I let out a laugh while waving my hand in a dismissive manner. “She’s a baby still. Why is your mom pressuring her to settle down at such a young age?”
Finn sat and looked at me with a serious face. “Because that’s my mother. When my brother Preston found Harmony, and then they found out they were having a baby, all hell broke loose, because my mother insisted the rest of us follow.”
“A baby! How far along is she?”
“She’s due any day.”
“Oh, how exciting!”
Finn let out a halfhearted laugh.
I couldn’t help but watch his face. “Do you not like kids?”
Snapping his eyes up to mine, he replied, “I love kids. Why would you ask me that?”
“I don’t know—you just didn’t seem very thrilled for your brother.”
He laughed. “Hell yes I’m thrilled. Been giving him hell about it for weeks. He was a little freaked about becoming a dad. I finally had to stop teasing him when he threw up and tried to hide it from Harmony.”
I chuckled. “Poor guy. ‘Harmony’ is a beautiful name.”
Finn’s face softened. “Yeah, it matches her personality. She had it pretty rough, though. Lost her husband and young son in a car accident. Preston was one of the firefighters who responded to the wreck. Tried to save Harmony’s son, but couldn’t.”
My hands covered my mouth. “That’s terrible. To lose both your husband and your son at the same time. That poor woman.”
“Yeah. She was pretty young also. Only twenty.”
A feeling of heartache hit my chest for this poor woman I’d never met.
“But then her and Preston became really good friends and fell in love. He says she saved him, and she says the same about him. They were meant to be together….I have no doubt about that.”
I was caught off guard by how tenderly Finn spoke about his brother and sister-in-law. I had a feeling there were many layers to this man sitting opposite me. I looked forward to peeling each one back.
“Anyway, you’ll love Harmony when you meet her.”
A warmth spread over my body at the idea of meeting Finn’s family.
“Mr. Ward, Ms. Adams, may I get you something to drink while we wait for your rosemary roasted chicken?”
My stomach picked that moment to growl, and my cheeks heated. Finn winked and answered the young lady. “I’ll have a water, please.”
“Water for me as well, thank you.”
Tilting my head, I said, “May I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Finn responded with a knock-me-off-my-chair smile. That dimple. Lord, that dimple had goosebumps erupting all across my skin.
With a warm smile, I questioned him. “Why did you do all of this for me?”
“It’s our first date. I wanted it to be special for you, because you’re special to me.”
That saying “melted your heart”? Yep. It’s true. His words wrapped around my heart and completely melted it.
“Why?” It was the only thing I could think of to say.
“Because the first time I ever saw you, I knew you were different. Sure, it was a physical attraction at first, no doubt. But the moment you opened your mouth and spoke…I knew. My mother used to tell us, when someone special is in your life, you do things to make them happy. I wanted to do something to make you happy.”
Speechless. I was actually rendered speechless.