Page 79 of Sometimes You Stay

With a shake of her head, she said, “You could come with me.” But there was no hope in her words.

“I can’t leave. I have too many mouths counting on me.”

“I know.” She blinked, and a tear escaped down the pink of her cheek, leaving a silver track in its wake. “I thought I’d ask, just in case.”

Cupping her face in his hands, he leaned his forehead ever so gently against hers and inhaled deeply. “Cretia Martin, you are the most amazing woman. I’m so glad that I got to know you.” Pinching his eyes closed, he dropped his hands and pressed his lips against her cheek for a long second before stepping back.

“I’ll be forever grateful you were there at the harbor. You and Joe.” She squatted down in front of Joe and hugged his neck as he licked her cheek and slobbered on her shoulder. “Thank you, buddy. You’re the best boy.”

Then she turned, walked up the steps, and disappeared from sight. Leaving him adrift, with no one to pull him out of the water.

Finn woke the next morning with a wild urge to see his parents. Maybe he hoped there would be some magic in his mom’s hug or a word of wisdom from his dad. But as always, the chores wouldn’t wait. The animals had to eat, and he couldn’t leave them alone, even for one night.

As he checked on Bella and her pups, an odd idea popped into his head. It sounded a lot like Cretia’s voice.You don’t have to do it alone.

Maybe that was right, but practically speaking, the work had to be done. And there was no one else to do it.

He rinsed out and replaced Bella’s water bowl and made sure she had plenty of kibble before scratching her head. “Doing okay, girl?” She barked, and her pups yipped their agreement. Everyone was good and healthy.

Maybe he could ... It would just be for a night. He wasn’t abandoning them or foisting his responsibilities on anyone else. Everyone needed a day off every now and then. Everyone got sick once in a while.

He hadn’t had a day off in more than ten years. Maybe it was time.

After the stalls were mucked and every one of the animals fed and watered, Finn trudged back to the house and collapsed in his desk chair. Maybe it was his imagination, but he could almost smell Cretia’s shampoo lingering at this spot where she’d ordered her new electronics, tracked down her laptop, and looked like she fit right into his home.

Scraping his nails across his whiskers, he blew out a giant breath as Joe sauntered up to him and plopped his big head on his leg. “I miss her too, boy.”

Sitting around his house wasn’t going to fix the ache in his chest, so he flipped open his phone and punched in the number to the landline across the street. His fingers still remembered the pattern his mom had made him memorize.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Natalie, it’s Finn. Is Justin around?”

“Yeah, let me get him for you.” There was a noisy handoff on the other side, first Natalie calling for her husband and then a few whispered words that sounded an awful lot like, “Cretia left this morning.”

Good to know the town grapevine was in perfect working order.

“Finn, what’s up?” Justin said.

“Listen, I was thinking about—that is, if you’re available—”

He scrubbed a hand through his hair and rolled his eyes at himself. He sounded like an imbecile. Cretia would probably tell him it was because he was out of practice. He just needed to get his inside processing out, so he took a deep breath and released his words with it.

“Would you mind feeding my animals tonight and tomorrow morning?”

Justin laughed. “Man, we’ve been neighbors our whole lives, and I’ve been waiting for you to ask. You’ve helped me out with a dozen projects the last few years, and Natalie said I was taking advantage of you.”

Finn cracked a smile. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll be over in a minute, and you can show me where your feed is and who gets what.”

Finn completed the quick tour, thanked Justin for his help, packed a bag, and was on the road within an hour.Joe Jr. sat shotgun, his fur waving in the wind as he stuck his head out the rolled-down window. Finn savored the midday sun and the fresh air as they tooled along the highway, but he still felt a strange weight on his shoulders. It wasn’t precisely tied to Cretia, though her words echoed in his mind.

“I only met your dad once, but that doesn’t sound like him.”

For his whole adult life, he’d believed his dad questioned his ability to carry on their legacy. But with one sentence, Cretia had planted a seed of doubt in that certainty.

She was right. It didn’t sound like him. There was a lie somewhere, and only one person could tell him the truth.

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