Page 93 of Wood Riddance
“Why are these wet?”
“He-Man was chewing on them.”
He ran his hands through his hair, frustration rolling off him. His anger was justified, but what else was I supposed to do? Introduce him, naked, to my niece and nephew?
“I get that this wasn’t the time or the place,” he said, as if he was reading my mind, “but you can’t shove me in a closet or a bathroom or a garage every time your family shows up. It’s bound to happen again in this godforsaken tiny town, and I won’t allow you to hide me forever.”
His thoughts on the matter were perfectly logical. But it was still panic-inducing. My heart rate hadn’t even returned to normal after my near miss with my brother, and already, he was confronting me with things I wasn’t ready to work through yet. What we had was great, and I was blissfully, ridiculously happy with him. But this was still new, and I wasn’t sure how I’d handle the fallout with my family.
“You can’t hide from your feelings forever, Adele. We both know we’ve got something real here.”
Tentatively stepping up to him, I flattened my hand on his chest. “I know,” I said softly. “But I’m not sure what the next step is or even if I’m ready to take it.”
In order for me to settle into this, we needed a fully realized plan, preferably with an exit strategy if things went south. We couldn’t do this on a whim.
His nostrils flared in response to my confession, and agony swam in his eyes. Okay, that was the wrong thing to say. “Please be honest with me. Before this goes any further. Are you ever going to be ready to tell them? Because if not, I can’t do this.” He stepped back, putting a foot of distance between us. “I can handle the gossip, and I can take all the hatred and rumors. But I won’t be hidden. Not forever.”
The defeat emanating from him was breaking my heart. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Finn. He’d been so honest with me, so vulnerable, and he’d done nothing but build me up from the moment he showed up at Gagnon Lumber.
I was already so far outside my comfort zone. What were a few more steps?
“Soon. I need time to come up with a way to approach my family. You’re important to me, and I don’t want you to feel hidden. I panicked today. It won’t happen again.”
He put one palm on the island and tipped forward, dropping a soft kiss to my lips.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll give you more time.”
“We need a plan,” I explained, “because this could go sideways.”
He cupped my cheek. “If things get bad, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and make a run for it. But we’re a team.”
Looking into those deep blue eyes, I believed him. Wewerea team. I already depended on him more than I’d ever allowed myself to do with another person. While that should terrify me, I was proud. Lying and sneaking around was not what I wanted anymore. This was real, and I only wanted our relationship to grow.
“But I want it all, Adele. So be ready.”
Chapter30
Finn
This was the last place I wanted to be. It had taken two hours to get to the Maine State Correctional Facility, ensuring that this endeavor would eat up most of my day.
Dad was being held here until his trial. There were both state and federal charges pending, but the federal charges were being tried first.
We’d had to preregister and were given a laundry list of dos and don’ts. We wore special clothes because items like work boots and jeans were not allowed. The most exciting part of it all? Signing consent forms that gave the prison staff permission to search our persons.
All to spend a little time with dear old dad.
I’d done my best to avoid him before he went to prison. It was wild to me that I was willingly stepping foot inside one to see the bastard.
Gus had insisted on riding together. I hadn’t argued because it meant more time to think about Adele. But I hadn’t realized that sitting in the passenger seat would make my fingers itch to text her. I had left her house this morning to go home and shower. Of course, I made sure to use the garage and leave as early as possible to avoid being seen my any of her neighbors.
It wasn’t that I wanted people up in my business, but this was a hell of a lot of work. And, for the first time since I’d left the Navy, I had a purpose other than caring for my daughter. Making Adele smile was not easy. She always made me work for it, but when she did, it made my entire day.
I wanted to walk down the street holding her hand, kiss her at town festivals, and bury all the shit between our families. Paying for the sins of the previous generation was getting old. The world had changed. Hell, we were on the verge of selling, so there was no reason to hang on to all the bad blood.
Unfortunately, the business was in absolute disarray. Owen had been digging through records, and he’d found far too much missing information and massive inconsistencies. Gus was far less upset about it, because each issue was a roadblock to selling. He was digging in his heels about a potential sale and working to convince us to give it a shot.
Jude was harder to read. Gus wanted this life. He loved logging and the woods and everything to do with Lovewell. But Jude had always seemed to be stuck.
