by Cindy Kirk
The sentiment provided little solace. All Finley could see was her mo— er, Shannon, hugging and cuddling her new daughter. The daughter she kept. The little girl she loved.
“Did you scream? I like to scream when I’m mad.”
Finley exhaled a long breath. “I should have screamed. Instead I took it out on my dad and Michelle. Now they both probably hate me.”
The thought brought tears back to Finley’s eyes. She was wiping the moisture off on her sleeve when she felt Addie’s hand on her arm.
“Don’t worry about your dad,” Addie said confidently. “He’s always stuck by you.”
Finley found herself nodding. “My dad once gave up a football scholarship for me.”
“That’s a humongous deal.” Addie sounded suitably impressed. “They don’t just give those out to anybody.”
“Shannon even tried to get him to give me up so they could go to college and have fun together,” Finley confided, recalling a conversation she’d overheard once between her grandparents. “Dad told Shannon he’d never give me up. I was the most important thing in the world to him.”
When she’d heard that, Finley’s fears had disappeared. She knew then she’d always be able to count on him.
“See?” Addie said. “No worries about him. Now, Michelle...”
“You know, I think she’s starting to like me, Addie. Really like me. We had so much fun when I spent the night with her. And yesterday she taught me how to fry chicken.”
Addie cocked her head and thought for a moment. “Maybe Michelle could be your mom.”
“Maybe.” It was the most Finley could say. She was afraid to hope. Scared to tell Addie that when the three of them were together, sometimes she pretended she was out with her mom and dad.
“Look, there’s my mom and Michelle.” Addie pointed through the crowd. “They’re getting a snow cone, too.”
Finley opened her mouth to call out to them, but Addie grabbed her arm. Her eyes twinkled. “Let’s sneak up and surprise ’em.”
Even though it seemed a little juvenile, the thought of the shock on Lexi’s and Michelle’s faces made Finley smile. She nodded.
With Addie at her side, the two wove their way through the crowd until they were almost to them. Finley pulled Addie to a stop and put a finger to her lips when she heard her name.
“Finley is a nice girl,” Michelle said with a sigh. “But like most teenagers she can be moody and difficult at times.”
The smile on Finley’s lips faded and a roar filled her ears. Unfortunately the roar wasn’t loud enough to drown out all the rest of Michelle’s words.
“...marry Gabe.”
“You wouldn’t marry him because of Finley?” Lexi sounded shocked.
Michelle lowered her voice then, but Finley had already heard enough.
Addie looked at Finley, eyes wide. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
Finley grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her quickly in the opposite direction. Even once they were far away from the concession stand, Michelle’s words still rang in her ears.
“You can’t tell anyone what we heard. Understand?”
“I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” Addie repeated, looking as if she was about to cry.
Finley pressed her lips together. “She meant it.”
Now Finley just had to decide what she was going to do about it.
* * *
“Something is wrong with Finley.” Gabe handed Michelle a bowl filled with salad, then picked up a platter of steaks.
The clear evening was a perfect one to grill out. Gabe had even added extra dried cranberries to the salad because they were Finley’s favorite.
Michelle had barely seen the girl since the Fourth of July festivities last week. Later that night, Gabe had told her about running into a friend of Finley’s mother. Just hearing Gabe recount the story made Michelle angry. She understood why the girl had been so belligerent.
The knowledge made Michelle feel even worse about voicing those old doubts to Lexi. Thank goodness she’d also made it clear to her friend that she’d changed her mind.
“She’s been different.” Gabe opened the French door leading to the deck and motioned her outside. “There’s this look of profound sadness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before.”
“Have you spoken with her?”
“That’s the crazy thing.” Gabe placed the steaks on the grill. “She won’t talk to me. We’ve always been able to talk with each other.”
His phone buzzed just as Michelle opened her mouth.
“Do you mind if I take this? It’s my mom. My dad has been having some medical tests. So far so good. But—”
Michelle waved him silent. “Answer it.”
She pointed to the doorway, offering him privacy, but he shook his head.
“Hi, Mom. Everything okay with Dad?” His expression stilled. “No, Finley isn’t here right now. I’m expecting her any moment.”
As he listened, Michelle saw a range of emotions cross his face. “This has to be some kind of mistake. She’d never...yes, I will speak with her. I’ll call you later.”
“What’s going on?” Michelle asked. “Is something wrong?”
“It’s Finley,” he stammered. “She called my parents and told them she hates it here and wants to live with them.”
Chapter Nineteen
Years ago, Gabe had gotten walloped in the chest with a two-by-four. All the air had been forced from his lungs and he’d lain on the ground struggling to breathe. He remembered that feeling. He felt that way now.
“She wants to live with your parents?” Michelle pulled her brows together. “In Florida?”
The startled look on her face didn’t surprise him. Michelle knew Finley was close to her grandparents. There were pictures of them scattered throughout the house and Finley talked fondly of them.
But why would his daughter want to leave him? It didn’t make sense.
A door slammed in the other part of the house.
“She’s home,” Michelle murmured. “It’s best I leave.”
“No.” Gabe took her hand. “Stay. I’m sure this is simply a misunderstanding. My mother has been under so much pressure because of my dad going through all these tests that she probably misunderstood.”
Seconds later, Finley appeared in the doorway. Her gaze slid from Michelle to him to the grill. “I’m not hungry.”
“Not so fast,” Gabe said when she turned to leave. “I need to talk to you about something.”
The suddenly bored expression told him nothing.
“Grandma called. She said you want to live with them?”
He waited for his daughter to laugh, to say she’d just asked to visit them. After all, their home was in a fifty-five plus retirement community. Why would she ever want to live there?
Finley gave a curt nod. “That’s right.”
Gabe felt an icy fist of fear clench his heart. “But why? I thought you were happy in Jackson.”
“Well, you thought wrong.” Finley said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I haven’t been happy since we moved here. I’ve just been pretending. But I’m tired of pretending.”
Could it be true? Had he totally misread the situation? “Surely I’d have noticed if you were that unhappy—”
“You’ve been too busy to notice,” Finley sneered, her words sharp as a knife and designed to wound. “It’s always been that way. You work all these hours. Then when you are finally home, you want to spend time with your—” her gaze shifted to Michelle and her upper lip curled “—friends.”
Gabe’s heart stuttered. “Finley, you have to know how much you mean to me.”
“You’ve done your duty.” Her lips pressed together. “With me gone you’ll be free to live your life without a kid always in the way.”
He reached out to her, but she took a step back and shook her head.
“If I ever made you feel that you were an imposition, I’m sorry.” Even though his daughter hadn’t moved an
inch from her position in the doorway, Gabe could feel her slipping further away with each passing second. “That’s not how I feel. I don’t want you to go. Please—”
“I don’t want to live here with you anymore.” Finley lifted her chin. “You need to accept that and move on. Forget I even exist.”
Gabe crossed the distance between them in several long strides and pulled his daughter close. “I love you, Finley girl. I have from the moment I first saw you. Whatever is wrong, we can work it out. I promise.”
For a second, he swore she hugged him back. But just as hope surged, she jerked from his arms and shot him a look of disdain. “I’m going to live with Grandma and Grandpa. If you try to stop me, I’ll run away. Then you’ll never see me again.”
“Finley, honey, I don’t understand—”
“Trust me.” She met his gaze. “It won’t just be better for me, it’ll be better for you, too.”
* * *
Finley was scheduled to fly to Florida on Saturday. Gabe had tried everything to convince her to stay, but she wouldn’t budge. If he wouldn’t let her go to Florida, she’d run away.
Gabe had told Michelle his parents were confident that after a week in their retirement community, she’d beg to return to Jackson Hole. Gabe wasn’t so sure.
Michelle couldn’t shake the feeling that Finley’s actions had something to do with her. But how could that be? She’d spent the last three days trying to think why Finley was doing this when she so clearly loved her father, but kept coming up blank.
Her last appointment of the day had cancelled and instead of heading over to the hospital, she’d come to Hill of Beans hoping a caramel macchiato pick-me-up would be just what the doctor ordered. So far, it hadn’t improved her mood, but then she’d only gotten to the whipped cream.
“Your office manager thought I’d find you here.” Looking bright and sunny in a yellow linen suit, Lexi dropped into the chair on the opposite side of the table.
“How’s Addie holding up?” Michelle knew that Lexi’s daughter had been inconsolable when she’d heard the news.
“She and I had a long talk this morning.” Lexi’s amber eyes met Michelle’s. “I think I discovered why Finley’s leaving.”
“Did you tell Gabe?” Michelle straightened in her seat. “If he knows why, he may be able to convince her to stay.”
Lexi cocked her head. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Michelle wasn’t sure what kind of game Lexi was playing but it had to stop. Gabe’s future happiness was at stake. “Of course that’s what I want. Gabe has been miserable.”
“But if Finley is gone, then you and Gabe can be together.” Lexi’s eyes never left Michelle’s face. “No teenage daughter in the home. Isn’t that what you said you wanted?”
“I said that’s how I used to feel. But I also made it clear my feelings had changed.” In fact, hearing those words flow from her lips had made Michelle realize how wrong she’d been to ever think that way. She’d come to a simplistic conclusion to a complex issue. She’d made herself believe that Ed’s daughters were the root of her marital problems, taking the onus off her and Ed.
“Well, that’s not what Finley thinks.”
A sinking feeling filled the pit of Michelle’s stomach. “What are you saying?”
“She overheard us talking by the concession stand. But only bits and pieces. She drew her own conclusion.” A pained look crossed Lexi’s face. “Addie thinks Finley is leaving to pave the way for you and Gabe to be together. She wants her father to be happy.”
Michelle brought her fingers to her lips. “Oh, my God. Is that what this is all about?”
As Lexi slowly nodded, the puzzle pieces clicked into place. Suddenly it all made sense.
Gabe had been hurt. Finley had been hurt.
Because of me.
Michelle buried her face in her hands. Finley was willing to sacrifice her own happiness for her father. Her admiration for the teenager inched up another notch. She was a child any man or woman could be proud to call their daughter...including her.
“Michelle.” Lexi’s hand squeezed her shoulder. “You have to stop her from leaving.”
Michelle lifted her head and drew in a deep breath. “Trust me, I’ll take care of everything.”
* * *
“Thank you both for giving me this time.” Michelle took a seat in a chair, her palms sweaty, her heart pounding in her chest. “There’s a lot I have to say.”
Finley and Gabe sat at opposite ends of the sofa directly across from her. The girl had been griping when Michelle arrived about needing the time to finish packing for her early morning flight, but Gabe had insisted she could give Michelle fifteen minutes of her time.
“Go ahead.” Gabe offered an encouraging smile. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. “We’re listening.”
Finley’s gaze was directed out the French doors.
“If there was a lesson to be learned from the failure of my first marriage, it was the importance of communication.”
Even though Gabe had already heard the story, Finley hadn’t, so Michelle went on to talk about what had gone on with her stepdaughters and her first husband.
“That’s all very interesting.” Gabe looked puzzled. “But I’m not sure of the point.”
“The point is twofold.” Michelle took a breath. “The first is the failure of that marriage rested in the lack of communication between Ed and me. I initially blamed his daughters when the fault was with the two adults in the house.”
This next part wasn’t going to be quite as easy.
“After the breakup of my marriage, I vowed that I’d never be with a man who had teenagers—especially daughters—in the home.”
“You’d decided you didn’t want a teenage stepdaughter?” Gabe’s brows slammed together. “Then what the hell were you doing seeing me?”
“I didn’t plan for things to get serious.” She glanced at Finley. “And you misunderstood what I said to Lexi.”
Gabe gave her a long, hard stare. “What did you say?”
“I told Lexi that I’d initially been convinced that you weren’t the man for me.”
“Because of Finley.” The tiny muscle in his jaw jumped.
“Initially,” Michelle admitted, hating the hurt she saw mixed with the anger in his eyes. “But then I got to know and care for Finley. And I came to realize how wrong I was to blame Ann and Chrissy. Ed and I deserved the blame. We were the adults.”
Michelle turned to Finley, who looked stunned. “You heard only part of the conversation. I was angry with you, yes, over how you were acting. But you missed the part when I told Lexi how much you’d come to mean to me.”
“What does all this have to do with Finley leaving?” Gabe was pale beneath his tan.
“Finley thought I told Lexi I’d never marry a man with a teenager.” Michelle found a certain relief in getting it all out in the open. “I believe Finley is leaving because she wants you to be happy. She thinks I won’t marry you as long as she is here.”
Michelle took a deep breath and included Finley in her gaze. “I am so sorry.”
The disappointment on Gabe’s face tore at her heartstrings. The anger in his eyes was no more than she deserved. Gabe and Finley had suffered because of her mistakes. She’d almost broken up his family. If he decided to never speak to her again, Michelle knew she deserved that, too.
“I am so angry with you right now.” There was a chill to his voice she’d never heard before. “If you had issues with Finley’s behavior, you should have said so to her, to us, not shared it with Lexi.”
Michelle hung her head. She opened her mouth to agree but Finley spoke first.
“Daddy—” Finley stood and moved to his side “—it’s not just Michelle who needs to apologize. I did some pretty rotten things myself.”
“You were upset about your mother that day,” he said. “That I can understand.”
His gaz
e remained focused on Michelle, the look in his eyes telling her it was her behavior that had hurt him.
“Not just that day, Daddy.” Finley clasped her hands together and visibly swallowed. “Even before then I—I could see you and Michelle were getting close. I got worried. I wanted to make sure she was the right one for you.”
Twin lines of confusion notched between Gabe’s brows. “I don’t understand.”
Michelle didn’t either, but she remained silent, letting the girl speak.
“I did a couple of tests.”
Finley spoke so softly that Michelle wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly.
“Tests?” Gabe’s right eyebrow lifted. “What kind of tests?”
As if worried she wasn’t going to have time to get everything out, with rapid-fire speed, Finley began to explain.
When she told her dad how she’d deliberately left him home when he was sick to see if Michelle would take care of him, the confusion on Gabe’s face deepened.
“But Michelle is a doctor.” Gabe looked perplexed. “Of course she’d take care of someone who was sick.”
“She takes care of ladies having babies,” Finley reminded him. “You’re a man.”
“Good point.” Michelle felt a stab of hope when she saw Gabe’s lips twitch. Finley had been through a lot. However this ended up for her and Gabe, Michelle didn’t want the good relationship he’d enjoyed with his daughter damaged.
“Michelle took good care of me.” The hard look in Gabe’s eyes softened.
“She passed that test,” Finley agreed. “But that wasn’t the worst thing I did.”
Instead of interrupting, Gabe simply waited. Michelle did the same.
“Before that...” Finley clasped her now-trembling hands together in front of her. “I had Sasha...kidnapped.”
“You did what?” Gabe roared.
Finley jumped back.
“I wanted to see how Michelle would react under stress.” The words tumbled from Finley’s mouth, one after the other. “I know how much she loves Sasha and I—”
“You put that dog in harm’s way for a test?” Gabe’s eyes flashed golden fire and his voice grew louder with each word.
