Page 89 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

I giggled despite myself, all my emotions and sleep deprivation colliding in one. I had to put a hand over my mouth for a moment to stop the delirium.

“That is amazing! I am so thrilled for you!” But Finn. Oh my gosh… Finn.

“Thank you! Finn has… he’s been asking for you. He’s on major pain killers, though, so I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”

“Oh, I don’t care if he’s a little loopy.” I was desperate to hear from him, actually. He’d fallen off a roof? I wanted to pull a Pops and give him a piece of my mind!

“He might care later, but if you won’t hold anything against him…”

“Cross my heart.”

I heard movement in the background, then muffled voices.

“Luce? That you?” He was drawing out his vowels, but I still recognized his voice.

“Finn? Oh my gosh, are you okay?”

“I fell off a roof.”

“I know! YourGram told me.”

“I might have some scars.” He paused. “Do you like scars?”

I laughed a little. “Love them if they’re on you.”

“That’s good. I love you, too.”

I froze, holding the phone that was still on speaker close to my mouth. Did he— What was I supposed to say? I didn’t know what to think. Did he mean it? Did—

“The doctor says I can’t fly a plane next week, Luce. I want to kiss you real bad, but he says I'll be stuck here for like a year.”

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” came Gram’s voice in the background. “Let me see that, hon. Yes, yes, I will tell her you’ll call soon.” Another muffled exchange, then “He’s not allowed to flyona plane, actually. No one here thinks he suddenly has his pilot’s license. I’m sorry, Lucy, I know he was planning a trip, but he’ll have to postpone.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” I hurried to assure her. “We’ll figure it out. He’s not… really stuck there for a year, though?”

Gram laughed. “No. He’s got at least three days at the hospital. If he’s able to get moving adequately, then he’ll go home. He’ll have months of physical therapy, and it could be a year before he’s fully recovered, but probably only a couple of months until he’s walking and mostly back to normal.”

“Okay. Thank you. Will you keep me updated?” My heart was still racing, like I’d just sped past a cop and was waiting to see if he’d turn on his lights.

“Of course, dear. And Finn is trying to get me to tell you he’ll call soon. Maybe when he’s off the strong stuff.”

I let out a singular laugh. “Thank you.”

She clicked off, and I was left staring at my bathroom floor, trying to put all the mental pieces together. Finn was hurt—badly. And he couldn’t come visit. That was more crushing than I’d like to admit. He had a long road of recovery ahead of him, and I did a mental check on myself to see howthat made me feel. After my realization that I shied away from anything hard or painful, I’d been trying to be more aware when I wanted to do just that, so I could fight back against the impulse.

But this time, the only impulse was to finish getting ready and get to rowing.

Like a lightbulb turning on in a dark room, it became clear to me.

Iwasin love with him.

I was in love with Finn Harrison despite it only being a few weeks. And hearing what he was going through just made me want to be at his side. Desperately. So much so that my chest ached at the thought of staying here doing nothing. Not only did I not want to shy away from Finn’s hard stuff, I wanted to wade through it with him. To experience it by his side. I wanted all the hard, messy, and difficult things as long as they were with him.

I was in love with him.

Chapter 30

Dad + Deadbeat = Dadbeat

---