“And that upset you . . . why, exactly?” Erin asked.
“Again, I don’t know. I wish I did.” She pulled her knees up to her chest, feeling shame for how she’d reacted.
“Maybe because Dad invested in Finn and didn’t tell you about it?” Honor asked.
She looked over at Honor. “That’s partly it. You know, Dad and I have always been about the winemaking. That’s been our thing. You do the weddings, and Erin has the business mind.”
“And you and Dad have always had the winemaking,” Erin said. “It’s been just the two of you since you were little. You always wanted to be out there in the vineyard with him.”
“And now he’s developed an interest in what Finn is doing,” Honor said. “It’s natural for you to feel a little jealous about that.”
“It’s petty,” Brenna said. “Finn is like a son to Dad. And Finn . . . he’s so proud of what he’s doing. And I just stomped all over it.”
Erin shrugged. “Your feelings are your feelings, Bren. You have a right to feel them, even if they are petty. But how you treated Finn, well, we don’t know what you said, but if you hurt him, then you’ll have to fix that.”
She sighed. “Yes, I will. Thank you for hearing me out. And for not telling me I’m a terrible person.”
Honor laid her hand on Brenna’s arm. “We’re your sisters. We’d never tell you that.”
“Unless you killed someone,” Erin said.
Honor nodded. “Then we’d tell you that what you did was terrible.”
“After we helped you bury the body,” Erin said with a smirk.
“Erin!” Honor said.
Brenna laughed and felt immensely better. But she was still going to have to apologize to Finn.
She changed into something a little more appropriate for dinner, hoping he’d be there, that they’d get a chance to talk after. Her stomach sank in disappointment when he didn’t show up at the table. And when her parents asked where he was, she said she thought he was busy doing something. But after dinner, she walked over to his place, disappointed again to find that he wasn’t there.
She thought about texting him, but he was obviously upset or he would have come to dinner or stayed home. He had to know she’d come to her senses and apologize.
Then again, who was she to expect anything from Finn? She’d acted like a total bitch today. He probably didn’t want to see her at all.
She walked back to the house feeling more miserable than ever.
And it was all her fault.
CHAPTER
• • • • • •
nineteen
FINN WALKED INTO the Screaming Hawk craft brewery and looked around. He spied both Jason and Clay at a corner table and headed their way. Owen was behind the bar working and waved as he walked by.
It was good to see Owen at work. He was still thin from his cancer treatments, but he was starting to get some color back in his face and he looked stronger than he had when this had all started.
He got to the table and saw that Jason and Clay already had beers.
“Be right back,” he said.
He went to the bar and waited while Owen dealt with another customer. When he finished, Owen made his way to him.
“What’s up, Finn?” Owen asked.
“Not much. How’s it going with you?”
“Oh, you know, running a brew pub. Just living life.”
Which Finn knew meant a lot more to Owen these days than ever before.
“That’s great. And, hey, you’re looking good. Much healthier since the last time I saw you.”
Owen smiled. “Thanks. I’m feeling pretty good, too. Glad to see you guys here tonight.”
“Sorry I haven’t been in a while. Been busy.”
“I heard. Seeing Brenna, huh?”
The one thing about everyone being close was that they always knew your business. “Something like that.”
“What’ll you have?”
Finn was grateful that Owen didn’t press for details about Brenna and him. He wasn’t in the mind-set for it tonight.
“The Back in Black IPA.”
“Should have known. Let me pull it for you.”
Owen drew him a draft and Finn pulled out his money and paid him.
“How’s the whiskey making going?”
“Good. You should come by for a taste.”
Owen scratched the side of his nose. “I try to steer clear of the Bellini property these days.”
“I thought all was forgiven.”
“It is, but I still think Erin needs her space.”
Finn knew Owen felt bad for how everything went down with the wedding. Or the wedding that hadn’t happened between Owen and Erin. But it all had turned out for the best in the end. Erin had fallen in love with Jason and she was happy.
Sometimes things just worked out the way they were supposed to. It sucked that Owen had backed out at the last minute without telling Erin he was sick, but he’d been scared and he hadn’t wanted to hurt Erin, which he’d ended up doing anyway. He’d apologized to Erin and her family, and they’d all eventually forgiven him.
To Finn, it was all water under the bridge. People fucked up sometimes, and if their intentions were good, you forgave them and moved on. Holding a grudge only made you miserable in the end.
Which didn’t mean Finn wasn’t still irritated at Brenna. He didn’t know what the hell her issue was with him making whiskey, or with her dad investing in it. But when he’d tried to get her to open up about her feelings, she’d bailed on the conversation. On him. And that was the part that pissed him off the most.
When Jason had texted asking if he wanted to go out for beers tonight, he figured getting away to clear his head was a good idea. Besides, he hadn’t been out with his friends in a while, and he’d been meaning to come see Owen. He’d dropped Murphy over at the main house with Johnny and drove in to town, stopped to eat a burger, then met the guys here.
He took his beer to the table and sat.
“We were just talking about wedding plans,” Clay said.
“Whose?” Finn asked. “Yours or Jason’s?”
“Both, actually. Though Jason got the jump on us with their speeded-up shotgun wedding,” Clay said, slanting a sly smile at Jason.