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Chapter 15
Finish.
How apt.
Her knees hardly bore her to the armrest of the couch. That same brightly painted room had seen them falling apart fourteen years ago, only to witness the same now. If walls could talk. Neighbors obviously could. Maybe the years in a large city had diminished her ability to grasp just how much people gossiped in these small towns. People knew each other, recognized cars and habits, and stuck their noses where they didn’t belong.
It didn’t matter. She was just looking for another address to aim her anger. It was easier than aiming it toward herself. Maybe they could have avoided this ugly scene if they had broken it to Avery before, when Finn had urged her to. Nevertheless, she knew her cousin well enough; the result would have been the same.
Or maybe they wouldn’t have had to face any of this if she hadn’t succumbed to her need for him. Or him to her. What were they thinking? There were rules. Social rules. Family rules. They had broken them. And when you broke the rules, you paid the price.
Finn was a blur as he emerged dressed from her bedroom and went toward the door. He stopped next to her and kissed the crown of her head before he left.
She couldn’t let him pay the price alone. She got up and got dressed, not even knowing nor caring in what. She just threw on a pair of jeans and remained in the T-shirt that was already on her. She forgot to wear a bra and hardly remembered to stick her feet into a pair of sneakers when she grabbed her car keys.
Her aunt’s house. Everyone would be there.
On her way there, the town looked like it did every day. The sun was out and bright, even in winter. People strolled the streets, the promenade, enjoying the long weekend. Coffee shops and beach restaurants were open. Everything was beautiful, which made the scene that awaited her and the one that preceded it appear in all its ugliness.
She left the car on the street, right behind Finn’s. She was pretty sure her parents were still inside. There was no car to indicate it, but they lived close by and usually walked. Her mother and aunt couldn’t live too far from each other, even in the same town.
She went inside without knocking.
Five adults and no child stood in the living room. They all looked planted on their stands, locked in some sort of a triangle. Her parents were by the couch, and a few feet from them was Finn, facing her aunt and uncle who stood at the vertex.
Her mother turned to look at her when she walked in. She caught her wrist almost in desperation. “Is it true?” Linda’s voice was chapped, as if she desperately needed a drink of water.
“It depends.” This was the only truth she was able to divulge without knowing what had been said before her arrival.
“Jane Anne Drecher, how could you?” Linda said, letting go of her wrist.
Anne’s gaze zoomed in on the man who held her heart next to his in his chest. Finn’s face was ghastly.
“Where’s Max?” she asked.
“She took him. He’s supposed to come home with me today, but she just took him. And he was … he was too … confused.”
“You should leave,” Darian spoke. “Both of you. I don’t want to see either one of you in this house. You were sitting right here at my dining table, and you’re … with your own cousin’s husband.” She was looking at her now. Anne felt the bile rising.
“I’m not her husband,” Finn said flatly.
“You’re not, but you were married to my daughter, and you’re my grandson’s father, and now you’re sleeping with your son’s aunt. And who knows how long that’s been going on.”
“She’s not his aunt. She’s his cousin, once removed.” Finn’s voice was hard, strained, but callous, as if he’d had enough.
“Are you going to split hairs with the terminology right now, Finn?” Fernando took a step forward, as if he could physically intimidate Finn, who was a foot taller and probably twice as wide as the older man in his suspended pants that hung loose on his bony frame. A frame Anne loved dearly, as she loved her uncle. He was the opposite of her dad in looks, but they shared that same gentle kindness. It physically pained her to see this.
“Yes, I am, Fernando, because these things matter,” Finn said. “I’m not Avery’s husband, haven’t been for the last three years. And I sure as hell am not her brother.” He gestured with his hand toward Anne. “Fernando, I’m not going to apologize for loving someone else and being with someone who is not your daughter. I did marry her, stuck by her, had Max with her. I did everything I was supposed to do. I did everything right. But we’re not married anymore, and we’re both free to see others. I love Ja—Anne. I have for …”
Anne’s heart stopped. He had almost spilled the truth about the past.
“I’ve known her for years,” Finn then corrected himself, “before I ever met Avery. We were friends. We’re both single now. And because no one else is going to say this, I will. They’re not sisters, despite what you all tried to create, to believe.” He looked at Linda and Bert, too. “They never thought of or treated each other as sisters. And I know whose fault—” he cut himself short. “We don’t want to hurt anyone, and it might not be ideal, but I’m not going to apologize for being with Anne.”
“But you are going to get out of my house,” Darian said.
“For Max’s sake, we’ll see how to handle this going forward because we don’t want him to suffer for your … But, right now, you’d better leave,” Fernando said, putting a hand on his wife’s forearm to stop her from taking this further. His voice was softer, and it seemed like Finn’s words did get through to him, and that he was trying to be sensible.
“Dar, we have to talk about this,” Linda said.
