“That’s not true!” I protest.
“Sure it is.” Dee doesn’t seem concerned. “And maybe that’s a good thing. If you’re anything to go by, then epic, crazy love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I mean, no offense, but you loved this guy five years ago, and it’s pretty much kept you from having a real relationship ever since.”
Her words feel like a sharp slap. Delilah looks up and sees my face. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No, it’s fine.” I shake my head.
“Eva—”
“Really! I get it. I’ll stop organizing, I promise.” I shove the papers to the side and grab my purse. “Okay if I take off early? I want to stop by Lottie’s with some stuff for the party.”
Delilah’s eyes widen. “The party. Right.”
I pause. “You do have everything ready for tonight, don’t you?”
“Sure!” she exclaims. “Everything’s set.”
“Uh huh.”
I don’t press, I’m just glad the subject’s moved away from me and my screwed up heart. “See you later,” I tell her, and head out. I stop by the store on the way over and pick up some fresh tulips for Lottie, her favorite. It’s not her birthday until tomorrow, but I know this one is important to her. With mom and dad out of town, I want to make it special. I buy an armful, and fumble my way up the front path, my view completely blocked.
“Hello?” I call, finding the front door is open. “Lottie?”
“In here!”
I navigate my way past the stroller and through to the kitchen, peering over the tulips. “How’s the soon-to-be birthday girl?”
“Flowers? You shouldn’t have.” It’s not Lottie’s voice, but a very familiar male tone.
I lower the tulips, resignation crashing over me as I take in the tanned face and long, tousled hair. “Finn.”
“The one and only.” He’s sitting up on a stool at the kitchen counter with a beer in his hand. Finn arches an eyebrow. “How was your day, sweetheart?”
I try not to flush at the memory of the last time I saw him, and where that mouth has been. I don’t trust my voice not to fail me now, so I bustle past to run cold water and put the flowers in the sink.
Lottie comes back into the kitchen, holding Kit. “Look who I ran into!” she says brightly. “I was trying to wrestle the stroller and five million grocery bags when this guy came to my rescue. He’s a regular white knight.”
“I do my best,” Finn grins at me, infuriating, and I have to look away. Does he realize what he’s doing to me? Just being in the same room as him has set my pulse racing and my body temperature spiking way up.
I ignore him as best I can, arranging the flowers in a couple of plain glass vases and setting them on the countertop. Finn doesn’t seem concerned; he just sits there, casually drinking his beer. Lottie looks back and forth between us. “Am I missing something?”
“No,” I answer quickly.
Finn smiles. “We’re good.”
“OK.” Lottie narrows her eyes, but luckily Kit starts wriggling and clutching at her chest. She shakes her head, smiling. “This guy needs another feed. He can’t get enough boob.”
“And that’s my cue to go.” Finn laughs. He gets to his feet, and leans to kiss her on the cheek. “Bye, kiddo.”
“Thanks again.” Lottie smiles up at him, grateful. “For everything.”
“Any time.” Finn gives me a smirk from across the room. “See you tonight.”
“Tonight?” I echo, as he walks out.
“Huh?” Lottie is already unbuttoning her shirt. “Oh, yeah, he offered to host the party at his place. Isn’t that great?”
“But what about Delilah?”
Lottie sighs. “Let’s just say Dee is big on ideas, and short on planning. I think she forgot,” she confides. “You know she’s been busy closing that big deal, the new condo complex. So when Finn offered to arrange everything, it turned out perfectly, don’t you think? He’s got that big old house, just crying out for a party.”
“Sure,” I echo faintly, just picturing it. A dark night, the romantic mansion, and the two of us, able to slip away from the crowd. “Perfect.”
I tell Lottie I’ll meet her at the party, and stop by the animal shelter on my way home. To tell the truth, I’m just trying to delay the inevitable, me and Finn in the same room, but I’m always glad to be here. The puppies are looking to play, so I get some treats from the store room and try to teach them some basic obedience commands on the porch steps, rewarding their clumsy ‘sit’ and ‘stay’s with hugs and kibble.
“You’re spoiling them,” Edith warns when she finds me buried in a puppy pile.
“But they’re just babies!” One of them, the runt of the litter, pokes his head up under my sweater, making me giggle from the tickling. “They’re learning, too. Watch.”
I point to a spot on the floor. “Sit,” I order them sternly. “Come on, sit.”
One puppy rolls with his paws in the air. Another chases his tail around, and my guy, already nuzzling at my stomach, just wags his tail.
I laugh. “OK, they were learning.”
Edith sits in the porch chair and idly rocks. “Chester’s doing better,” she says.