“I know. Thank you.” He took a deep breath and got out of the car. His aunt was jogging over, and then Finley was running toward her as I stepped out of the vehicle. They hugged each other and cried. I could see her face and not Finley’s, but I knew he was crying as well.
I waited, leaning against the car, giving them time alone.
“I can’t believe you’re here. You look just like your mom,” Jennifer said, still hugging him.
“You look like her too. I guess that means we look like each other?” Finley replied, and damned if I didn’t smile.
“Jeff and the girls waited inside. They wanted to give us a moment. I just…Amanda’s son. Let me look at you.” She pulled away, and that was when her eyes landed on me for the first time. I saw the initial shock, the widening of her eyes, the crease between her brows, but then Finley was pulling away and they were looking at each other.
She touched his face, his hair, studied him, and I could already see the love there. She wanted a relationship with her nephew, and she hated that they hadn’t known about each other.
“Do you go by Fin? Or Finley?”
“Either one.”
Then her eyes darted to me again.
“This is Aidan.” Finley called me over, and I went. “My partner.” He grinned, telling me he’d used that word knowing I preferred it to boyfriend. “It’s because of him that I’m even here. I never would have had the courage to look for any family without him.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Aidan. I can’t… There are no words to thank you for everything you’ve done for Finley.”
I shook her hand. “You’re welcome, but you don’t need to thank me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.”
She shifted a bit uncomfortably but then smiled.
“Mommy! Can we come now?” A small head peeked out the door. Jennifer looked at Finley, who was nearly bursting with excitement.
“Please,” he said. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“Come and meet your cousin!” she said, and two little girls ran out of the house, followed by a man. His eyes found me first, and again, I saw the surprise, the discomfort, at nothing more than our noticeable age difference, I was sure.
Introductions were made between all of us before they herded us into the house. There were balloons and decorations—flowers and a banner that said “Welcome Home, Finley!”
He wasn’t home unless he decided he wanted that to be home. Seeing it made white-hot anger stab at me. But then Finley was laughing and so clearly thrilled about it that I shoved my feelings aside. This was for him, and they were his family.
We spent hours there, talking, eating, and getting to know them. The girls loved Finley, and he was great with them. Jennifer was very interested in our relationship—the fact that I was a doctor, and when Finley told them how we met. His aunt had asked, and he’d just blurted out, “I was a waiter, and he came in with his friend. I was sick, and Aidan brought me home with him, and I just…never left.”
He grinned, and I bit back a groan. “It was a bit different than that. I gave him a place to get well. He wasn’t living in the best circumstances, and when he recovered, I gave him a job. It wasn’t until much later that things changed between us.” I really hated explaining our relationship to them. It went against every part of myself, but it was for Finley, so I did it.
He felt comfortable with them. That much was evident. As we all spoke, he didn’t sit on the couch beside me, automatically going down to the floor between my legs. The girls sat on the carpet too, which could explain it. He was playful with them, but from the looks Jennifer and Jeff exchanged, I was certain they noticed and wondered.
But they were obviously crazy about Finley, and they treated me with respect. When we left that first day, we made plans for the next one.
Finley couldn’t stop talking the whole ride back to our hotel, then the whole night. We were back at their house the next day, and it was more of the same—his joy, theirs too, but also their concern about our relationship. It was on the third day that Jennifer spoke to me. Finley, Jeff, and the girls were swimming, and she and I were sitting at a table, not too far away, but far enough to give us privacy.
“I have to admit, I’m a little concerned about the age difference,” she said.
“You don’t need to be. Finley is an adult. He knows how to take care of himself, and he has me. I love him and would never hurt him.” Well…except in ways he wanted to be hurt.
“Yes, but he was nineteen when he moved in with you. I really don’t want to be rude. I know it’s not my business, but I just… He was vulnerable, and I worry that he’s making a big decision.”
“Every relationship is a big decision. How old a person is doesn’t matter. If Finley wants out, he knows all he has to do is say so.”
“He’s crazy about you. He looks at you like you’re his whole world.”
My eyes found him as he played in the water with his cousin on his shoulders. He was laughing and smiling…so damn carefree. “And he’s mine.”
“He waits on you, yields to you, and—”
“That’s quite enough. Our relationship really is no concern of yours.”
There was a pause, and then she said, “You’re right. I’m sorry.” The thing was, I could tell she meant it. She wasn’t trying to be hateful; she really did worry about him. She loved him already.
He had that effect on people. They were drawn to him like warm sun on their skin, like he carried your happiness in his chest. I understood it because he’d done the same to me.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Finley
“Do you think we can extend our trip? Even if it’s just a few days?” I asked Aidan two days before we were set to leave. “Jennifer said there’s a huge fair coming to town. It’s a big deal here, and the girls love to go. They were asking if I could go with them.”
“We can’t,” he replied without looking up from his laptop. “I have to get back to work.”
“Oh.” My heart sank. I should have known that, obviously. But I was having so much fun there, and I loved getting to know my family.
Aidan looked up at me, because, duh, it was Aidan and he always seemed to read me. “I can change your ticket if you’d like. Just because I have to get back home doesn’t mean you need to rush.”
“What? No. I couldn’t stay without you.” But really, I could. Why couldn’t I hang out with my family without Aidan? “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not if it’s what you want,” he replied, but there was something a little different about his voice. It was…tight.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Finley. When have you ever heard me say something I didn’t mean?”
I chuckled. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Do you want me to keep the room? What about a car?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Jennifer said we could stay with her.”
Again, he seemed…not like Aidan, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. But as he said, he didn’t say things he didn’t mean, and if something was wrong, he would tell me.