Page 90 of Letters to Molly (Maysen Jar 2)

“Not on purpose. Molly told me a while ago that you talked to her about the divorce. She told me you were worried that you were the reason we broke up.”

The color drained from Poppy’s face. “I was, wasn’t I?”

“No. Not you. It was me. Jamie’s death spooked me. I started working so hard. I wanted Molly and the kids to be set if something happened to me. And it just snowballed. I knew I wasn’t doing my best as a father and husband. But I was so focused on Alcott, on making sure I could . . . die.”

“Oh, Finn.” Poppy’s eyes filled with tears.

“I lost her. And I think . . . I think I pushed her away.”

“Not just because you were scared you would die.”

I nodded, wanting her to speak the thought I couldn’t. The thought that had plagued me as I spent days staring at the ceiling of my hospital room.

“You pushed her away because you were scared she would die.”

I dropped my head, my vision blurred with tears. “I ruined my life. Because I was scared that I’d end up—”

“Like me.” Poppy wiped a stray tear from her eye then took my hand. “You were scared you’d end up like me.”

“What the hell did I do?” I whispered.

Molly had tried so hard. She’d kept reaching out to pull me back to her. But I’d kept turning away, toward work. She’d pulled. I’d pushed.

Far too hard.

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What had I pushed Molly to do?

“You have to fix it, Finn.”

“I know.”

“How?” Poppy asked. “What are you going to do?”

“Well, first, I need to get Alcott sorted. Then I—”

“Finn.” She rolled her eyes. “What’s it going to take for you to realize that Alcott isn’t your answer here? It’s been your demise.”

I gaped at her. “What? What do you mean?”

“You want a life with Molly?”

“Yes.” Admitting it out loud sent a jolt of electricity through my veins. I wanted a life with Molly and my kids. I wanted my family back.

“Then Alcott has to go.”

Never. “I’m not giving up my business.” It was my livelihood. It was the security that my family would be safe. It was also my passion. “There has to be a way to have both.”

Poppy thought about it for a moment. “You know what I never understood? How you and Molly could work together. When you guys started Alcott, I couldn’t believe you could work with each other all day and then go home together at night.”

“Well, we didn’t work together all day. She did the mowing at first then covered the office. I was doing the landscape jobs, so we weren’t together all day.”

“Yeah, but it was everything, to both of you.”

“Okay,” I drawled, wondering where she was going with this. But she didn’t give me anything more. “So?”

“It’s just an observation.” She shrugged. “How’s the accident investigation?”