Page 60 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

His chest hurt. His head hurt. His heart hurt.

“Finn?” she asked.

He glanced over to her. “Hmm?”

“Are we not going to lunch?”

“You seem tired,” he said, not sure what else to say. He also heard himself, and he was clearly upset.

It took an extra moment, but Edith asked, “Are you okay?”

He shook his head. “I don’t feel well.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but Finn didn’t know how to tell her what hurt.

“Finn.”

He turned right to get on the highway that led back to Three Rivers, his mind rushing over prayer after prayer.

“Something’s wrong,” she said.

“Yes,” clipped from his mouth. “Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?”

“The fact that you’re still in love with Levi,” he said. “And I’ll never be Levi.”

“Wh—What?”

“I heard you talking about him, and I saw you.” He glanced over to her. “It’s obvious.”

Edith didn’t say anything. Didn’t deny it. She sniffled, and that only made pure regret yank through him. Hard. He didn’t want to make her feel bad, but at the same time, he felt bad.

“You’re not denying it.”

“I don’t know how to tell you that I don’t love him,” she said. “I loved him, Finn. That doesn’t stop just because I want it to, or you want it to, or that he’s gone.”

“So where does that leave me?”

“I have room for someone else,” she said. “You, Finn. I have room for you too.”

Room for you too.

He didn’t exactly like the sound of that. “I don’t know where we are,” he said.

“We’re on the highway back to Three Rivers.”

Finn turned and glared at her. Edith wiped her eyes and said, “Finn, I got rid of the pictures in the spare bedroom.”

“I just—” He glanced at the road to make sure he wouldn’t drive them into a ditch. “You did?”

“I’m—yes. The human heart has room to love an unnumbered amount of people,” she said. “I haven’t worked very hard to clear space for anyone before now. Before you.”

Finn wished he’d taken his military approach to this situation. He could’ve thought through things better. He could’ve waited to speak with her until he’d examined things from every angle. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. I do. I didn’t tell you about Levi being my cover illustrator.”

“I never asked.”

“But I should’ve told you.”

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