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Feeling unsettled, Finn undid his seatbelt and opened the door. “I’ll walk you up.”
“There’s no need.”
He ignored her and climbed out of the car. Moving carefully beside Jewel, he mounted the rickety stairs and stopped on the verandah. They both couldn’t fit so he had to slide back so she could open the door.
Finn noticed a hole in the middle of the porch. Looked like someone’s leg had broken through.
A pungent smell filled the air. He was thinking of the best way to offer to take out Jewel’s garbage when she turned to him and explained, “That’s the marsh. When the dew falls heavy like it is tonight, there’s a smell.”
“I didn’t notice.” He lied.
She gave him the side-eye. “I’m used to it.”
With those words, his unsettled feeling mounted.
“This is it,” Jewel said as the lock clicked and she opened her door. Brown eyes glistening in the moonlight, she turned to him. “Maybe I’ll see you again, Finn.”
“Maybe.”
She smiled, revealing her deep dimples and then ducked her head into the house and locked the door behind her.
Finn lingered on the verandah for a while. His chest burned. Leaving her here felt like a massive mistake.
“Go home, Finn,” he mumbled to himself.
Jewel had survived all this while without him. She could make it on her own from now on. By this time tomorrow, he’d be back home, poring over police reports and making his next move.
Tomorrow, Jewel would be nothing but a memory.
13
Jewel held her breath until Finn’s footsteps thudded past her door and down the stairs. She wilted to the floor and covered her face with her hands. He’d finally left.
Shame had flamed her cheeks when she’d directed him to her shanty. Obviously, she hadn’t thought it through when she asked him to take her home earlier. Now Finn knew exactly how poor she was.
What does it matter? You’ll never see him again.
That was a good thing.
Jewel braced her hand on the wall and stood with a groan. She’d stepped out in so many ways today—mostly thanks to Finn. What was a little poverty when he already thought she was insane?
Jewel chuckled and shook her head.
To be honest, she hadn’t run home just to hide her insecurities.
Staying for the reception, especially after her fight with Sky, hadn’t felt right either. She needed to apologize to her friend for snapping at her, but finding the right time to bring it up would have been awkward and…
Just thinking about it made her want to dive under her blankets and never come out.
Sky could focus on her lovely reception and handsome husband. She and Jewel could hash things out when she returned from her honeymoon.
It had been a long, eventful day. She was glad to be on familiar turf again.
Jewel padded to the cramped bedroom and reached for her pajamas. The only activities on her schedule for tonight involved lounging in bed and recalling every word she uttered that day to make sure it hadn’t sounded stupid.
Good times.
Her phone rang.
