He was in love with her. How the hell had this happened to him?
He tightened his arms around her, pulling her close as he brushed his mouth across her temple. He couldn’t let her go…not now, not ever. Now it was just a matter of making her realize she couldn’t let him go, either.
He was in love with her.
* * *
Sunday morning started off nice and slow, with Brie and Finn sleeping in and then lingering over a few cups of coffee as they snuggled on his sofa. After Mass, though, was busy busy busy. Brie and Finn drove back to the bungalow to eat with Lo before the moving party got there. There were ten guys coming over with five trucks.
They hauled off all of Bethelda’s bedroom furniture: bed, mattress, nightstands, armoire, two cabinets, and two dressers. They loaded up the emptied bookcases in the office, six of the china cabinets (she kept her great-great grandmother’s), and rolled up the rugs upon rugs on the floor…except for the oriental one that had been Petunia’s. At first it was weird for Brie walking around the house and seeing the bare hardwood floors in all of their glory.
“I don’t understand why she’d cover these up.” One of the guys named Preston shook his head as he looked around.
“I’m telling you right now, you aren’t going to understand a lot of things when it comes to that woman.” She shook her head.
“I guess not.” Preston laughed.
Brie had met him, along with his husband Baxter, that afternoon. She decided they were the most adorable couple she’d ever met in her life. Something that was compounded when they showed her pictures of their two-year-old daughter Nikki, who they’d just adopted.
Brie also met Hamilton O’Bryan, Mel’s little brother, and the famous Dale Rigels. Both boys—though she used that word loosely as the nineteen-year-olds were just as big as the adult men in the room—were handsome beyond all reason and almost painfully polite.
“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Brie smiled when she shook Dale’s hand.
“Hopefully good.”
“All good,” she confirmed with a nod.
It turned out that Finn had a really big soft spot for the young man, something she’d figured out after just a few conversations.
Dale’s father had been killed in Afghanistan when he was twelve. He’d acted up and out until he was fifteen and had been taken under the wing of Bennett…along with everyone else. Brie also learned that when Dale had his battle with cancer, he’d met hockey player Logan James—Liam’s brother—who became a mentor to the boy. Not only that, but Logan had paid for all of Dale’s medical bills.
Just that last summer, Dale had worked with Finn at St. Francis and out on the farm. Apparently he wanted to be a veterinarian.
It was an all-in-the-family operation with this community, because if you were friends, you became family. Clearly as Brendan, Jax, Bennett, Shep, Liam, and Tripp were all part of the moving party, giving up a few hours on their Sunday to clear out what they could.
Their payment? Five bottles of wine each. Well, everyone’s payment except for the two teenagers. They got to take first pick of the pile of DVDs. After that it was a free-for-all on who got what. Brie would’ve gladly given anyone whatever they wanted, but it was clear that when it came to owning the more personal possessions of Bethelda, they were all good.
By five o’clock all of the trucks had everything dropped off at the Triple C, and all of the guys were heading home to their families. She and Finn picked up a pizza for dinner and headed back to his house. After they ate, they both took a long, glorious soak in the bathtub.
Brie didn’t know what she found more relaxing: the hot soapy water working into her sore tired muscles or Finn wrapped around her.
Definitely Finn. She could lie in that man’s arms every day for the rest of her life and not get tired of it.
But that wasn’t going to happen.
She knew that wasn’t a reality, didn’t mean she couldn’t want it. At the thought of leaving him, that oh-so-familiar ache welled up in her chest. Not all that surprisingly, when she blinked her eyes, tears slid down her cheeks, disappearing into the water. She was thankful Finn was behind her and couldn’t see her crying.
She needed to stay in the present…and stop thinking about after.
* * *
It was an odd thing in life that when someone wanted time to slow down, it just sped up, faster and faster.
As the days went by, every time Finn was at the bungalow, he noticed more things gone. More closets emptied. More cabinets cleared out. More things missing from the walls.
It felt odd that the more Bethelda disappeared from the house, the less he liked it. Actually, he hated it. But he tried not to focus on that, and put all of his energy in Operation Brie Falling in Love with Him.
He wasn’t exactly sure where he was in that process, but he was fighting the good fight. It had been eight years since Rebecca, eight years since he’d had to work at anything beyond one night. He’d felt like he’d done pretty well with the dinner at LaBella’s. But when he’d planned that, it hadn’t been about wooing her, it had been about giving her a night she wouldn’t forget.
Turned out it was a night he wouldn’t forget as that was when he’d figured out he was in love with her. Figured out she was it for him.
Since he hadn’t brought her flowers the night of the date, he had a bouquet of purple and white daisies delivered to her while he was at work one day. When he walked through the front door she’d pretty much pounced on him and he’d taken her right there up against the wall.
So that had been successful.
Some of the things he did were small. Others he wasn’t sure if they were stupid or not, but he did them anyway.
On another day he kidnapped her at lunch and took her to the Stardust Diner for fried green tomato BLTs, crispy french fries, and milk shakes. She got cookie dough while he enjoyed cookies and cream.
He left Post-it notes for her to find around the house during the day. He brought her coffee in bed. He cooked her dinner—tacos were his specialty and he added on his homemade guacamole. He also made her Owen’s jambalaya, and, as she was a breakfast-for-dinner kind of girl, french toast.
He let her pick whatever she wanted when they decided to watch movies. He fixed her grandfather’s record player and they’d dance every night to the stash of records on the shelf. There was Bing Crosby, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye, and so many more. The collection was extensive, and there’d been a few nights where they’d danced to an entire album. He’d get so lost in her, and the music, that an hour would pass before he even knew it.
And then there were their nights together, when he’d put everything he had into making love to her. Desperate for her to realize it was love for him.
The thing was, all of the things he was doing, none of them would change if he got her. If she were his, he’d do everything and more for the rest of his life.
He knew he was going to have to tell her. Knew he couldn’t just continue with the track he was on. It was said that actions speak louder than words—which was part of what he was doing—but he was going to have to say something at some point. He just wasn’t ready to do it yet. Wasn’t ready to lay it all on the line.
Wasn’t ready to get his heart broken again.
The one and only time he’d dealt with heartbreak, he’d been burned so badly that he ran away from ever putting himself in that situation again. Sex without love. That had been his MO. But now? Now he wanted more. He’d had a taste of what life could be like with a woman who was everything.
Now he wanted it all, and he wanted it with her.
When the next Sunday morning rolled around, Finn left a still sleeping Brie at the bungalow and headed for the Stardust Diner. It was the first Sunday in March
Where had the month gone? It felt like he’d just been there, sitting across from Shep and asking his brother advice about Brie. Looked like that Sunday wasn’t going to be any different.
Though the topic was not the same. Before it had been about Finn figuring out what he wanted. Now he knew what he wanted. Brie.
Finn had barely sat down when Shep leaned back in the booth saying, “So you’ve finally figured out that you’re in love with her.”
“How the hell do you do that? You see me for a total of five seconds, and you fucking figure it out?” Finn asked, slightly annoyed but more impressed than anything else.
“Man, over the last few years I’ve watched my closest friends fall in love around me. I got the love of my life back. And fell in love with her all over again, deeper and more intense than anything I could’ve ever thought was possible. You don’t think I know what it looks like when I witness the death of a bachelor?”
“Death of a bachelor?” Finn repeated, unable to stop the corner of his mouth from pulling up.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve termed it when you get to the point of no return.”
“No arguing with that.”
Their conversation was interrupted as Wanda came to the table, carafe of coffee in hand. “Hello, boys.” She grinned as she filled up the cups they’d just flipped over.
“Hello,” they said in unison, giving her smiles back.
“What can I get you for breakfast?”
“You recommend anything?” Finn asked her.
“Belgian waffles with strawberry compote.”
“With a side of bacon, please,” Shep said as he grabbed two sugars.
“Two sides,” Finn added.
“Coming right up,” Wanda said, and nodded before she left the table.
“Speaking of strawberries, Brie is going over after Mass today to help Mom and Hannah make strawberry jam?”
“Hannah make strawberry jam?” Finn raised his eyebrows as he started to doctor up his own coffee.
“Hey, she washes and cuts the strawberries, which is still part of the process. Just because she isn’t allowed near the stove doesn’t mean she isn’t involved. Anyway, what’s your plan with Brie?”
“So far? Getting her to fall in love with me.”
“That’s a good plan.” Shep nodded in agreement. “And what happens after that?”
A question Finn had asked himself more than once. His life was here, Brie’s was in North Carolina. “I don’t know yet.” Finn shook his head. “I’m trying to focus on the first part, because until that’s accomplished, nothing else matters.”
“Fair enough.”
“I do know that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
Shep grinned knowingly. “Figuring that out is half the battle.”
Figuring out…those words triggered something that Shep had said earlier. “When I first got here, you said, you’ve finally figured out that you’re in love with her.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Like you’ve known that I’m in love with her.”
“Yeah.” Shep said that one word like it had been a beyond obvious observation.
“When? How?”
“That night at the Sleepy Sheep, when the girls all had dinner and then came after. I told you that it had been a while since I’d seen you look happy, and it had been. But when Brie walked through the door? You lit up like a fucking Christmas tree. And I’ve never, ever, seen that look on your face before. Not even with Rebecca. And then Hannah told me that Brie had been staying at your house, and that just sealed the deal.”
“Well you figured it out a week before I did.”
“I was looking for it, Finn. You weren’t,” Shep said simply.
But it wasn’t simple at all. Not even close.
“I was in the middle of it before I even realized what had happened. And when I did realize it, it wasn’t a matter of falling in love with her. I was well past that point. By then it was a matter of bracing for impact.”
“At least you’re preparing for the crash. Now tell me more about this plan of yours to get her to fall in love with you.”
And that was how they spent the rest of their breakfast, Finn telling his big brother about the woman he was in love with, and how he planned to win her over.
Chapter Twenty-One
Fools Rush In
It was weird to Brie that as more and more of Bethelda’s possessions left the house, the smaller it felt. She would’ve thought it’d be the opposite, that it would feel bigger. Nope. Not even a little bit.
As Bethelda’s bedroom and closet had now been emptied, Brie turned it into a staging area of sorts. Everything she had to go through was pulled into the room. Stuff that she was selling would be boxed, labeled, and put in the closet, and everything that could be donated was taken to the Triple C.
Brie had to give Bethelda credit for one thing…there was very little that had to be thrown away. The most that had been trashed in one go were all of the opened/used cosmetics and toiletries Brie had gone through when she’d first gotten the house.
Her next project to tackle was Christmas, and there was a lot of it. As Brie was more of a real Christmas tree kind of girl, the three fake trees were easy enough to decide to donate. The more modern/newer decorations were also put into the donate pile. Brie had no use for multicolored feather boas or fifty light-up snowflakes. The only stuff she cared about were things with a past. Ella and Faye came over for lunch one afternoon, Ella doing a thorough look-over again and pointing out what had been Petunia’s.
Once that had been dealt with, it was on to the attic. Every night, Finn would climb up and hand down boxes for her to go through the following day. This was the part where things were a little tougher for Brie…or a lot tougher. Most of the boxes in the attic were filled with possessions that were part of Bethelda’s history.
A box filled with memories from each year she was in school, her old baby clothes and toys, an antique cradle, and so on. She was only able to go through so much of that before she’d have to move on to something else.
By the end of the week she was maybe just a little bit emotionally exhausted and very much looking forward to going to the charity dinner with Finn. Every time she thought about it she couldn’t help but smile. But that was just par for the course as she couldn’t think about Finn and not smile.
The night of the dinner, Brie got ready at the bungalow. One, because that was where all of her stuff was, but mainly because she wanted that moment of Finn picking her up again.
So she shaved her legs, curled her hair just right, and did her makeup to perfection. She was just sliding her new gold, strappy heels on when the dulcet voice of George Michael filled the house.
She opened the door to find Finn in a tuxedo, and for a moment, she forgot how to breathe. Her brain flashed to that thought she’d had of him, standing at the end of the aisle of St. Sebastian’s. Except her imagination hadn’t done justice to the reality of him in a tux. He looked goooooood.
“OK.” His voice brought her back, and when she moved her focus to his face she saw that the look he was sporting was stunned. “I’m torn between saying I just write a check and we stay in tonight, and wanting everyone in this whole damn town to see you on my arm.”
Brie grinned. “Why? You like me in this dress?” she asked as she did a slow turn.
“Like isn’t even close to the right word. God, Brie, you’re stunning.”
“Thank you.” She reached out, grabbing the sides of his jacket and gently pulling him close to her. He followed with barely a tug. “You look handsome.”
“Just trying to impress you.”
“It worked.” She kissed him lightly.
“You ready?”
“Yes.” She grabbed her clutch and shawl from the table by the door and let him lead her to his truck, grinning from ear to ear.
* * *
There weren’t very many places in Mirabelle that were big enough for an event like the charity dinner. The high school gymnasium was off limits because they were serving alcohol, so it was held at the Mirabelle Community Center. When Finn walked into the room, he felt like he was at his high
school prom again. It was decorated in all white and with so many hanging lanterns and twinkling Christmas lights (which over half had been from Bethelda’s stash that Brie had given Mel) that it wasn’t necessary for the overhead lights to be turned on at all. There was music playing lightly, just loud enough to be heard over the chatter of everyone in the room.
Finn didn’t even bother looking at the seating chart as he’d just spotted Shep, Hannah, and Paige across the room. His hand at Brie’s back flexed as he guided her through the crowd of people. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed more than a few heads turn as they walked by.
Of course they did, because Brie was the most beautiful woman in the room…not that Finn was biased or anything. Not at all. Especially when it had to do with anything that involved Brie. But even with all of that established, he wanted to make it perfectly clear who Brie was with for the evening. And hopefully all evenings for the rest of his life.
His hand moved out and to her side, pulling her possessively closer to him. Brie turned to him, a knowing smile on her face. “Don’t worry, Finn, I’m going home with you.”
Home. That word again. That word that made him hope for so much more. That word that made him hope for everything.
“Yes, you are,” he said with a nod. Just like she’d gone home with him every night that week. There were no words to describe how much he liked having her in his bed every night. Absolutely no words.
He paused for a second, bringing her to a stop, too, as he leaned down and kissed her temple. Then he started walking again, leading her to the table.
When they got to everyone who was already there, it was Hannah who spoke first. “Damn, girl,” she said as she shook her head. “That dress is killer on you.”
“No kidding,” Paige agreed.
“Look who’s talking.” Brie looked between both ladies.
“It’s true, we all look fabulous,” Beth said as she and Tripp joined the group. Tripp was holding Beth’s hand, and she’d practically dragged him over from wherever they’d come because he was looking over his shoulder. Beth glanced at him and rolled her eyes, shaking her head on a smile before she tugged hard on his hand to get his attention. “Stop it. They’re fine.”
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