True Blue - A Second Chance Romance (Complete)

Chapter 45

"Finn don't leave."

Clamping her arms around his neck again she held on for dear life. Fearing for her sister. His brother.

She was having trouble grasping what had happened. Mary's part in the scheme was obvious. Her disapproval of Finn and his small-town connections made it irresistible to take the opportunity to break them apart. But it was more than that.

Mary had kept that lie a secret. Despite seeing what being without Finn did to her. The depression, the bad relationships. Mary knew Emily's self-worth was dented because Finn abandoned her. Yet she continued to let her think it was all her fault. Let Emily nurse the wound. Prevented her from being happy. For eight years.

Finn pried her arms off his neck, "I'm not going anywhere, Emily. I'm just..."

"Pissed off?"

A gruff snicker emanated from Finn. "You could say that. I ... they..."

"I can't believe it," she whispered. She would be having words with her sister. Or she might not talk to her sister ever again. Right now, she wasn't sure which path to take.

"I can. Perfectly Pink has always had it out for me."

"Perfectly what?"

"It was our nickname for your sister, Simon and I." Finn threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Because she always wore pink and everything had to be perfect for her. She would accept nothing less."

"But... to drag Simon into her scheme."

"Who says he was dragged?" growled Finn.

Finn's body was a stiff as steel below her. Her heart broke for the betrayal of his brother. The betrayal they both endured.

Sweet smiling Simon, friendly to everyone, had lied straight to her face. That misty morning as he unlocked the door to the restaurant.

He'd offered her a seat, made her coffee to warm up after sitting outside waiting for him. All the while he knew Finn was just on the other side of town, waiting to board a bus.

Emily didn't know which was worse. Mary manipulating her own words to make appear she'd broken up with Finn or Simon's betrayal. Every time she called the bar, she begged him to relay her words to Finn. He swore he would. He lied over and over. To both of them.

There was no doubt in Emily's mind Mary came up with the idea. Everyone knew Simon had a thing for Mary back then. Her sister must have used his infatuation to influence Finn's brother.

Holding Finn's stoic face, wishing she could take away his pain, a thought forced its way through the red haze of hurt and treachery.

"Finn?"

"Mmmm." It seemed his mind was also churning at the ramifications.

"Finn, this means...I always thought... you ghosted me. But you didn't, did you?" Saying the words out loud broke the final string that had been holding her back from trusting Finn. If he could fall out of love with her once, what would stop him from doing it again? Every assumption, every theory, every story she told herself the past almost decade all fell mute. Useless. Wrong.

"Em, I told you, I have never stopped loving you. Even when I got the message loud and clear you thought I wasn't good enough for you. Running away to the other side of the world to avoid me, dumping me with a Dear John letter."

"But I didn't," cried Emily. How could he think such a thing?

Finn's hard features melted before her. "No. You really did want to be with me."

"I did. I do. I always will."

The corner of his mouth tipped upwards. "Good. Because you're stuck with me now."