Michael.”

  “Like Michael,” she said, and nodded. “Like I said, I learned everything I needed to know from that stuff. So it didn’t hurt to sell it. I feel like I am just clearing off the dust on everything right now, and I haven’t really opened anything up.”

  “Except today with Ella, learning about Harold and Petunia, that was opening something up that you weren’t exactly ready for.”

  “Not ready for it at all. And I didn’t realize I wasn’t ready for it until after it was over.” She sat up a little bit, not enough to pull away from him, but enough to reach up and palm his jaw with her hand. “Thank you for dealing with my breakdown.”

  “Brie,” he said, and leaned into her touch, “you really need to stop thanking me for things like that. I’m here for you. No questions asked. For as long as you want me.”

  “In that case, will you hold me while we sleep?”

  “As long as you’re in my bed, or I’m in yours, I’ll have my arms around you.”

  “Perfect.” She stretched up, her mouth landing on his in a soft, slow kiss. He could taste the salt from her tears on her lips.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Getting Down with My Gnomies

  Over the next week, Brie spent her mornings working on her thesis. The office was becoming more and more of a comfortable place for her both as she adjusted to it and cleared it out. She’d call it quits around lunchtime, which was when Finn would come over to the bungalow and eat with her. When he’d head back to work, Brie would start in on tackling more of the stuff in or around the house.

  First on her agenda had been going through the charges on Bethelda’s credit cards and canceling all of her mail order services. There’d been enough to deal with there that it had taken up the rest of her Monday. By the time she’d finished she had to start making dinner for her and Finn.

  He helped her a little bit after they ate that evening, packing up more of the trinkets and knickknacks on the bookshelves in the office. Around nine o’clock he’d grabbed her hand and pulled her into the den and down onto the air mattress.

  Tuesday was Valentine’s Day, and Brie spent it on Operation DeGnomeing. The little figurines weren’t exactly her thing, let alone an entire village of them. So she took multiple pictures of the collection and posted it on eBay. There’d been a bidding war between Gnomeaste62 and GnomePlaceLikeHome that bumped the total price to six hundred and ninety-two dollars. Gnomeaste62 won at the very last minute. Apparently, a lot of the stuff was limited edition pieces for aficionados of Gnome Life Village collection.

  And Brie clearly was not an aficionado.

  She also started to go through the dresser and armoires in Bethelda’s room. After Finn got off work, he and she loaded up Finn’s truck and took it all over to the Triple C. There were nine trash bags filled with Bethelda’s clothes and the entire collection of scarves.

  “I don’t know who would even want clothes that were Bethelda’s,” Brie said as she dropped a bag into the back of Finn’s truck. “Though, a lot of them are brand new.”

  “Most of the people who benefit from the CCC don’t really even know about Bethelda. Or not enough to care. There are a lot of migrant workers who work on the farms or on the boats. They don’t exactly have access to computers, let alone the
Internet. The stuff will be put to good use, better use than if they were just sitting in her closets.”

  “That’s true,” Brie agreed. When people needed things, they usually weren’t choosy on where those things came from.

  Once they dropped everything off, Finn took her to dinner at the Floppy Flounder. He wouldn’t let her pay, but he also said that it didn’t count as their date. “You can’t add a donation drop into the mix. Our date will be errand free.”

  After that, he took her back to his house where they spent the rest of the evening watching a movie and making out. Then she’d grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs to his bedroom. It was one of the better Valentine’s Days she’d ever had…maybe even the best.

  On Wednesday Brie decided to tackle the hat collection. They were fancy hats and fascinators, like the ones worn to the Kentucky Derby or an English wedding. All were stored in hatboxes and in pristine condition. Brie put all of those on eBay, too. Her new favorite website. By Thursday she’d sold twenty-one out of fifty-four to various buyers. And on Friday she was down to just five.

  After her thesis morning marathon, Brie loaded up all of the boxes she needed to ship and headed to the post office. She’d been so many times that week that she and Celine, one of the workers, now knew each other by name.

  Once Brie’s car was unloaded, she drove down to the beach and to Café Lula. Grace had texted her the day before inviting her to lunch again. When she walked into the building she was immediately greeted by an older woman with white hair and Grace’s blue eyes.

  “I’ve heard so much about you!” Lula Mae exclaimed as she pulled Brie into an ample embrace. When she let go and stepped back to look into Brie’s face, she grinned and added, “All good things of course.”

  “Same. I love your place. And your food is amazing.”

  “Darling, praise will get you everywhere with me. The girls are already in the back, so if you tell me what you want I will bring it out with theirs.”

  “Any recommendations?”

  “How do you feel about chicken salad?”

  “That sounds like perfection.”

  “Coming right up.”

  When Brie walked through the door and into the back kitchen it was to find Grace, Paige, Mel, and Beth, who Brie had not met before.

  Beth was a pretty blond with light blue eyes and a sweet smile. She was an obstetrics nurse at the hospital, which explained why she was wearing hot pink nurse scrubs. Introductions were made, and as was Brie’s routine now with this group of girls, she told Beth exactly why she was in town.

  Beth didn’t flinch at the news. It was clear to Brie that she hadn’t known, but it didn’t affect her opinion whatsoever.

  “I was the only one who hadn’t met you yet.” Beth grinned. “So when Grace texted me you were coming today I took a longer lunch so I could meet you. I’ll be at dinner tomorrow night, too, but everyone will be there, and I wanted to meet you in less of a crowd. Besides I can’t promise I will be staying very long at the Sleepy Sheep. Bars aren’t as fun when you can’t drink.”

  “Beth’s husband knocked her up on their honeymoon.” Paige smirked.

  “He did indeed. He was very much about adding to our family with more children. It’s not like we’ve ever known a quiet house since we’ve been together.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because we already have three. Almost two years ago my sister and brother-in-law died in a car accident.”

  “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry.” Brie put her hand to her chest in a show of sympathy.

  Brie hadn’t experienced the death of a loved one in her life. All of her grandparents were still alive. Her parents were still there. Aunts and uncles and cousins. She’d experienced loss in a different way, but not like that. God, she couldn’t even imagine.

  “Thank you. It’s still hard some days, and even harder on others, especially for the kids. Nora is eighteen now, Grant’s nine, and Penny is four. When I moved back to Mirabelle to take care of them, I did not think that love was going to be in my future. And then Tripp moved in next door.”

  “And then they had many run-ins over Tripp’s dog,” Mel added.

  “Finn’s dog, Frankie,” Beth said to Brie. “Well, she has a brother, Duke. As in the Duke. Tripp is a huge John Wayne fan. Anyway, someone abandoned them as puppies at the firehouse about a year and a half ago. Tripp is the fire chief and he was working that day, so he took them to St. Francis. Tripp adopted the boy, Finn the girl.”

  “Finn mentioned something about Frankie’s brother being bigger than her.”

  Beth took a sip of her water before she continued with the telling of her story. “Oh, Duke is bigger all right. And he kept getting into my backyard, destroying my flowerbeds, and rolling around in the mud. I blamed Tripp. Turned out it was Grant who was taking the dog out of Tripp’s yard. So I apologized the only way I knew how.”

  “And how was that?”

  “Baked goods. That man has a sweet tooth. I think that’s the only reason he fell in love with me.”

  “Sure it was,” Paige said slowly, and didn’t even attempt to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

  “Oh, hush. Your husband fell in love with you because of your shoe habit.”

  “This is true,” Paige confirmed to Brie. “He got one look at me in a pair of high-heeled wedges and he was a goner.”

  The rest of the lunch passed with the same easy conversation, and when Brie left she was in a particularly good mood. So good that she stopped by the Piggly Wiggly on her way home, getting all of the ingredients she needed to make chicken enchiladas for Finn.

  * * *

  The last week had proven to be a very different experience for Finn. Waking up next to Brie every morning, whether it was her bed or his. Starting the day off by making love to her. Eating lunch with her, though he hadn’t been able to that afternoon as he’d been at a farm all day.

  He found that his day had been missing something without her being there in the middle of it. Which was probably why he was so eager to get home to her.

  Well, get back to her…not home to her. Bethelda’s house was neither of their homes.

  He was surprised at how comfortable he was in the space. Maybe because there was no chance of Bethelda walking through that front door…or maybe he was just able to get over a lot of things when it came to Brie.

  It was interesting, though, as Brie always referred to the house as the bungalow. Very rarely did she ever call it Bethelda’s house. And absolutely never did she say it was her mother’s house. Made sense as she never referred to Bethelda as her mother. There was always a biological preceding it and an explanation after.

  The real reason Finn found this interesting was because Brie never slipped when it came to Bethelda. But sometimes when they were talking she would refer to Petunia and Harold as her grandparents and had—more than once—referred to whoever her biological father was as just her father.

  It was almost six when Finn and Frankie walked through the front door of the bungalow. Frankie broke off from him, no doubt looking for Lo. Music was playing from the kitchen, so Finn followed the sound, along with the scent of something enticingly spicy on the air.

  Brie was standing in front of the stove, hips swaying, as she stirred a sauce simmering in a pot. He watched her for a second, eyes trained on her ass. She was wearing yoga pants again. Those things were going to be the death of him.

  But what a way to go.

  As much as he liked watching her move, he needed her under his hands. Crossing the space, he came up behind her, his hands settling on her hips before wrapping around her. She didn’t jump, wasn’t startled at his sudden appearance in the slightest.

  Instead she hummed a hello as she pressed back into him, her head stretching to the side and giving him ample access to her neck. He took the invitation, kissing his way up her throat and to her ear.

  “Hello. God, you smell amazing. Food smells pretty good, too.”

  She turned an
d looked over her shoulder. “Flatterer,” she whispered right before he caught her mouth in a kiss.

  His tongue pushed past her lips and his hold on her waist tightened. It was a good moment or two before he finally ended the kiss and pulled back, Brie just a little bit breathless.

  She shook her head at him, cheeks a bright pink, before she turned back to the stove. “If you don’t stop that I’m going to burn dinner.”

  “What are you making?”

  “My mother’s chicken enchiladas…I made the tortillas from scratch and everything. I figured what with all of your hard work this week, you earned them.”

  “Is that so? What else have I earned?” One of his hands moved up and he cupped her breast through her shirt, squeezing lightly.

  She sucked in a small gasp of air. “That hasn’t been decided yet. The night’s still young, possibilities are endless.”

  “That they are.” He dropped his hand from her breast, kissing her neck one last time before he let go of her and took a step back. “You want a drink? Might as well get to my bartender duties.”

  “That you should. Corona and limes are in the fridge.”

  “Excellent choice.”

  Finn grabbed two beers and a lime from the fridge, purposely brushing up against Brie as he moved to the cutting board on the counter. A moment later, she brushed up against him as she grabbed the bowl of grated cheese before moving away. She just so happened to be standing right next to the drawer in front of the bottle opener. He had one on his key chain, but where was the fun in that?

  They continued on back and forth until Finn was handing her a beer. They tapped the necks together before they both tipped their heads back and drank.

  “Thank you,” she said as she set the bottle on the counter and went back to setting up what looked like an assembly line of ingredients.