Solving Us

by Susan Renee

  “Thank God!” Finn breathes. “Yes! Yes it’s your ring, Beautiful, and it’s in every single one of these pictures! All of these poses, all of these pictures were originally of you and me! Do you remember this one? We were dancing to “Sugar”, remember?”

  He pulls out another picture of him and Mandy during the auction, except she was standing by Abby and me during the auction. In fact, come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing her at all during the evening, except for when she sat down drunk at our table. I look at Finn my eyes huge in realization.

  “Yes, Finn. I do remember.”

  Finn releases a huge breath. “Oh thank fuck.” He closes his eyes and takes another slow breath. When he opens them, there’s a tear in his eye that wasn’t there a moment ago.

  “Finn…”

  His hand runs down the length of my face and cups my cheek. I instinctively lean my head into his touch. I’ve missed this feeling so much.

  “I thought I had lost you Liv. I thought…I thought…the vodka...the pills.”

  “I’m not her, Finn. I’m not Sydney. I spilled the Ibuprofen accidentally and tried to clean them all up.”

  I watch a tear drop from his face. “I know. I know, Liv. I do. I just, I miss her. If anything would’ve happened to you…”

  “I know you miss her, Finn, and I’m so sorry.”

  “No,” he says confidently. “Olivia McGuire, you have nothing to be sorry for.” He kisses my cheek lightly and sits back. “Listen to me, Liv. I’m the one who is sorry. I saw something in you so many months ago that reminded me of Sydney, and I was drawn to you immediately. Like you were an angel sent to me by my little sister. And then you mentioned that you felt like your life was a puzzle and that you hadn’t found all the right pieces yet, and I fell in love with you, Liv. I knew. I knew then that you were indeed placed in my life as a gift from Sydney, and I wasn’t ever going to let you walk away if I could help it. She told me in a video that I saw after she died that she wanted me to move on and find my missing piece, and…and I’m not good at this sometimes, Liv. I didn’t know about Karen, and I’m so damn sorry! I wish you would’ve told me what was going on, but I’m so, so fucking sorry for everything she put you through. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

  Well, what do I say to that?

  “How did she do it, Finn? How did she sabotage our presentation? Did the hospital drop our service? You were so mad at me. I didn’t know what…”

  “No. Liv, it’s okay. It’s a long story that I’ll tell you later, but no, the hospital didn’t drop the contract. I was able to clear it all up by exposing Karen and letting them know that she’s no longer with the company. That’s what took me a few days to get here. I had to clean it up, Liv. I had to. I couldn’t allow Karen to have any more access anywhere in the agency. Everything is fine now. I came to get you because I need you, Olivia. I need you with me. I need you beside me. I need you in my arms, and I need you in my bed, and I need you in my life. Please, forgive me.”

  I watch him for a second. I watch his face, slightly tear-stricken and more defeated than I think I’ve ever seen him. We both have baggage. We both have events that happened in our past that, although are very different in circumstance, they are very similar in how they have affected us as individuals and as a couple. Finn Kellan gets me. He’s the only one who has seen past my scars, and not just the physical ones on my body, to see who I am and who I want to be. I would be stupid to walk away from him.

  “Well, how can I argue with a plea like that? You would make a shitty lawyer, though, ya know that?” I smirk.

  Finn stands up and takes my hand, helping to pull me from my seat. He wraps his arms tightly around me in an embrace I have missed so much. I find comfort in the warmth of his chest as I hear him breathe in the scent of my hair.

  “I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear, kissing the side of my head. “I’ve got you, Liv. Please don’t ever run from me again. Please don’t scare me like that again. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too, Finn. I’m so sorry I scared you and Abby. I promise I won’t run again.”

  “Move in with me.”

  Whoa.

  What?

  I lean my head back to see Finn’s face. He’s as serious as I’ve ever seen him. “Move in with me, Liv. I love you, and I need you, and I want to share a life with you. Move in with me. We’ll figure shit out together, you and me.”

  “Finn…” I tilt my hand and look at him sadly. “After all this, Finn, I...”

  “No, Liv! Listen to me. I know what you’re thinking. You’re scared. I get it. I do, but, Olivia McGuire, I love you, and I promise I’ll protect you any way I can. I can give you anything you need.”

  “Finn, I don’t need you to do that.”

  “I know, Liv. And that’s why I love you so damn much. You never ask for anything. You never expect anything. You’re your own brave strong creative and kind person, and I admire everything about you. We’re together all the time, anyway, and you can still see Abby whenever you want, I promise but please, move in with me. I need you.”

  I watch him for a minute, not quite sure what to say. Moving in with Finn would be such a comfort, but I also love being with Abby.

  But Abby and Riv are getting closer.

  “You’re sure?” I ask. I’ve never had a guy ask me to move in before. This is new territory for me.

  “Do I look like I’m having doubts, Olivia?”

  I chuckle at his passionate stare. “Okay, Finn. Okay, let’s do it!”

  “Yeah?” He asks, shocked, I think, that I said yes.

  “Yeah,” I laugh through my tears.

  Finn wraps his arms around me and picks me up. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist and kiss him as passionately as I can, remembering that we are in a public place in a very small chatty town.

  Fuck it. Let them talk!

  Finn holds onto me while he grabs my coat and camera bag. I’m not sure how he doesn’t drop me. I’m no feather, but I giggle when he wraps my coat around me as best he can, throws cash on the table, and walks out of K.B.’s all while continuing to kiss me.

  “Excuse me,” I hear him say as we stop on the sidewalk. I turn my head and see Mrs. Michaels from the bookstore, startled that we almost ran into her. I laugh out loud at her expression and squeeze Finn a little tighter.”

  Yep. That will give her something to talk about!

  “Where are we going, Finn?”

  “How about a quick walk. Show me the river?” Finn asks letting me slide down so that my feet are touching the ground once again.

  “Uh, yeah. Okay. Good idea.” I slip my arms into my coat sleeves and zip up to keep warm. Finn takes my hand as I walk him up the street to the viewing area where we can look out over the river. Just as we get there, an eagle is flying down the river and back up to its nest.

  “Whoa!” Finn says. “I’ve never seen one before. I mean, flying in the wild anyway. They’re magnificent!”

  “Yeah. They’re beautiful all the time.”

  “Like you.” Finn leans down and kisses me sweetly. His breath is warm and comforting. I’ve missed him. I smile shyly, not knowing what to say. This has been a morning I wasn’t exactly planning.

  “So umm…I’ll understand if you think I shouldn’t come back to…”

  “Stop right there. Do not say another word, Olivia McGuire.” Finn holds my face in his hands and looks directly into my eyes as lovingly, yet sternly, as possible, I think. “You did absolutely nothing wrong. Don’t think for one second that I don’t want you there. That I don’t need you there. Because you would be dead wrong.”

  “But, Finn, there’s so much you don’t know.”

  Finn nods his head. “You mean like the emails she’s been sending you since you started? Or the Boston Cruise Line account that she stole right from under you? Or the everyday bitch that she was to you? Should I go on?”

  I raise both eyebrows, staring at Finn like a deer in the
headlights.

  “Olivia, how do you think I figured out where you were? Your best friend and roommate wasn’t about to play Super Sleuth by herself. Once she was done ripping me a new asshole, we were finally able to sit and talk and solve the problem.”

  “Oh no!” I nervously giggle knowing exactly how my best friend can be when someone has hurt the people she loves. “Finn I’m sor…”

  “Nope. Don’t you dare apologize again, Liv. This is on me. I did this. I wasn’t vigilant enough. I was too trusting of Karen. She’s tried to pull shit like this before. Well, maybe not to this extent, but she’s always thought she deserved a different place in the business, but she doesn’t have the qualifications. That and she comes across like a bitch sometimes...people skills...she doesn’t always have them.”

  Obviously.

  “So, how did you solve umm...the problem?”

  “Well…Mandy actually started it. She came to me the other morning and told me she had overheard her mom on the phone and was more than cooperative in exposing her. They have some unfinished personal issues to deal with, I guess. Anyway, once I was filled in on what she had been doing to you, I confronted her, and then I fired her ass.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. It was a no brainer. My father taught me to protect the people I love. And I love you, Olivia. I wish I would’ve known about this as it was happening. I wish you would’ve told me. I could’ve protected you.”

  I shake my head. “No Finn. I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t be the office snitch or the whiney girlfriend of the CEO. The ramifications of that would have been terrible for me and most likely for you as well. I just, it’s nothing I haven’t been through before. I tried to handle it. I had Abby to lean on.”

  “Liv, I get it. I do, but I need you to put yourself in my shoes for just a minute. Your life parallels my sister’s in so many ways that I can’t help but think of her in times like this. The bullying she went through, the hateful comments made to her, the way she must’ve felt every damn day. I can’t, Liv…I can’t let you live like that. It’s my job to protect you. I want to protect you.”

  “But it’s not your job, Finn, and you can’t do that every day. You can’t glue yourself to me and watch everything I do. That’s not healthy for any relationship, and I do appreciate my independence. I’m so sorry I kept this all from you. I never thought about how it might affect you because I was only thinking about getting myself out of a hard situation.”

  Finn looks out over the water. Large pieces of ice are drifting down the river. “Fair point. I get it. But can you promise me that if something even remotely close to this comes up again, you’ll tell me about it?”

  I smile at him. “You’ll be the first to know, every morning and every night.”

  “HA!” He smiles holding me tightly against him. “Damn right! I can’t wait to wake up next to you every morning, Olivia. I love you so damn much.” Finn kisses me hard before rubbing his nose against mine. He quickly scoops me up in his arms and begins to carry me back down the sidewalk. “Come on; I need to show you something.”

  “Wait, Finn.” I can’t stop giggling. I love when he carries me. “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “Wait! I drove here! My car is just up the street.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t think anyone will steal it. I’ll bring you back to get it, but I need to show you something right now.

  “What do you need to show me?”

  “Your Christmas present.”

  “But it’s not Christmas yet, Finn!”

  “I know, but this can’t wait. You have to see it before you move in with me.”

  I throw him my cute pouty face as he enters the driver’s side of the car. “Okay, then. Show me. I hope you know where you’re going!”

  “I think I can handle it. Won’t take long.”

  In less than five minutes, we’re pulling into my parent’s driveway.

  “Uh, how did you know how to get here?” I don’t quite understand. I know it’s a small town, but damn, how does he know exactly how to get to my house without his GPS?

  “I was here earlier. Looking for you, but you weren’t here, so I talked with your parents for a bit.”

  “My parents? But my mom has been at work.”

  He smiles and looks over at me through his mirrored sunglasses. “Wrong again, Beautiful. She met me here with your father an hour or so ago.”

  “What? Why?” I’m laughing, but I’m also so damn confused.

  “You’ll see very soon. Come on. Let’s go in.”

  We get out of the car and walk the short path to the house. Nearing the front door, I hear a barking puppy.

  What the hell?

  Toby?

  “Did you bring Toby with you?” I ask excitedly.

  Again, Finn smiles at me. He takes my hand and kisses it. “Nope. Come on.” He opens the front door, and we both walk inside hand in hand.

  Immediately the barking starts again, leading me into the kitchen. When Finn and I round the corner, I feel him squeeze my hand, and I look back at him. He’s smiling, but I can tell he’s also a bit nervous.

  Of my reaction?

  I turn back to the kitchen where my mom and dad are sitting on the floor. Beside them, held by my dad, is a ridiculously cute yellow lab puppy with a royal purple collar. She’s beautiful, and I’m stunned.

  “What’s going on, guys?” I turn back to Finn, who is smiling and trying to gauge my reaction. “Did you do this for them, Finn? You bought them a puppy?”

  “No, Olivia. I bought you a puppy. Well, actually I guess I got us a puppy.”

  “What the…” I start laughing and immediately drop to my knees holding my hands out for the puppy, who wastes no time running to my lap and licking my face. Wet puppy kisses are the best.

  Finn kneels down beside me to watch the puppy with me. “She’s not old enough yet, obviously, but if you want, I thought we could train her like the others at the hospital.”

  “Oh, Finn! What a great idea! Yes! Of course I would love to do that! Oh my gosh, thank you so much!” I squeeze the puppy in a light hug and then pick her up to hold her to my eye level so I can see her cute face. Hanging from her purple collar are two dog tags. One has Finn’s address on it, and the other is blank so that we can have her name put on it, I guess, as soon as I think of one. But what distracts me beyond the dog tags is the small shiny band dangling next to the tags. It’s a diamond ring in the shape of a heart. It’s not huge, but has to be at least two carats. It’s stunning, and it’s shiny, and I don’t know how I didn’t see it from across the room. I look up to where my parents are sitting. My mom has tears in her eyes. I can tell she’s trying very hard not to cry. I look at Finn, who calmly reaches over and takes the puppy, she who must soon be named, and swiftly detaches the ring from her collar.

  “Good girl,” he whispers to the dog. He lets her go, but she doesn’t run around the room. She sits in front of us calmly and cocks her head to the side wagging her tail. I would usually giggle at something as cute as that, but right now in this moment I’m so stunned by what is going on around me, I can’t react. I’m motionless on the kitchen floor, and everyone seems to be staring at me.

  “Olivia.” Finn turns my body so that our knees are touching on the floor where we sit, and he holds both of my hands in his. Quickly realizing what this moment is about to become, I try so damn hard to pay attention and listen to the words Finn is saying to me.

  “Fifteen minutes ago, I asked you to move in with me, and you said yes. What you didn’t know was that I had an even greater reason for asking. I’m in love with you, Olivia. I love you so much it physically hurts when I’m not with you. I love you more than fancy cars or trips to the Cliffs of Moher. I love you more than a risky closet rendezvous and cinnamon apple syrup.”

  Oh God, he said that in front of my parents!

  I chuckle and close my eyes, not wanting to see my parents’ reaction, but Finn squeezes my
hand and keeps talking. “Olivia, I love you more than Harry Potter, or the X-Men, and I love you more than Hershey bar and graham cracker sandwiches. You’re it for me, Liv. I knew the very day that I met you that you were going to be the one for me. The zig to my zag, the light where I feel dark; you’re the comfort to my nightmares. You’re my missing piece, Olivia. You’re the whole damn Rubik's Cube. Every fucking colorful side, and I need you. I need your strength and your determination. I need your passion, and I need your ability to see the world not as a chaotic Hell, but as a world of possibility and promise, of adventure; and, Olivia, I want to experience it all with you. Every last moment until my dying breath; so Olivia McGuire, will you please walk beside me as my wife, my best friend, my lover, and my soulmate? Olivia, will you marry me?”

  “Oh, Finn! Yes! Yes, I will marry you!” I don’t even wait for the ring to be pushed onto my finger before I leap into Finn’s arms, kissing him over and over again. I hug him tightly before he lets go to actually slide the ring onto my finger. I wipe away the tears and look over at my parents who are both crying right along with me. I stand up and run to them both, embracing them in a family hug.

  “I told you he was looking for you, Livvy.” My dad says, sniffling through his tears.

  “Wait, you mean, you knew about this? You knew about everything this morning?”

  Dad laughs and nods his approval to Finn, who is smiling with our newest four-legged friend in his arms. “Yes, Livvy. We’ve known about this for a day or two now. Finn just needed time working out the details.”

  “Ha! I can’t believe you pulled it off!”

  “We can’t either, Dear. You have been walking around here like a sad little zombie for days, but we didn’t want to ruin Finn’s surprise.” Mom says, kissing my cheek. “Your ring is beautiful. Well done, Finn, and welcome to the family!”

  “Thanks, Mrs. McGuire,” Finn says returning the hug. “Oh, but I have more to show you, even though it’s a bit premature.” He puts the puppy down and puts his hand in his jeans pocket pulling out a small box. The ring box I suppose. When he opens it there is another ring inside made up of four diamonds individually set in a small semi-circle. Finn takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto my finger sitting right next to my engagement ring.