AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, we’ve had this conversation before, and you said the same thing, but I’m not so sure about that now. Look at her, Finn. That is not the picture of a happy woman.”
The ache in his heart deepened, became a raw pain. He’d never wanted to hurt her, not after what she’d already gone through with losing her baby and having her boyfriend just up and leave her.
But he was hurting her—he could see that. Yet what else could he do?
He couldn’t let her in, couldn’t bridge the gap between them. He had nothing to give her. Nothing at all.
She deserves better than that, you selfish asshole.
Yeah, well, what else was new? The only alternative was to let her go and he couldn’t do that. Not when she was expecting their child and definitely not when everyone else in her life had left her.
“I can’t let her go,” he said. “She’s been through a lot, and I can’t just abandon her.”
“Did I say anything about abandoning her?”
Finn let out a breath, not wanting to talk about it. “Drop it, Chase.”
“Hell no, I’m not going to drop it. You’re being an asshole, Finn Kelly, and I want to know why. Is it because of Sheri? Is that what this is about?”
A cheer went up as Levi finally got the projector going and the DVD started playing. Someone yelled “yippee ki-yay,” thankfully leaving off the swear word out of deference to those with more sensitive faculties.
Finn glanced over to where Beth was sitting. She was leaning back on the couch now, chatting with the other two. If she’d been upset before, she didn’t seem to be now, but that light he’d always seen in her, that bright glow…it felt dim. As if someone had turned down the brightness on her.
Your fault. You’re making her miserable.
“I don’t have anything left, Chase,” he heard himself say flatly. “I gave everything to Sheri. Every last piece of me. And when she died…that was it. She took it all with her. There’s nothing left now, nothing at all.” He gritted his teeth. “And certainly nothing left to give Beth.”
There was a long silence.
The opening credits were playing, everyone settling down to watch.
“That’s the biggest heap of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life,” Chase growled. “Sheri was your first love, and she was your first loss, and you don’t get over that. I get it. But she didn’t take your heart with her, and quite frankly she’d be more than a little pissed with you thinking she had.”
Finn bit down on the thing he really wanted to say, which was to tell his brother to butt out of his goddamn business. But sadly, Chase wasn’t wrong. Sheri hadn’t been the least bit sentimental, and shewouldbe pissed with him and the candle he was continually holding for her.
“I’m not loving anyone like that again,” he said instead, a hint of a growl in his voice too. “I can’t.”
“Won’t, you mean,” Chase snapped.
Finn barely resisted the urge to take his brother’s strong neck in his hands and strangle him. “Screw you. You don’t know a thing about it.”
“Maybe not. But what I do know is that you’d better sort your shit out because what you’re doing now isn’t working.”
“You think I don’t realize that?”
Chase’s gray gaze was very direct. “Sheri’s gone, Finn. But Beth isn’t. Beth is right here. Which means you need to figure out what you want. And if that’s a big happy family without having to make any sacrifices or take any risks, then you’re going to have to think again. Life doesn’t work that way and you know it.”
Then Chase stalked past him, going over to the couch where the three Deep River women were sitting. Izzy’s face brightened as soon as his brother appeared and she held out a hand to him, glowing with happiness.
At the other end of the couch, Indigo knitted and smiled as Chase said something to her.
Sitting in the middle was Beth. She glanced at him, but there was no bright smile for him on her face. She looked pale and drawn instead.
Then all of a sudden, she got up and began threading her way through the arranged chairs in the direction of the gallery.
He shouldn’t follow, not when anything he had to say she probably wouldn’t want to hear. But he couldn’t help himself.
He headed off after her.
