“Are you kidding me right now?” Wren asks her fiancé. “Gus…”
“Sweetheart…” He grabs her by the waist and pulls her close and for the first time since I left her house, I’m tempted to tell Oakleigh that three days is enough time; that three days of being broken up is more than sufficient. Gus smiles down at my sister and tilts her head up. “I think this is one of those times where I’m able to look at the bigger picture. You and I both know that sometimes falling in love isn’t exactly conventional. We fell in love through arguing. You dropped bacon grease on my foot…”
“You did that yourself.”
“We’ll debate that one another time.” Wren sends Gus a look and he continues. “It got to a point where we didn’t know how else to communicate, but I remember there being a moment where I wanted to tell you how beautiful you are, but I just couldn’t, because sometimes when you communicate with one person in a certain way, it’s hard to know if that’s changing for them the same way it is for you.”
“But I—” Wren tries to wriggle out of Gus’s arms, but he holds firm.
“I’m not saying to find the humor in it right now. I’m simply saying that maybe a little more empathy would be good. Finn and Oakleigh’s story will go the way it goes just as ours did.”
Wren’s frown deepens. “But our way didn’t affect anyone else.”
“It didn’t?” Gus and I say at the same time.
My sister rolls her eyes. She turns to me, but Gus’s arms remain around her.
“For someone in love with the woman who dumped him, you don’t seem very broken up about it.”
A small smile sits on my lips. “Because I know why she did it. I’m just waiting for her to realize why.”
“She told you why,” my sister argues.
“She told me what she thought would push me furthest away. But Cherry is such a shit liar that I could see right through it. She’s scared of her feelings, and I get that. We both spoke about why it couldn’t be real, and her reasons were just, but I think over time she began to see that I would never treat her the way those other guys did.Never.”
Wren watches me as if I’ve lost my mind, and to be honest, yes, I could be completely delusional, but I’m not giving up on Oakleigh. Wren shakes her head and pulls away from Gus before leaving to go to her room.
I hang my head as she takes any noise with her, leaving the rest of us in a heavy silence.
“I’m going to go check on her,” Gus says, not waiting for a reply before heading out after my sister.
I let my head rest on the countertop opposite my parents. The cold stone is a shock to the system at first, but I’m quickly melting into it as it begins to calm my feverish forehead.
“Finley,” Dad says, and I reluctantly lift my head. My parents look worried, their eyes glossing over me, checking every part to make sure I’m intact. “I’m not too sure what to say, son.”
His words sit uncomfortably on my chest.
“I understand if you’re mad at me,” I tell them, while also refusing to meet their eyes. “I understand if I’m a disappointment.”
“A disappointment?” My mom has sounded lost and confused so far, but now, she speaks with conviction, her words sitting on a strong foundation. “Finley, I’m not too sure where we went wrong, but the fact that you have gone almost your whole life thinking that you need to be of value to us in order for us to love you breaks my heart. The fact that this notion spurred you on to lie to us and pretend you’re giving us exactly what we wanted in the hopes it will take the weight off of our shoulders, is simply ludicrous…Because of that, it is us who should be apologizing to you.”
“What?” I lean back, the weight of what she’s saying pushing against me. “Ma, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“Yes, we do,” she argues. She stands and moves around the island to me. Her hands find my shoulders and slide down my arms in a soothing manner until she’s squeezing my hands. “There was so much more we could have done to show you that who you are will always be more than enough for us. It’s just as you said, your OCD developed from the trauma of losing your parents and feeling you needed to do everything to protect your sister and keep all of us happy, and that never should have been your burden to bear, baby. Never. We should have shown you that whatever you have done in your life has been because you have been nothing but amazing, and that includes every mistake, every flaw, every moment where you have felt less than. We love you regardless. You have nothing to prove to us, Finley. We have always loved you unconditionally, even when you were just our nephew.”
The sting of unshed tears dissipates as they fall one by one down my face. I haven’t even noticed my dad has moved to stand beside Mom, both of them looking at me with pride clear as day on their faces.
“Your mother has always been able to say things more eloquently than I could.” He smiles down at Mom and then back up to me, his expression becoming more serious. “I could never see you as a disappointment, my boy. The only thing that I feel is pride when I look at you—pride that you’re finally starting to do things because they make you happy. I have always wished that you would be a little selfish sometimes. When you were dating—well, pretending to date, I suppose—Oakleigh, we both saw that you were finally starting to do just that. You were going after what you wanted, whether that be the land you bought, finally going back to architecture, or, as we’re now finding out, going after the woman you love.”
I wipe away any tears left on my face.
“You do love her, don’t you? You’re telling the truth this time?” my mom asks, hope filling her brown eyes.
I squeeze her hands and kiss her cheek. “God’s honest truth, Ma. I’ve loved that stubborn woman since the moment I laid eyes on her.”
Her eyes narrow playfully. “But you always said?—”
“I know, I know!” I laugh. “But I just knew it wouldn’t be reciprocated.”
