“Yes,” I answer, focusing on the present and trusting Finn with info about my dad.
He rubs the tips of his fingers lightly up and down my arm. “He mentioned arteritis at the dinner table. I’m guessing that has to do with inflammation of the arteries.”
“Yes. The ones in his head near his temples. He was having severe headaches, scalp and jaw pain, and fatigue when he finally went to see a doctor. Left untreated it could have led to blindness.”
“But you caught it early enough.”
“We did. He’s being treated with corticosteroid medications, but he’s had two relapses, which means for him, the disease is chronic.”
Finn shifts and raises my chin with the pad of his finger. When he looks into my eyes like he’d move heaven and earth for me and my family, my heart stops. “He’s got this.”
I press my lips together and nod. He does. My dad is strong. A fighter. And he’s told me he wants another five years, minimum, before he retires from umpiring.
“And if there’s anything I can do to help…specialists, new drug therapies, whatever you don’t need now but might need later, just say the word.”
“Thank you.” I brush my mouth against his softly. Reverently. Then I lay my head back down on his chest.
The last thing to go through my mind before I fall asleep in his arms is that I’m in way over my head.
Chapter Seventeen
#WeekendUpdate
Chloe
Friday morning, Finnbrings me breakfast in bed. Scrambled eggs with turkey and onions and a buttermilk biscuit. We spend the day right where we are, on Twitter for his live Q&A, then listening to the rain outside, finding each other’s ticklish spots, and having sex on repeat.
Saturday morning, I bring Finn breakfast in bed. It takes me sixty seconds to microwave the mini frozen pancakes, but I do cut up some strawberries to add on top. He shakes his head with a smile when I hand him his plate and mumbles something about a juice cleanse come Monday, but he eats everything—and asks for seconds. We venture out of my room to watchElfon TV, play backgammon by the fireplace, and have sex on repeat.
Sunday morning Finn eats me for breakfast.
Chapter Eighteen
#HomerunDerby
Finn
I’m too oldfor this. Too old to be on the receiving end of my grandmother’s third degree. She’s like a bloodthirsty reporter who won’t stop with the questions until she’s been given the answers she wants. My only saving grace is Ethan is sitting next to me at a table in his restaurant and getting almost as much attention. He did just spend a week with her in Hawaii so it’s not like she doesn’t know what he’s been up to.
Me, on the other hand? I’ve just come off one of the best weekends of my life and if my grandmother hadn’t summoned me to join her for lunch today, I’d still be basking in the afterglow. It’s fucking hard keeping the elation off my face, but give Grandma Rosemary a hint of something new and not even a magician could escape her interrogation.
Until I know what that something is between Chloe and me, my lips are sealed.
Ethan’s chef delivers our lunch, salmon with some chutney mixture on top, roasted brussels sprouts, and mashed sweet potatoes. Tomorrow I’ll start a cleanse and then return to my regularly scheduled meals with one exception. Hopefully that menu includes Chloe.
“Are you sick?” Ethan asks.
“What? No. Why?”
“Your face just turned colors. You’re either sick or…” He trails off, a knowing smile making me fully aware I can’t even think about Chloe or I’m going to get myself in trouble.
“Actually, I do feel a little out of sorts,” I half lie. Chloe does have my focus out of whack. I’d done a shit job working out with Dwayne this morning, my brain on Chloe rather than training.
“Out of your shorts you mean,” Ethan mumbles, then takes a bite of his food. I glare at him. Thankfully, our grandmother is a little hard of hearing.
“Chloe told me you gave Sammy away,” she says, like she talks to her all the time.
“You talked to Chloe?”