Page 113 of When The Rain Falls

"Ma, sit down. I'll dish up." Finn stands. He lets go of my wrist and walks into the kitchen. I immediately feel the void thathe left as I stare down at his empty chair. When he’s near me, I feel warmer. And it’s not just because I’m sitting so close to his hot, muscular body. But he warms me from the inside out, too.

I glance up to see Tyler, Finn, and Missy keeping themselves busy in the kitchen. The girls vanished upstairs as soon as Missy excused them from the dinner table. Lars somehow found his way back into the living room recliner. It looks suspiciously like he’s napping. Missy is probably going to have a fit about it.

“Should we do something about that?” I ask Jenna, nodding towards the recliner. It’s just her and I around the table at the moment.

“Eh.” She shrugs. “He’ll wake up for pie. Always does.”

“Ma, bowls don’t go there,” Finn exclaims impatiently. Jenna and I both peer into the kitchen to find Finn arguing with Missy about the proper way to load the dishwasher.Come on, Missy. Amateur mistake.Never stand between Finn and dirty dishes. Also, let the man scrub. I could use a show.

"You know," Jenna says quietly, jabbing a finger on the table in front of me. "You are the best thing to happen to him in years,” she says, “and I meanyears.”

I smile at her. Because I think I might agree.

"Actually, forget Finn. You're the best thing to happen tome."

"What do you mean?" I ask with a laugh.

"Now that Mom knows about you two, that's going to take some of the heat off me for a while. She’s determined to get us all married before she turns sixty-five. And now, Mom's going to fixate on you and Finn for months. This is great for me.” She leans back and relaxes, a smile of satisfaction across her face.

“Ma, that’s a bowl. It goes with the bowls,” Finn scolds from the kitchen.

“Finn, dear. It’s a plate. A plate with a curved lip. It goes with the plates.”

Jenna and I exchange glances and snicker right as Tyler brings several plates of pie to the table. And right on cue, Lars walks into the kitchen.

“Told ya.” Jenna nods.

Lars inspects the pie plates and finally settles on what he has determined to be the largest piece of pie. He slides it across the table in front of the seat next to me, Finn’s seat, and sits down.

“How’re my girls?” he asks. And my tiny little heart explodes.My girls?He picks up a fork and runs a hand through his hair in the same way Finn does.

"Mr. Hudson, you have the most magnificent silver hair,” I tell him.

"Thanks, my dear. I need a cut, though. You know they want to charge me $40? They won't give me a discount even though I only have seventy percent of my hair left. A receding hairline should be good for something, right?”

"Dad, you have plenty of money for a haircut," Finn cuts in. He shakes a plate over the sink, sending water droplets through the air, and sets the plate carefully into the dishwasher. “And that’s my seat,” he mumbles, turning towards us.

"It's the principle of it, son," Lars explains. Behind Finn’s back, Missy takes the plate that Finn just set in the dishwasher and moves it. I cover my mouth to hide a snicker.

"You know, I could cut your hair,” I offer. “No charge. I learned on YouTube. I used to cut this guy's hair in exchange for weed gummies."

"Excuse me?" Finn sets his hand on his hip and looks at me in mild shock.

"What? It was a good arrangement," I tell him, shrugging my shoulders.

"Finn. Don't be such a tight ass," Lars grumbles. "Miss Aimee, I would love a haircut from you."

Finn turns his back and mumbles something under his breath.

“Goddammit, Ma. Stop moving the fucking dishes.”

Finn

Aimee coos at my dad as she runs her fingers through his hair. Just what he needs. Someone to inflate his ego. I’ll never hear the end of this.

After Dad insisted on receiving a haircut from Aimee, I set him up in a chair in the kitchen. I made a makeshift apron with a plastic tablecloth and managed to scrounge up a pair of hair shears.

To the whole family's amusement, Aimee gives Dad a haircut with much fawning over its texture, and silver color, and how it compliments his skin tone. Tyler and Jenna keep leaving the kitchen to laugh together, casting amused glances my way. I'm not even involved in this thing and somehow I feel like the butt of the joke.

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