Page 41 of Sometimes You Stay

Finn’s mom was apparently unconvinced by his explanation and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down to her eye level. “You need to get some ice on that.”

“I know. I’ll take care of it in a minute. It just happened.” He waved his hand toward the partially finished box on the floor. “We were putting together Bella’s bed, and I walked into a—”

“We?” his dad echoed.

Like a veil had been lifted and Cretia had suddenly appeared, both Mr. and Mrs. Chaffey looked around their son and focused on her.

“This is Cretia. Martin. My ... um ... a friend of mine.”

His mom’s eyes flashed with some understanding. “From the harbor? You’re the girl he pushed into the water.”

Cretia shook her head quickly. “No. It wasn’t like that. It was just an accident. I ran into him, actually, and stumbled. He and Joe saved me.”

Mrs. Chaffey grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug,arms circling her shoulders like she never intended to let go. “We didn’t know you were still here. But we’re so—” She glanced back at her husband as though looking for the right way to end that. “Well, it’s just lovely to meet you.”

Under different circumstances, Cretia would have probably agreed. They were surely a sweet couple, and she couldn’t deny a bit of curiosity about Finn’s relationship with his parents. But if they’d only arrived five or ten minutes later...

Flames licked at her neck while her imagination filled in the gap, the might-have-been. She likely would never know now.

Forcing a smile, she shook Mr. Chaffey’s hand. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“Call me Thomas. And this is Bea.”

“Ma’am,” Cretia said with a nod.

“Oh, now, we’re not so formal here. Bea is fine. And we’re so delighted to get to meet you. Of course, we heard about the accident all the way down in Summerside. But Finnegan seemed to think you weren’t going to stick around and we wouldn’t get the chance to meet you.” Turning to her son, Bea said, “You should have called us sooner. We would have made the trip.”

“Well, I...” Cretia glanced at Finn, hoping for some rescue. But his face wore the same confusion she felt. “I had to order a new phone and things. And Marie has been very kind to let me stay at the inn while I wait for them to arrive.”

“Well, come inside.” Bea wrapped an arm around her waist and ushered her toward the house. “Tell us all about yourself. You know, Finn never brought girls home. We didn’t get to meet any of his special friends...”

As Bea continued prattling on, Cretia saw Finn cringe.Just for a moment. It was clear he wanted her to stop talking, that she was winding down a road he’d rather not travel. But he never interrupted his mom. He didn’t clear his throat or cut in. Or even nudge his dad to end the painful chatter.

Instead, he squeezed his mom’s shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

Cretia knew his response wasn’t becauseshewas a so-called special friend. She wasn’t. She wouldn’t even begin to assume so.

Finn’s actions spoke to his love for his mom. Even when she embarrassed him.

Something pierced straight through her chest that felt a lot like regret. A lot like wishing she had a relationship with her mom that looked even a fraction like Finn and Bea’s.

Finn ambled toward the house. With his good eye, he searched for Cretia, who had dislodged herself from his mom’s grip and disappeared somewhere out of his range of vision. When he tried to turn to find her, his head spun and he stumbled.

“Finn?” His dad approached from behind him, wrapping an arm around his back. “Steady there.”

He was fine. Perfectly fine. Except he couldn’t find Cretia or hear her footsteps above the pounding of his heart in his ears. If she’d taken his parents’ arrival as an excuse to scoot back to the inn before he could say anything about their almost kiss, he’d kick himself in the seat of the pants.

Because he had wanted to kiss her.

Correction. He still wanted to kiss her.

But obviously not now. Not with his parents hovering around.

Maybe it had just been the moment. The weight of her hand over his heart. The smell of fresh hay. The warmth of her body beside his.

Then he caught sight of her on the far side of his dad, reaching for the screen door to hold it open for them all. The punch to his gut said it hadn’t just been the moment. Even as she ducked her chin and tucked an escaped strand of hair behind her ear, she called to him. Whether she meant to or not was still uncertain. But he felt the tug toward her all the same.

As their little parade traipsed inside, he shuffled behind his dad to Cretia’s side. Catching her eye, he tried for an apologetic smile, scratching at his missing beard and mouthing a silentI’m sorry.

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