“Not if I’d married Jill.”
Bran laughed. “I wasn’t talking about Jill. No doubt you’d have been divorced by now if you’d married her. She was a piece of work. Probably the most selfish person on the planet. But come on, Finn. Surely you know you can’t judge every other woman based on Jill.”
As always, thoughts of his past with Jill brought bile into Finn’s throat. “Even if you’re right, it’s too late now. At twenty-three, I had a lot of dreams. Marrying Jill and having kids or adopting them was part of it. I romanticized the whole thing. I was ready to make the most of the time we had together. But I’m thirty-three now and a lot more mature. I have to face reality.”
Branson’s phone rang and he plucked it from his pocket, his fingers checking the incoming call. “I’m sorry, Finn. I need to take this.”
“No problem. I’ve got work to do.”
I can’t avoid Laurie all day.
The phone rang so long, Laurie thought it was going to voicemail.
“Hello?” Stephanie answered, breathless. “Are you there?”
“Hi, Steph.”
“I couldn’t find my phone. Heard it ringing in the bottom of the diaper bag. Found it inside one of the diapers—at least it was a clean one.”
“Ha. Guess that could’ve been bad.”
“What’s up? Are you at work?”
“Yes, I’m at work. But I was calling about tomorrow night. I think I’d better bow out of dinner.”
“You’re not coming? Why? Are you sick?”
“No, I’m fine. Mom’s cold turned out to be an allergy attack.”
“So why can’t you come? Ellie will be so disappointed.”
“You have to promise to keep this to yourself…”
“My lips are sealed. I won’t even tell Bran.”
“I especially don’t want Bran to hear this.” Laurie paused, working up the nerve to say it out loud. “I know you’re inviting Bran’s buddies, and I don’t think I can handle being around Finn.”
“Oh. Things are going that bad, huh? Are you two fighting all the time?”
“No, it’s way worse than that. He’s being ultra-sweet and thoughtful. No man has ever treated me like that, except for Branson. And now… I kind of like him.”
Stephanie squealed in her ear. “That’s awesome! You and Finn would make a great couple.”
“Not awesome. Finn doesn’t want to be a couple. He wants to be best-buds. Like he is with Bran. Yesterday, when I landed a million-dollar art donation, he punched my shoulder and said, ‘nice job.’ Next time, he’ll probably slap me on the butt and yell, ‘Good game, Fields!’”
Stephanie’s giggles lightened Laurie’s mood. It helped to laugh about her situation. It was either that, or cry and be depressed.
“So, he’s a little awkward. But it’s a big deal that he’s being nice to you. Surely it means he wants to be more than friends.”
“No, he was very, very clear he only wants to be friends. Believe me, he wasn’t being romantic.”
“Hmm… Maybe a few weeks or months from now, he’ll feel differently. You haven’t been working together long. Don’t you think he might change his mind?”
“Sure. Finn changes his mind every day. He changes so much, he’s practically schizophrenic. But I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me in a romantic way and never will.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because of what he said to me after our date, Wednesday night.”
A severe coughing fit sounded over the phone. “You have to warn me before you say something like that,” Steph scolded. “I was taking a drink when you casually mentioned you and Finn went on a date. I almost choked to death.”
“Well, it wasn’t that kind of date, so don’t get all worked up. I was pretending to be his girlfriend so his mom would get off his case. I’ll have to admit, he needed some help. Susan’s pretty intrusive.” Laurie stared out the window, recalling the ups and downs of the evening. But it was Katie’s parting words that really stuck in her head. She wished it wasn’t true, but Katie was right—she did have feelings for Finn. What a disaster.
“You don’t like Susan? I loved her when I met her a few months back. Finn had a party at his house. I thought she was hilarious.”
“Oh, she is. I liked her, a lot, but she teases a little too much. Anyway, that’s beside the point. I was telling you what Finn said after dinner… He told me we could be friends, like he was bestowing some special gift. And then he told me he could help me out if I needed it. Said he could give me the money to move to a better apartment. Or I might want to buy a new dress.” Even talking about the conversation made her fume.
“Surely he was kidding you. Finn’s like that, you know.”
“He was dead serious. I promise.”
“Okay, I admit, that doesn’t sound very romantic.”
“It sounds like he feels sorry for me because I’m poor. I don’t even know why I like him when such arrogant things come out of his mouth.”
“He’s really not arrogant. He’s just generous with his money and doesn’t know he’s offending people when he says that sort of thing.”
