Page 36 of Making Home with You
“She’s not right for you, Finn, you’ll see,” Carla says, her voice cold.“And you will regret it.”
Our eyes meet through my windshield and I see the hardness is back in hers now.Without saying another word, I slam the door shut, start the car and drive out.But even as I glimpse in my rear-view mirror and see Carla standing in the darkened parking lot, I know this is far from being over.
Fuck.
It’s almost eight by the time Sarah’s train gets back into Rockport and as I stand on the platform waiting for her, I force myself to stop thinking about Carla and what she meant by me regretting things.
Instead I find myself wondering how long Sarah can possibly keep this up.Sure, it’s only been one day, but there’s no way she’s going to be able to continue working days like this; a six a.m.train in the morning and then home some fourteen hours later.It’s too much, and even though I don’t want it to happen, I know her moving to Boston is an inevitability.
“Hey,” I say, smiling as she walks toward me and I pull her into my arms.“How’d it go?”
Sarah shrugs and I can practically feel her exhaustion as she sags against me.“Okay,” she says, pulling back.“It’s really sales focused, which is not my thing, but at least it’s a job.”
I lean in and kiss her before asking, “Were the people nice at least?”
She shrugs again, looking away as she says, “Yeah, they were.”
I duck down and meet her stare.“You sure?”I ask.
Sarah nods.“They were all fine,” she says, smiling a little as she leans back in to kiss me.“I’m starving, should we go eat?”
I steer her toward the car, an arm around her shoulders.“You want to go back to my place instead?”I ask.“We don’t have to go out if you’re too tired?”
“You wouldn’t mind?”she asks, opening the passenger door.
I smile across the roof at her.“Of course not,” I tell her.“How about I drop you at Erin and Ryan’s,” I suggest.“You grab some things so you can stay the night and I’ll go get us some food.Meet you back at my place?”
Sarah returns the smile.“Thank you, Finn, seriously.”
I walk around the car now and take her face in my hands.“Babe,” I whisper, leaning in to kiss her.“It’s all good.You’ve had a really long day.”
Her eyes close as she leans her head against my chest, her hands sliding around my waist.“You’re so good to me,” she whispers.
We stand in silence for a few minutes, hugging in the parking lot of the train station while commuters file out around us.Most of them walk to parked cars, driving off alone, while a few are getting picked up by a family member.
I watch them all, wonder if this could become my life, picking Sarah up each evening and taking her home with me.It’s a fantasy I never thought I wanted, but somehow with her, I find there’s a part of me that does.
Although I will never admit this to Carla, there is something different about Sarah.But it’s not just different to Carla, its different to every other woman I’ve ever met before.Sure, we have this intense attraction and chemistry between us that I’ve never had with anyone, but it’s also more than that.She’s the first woman who doesn’t have any expectations of me.Doesn’t try to make me or us into something we aren’t.
And while I wish I could somehow tell Sarah all of this, part of me is too scared to admit it out loud, especially when I know she’s eventually going to move to Boston and all of this could be over before it ever has a chance anyway.
“Come on,” I say, pulling back.“Let’s get you something to eat.”
I drop Sarah at Erin and Ryan’s, reminding her again where my spare key is in case she gets to my place before I do, before heading out to grab us some food.I half expect to run into Carla again, given she seems to have a way of magically appearing wherever I am, but thankfully I don’t.By the time I get back home, Sarah’s car is in my drive.
“Hey, wine or beer?”Sarah says, holding a bottle of each in her hands as I walk in the front door.
I grin, dropping the food on the kitchen table and pulling her into my arms.“How about this instead?”I ask before kissing her hard on the lips.
I feel her smile against my mouth, before her lips part and she deepens the kiss.Walking us backward, I back her up against the kitchen counter, letting go of her only to take the drinks from her hands.
Sarah’s hands slide around my waist and under my sweater now, her fingers trailing up my spine.“How about we eat and then take a shower?”she murmurs.
“Deal,” I say, kissing the tip of her nose.“Open the wine.”
We chat over dinner, with Sarah telling me about her first day and how her boss’s last assistant now has some high-profile job within the company that could be something Sarah could have one day if she puts in the time.
It feels like she’s holding something back though or she isn’t as excited about the job as she originally thought she’d be.I try to ask her more about that, find out what’s bothering her, but she assures me it’s just the sales aspect, how it’s not really her thing.
