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Finn
Finn enjoyed the dinner cooked by Cole, as he always did, but today was even better because Ellie was sitting across from him at the table. It was strange seeing her after so long and yet, really nice. He found his eyes drawn to her pretty face over and over again, and he wanted to ask her questions about her life and what she’d been doing since they’d last spoken, but he held back for fear of seeming overly interested. He found the way her face hadn’t changed fascinating. Yes, she had some fine lines around her eyes, but they merely added character. He could see some greys glinting in her red-brown hair but they were like nature’s highlights. And her figure, that he’d noticed when she’d removed her coat, was stunning. She’d been a slim teenager back then but now she had a woman’s curves. She’d born children, he knew that much, and her figure had changed but it was the type of figure that a red-blooded man would want to snuggle up to at night, a figure a man could… well… best not to think about that right now. Suffice it to say that Ellie was an even more attractive version of herself than the one he’d known years ago.
Over the course of dinner, he did find out that she had two grown children and that she was divorced, now single, and something about that made him want to punch the air. Why, he wasn’t sure because there was no way that he wanted to get involved again with anyone and he had no way of knowing if she found him attractive. But there was something about the way she looked at him when their eyes met, about the softening of her expression when their hands touched when he passed her the potatoes, that made him wonder if there could still be a spark between them. But surely that was too much to hope for? She had almost been his first love,almost, and he wondered if first loves could reunite after nearly three decades. Older, more experienced and, hopefully, wiser?
‘Finn?’ Darcie was staring at him.
‘Sorry?’ He shook himself to break the spell his thoughts had cast over him.
‘I asked if you wanted to help me get the dessert?’
‘Oh. Yes, of course.’
He stood up and helped his sister to clear the table then load the dishwasher. Darcie opened the fridge and gestured at him to join her. Behind the fridge door that screened them from the dining area, she touched his arm. ‘You OK?’
‘What? Why?’
‘You looked lost in thought at the table and I was worried about you.’
‘Oh… yes, I’m fine.’
‘What is it then?’
‘I think it’s just seeing Ellie again. It brought back a lot of memories.’
‘I found that yesterday when she came into the shop. It was like being thrown back in time.’
‘Yes, exactly that.’ He took the bowl of trifle from her and she got the pot of cream then closed the fridge door. ‘She looks good though.’
Darcie poured the cream into a glass jug and when she looked up at him, she was smiling. ‘You think so, huh?’
‘Well… you know… she’s aged well.’
‘She’s gorgeous! And so are you. Do you… do you think you might still fancy her?’ Darcie raised her brows and Finn shrugged.
‘Still?’
‘Oh come on, Finn. I know you used to fancy her.’
‘Well… uhhh… I don’t know.’
‘Ha ha! Big brother, who’d have thought it. You still have a crush on my old bestie.’
‘No I don’t. Anyway, I didn’t have a crush on her.’
‘Oh please… pull the other one, it plays jingle bells. You do so have a crush on her and you definitely did when we were kids. As she did on you. I could never understand why you two didn’t get together with all the pining you both did.’
‘She was younger than me.’
‘What by two years?’ Darcie rolled her eyes. ‘Big deal.’
‘Back then it seemed to matter. I felt kind of responsible for her because she was your best friend and I wanted to look out for you both.’
‘And you did but that didn’t mean you couldn’t date her.’
‘It did because what if I’d hurt her?’
Darcie pursed her lips then nodded. ‘OK, I’ll give you that. But hey, now you’re both fully grown adults so you can put all those fears aside and see how things go.’
