Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“He looked like he was about to have a stroke,” Finn said, a smile in his voice. “How’s Hope?”
“Doing great. Starving and bored and cranky. Ready for the baby to show up.” I fell silent, hungry but too drained to do anything about it. “Good driving,” I said finally.
“I’m glad you were there,” he said. “I could handle the road, but I couldn’t have managed that and Hope at the same time.”
“You could have,” I said, confident that Finn Sawyer could handle just about anything life threw at him. “But it was easier together.”
In answer, he dropped a kiss on the top of my head. My eyes slid shut for a few minutes, Finn’s arm warm around me. “I’m glad I’m here and not still walking up and down the hallway,” I said.
“I’ve never seen Griffen like that. Freaked out and a little crazed,” he said.
“I think that’s normal for a first baby,” I said, feeling another rush of love and joy for Griffen and Hope, memories of Nicky’s birth still swirling in my head.
As if he could read my mind, Finn asked, “You ever think of doing it again?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted, the answer popping out before I could think better of it. “Oliver and I planned to have another within a few years, but then—” The words choked off. I couldn’t say the rest. “Someday, maybe,” I added.
“What about you?” I asked, fatigue dragging me down. The adrenaline rush was gone. Hope was in the hands of medical professionals and well on her way to having the baby. All I could do was sit and wait.
“I never really thought about it,” Finn said. “Not until I came home. Hanging out with Nicky, August, and Thatcher is fun. They’re all cool kids. I’m not saying I think parenting is an easy ride, but I can see the appeal. I always thought kids were sticky, loud, and messy. Gross.”
I laughed. “They’re all of that,” I said. “Especially when they’re little.”
“Yeah, but they grow up into people. Thatcher blows my mind a little. He’s thirteen, still a kid, but also kind of an adult already. And Nicky, asking to learn to cook. I figured he’d get bored and wander off, but he pays attention. We have fun. It’s cool.” After a pause, he added, “Speaking of the kids, it didn’t come through until you were in with Hope, but Scarlett texted. Tenn made it back to the Manor with the boys.”
I nodded, grateful. I trusted Tenn implicitly with Nicky, knowing he’d do anything necessary to keep all three boys safe.
Finn chuckled. “They stopped at the Inn and got a ride in the salt truck. The boys loved it. Nicky is having a sleepover with August. Scarlett and Tenn are serving everyone chili with cornbread from a box.” He wrinkled his nose at the thought of the family eating boxed cornbread.
“They’ll survive,” I said. Finn’s arm tightened around me, and I let my eyelids slide shut.
“Take a nap,” Finn said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
SAVANNAH
I don’t think I fell asleep. Not all the way. I drifted, Finn holding me close. He was warm and solid against me. Being with Finn like this felt so natural. Right. And wasn’t that a mind fuck? In a million years, I never thought I’d say something like that about Finn Sawyer.
The last few weeks had been unexpected in so many ways.
Finn came to the cottage every night and left every morning before Nicky was up. We made love and slept tangled together like kittens. I’d always liked my space in bed, but I woke most mornings wrapped around Finn as if he were my favorite pillow. While his presence in my life was almost unobtrusive, so low-key that no one knew what was going on except Hawk and probably Griffen, Finn had somehow become essential to my day. The thought of going to sleep without him, of him not being there, of him not being the person who drove me with a laboring woman to the hospital, was intolerable.
We didn’t have long, deep conversations. I didn’t bare my soul to him every night. It was ordinary. Except for the sex. Sex with Finn was never ordinary, which was a delight. But the rest—we talked about our days, always easy since we worked together and had plenty to talk about. And movies, music, places we’d been or wanted to go. Plans for the future. I learned Finn wanted to start his own restaurant and was tossing around the idea of doing something with Avery. Maybe some pop-up kitchen nights at the brewery.
I liked the idea of Finn working with Avery, of him settling here instead of skulking around the kitchens, biding his time until the terms of the will were up and he could escape Heartstone Manor again. I liked the idea of Sawyers Bend being his home again, and I wasn’t sure what to make of that.