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“I have to go,” Peyton says as she scrambles toward the open doors of the church.
I should follow her, but I’m frozen in place, unable to tear myself away from him. “Hi,” I say, loud enough for him to hear.
The last thing I want to do is dig into all the hurt from the last few weeks, but I need to say something. I just need to figure out some way to make it past this awkward phase of trying to figure out what happened between us and how we are going to move forward. But I have no idea what to say. No matter what has happened between us, Finn just got back into town. He probably has a million things he needs to be doing, but instead, he’s standing out here, watching me.
“Hi.” His gravelly voice caresses my skin, pulling me closer to him.
I lift my foot to take a step forward, but I halt my movements. If I go to him now, nothing will change. I won’t ask him all the questions that have been running through my mind for the last two weeks. I won’t tell him how scared I am of committing to him, of giving him my heart fully. But most importantly, I won’t tell him how much I love him.
“How have you been?” I question, my hand clenched tightly by my side.
I want to know every bit of information he’s willing to give me about our time apart. I’m sure I could get bits and pieces of information from either of our parents during our weekly lunch after church service, but I want him to tell me everything.
“Fine,” he responds, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck.
“Can I get at leastsomethingmore than one-word answers from you?”
“Yes,” he responds as his cheeks pink in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. This is a lot harder than I imagined it would be.”
I smirk, and he takes a step toward me. To my surprise, I take a step back, bumping into the bench. Tears begin collecting in my eyes, but I quickly bat them away.
“Do you want to get some coffee and catch up?” he questions, not bothering to hide the longing in his voice.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I whisper as I stride past him. “I really need to get inside before service starts. My momma hates it when I’m late.”
Our shoulders brush slightly, and an electric current runs up my arm and directly to my heart, igniting the love I feel for him all over again. It’s been weeks since we’ve seen each other, but in some way, it feels like he never left.
“Please wait.” I freeze as he grips my arm softly, running his fingers down it before pressing something into my hand. “Just read it. Not now, but later, after service. I promise I’ll explain everything to you after you read it. I just need you to trust me for a little longer.”
“Trust you?” I whimper. “I trusted you before and you left me.”
“I always planned on coming back, sugar.” The sound of my nickname causes my heart to melt a little bit more. My body is still as he releases my arm and heads in the direction of the church without a second glance. “You’re it for me, sugar. That hasn’t changed,” he whispers into the wind as I turn and follow behind him.
My eyes follow him as he passes into the main area in front of the church, filled with all the townspeople waiting for service to start. I try to keep him in my sights, but I lose him. Instead of standing there, searching frantically for some sign that he hasn’t disappeared again, I continue toward the stairs and head through the front door.
What in God’s name just happened?
One moment, I was laughing at the silly way Peyton reacted to Campbell, then the next thing I know, Finn is there, begging me to give him a chance to explain why he left me without another word. I thought I had more time to come up with what I was going to say to Finn the first time I saw him, but when Peyton told me he was inside, my mind went blank. I wanted to run and hide away in my apartment until I could process everything that happened and come up with the perfect thing to say, but that wasn’t in the cards for me. The moment I saw Finn, I was tongue-tied, and any hope of protecting my heart went out the window. Instead of being angry, all I wanted to do was run to him. Wrap my arms and legs around his body and beg him to never leave me again.
“Soo…” Peyton nudges my shoulder the moment I step into the church, and we make our way further into the sanctuary, searching for my parents. “How’d it go?”
Almost everyone in town is scattered around the interior of the church. Wooden pews line each side of the long heart pine floor aisle. Colorful stained glass windowpanes line the outer walls on each side of the room, letting soft light fill the sanctuary.
“That good, huh?” she asks, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.
My eyes scan the room before I catch sight of my mom, waving her hand in the air with eyebrows pulled down in concern before our eyes lock. With a sigh, I tug on Peyton’s arm, pulling her toward where my parents are seated. When we get a few steps away from them, my dad slides from the pew, with my mother following quickly behind him.
“I was worried you two were going to be late.” My momma wraps her arms around my shoulders and gives me a warm hug before doing the same to Peyton.
“We’d never be late for service, Auntie Roberta,” Peyton responds with a smile before giving me a wink over my mother’s shoulder.
“Suck-up,”I mouth toward her before stepping into the pew and freezing in my tracks.
This can’t be fucking happening. I completely forgot about Peyton’s warning from earlier until right now. Sitting on the other end of the pew are none other than Finn’s parents, Charlotte and Mason Buckley. Peyton warned me that Finn was sitting near my parents, but not that his parents were here, as well. But what’s more surprising is the fact that Finn isn’t there.
“Hello, Marissa.” Ms. Charlotte flashes me a bright smile as I take a seat beside her, leaning over as she wraps her arms around me. “Did you see him?” Her eyes flash over my shoulder toward the door.
“I did.”
