Purgatory, West Virginia
April 1
Twitch was on the front porch when two beasts, one on two legs, one on four, came out of the woods. Her eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open. It wasn’t the wild animal bounding toward her that froze her in place.
It was the smile.
Finn moved beside the animal with easy strides, his face a picture of calm. And the way his lips lifted? His smile was cockeyed because of his injury but all the more beautiful for it. She felt an inexplicable swell of tears.
Clearing her throat, she asked, “Is that a wolf?”
Finn gave the animal a pat on the haunch. “Nah, he’s a dog.” He rocked his hand from side to side. “Pretty sure.”
Twitch assessed the creature, his amber eyes seemingly doing the same. Finn gave her a boyish shrug, and she couldn’t stifle her laugh. “All right, then. Everything okay at May’s?”
“Yep, just needed to cut the grass. She wouldn’t want the place looking overgrown.”
He took the stairs in one long stride, standing over her as he answered. He placed one big hand over her belly and cupped her face with the other, those cobalt-blue irises looking right through her. Oh God, he was going to kiss her. And, she was going to let him.
Rather than press his lips to hers, he tilted his head so their foreheads were touching. Twitch could feel his gentle exhale.
He spoke with his lips a breath from hers. “I haven’t kissed anyone since—”
Twitch finished the sentence. “Since you were hurt.”
He stepped back, piercing her with the intensity of his gaze. His hand remained on her face as he caressed her cheekbone with his thumb.
“Since you.” He smiled again, and it felt like sunlight. “And I will kiss you again, Charlotte. So be ready.”
When he turned and strode into the house, she stood there stunned, her own fingers touching where his warm hand had been.
“Come on,” he beckoned. “Let’s eat.”
The sun had fallen below the treeline as Finn and Charlotte sat on the porch. They each had a plate on their lap. Finn polished off his second turkey sandwich and went to work on the third. Elvis had disappeared into the woods to find his own dinner. Finn snuck a glance at the woman who never failed to steal his breath. Her gilded copper hair was loose over one shoulder, her skin like cream. She ate with gusto and had just taken a huge bite when she caught him staring.
“What?” she mumbled, mouth full.
Finn turned away and spoke to the forest. “I always had this crazy confidence. It was innate, you know? I was a middle-class kid at a rich public school, but it didn’t make any difference. I was captain of the baseball team, captain of the swim team, got all the girls, I was the king of my high school.”
Charlotte set her plate down and scooted the Adirondack chair in his direction.
“Nothing got me down. When my dad left my mom for a woman at his office, I shrugged it off. When we had to sell our house and move to an apartment? No big deal. I never got in trouble, never got bummed out, never got my heart broken.”
“A golden boy,” Charlotte murmured.
“Yes, that’s it exactly. No girl was too beautiful, no guy was too cool. Everything came so easily. It’s how I had the nerve to approach you.” That warm side-smile painted his lips as he continued. “Same way in the Navy. I was the best at everything. The fastest, the strongest. I still fucked around now and then, but my C.O. told me I had the makings of an admiral. I knew my path. I was going to be a SEAL, and I was going to be a superstar.”
“I think everyone’s path in life changes,” Charlotte said, contemplative.
“That’s not it, though. I realized lately that for twenty-four years of my life, I was fearless. And I don’t mean that casually, Charlotte. I wasn’t afraid of anything.”
“I could tell,” she whispered.
Finn shot her a surprised glance.
“Even that week in New York, I could tell. Do you remember walking through The Village to my parents’ house that first night?”
“I remember every second of that week, Charlotte.”