Page 106 of Making Home with You
“Listen to me, Carla,” I demand, my voice firm.“You need to go to Finn.I’m not willing to risk my life over a guy.He’s yours.”
She looks at me and then at Finn, but I never take my eyes off her.I’m trusting that Finn hears the plea in my words and knows that I’m not talking to her, but to him.
I need him to lure her away from me.I need my words to be desperate enough that she believes me.
I watch her shoulders sag as if she’s suddenly relieved, and then I hear Finn’s deep voice murmur, “Come here, Carla.Come to me.”
Her grip on the knife is gone, it’s now resting in my hand, as I watch her stagger toward Finn’s outstretched arms.
But like hell if I’m going to let her reach him.
I have no idea if she’s still armed and I don’t want to find out.
Without missing a beat, I chuck the knife into the water, the sound causing Carla to look away from Finn, and it gives me just enough time to catch her off guard.
I catch her in the back of knees with my leg, sweeping her feet out from under her.She crashes hard onto the dock; her body slamming down and her head bouncing wildly like a ragdoll.
She goes unconscious the moment she hits the wooden surface, and by the time I take a breath, the officers have descended upon us and it’s out of my hands.
It’s Finn’s arms that grab me when I finally feel the weight of my day crash into me, and I let my body sink into him.
And for the first time that I can remember, I let myself cry.I’m sobbing into Finn’s chest as he runs his hands up and down my back.
I put my life at risk not once but twice tonight and it’s a place I never want to find myself again.
“Shhhh, Sarah,” Finn murmurs into my hair making a hushing noise as he presses his lips to the top of my head.“I’ve got you.It’s over.”
In between muffled sobs and hard drawn in breaths, I hear Finn’s conversation with Detective Greenwood.
He’s been cleared of any wrongdoing and his file will reflect that, but he will eventually need to meet with the detective to give his statement on what occurred tonight, as will I.
And as I finally calm down, my sobs turning to soft muted cries, Finn and I make our way back to the room at the inn.
I strip off my clothes and Finn follows suit, and heads to the bathroom, starting the oversized shower,
The waterfall of rain begins to cascade down on me as Finn steps in and takes my exhausted body in his arms.We stand like this for what feels like forever, his hands running up and down the length of my body.
“Let’s agree that there will be no more of you putting yourself in danger,” Finn says, and something about his words makes me smile.
I look up at him, and he leans down, our mouths meeting in a soft kiss.It’s a kiss that says so much without using the words.It says I love you.
It only takes one moment, one fleeting second of fear, of worry, of heart-shattering sadness to realize what a person means to you.Finn and I had that moment today and it’s something I never want to relive.
“I agree,” I say, nodding my head, but knowing that Finn’s job alone puts him in danger.“I guess we can just be grateful that you’re the chief in a small town where stuff like this only happens once in a lifetime.”
Finn chuckles a bit and I look up at him with a questioning looking on my face.“I guess, unless you’re part of my family.Those are the people who bring big drama to this town.”
I laugh too, thinking about Kelsey and Erin and now me, we’re the problem causers, the bringers of drama.But it is nice that we can laugh about it despite the horribleness that could have come from all of it.
I wake the next morning to the light filtering in through the crack in the curtain.It’s late, but Finn is still asleep.Obviously we both needed the rest.
I roll over and snuggle against his warm sleepy body and he slides his arms around me.
I’ve taken today off and so has Finn.We both need time to recover from what happened last night.And a part of me wonders if I’ll ever be able to set foot in the offices of Bolton and Fisher again.The memories that I hold are unpleasant and the idea of having to walk through that parking garage again makes my stomach turn.But I guess people have dealt with worse things and moved on with their lives.
As if Finn can read my mind he says, “Have you ever thought about starting your own business?”His voice is husky with sleep and for a second, I wonder if he’s talking in his sleep.
“You awake?”I ask, tilting my head to look up at him.
