Beth’s mind went as numb as her skin as it tried to process this. He still loved her. She felt like she should say something, but not one word came to mind. Should she admit her jealousy? Should she say that sometimes she thought she still loved him? How she sometimes thought about their derailed marriage, the sparkling beginning to what was supposed to be their deliriously happy life together? But she’d push the thoughts aside because they overwhelmed her. She didn’t know if she still loved Finn. She didn’t know much of anything anymore. So she simply stared back.
Several centuries later, she heard Finn say, “So how ’bout we stop arguing for the rest of our time here?”
Beth nodded and started to shiver.
Melissa paddled over. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Finn said, “We’re fine. Bethany found Nemo. Wanted a closer look.”
Melissa laughed. “You’re not trying to drown each other, are you? Because if I didn’t know better, I’d think you two were still married.”
Beth shook from cold as she pushed her kayak through the water and onto the boat ramp. She dragged it up and out of the reservoir, then off to the side to make room for the others. She had to get a grip. Feelings she’d thought were long gone were popping up all over the place, like a Freudian game of Whac-A-Mole. And she was losing.
Come on, Beth! This is like a jumper class. You’ve had too many fences down to be in the ribbons, so use it as a learning experience. Get through the timers. After tonight, you won’t see Finn again.
Plans changed. Instead of dining at a restaurant, the wedding posse would have a casual dinner at Aspen Creek. Melissa made the announcement on the bus back to the kayak rental place after texting with Amanda. Finn was stoked because he could see the mountain home again and take mental notes on features that he could use in his proposal for the Frederick project. He was further stoked because he would be in Bethany’s temporary house for their last evening together. One last, sweet evening with Bethany. And a dozen other people. Hell, he’d take what he could get.
Bethany didn’t sit with him on the bus. Once at the kayaking school, Melissa and Nick gave her a ride to her truck, which she’d parked near the diner. Finn watched her black pickup pull away from the curb, then returned to the Jerome to shower and change.
Finn wanted to observe Aspen Creek in casual mode. He wanted to see where people gathered and how they flowed through the living space. He wanted a second look at the details that gave the house its character and adapt the best of them for his proposal to Frederick Associates.
This is what he told himself. It was research.
Yeah, right.
His detailed exploration of the architectural wonder that was Aspen Creek would have to wait. As soon as all the guests had arrived and secured some adult beverages on the patio, a football appeared. Amanda, knowing where this was headed, started to usher everyone off the patio and away from the various breakables, such as flower arrangements on the tables.
“She’s such a wet blanket,” a smiling Bethany said to Finn as she and her margarita passed him en route to the yard. It was the first she’d spoken to him since he’d arrived. He decided to let her come to him when she was ready. After lobbing that grenade in the reservoir, he wasn’t sure where they stood.
“I’ll say.” He followed her down the stone steps.
Kristen caught up with him, much to his dismay. “Finn!”
“Hi, Kristen.”
“Are you gonna play football?” Again, she made it sound so pornographic, and not in a good way. Which was saying something.
“Seems to be the thing to do.”
“I’ll be cheering for you.” She grabbed his head and kissed his cheek.
Just then, the football flew inches above their heads, instantly squelching the smooch. Exquisite timing.
Within minutes the group became two teams. Everyone clambered through the white fence into the pasture to begin the game, with Harris as referee. Screams and laughter filled the warm air, and long shadows rippled across the green of the irrigated pasture. It was, Finn thought, like one of those beer commercials, with a slew of beautiful people playing a pick-up game in a beautiful setting.
Turned out the wedding guests loved their football, or they were suitably inebriated to believe they loved it. Harris as ref was reason enough to keep playing, because he penalized players for infractions such as Margarita Spilling and Unattractive Grimacing. Forty-five minutes later, Finn’s team was behind, but he had a plan. He would go long. He was still sober, so he could outmaneuver the happy, wobbly defense. Besides, he wanted to end the game so he could talk to Bethany. And he was hungry. Isn’t anyone else hungry?
The play began. Finn was in the clear. He ran hard—otherwise, what was the point?—and turned back, looking for the ball. There it was. A decent spiral from Nick, arrowing right for him. Perfect.
“Go, Finn!” It was Bethany. His Bethany, cheering for him. He glanced toward her a split second before the ball buried itself in his waiting embrace.
Then he was in the air. Spinning. Slamming to the ground. Hitting hard. He heard a crack and knew it was one of his bones.
So much for his great play.
6
Finn!” Beth yelled upon seeing her ex-husband, who still loved her, on the ground. Grady crouched next to him. Beth couldn’t see Finn’s face, but she heard him moan. It was one of the more terrible sounds she’d ever heard.
Everyone gathered around him, a panting, sweaty group of still-beautiful people.
“Finn! Finn, baby, what’s going on?” Kristen yelled as she ran over. Like she was some grizzled army surgeon, ready to field-dress Finn’s injury. She stood behind Grady and put her hand on his shoulder. Because she was so traumatized, she was about to swoon. Or she was steadying Grady. Give me a break.
Grady said to Kristen, “Excuse me, I need a little room here.” The geologist backed off.
Ha! Kristen was harmless, and for all Beth knew was a fantastic person, but Beth was happy the geologist was leaving the next day.
Beth knelt by Finn’s hip.
“Hi, honey,” Finn said to Beth. “Did you hear my bone break?” He sounded almost proud. “I can get up.”
“No, buddy,” Grady said. “Not yet.”
She sublimated the nausea fomenting in her stomach. She smiled and felt it tremble on her lips. “Do you think your thigh bone is broken? Your femur?” Please say no please say no please say no.
He blinked at her. “No. Lower. My knee hurts. So does my ankle. My lower leg. But not my thigh.”
Beth realized she had been holding her breath. She released it.
“You’re sure?” asked Grady.
“Not my femur,” Finn said. “Christ, what happened?”
Grady said to Harris, “Get a blanket, would you? And scissors, please?”
“On it,” Harris said. It was the first time Beth had seen Harris quipless.
Grady said to Finn, “It’s not your femur. That’s good. I’m going to cut through your jeans to make sure nothing’s broken through.”
“You might have a concussion,” Beth said.
“Why?” Finn asked. “Did I say something naughty?”
“No more than usual,” Beth said, and made Finn smile.
He was staring at her oddly. “You’re gorgeous,” he said, then closed his eyes.
Beth said, “Yeah, you’re in shock. I repeat, you might have a concussion, so keep your eyes open.”
He did. “Five years later and you’re still bossy.” He looked at Grady. “Who hit me?”
“That would be me,” Grady said.
“Helluva hit,” Finn said.
“Yeah. Sorry about that. We’ll take care of you, though, don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”
Harris returned with a blanket, scissors, and a bag of ice. Grady cut up
the leg of Finn’s jeans. Beth squeezed Finn’s hand. The sound of the scissors severing the fabric seemed unnaturally loud.
Grady looked at Amanda. “Good. Femur’s okay and no open fracture. But we need an ambulance—it’ll be tough to move him.”
“No, no,” Finn said. “You got all these guys here. I don’t need no stinkin’ ambulance.”
The group agreed, murmuring things like, “We’ll take him,” and “No problem.”
Finn added, “Look, it’s just a broken leg. I don’t want to take an ambulance away from a true emergency. I’m serious here. I don’t want to tie up an ambulance for this.”
Grady shook his head. “I don’t know . . .”
“I do,” Finn said. “No ambulance. I’m not bleeding, there’s no bone sticking out. I’m not having a heart attack or a baby. You guys can help me to a car—hell, put me in the back of Bethany’s truck with this blanket and some of your good scotch and I’ll be fine.”
Grady shrugged. “You heard the man.” Then, to Finn, “You get your way.”
Amanda touched Grady’s shoulder and asked, “Do you know an orthopedist I should call?”
“Not offhand. But Gustav will—there are plenty in Aspen. Call him, wouldja honey?”
“Who’s Gustav?” Finn asked.
“Only the best doctor in Aspen,” Amanda said. “He’ll know who to send you to.”
“Be right back, Dr. McDreamy. Try not to break anyone else’s legs while I’m gone.” Amanda winked, and jogged up to the house to use the landline because as Beth knew, cell reception was iffy in the pasture and almost nonexistent in the barn.
Beth took the ice and carefully rested it on Finn’s knee. “Is that good?”
“Yeah,” Finn said. “Would you mind kissing it and making it better? I might not have to go to the hospital at all.”
“You’re still in shock,” Beth said, but smiled. Her nausea had settled. Good ol’ Finn could calm a barracuda.
Beth rode with Amanda and Grady as they took Finn to the Aspen Valley Hospital ER, then spent the rest of the evening there. Lucky for him, the staff was well versed in treating broken bones, although winter was their happenin’ season. They scheduled surgery for the next morning and kept him overnight. She sat at his bedside, watching him sleep, until around eleven. Then they all went home. She would have preferred just Amanda in the car—she wanted to talk—but Grady was a gentleman and sometimes overprotective and refused to leave them.
“I was thinking,” Grady said to Beth as he piloted the BMW SUV along highway eighty-two. “I hope you don’t mind, but I want Finn to stay with us until he’s better. He can’t go home for at least a few weeks. I guess he lives up here somewhere, but he’ll need help. He said his place has a lot of stairs, and there’s no way he’ll be able to negotiate them. What do you think?”
It was dark in the mountains, with no city nearby to lighten the skies and blot out the stars. Beth could hardly keep her eyes open as she stared out the backseat window at the mostly empty road and dark forest. Relief and unease coursed through her at Grady’s proposal, probably because she was exhausted, and the thought of having Finn in the same house pleased and annoyed her. In the tumult of the past hours, she hadn’t thought about where he’d recover.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I mean, it’s your house, you can do whatever you want.”
“Grady did practically kill him,” Amanda said. “It’s the least he can do.”
Beth could see her friend smile at her movie-star husband.
Grady said, “I did not practically kill him. I was helping my team.”
Finn couldn’t believe his luck. Before even he knew it was what he wanted, Bethany had asked him to marry her. Over the years he had imagined this moment, although he’d opted for the more traditional route where he would ask her to marry him, but he wasn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth. They were married next to a stream, in a beautiful meadow. His family was there, as well as several members of the cast from The Godfather. Marlon Brando looked great, although he was carrying around a pet badger that he made everyone shake hands with. Finn and Bethany went to Paris on their honeymoon, but had to carry their suitcases with them wherever they went, and much of Paris looked like the moon. However, the sex more than made up for any inconveniences.
And then he woke from his dreams, which were inspired by pain-eating narcotics. But this part wasn’t a dream—every time he woke, there was Bethany, next to his hospital bed. He wasn’t completely sure why—he wasn’t in critical condition or anything—but he was glad she was. It was comforting.
His time in Aspen Valley Hospital sped by because he was so heavily sedated. They screwed his bones back together on Monday morning and told him he couldn’t fly for a month—how could he run his business if he couldn’t fly? The Branson house wasn’t finished. Hell’s bells. He’d get a big dose of the virtual office. He’d also gotten a big dose of morphine.
“Finn? Finn? Finn, are you awake?”
Finn was not awake, or at least didn’t want to be. He was onstage in a rock band with Tobey Maguire, Heidi Klum, and Plato. The bassist was an actual grizzly bear. Several dead presidents were in the audience. Bethany was his main groupie. He was currently standing on the head of a dancing elephant, playing lead guitar and singing. It was all good.
He opened his eyes. Bethany was talking, but she was no longer his lead groupie. She was his ex-wife. Wait, where am I? Right. Aspen Creek. Amanda and Grady’s house. Correction, Amanda and Grady’s estate. But they didn’t like to call it that because they were still regular folks, even though Grady was an international movie star and Amanda was short-listed for the Olympic team. They were a quirky power couple, but resisted the title. That’s what made them irresistible—they were unaffected, funny, charming, kind, and fun to be around.
And Bethany was taking care of him. His own private nurse. Which would have generated all sorts of pornographic thoughts, but for now the only thing he could get truly excited about was his next dose of Percocet, because the pain in his leg was unearthly.
Thoughts meandered around in his aching head like tourists on the last day of vacation, making it hard to focus. But Bethany was talking to him. He opened his eyes, even though they felt cemented shut.
“Hey, babe,” he said. He realized too late that his greeting—which had been a staple of their marriage—was out of place here and now. If she called him on it, he’d blame the Percocet.
“How are you feeling?”
“Not bad.”
“You’re going to be just fine. What would you like for lunch? Do you need more pillows? You’re supposed to keep your leg elevated. You’re looking much better today. Much more ruggedly handsome.”
He smiled. “You must’ve taken some of my drugs.”
“I prefer Harris’s cocktails.”
Finn tried to focus, but his thoughts had become wandering tourists again, strolling aimlessly and getting lost, like he and Bethany had done in Venice on their honeymoon. He looked at the clock on the bookshelf. It was tough to keep track of time because he slept so much. It was almost two. It occurred to him he wasn’t sure of the day.
“What day is it?”
“Wednesday.”
Whoa! “I’ve been here for ten days already?”
“You were in the hospital for five. Then here for five. But you’ve been sleeping a lot, which is good.”
It felt like one long day where all he’d done was sleep. Had Bethany asked him about lunch? He was hungry. He wanted salt.
“Can I have chicken soup?”
“Coming right up.” She touched his arm and left.
Beth couldn’t think of a better place to recuperate than the new guest cottage at Stately Wayne Manor.
“Grady couldn’t stand the thought of his mother sleeping in the same house with us after we got married,” Amanda had told
Beth. “When she visits in Malibu, at least she can have her own wing. Grady loves this place. It’s his escape. He built the cottage so his mother wouldn’t bang on our bedroom door whenever she feels like it. Which she has done.”
The cottage was made of logs, just like the main house and the barn. It was mostly one big room with a huge built-in bed, built-in drawers, a walk-in closet, a fully equipped kitchen with a table, reading nook with two comfy chairs and built-in shelves stocked with books, a desk with a state-of-the-art computer, a sitting area with a pullout sofa, and chairs facing a big ol’ TV and fireplace, a bathroom with a shower and claw foot tub, and a wraparound porch with its own private hot tub. It was cozy yet spacious, so that two people could stay there without feeling like they were on top of each other—unless they wanted to be.
Beth heated a can of chicken soup, sat in the bedside chair, and waited for him to wake. His eyes were closed. Yes, he was still handsome even though his face was pale and thinner. He wore a gray T-shirt and several days’ worth of stubble. He wore both very well.
Finn opened his eyes. The Percocet kept him from looking perky. Still, “heavy-lidded” worked for him because he looked like he was in full seduction mode, and she didn’t mind that at all.
“Mmm,” he said. “Smells good.”
She handed him the mug, making sure he had a good hold on it before she let go.
“Thank you.” He ate a spoonful and winced, his eyebrows going all turbulent. When he wasn’t wincing because of something she did, he was adorable.
“Too hot?” she asked.
“It’s fine. Thanks.”
“Let’s set some ground rules. If you’re the slightest bit cranky, I’ll hide the Percocet where you’ll never find it.” He gave her a look as he blew on the next spoonful of soup.
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