Interception
The Finnegan Brothers Book 4
By Morgan Black
Interception
Published By Metamorphosis Books
Copyright © 2014 Metamorphosis Books
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or events are entirely the work of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, or places is entirely coincidental.
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Cover art by Cover Up Designs
1
“Okay girl so I am trying to understand but I still don't get it. You breakup with Micah because you're a freaking idiot and then you call Blake? And totally panic because his new girl answers? Girl if you want this boy back you have got to get a new set of balls on you.”
I swirled the ice around in my glass with my straw. The ice was suddenly more interesting than Zoe's intense glare. “I don't know what I was supposed to do. It wasn't working with Micah and he knew that I still had feelings for Blake. I couldn't just try to keep things going when it wasn’t there with him.”
She nodded, “That's true it wasn't. But is it fair to Blake? I mean doesn't he have a right to be happy? And I know this is going to sound like a shock to you but maybe he can be happy without you.”
I stop stirring and looked directly at her. “I thought I was happy without him Zoe. But I'm not. I'm fucking miserable all the damn time. And I know that I made my bed and I have to lie in it but I was hoping my best friend would back me up.”
She pulled back shocked by my reaction. “I always have your back Lena. But when it comes to those Finnegan boys, you lose your head.”
We both sat there for a minute in silence. I had called Zoe after lying in my bed all day contemplating my future or potential not future with Blake. When Harli answered I didn’t say anything, I just hung up the phone. And then I called Zoe at dinnertime and told her she needed to meet me at our favorite Chinese restaurant. I was filling my empty heart with carbs, and it felt good. But Zoe’s reaction wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought she would totally have my back and be ready to kill Harli just as much as I was, but instead she was being all self-righteous. It wasn't something I was used to. I took another bite of my lo mein before she started speaking again.
“What I meant is that if Blake is who you really want then you've got a fight for him girl. Harli would be a dumb ass bitch to give him up that quick.”
I knew she was right and as much as I didn't want to say that somewhere Harli had some brains, I knew she did. She been paying very close attention to our conversation at the restaurant and I had to admit that when I sat down this evening I'd made sure she wasn't somewhere among the crowd. Suddenly I felt like there were a lot more people paying attention to the drama in my life. “I know, I can't expect him to just take me back after all these years. You are right, I never got over him. He's what I wanted this whole time. He was safe and stable, he was exactly what I needed when my parents split up but I felt the need to be rebellious and volatile. I was an idiot.”
She shrugged, “We all were Lena. It was freshman year, remember I had just shocked the hell out of everybody and signed up for the military? I had just come out of the closet, your parents got a divorce, and Slade was there. I don't blame you. I mean we all made mistakes back then.”
I was confused, she had been on a perfect path since high school. Sure she hadn’t told her parents about liking girls as early as we all thought she would but it didn't make her a bad person. “What are you talking about?”
She set down her fork and looked directly into my eyes. “I almost got a dishonorable discharge.”
I was shocked, “What? I mean I knew you were a badass but nothing like that. You’ve done super well in the military.” She had gone in for medicine and was now a RN. I had always been impressed by her dedication.
“I was on a base during boot camp and I met a girl. And let's just say that my peers didn't really take to the fact that I was a lesbian. Neither did my commanding officer. But her name was Jessica, and she was gorgeous and I couldn't keep my hands off of her. It did not help at all that she was the CO’s daughter.” She looked down at her hands.
My mouth dropped open, “You're kidding me.”
She smiled, “You always said that I had good taste. And she was tasty. But it was just a tryst, there were never really any feelings there. She hadn’t even come out. So when I promised that I wasn’t a lesbian and I was just experimenting because I was young, and I ran a lot of miles, they let me off the hook. I got transferred and some extra punishments and never heard from her again. I know we’re allowed to come out in the army now but it's still not really accepted. Especially for women. I mean I hang out with a couple gay guys on my base now but that's really it. Before Clara came along I was really on my own.”
“You really care about her don't you?”
She smiled again, this time much more genuine. “I brought her home to meet my parents didn’t I?”
“Oh my God are you going to propose?”
She laughed, “Not yet! But I don’t know maybe when I get out next year. I could definitely see us going down that road.”
“But what if she proposes first?”
She made a face, “She would never consider that. She is a princess and she would love for me to get down on one knee and make a grand gesture.”
I took a sip from my drink before lifting it up to her. “Well then cheers to you. For getting over past mistakes.”
She raised her glass, “And for not making new ones.” She winked at me.
I took a long sip from my glass. “So how do I go about doing that?”
She shook her head, “Girl if I knew, I'd help you solve all your problems.” She drank from her own and finished it.
When she set her glass down there was recognition on her face. “Oh I forgot to give you something,” she dug down through her purse before sitting back up. She held a small piece of paper in her hands, it looked business card sized. “I got the number for where Slade is, they said friends can call him now. I thought you would want to know.” She reached across the table and handed me the card, Green Valley Rehabilitation Facility. It was only a couple hours from here. I touched the raised lettering slightly with the tip of my pointer finger.
“Thanks.” I tried to not show the emotion in my voice but Zoe knew me better than anyone.
“You should call him Lena. He knows Blake better than anyone else, he might be able to help.”
I shook my head, “I don't think that would be a good idea.” I thought back to my conversation with Slade on the roof. I was a big part of why Slade was in there. Zoe looked at me empathetically. “But thanks I’ll think about it.”
2
I lounged on my window seat paging through a book that I'd been working on for over an hour when Mackenzie walked in. My brain hadn't taken in a single page, I was too focused on my own issues to get into the drama of the characters but she didn’t know that. “Whatcha reading?”
She flopped down on my bed, her blonde hair splayed out on all sides. She was in sweats today, and looked pretty relaxed considering the rehearsal dinner was tomorrow. I thought the impending wedding would put her little bit more on edge but since our morning with Charity at the
bridal salon Mackenzie had really seemed to warm up to her. It was weird.
“Nothing important.” I shut the book.
“What are you up to today? Anything good?”
“Not really. I was just hanging around.”
I could sense she came in for more than the fact that she was just bored. “What do you need Mackenzie?”
She turned on her side to look at me, “I want to know what happened with Micah.”
“I ended it. It was the right thing to do.”
“And?” She raised an eyebrow at me.
“And I have no one to go to the wedding with. Looks like it will just be me and you.”
She made a face, “Why don’t you ask Blake to go? I mean he knows all the family.”
It was true, this kid paid attention more than I gave her credit for. “Okay Kenz spit it out. Why are you really here?”
She sat up and licked her lips, “I'm here because I know you still have feelings for Blake. That's why you broke up with Micah. And now I think you should fight like hell to get him back.”
I was starting to put the puzzle pieces together, Mackenzie wasn’t just laying around today. The girl never wore sweats like this unless she was working out, she had been out on a run. “Where did you see them together?”
She rolled her eyes, “A little coffee shop down on the corner. Their coffee sucks by the way, don't go there. But anyway they were sitting outside together and she was all over him, it was gross. Even when you two were like really going at it you weren't like that. She was just, I don't know, immature. Self-conscious or something, like she doesn’t trust him.”
I knew exactly what that looked like. I'd seen college friends of mine do it a million times. They were the ones who were worried their boyfriends were cheating on them. So maybe Harli did know that I'd called him, I mean I guess my name would've come up on caller ID. And if she was answering his phone, I was sure she had seen his text messages. His last one told me he needed me, I bet he didn't say things like that her. “So what do you think I should do?” Asking my kid sister for advice, I was at an all time low.
I was ready for her to tell me to initiate some type of major smack down, that was Mackenzie’s style. What she said shocked me. “Yes you have to fight for him, but in a subtle way. Because if she gets more jealous she’ll just stay closer, and you won't get your chance. You have to take your time and think about it, you have to let him know that you're really serious.”
Was I really serious? I just ended a perfectly good relationship with Micah for him so I guess that meant I was. I looked at my phone that was sitting next to me in a perfect ray of sunlight coming through the windows. No missed calls or text messages. I realized I had to call him. I had to clear my mind.
“Thanks for the advice Kenz, now get lost.” I shook my phone at her.
She shot me one of her dazzling smiles before bouncing out the door. I held the phone in my hand and took a deep breath. I stood and crossed my room to my desk where I set the book down. I reached into my purse and pulled out the business card Zoe had given me.
I wasn't going to call Blake, not before I talked to Slade.
I dialed the number and the phone rang a few times before a receptionist answered, “Green Valley Rehabilitation Hospital, how may I direct your call?”
I took a deep breath, “I'd like to talk to a patient please.”
“And which one is that?”
“Slade Finnegan. My name is Lena.”
“Yes I see here he’s allowed phone calls now. I’ll put you through.”
The phone rang a few more times before I heard his gruff voice. “Lena?”
I sat down on the edge of my bed and absentmindedly crumpled up the business card in my hand. “Hi Slade. How are you? Are they treating you okay in there?”
I no idea what to say to him. What do you say to someone who's in rehab?
“Yeah I'm okay. They’re pretty cool here, the first few days were pretty rough. That’s on me though you know? I should have realized my drinking was out of control a while ago. You know Lena it wasn’t you. None of it was your fault.”
“I know Slade. I know it was about Megan. But I should have been here, I should have helped you. I am so sorry…”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. This was my battle to fight. How are you? How’s Blake?”
So he hadn’t talked to him. That meant he probably didn’t have the answers I was looking for.
“He's okay I think. I mean I haven't talked to him too much lately, he has a new girlfriend.”
I could almost hear him smile on the other end, “Oh? And what are you going to do about that?”
“What you mean?”
“Lena I'm in rehab. I'm not a psych ward. I know exactly how you feel about him. Your face when you realized that he had heard what we were talking about, you were crushed. You didn't want him to think any less of you than he had this whole time that you were apart. I know that feeling.”
I sighed, “You're right. I still feelings for him. But I've no idea what the hell I'm going to do about it.”
He paused, “If there's one thing I've learned in here, in therapy and don’t you laugh at me, it's that you have to tell people how you feel. Like I should really tell you that none of this is your fault and I really miss Megan. And you should tell Blake that you still love him and that night was a mistake. Because that's the truth. Lena, you and I both know it. And it's not fair to him to keep lying to yourself or to him.”
Whoa. Real actual words about feelings from Slade Finnegan. I laid back on my bed with my feet just dangling over the edge. I wasn't sure I could breathe.
“You have to tell him Lena. And you have to do it before you leave again.”
I sat back up, he was right. I was leaving in just a few days and even though the past few weeks had been completely insane I had to tell him before I went back to Florida, or I may never get another chance. “I'll tell him. And Slade take care of yourself okay? In case I don't get to see you before I leave. “
He laughed, “You won’t be seeing me for a while Lena. But that's okay too. Bye.”
“Bye Slade.” I ended the call looked at my phone. That was the first time I'd ever heard Slade talking in such a serious tone. There was definitely a very small part of my heart that he still owned for saving me that night. Even though he may have royally screwed up my relationship I don't know what I would've done without him. I turned the phone over a couple more times before finally clicking on the messages tab and typing to Blake.
We need to talk. It's important. I talked to Slade.
3
It took me another whole five minutes to press send but once I did I laid back on my bed and pulled a pillow over my face. I just wanted to hide from the world. I laid like that for almost an hour. I must've dozed off at some point but I didn't hear any notifications come from my phone. Maybe I was already too late. I pulled the pillow off of my face I noticed that my room had gotten significantly darker, a storm was rolling in. Happened a lot at the beach, but it wouldn’t last very long. But for some reason it reminded me of when Blake and I used to run in the rain together. It also reminded me of where we used to go when the rain was too much and we couldn’t get home.
When I played piano there was an old theater on Main Street that had a grandbaby that I used to practice on sometimes. Blake and I would run in the rain and go to that piano. We had a blanket in one of the lockers that the crew used and he would lay it out on the stage and listen to me play for hours and hours until we couldn't hear the rain anymore on the roof. The owner knew that we were there and I think she thought our love story was romantic so she just let us go. I wondered if a place is still open. I wondered if Blake even remembered those days. I was tempted to text him again. Tell him I was going there, but instead I found myself changing into running clothes and lacing up my sneakers.
I tore down the stairs and ran out the front door not even remembering to close it. As soon as I got outside the chill
of the rain felt like freedom. I hadn't even stretched and only half a mile and my run I was feeling it, but I didn't care. I pushed through, my legs screaming at me in agony. My body protested since I hadn't trained like this in years but I didn't care. I just had to see that old theater and I had to feel the keys underneath my fingers. My breathing was labored and I only stopped once when I was afraid I was going to throw up. As I stood bent over heaving the rain pounded on my back. But I was just two blocks away and I took a deep breath and kept going. When I finally stopped for good I found myself in front of the dilapidated building in the pouring rain. I was soaked to the bone and it was a colder day than I'd realized.
I looked at the old metal doors with the glass panes in each one. I traced my fingers along the wet glass and pulled on a handle. Locked of course. I gazed up at the marquee and saw Anything Goes was the next show and it didn’t start for another two weeks. Then I remembered that there was a back entrance. I couldn't avoid the puddles as I walked through the dark alley to the back door which was always left slightly ajar. I slipped into the darkness and had to count my steps to remember where a small flight of stairs were. I had done it a hundred times with Blake, it felt so lonely doing it by myself. I tried to shake off the chill of the water on my skin. I hoped I could make the loneliness dissipate as well.
As I reached stage left I saw that all the stage lights were on. I could just see the tip of the grandbaby piano sitting in the corner of the orchestra pit. I had to touch it. As I started to cross the stage a woman approached me from the opposite side. If I remembered correctly she was the owner.
“Oh my dear! Were you out in this storm?”
I suddenly realized how cold I was, my teeth started to chatter. “Yes ma'am. I went for a run.”
She cocked her head to the side and studied me closely. “You're the piano player.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, “I was.”
The wrinkles around her eyes told me she was still giving me the once over. “I think you still are.”
Interception (Finnegan Brothers Book 4) Page 1
