by Lowe, Fiona
“So did my dress match your tux as requested?”
“Darling, you’ve outshone my designer tux ten times. The dress is stunning. You’re stunning.” Hank pressed his lips to hers in a bone-melting kiss.
A cheer went up from the small flag-waving crowd lining the street and Hank grinned. “Wave, Bridey. It’s our day.”
With a broad smile, she sat forward and waved, loving every minute of their special day. The sunshine glinted off her shiny, new wedding band and she started laughing.
Hank gave her an indulgent look. “Again? What’s funny now?”
“I was just thinking about the church. How many weddings do you think have started with the bridal party on their hands and knees trying to fish the rings out of a crack in the floorboards?”
“Poor Logan.” Hank’s expression was half sympathy and half humor. “He was concentrating so hard on holding that cushion and he tripped just at the wrong moment.”
She could feel tears of laughter behind her eyes. “I could see the rings rolling down the aisle ahead of me, getting faster and faster. From then on it was like watching a comedy of errors as Dana, Mom and your parents threw themselves into the aisle, trying to grab the rings and missing. It was like they had a magnetic force pulling them into the broken floorboard.”
He put his hand on the small of her back. “How many brides arrive at the altar doubled over in laughter?”
She giggled again. “I couldn’t help it. Everyone’s expressions were priceless and besides, it’s made our wedding unique. It’s a story we can tell our children and grandchildren.” A sigh of contentment rolled through her. “A month ago I would have been distraught at the idea of something like that happening but today it didn’t matter one bit. I was in a church with you and we were getting married. Not even missing rings could stop that from happening.”
He stroked her hair. “For a few minutes there I felt sure we’d be borrowing Mom and Dad’s rings but Finn and Logan make a handy team.”
“I know, right? Who knew my brothers now carry matching pocket knives that can hook rings.”
Al pulled on the reins, and to another loud cheer the horse and carriage left the square and headed down toward the dock where Finn’s wooden boat was waiting to transport them to Kylemore.
“It’s been a perfect day so far.” He pulled her in close. “I can’t believe I’m so blessed to have you as my wife.”
She looked up into warm and loving honey-brown eyes and she knew she was home. “You’ve got me forever, Hank.”
“It won’t be long enough.” And he kissed her.
* * *
When Bridget Callahan married Hank Neiquest, she carried a bouquet of fragrant gardenias and white hydrangeas which were stunningly replicated in sugar on the four-tier wedding cake. The entire Callahan family was in attendance at the rustic church and the bride’s mother and stepmother wore complementing dresses from Chicago’s up-and-coming designer Lex. Close friends joined the happy couple at the reception, which was held at Sean Callahan’s northern Wisconsin vacation home. Bachelor brother Finn attended alone. According to one source, he was seen on the dance floor enjoying the reception with many different partners.
Annika dropped the copy of People magazine onto her brother’s coffee table, getting a tiny bit of relief from the fact that Finn hadn’t taken a date to the wedding, but what did it really matter? Three and a half weeks had passed since she’d last seen him and she knew it was only a matter of time before he was dating again. After all, there was no reason for him to be celibate—he hadn’t been foolish enough to fall in love and nor did he have a broken heart.
She’d been in Milwaukee for a few weeks now. Her brother had taken one look at her two suitcases and boxes and had welcomed her with open arms saying, “Thank God, you’ve finally come to your senses.” Her mother had emailed from New Zealand. So thrilled you’re working for Axel.
At least someone was thrilled.
Her phone rang and as she answered it she could hear the noise of a sports bar blaring in the background. “Hey, sis. Just letting you know I’m not home for supper. The guys and I are celebrating.”
She asked the question Axel always loved to answer. “What are you celebrating?”
“I sold five of those new apartments off the plan.”
“That’s great. Party safe.”
“Always. You enjoy having the place to yourself. Maybe watch one of your chick flicks.”
She smiled as he hung up. Her brother was a Brewers fan, a Packers fan, a Bucks fan, an anything Badger fan—a sports fan period, and the TV was rusted onto the sports channel. Without him here, the apartment was eerily quiet.
She sighed and picked up the discarded magazine. Bridey made a stunning bride and both of the official photos that had been released showed Hank gazing at her with so much love that it made her chest ache. She was pleased that the wedding had gone so well for them and she was pleased for the town too. They’d pulled off an event that usually took months of planning and had done it in less than four weeks.
She’d had almost as long to reflect on how many mistakes she’d made. She’d been so hell-bent on getting an industry for the town that she’d missed the true strengths of Whitetail. She pressed the message icon on her phone and texted Nicole and the town her congratulations.
Almost instantly, Nicole replied. Thank you. Wished you could have been there. Are you still good for the other wedding invitations?
Her fingers flew. Yes. Definitely yes. Even though she no longer had her own studio and all that lovely AKP equipment, she was determined to find a space because the invitations were the only thing that came close to giving her a creative outlet. Her job as rental manager for her brother’s Realtor business paid well but she was often bored rigid. Ironically, between that job and her contract with AKP, she was earning the most money she’d ever earned in her life. Before she left Whitetail, she’d hired Olivia from Sven’s Swedish Smörgåsbord to work for Finn. She’d also tried to stop the AKP contract and get the company to employ Olivia direct, but the very pedantic man in the Chicago office of AKP had been adamant there was no valid reason for the contract not to run its course as both parties were honoring it.
With Finn’s words about “not living your life through me” ringing in her ears, Annika had promptly given Olivia a big pay rise and had paid off all her debts but it still left her in-front financially. The money made her uneasy.
She hadn’t seen or spoken to Finn since he’d delivered her safely to Kylemore, brushed her cheek with a chaste kiss and wished her “All the best.” The man she loved had held every one of his emotions in check and bid her farewell like she’d been a valued employee rather than a lover. She’d wanted to push him into the lake. The irony of the whole nightmare was she’d wanted him to open up so he could enjoy a relationship with his father. All she’d achieved was him digging his feelings down deeper into his emotional abyss.
She may not have spoken to any of the Callahan men but she’d received texts from Dana, Kathleen and Bridey each week, asking her if she was “Doing okay?” She appreciated
their thoughtfulness but each message brought a fresh wave of pain with it. Finn’s family cared for her but the one Callahan she loved with every part of her didn’t care for her enough.
The sun had started to drop and the light was fading, making the apartment dim and, given her dreary thoughts, she needed light. Lots of bright and cheery light. She flipped on the main lamp and instantly heard a hiss as the bulb blew, just as it had the night before. “And we didn’t buy any new ones,” she said to Axel’s Labrador, Jet, and rubbed her ears. “Tomorrow we call the electrician, but for now I guess we’ll just have to sit in the gloom.” But just the thought of it had her changing her mind. “Let’s go outside.”
Jet didn’t seem at all perturbed by any of it and padded out onto the balcony behind her. She’d been sitting there earlier checking figures on the laptop for Axel. She tucked her feet underneath her as she sat down and watched the colors in the sky deepen and stretch further into the horizon. Up until now, she’d avoided doing this because it reminded her of everything she’d lost—the lake, Whitetail, Finn and, less recently, her dream.
The Great Lakes had always fascinated her—massive inland seas which could go from glitteringly calm to roiling waves and pounding breakers. When she’d missed Whitetail at college, she’d had Lake Michigan. The lakes had always inspired her art and she’d walked and camped along the miles and miles of all of their shorelines, but she knew Lake Michigan the best. Industry had scarred them, shipping and fishing constantly took from them and yet they could still throw up pockets of wild and awe-inspiring beauty. They’d been her muse until looking at them had become too painful.
The fiery orange light danced on the water, seeping into its darkness and creating a juxtaposition of color. Light and dark. The dueling of nature. If she was painting this she knew exactly which combination of paints would yield that color.
She heard Finn in her head. Start living your life the way you should by painting.
Her inner voice was louder. You can’t even finish the final painting of Dawn, Day and Dusk.
She huffed out a breath. Those paintings sucked. People said so. In print. Three times.
Finn’s voice wouldn’t be silenced. So your style wasn’t theirs. Are you really going to let one person’s opinion rule your life?
“Yes.”
Jet raised her head but when she realized Annika hadn’t said “walk” she laid it back down on her paws.
She bit her lip as her life stretched out in front of her—alone and working for her brother. A life devoid of color.
I won’t let you live your life through me. A sob rose in her throat. The town didn’t want to be saved your way.
A sharp pain in her chest made her gasp. Oh, God, Finn was right. She was a coward. She was living her life by believing the words of strangers and she’d actively let them steal away her joy. Worse still, she’d been so desperate to fill her life with something, and stay in Whitetail, that she’d become an overbearing control freak. Her behavior had put her on the outs with her town—a town she loved. With a moan, she dropped her head into her hands as her conduct came under the unforgiving bright light of a spotlight. She’d bossed around Whitetail and waded into Finn’s life telling him how to live it when she couldn’t even get her own organized. Was too scared to even try.
Only hiding out had destroyed everything she held dear. Every time she’d painted in the last two years, she’d done it with a huge question mark hanging over every brush stroke. Is this right? It had sucked her dry. But no more. She wanted to paint this sunset. She wanted to paint her lakes. She wanted to show the stark contrast of the wild, rugged beauty against the errors of man. She didn’t care if it was “stylized,” “derivative” or “immature,” she just knew she needed to do it.
She needed to do it for herself.
Chapter Twenty
Finn sat in the Kylemore office wondering how Olivia had managed to completely screw up his spreadsheet for the third time in as many days. He’d specifically gone through the steps with her and she’d crossed her heart, telling him that she now understood. Obviously, she hadn’t understood at all.
He rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. It was lucky for Olivia that it was two o’clock and she was now safely back at Sven’s, waitressing.
You never had this problem with Annika.
God, he missed her. He missed her organization in the office and her body in bed.
You miss more than that.
He refused to acknowledge the thought. Damn it, if she hadn’t gone and broken their contract of “summer fun” by falling in love with him, she’d still be here on this sunny afternoon, he wouldn’t be fixing a spreadsheet and they’d be out on the boat, or sitting in the glider seat or making love in the little cove on the far end of the island. But she’d ruined everything.
The expression on her face when she’d said, “My bad,” still haunted him—beautiful and sad. He’d hated that he couldn’t tell her that he loved her back, but he didn’t love her. He’d loved being with her but that was a long way from love. He didn’t do love.
Despite Annika saying she loved him, he wasn’t certain she was ready to love anyone until she started valuing herself and her talents. He hated not seeing her reach her potential and if anything good had come out of this mess, it had been that she’d left Whitetail. Perhaps now she could truly start over.
Keep telling yourself that. He pulled his concentration back to the figures, glad to have work. Reliable and dependable work, where problems were solved by logic and reason and not tainted by the mess of feelings.
“Finn?”
He looked up to see Logan scuffing the toe of his sneaker in the doorway of the office. His little brother hadn’t done that in a long time. These days he normally just ran straight in and spun on one of the chairs. His visits ranged from delivering a message or making a request like, “can we pleeeease go to the island in the canoe,” to showing off a drawing. Today he wore a pensive expression.
“What’s up, dude?”
Logan huffed and stayed where he was.
Finn pushed back from the desk and skated his chair around closer to Logan. “That bad, huh?”
Logan’s round face wore all the signs of frustrated disappointment. “Yeah.”
“So the fish weren’t biting today?” Logan had the most amazing luck catching fish and he’d rarely been disappointed that way.
“No, I caught a walleye.” His offhand delivery would have made a keen angler despair.
Finn didn’t get it. “So what’s the problem?”
Logan’s face flushed red. “Dad says he’s not going to build the zip line!”
Memories rumbled in Finn’s gut and he took in a long breath. “Not going to build it as in not today or tomorrow?”
Logan shook his head. “Not never.”
Typical, Sean! His little brother’s words released every promise that had ever been made to him by his father and had then been summarily broken. For the first time this summer, his father was finally behaving in character. I was a lousy father to you. Cold anger burned. So much for Sean learning from his mistakes.
When Finn was a kid and had been disappointed and hurt by hi
s father’s broken promises, he’d always gone to his grandfather. Now Logan was coming to him. Only Finn wasn’t going to allow another generation to suffer the same fate. Logan idolized Sean and he didn’t deserve to have all that love and admiration destroyed. Not like what had happened to him. He stood up. “How about you go see if Esther’s pulled those cookies out of the oven, and I’ll go talk to Dad.”
“Okay.” Logan stared up at him. “I just want to bomb into the water like you did in the picture Kathleen showed me. It looks like wicked, awesome fun.”
Finn ruffled his hair. “Me too, buddy.”
Finn found his father in the workshop making fishing lures. He hadn’t spoken to him face-to-face since the night he’d asked him to leave the island.
Sean turned around as the door hinges squeaked and surprise crossed his face followed immediately by concern. “Finnegan? Is there something wrong at the house?”
He shook his head. “No one’s sick or hurt if that’s what you mean.”
His father’s intelligent mind absorbed this bit of information. “That’s good to hear.”
Sean continued on with wrapping thread around chartreuse bucktail, attaching it to a hook as if he had all the time in the world and yet he wasn’t building a promised zip line.
Finn’s ire upped a notch. “Logan just stopped by the office.”
Sean smiled. “Told you about the walleye, did he? Damn, but that kid can catch fish.”
Finn crossed his arms. “He also told me about the zip line. Or the lack of the zip line.”
“Ah.”
“Ah? That’s all you’ve got to say? Ah? What the hell are you playing at, Sean? You told me you’d been a lousy father. Said you wanted to make amends so I took that as you having learned the basics. Rule number one is don’t make promises and then break them. That kid adores you. Don’t screw it up again.”
Sean tied the thread with a firm tug. “I don’t intend to.”