“I don’t think Fin meant to hurt your feelings by giving some of your clothes to Taylor to wear,” her partner said cautiously.
He was wrong.
She was pretty sure that Fin had intended to hurt her by doing that.
What other reason could he have for scrounging out the few clothes she’d left behind when she’d moved out and dressing Taylor in them and then parading the young woman around in front of her?
There weren’t many things she hadn’t brought with her. Just a few old clothes she no longer wore and hadn’t had room for in her suitcases. Chloe couldn’t imagine that Fin had kept them in the closet where she’d left them. She was surprised he hadn’t thrown them away.
Did it mean something that he’d kept them?
Had he been unable to part with them and held on to them asa reminder of her, a final thing to hold on to since she was gone?
Although she might wish that were true, that it might give her hope that a part of Fin still cared for her, Chloe believed he had most likely forgotten about the clothes. And then when this opportunity had presented itself, he’d decided it was a good way to lash out at her.
Or maybe she was just being completely egotistical and conceited to think he was even thinking of her at all.
Too many nights without good sleep were making her brain useless mush.
Tom had been a lot more tactful about finding out the details of what had gone down between her and her ex than she had been about finding out the details of his past with Hannah. She’d come right out and asked him how he knew Hannah just hours after the robbery at her store that had reunited the two of them. Tom hadn’t been particularly forthcoming with answers, although he had eventually relayed the details of the night that had ripped him and Hannah apart.
Thankfully he hadn’t done that to her.
Of course, he knew that they’d broken up. And he knew it was because of their baby’s death. But he didn't know the details of why exactly she had left.
Chloe wasn't even suresheknew why she had left.
Although she appreciated him keeping his questions to himself up until now, she hoped he wasn't going to start to pry.
She didn't want to talk about her and Fin.
Therewasno her and Fin to talk about.
All there was, was the jealousy she felt every time she saw him holding Taylor in his arms as the young woman cried, and the knowledge that if he would take her, she wanted him back.
“Really,” Tom continued when she didn't say anything. “Fin is a good guy, and I don’t think he’d hurt you on purpose.”
Normally, she would have agreed.
But Fin was so angry with her.
It was written all over his face every time they were in the same room together.
Chloe didn't know how to make his anger go away, or if she even had the right to ask him to let it go and give her a second chance.
She knew she’d hurt him badly. She knew she was just another person in his life who had walked away from him. She was sorry she had, but she hadn’t felt like she had a choice. It had been the only way she could survive. If she’d stayed, she would have destroyed herself.
“Chloe—”
“Stop,” she interrupted. “I'm fine. I'm not thinking about Fin right now.” Okay, that was a lie, and she knew her partner knew it from the look on his face, but she just didn't want to talk about Fin with Tom. He didn't get it. He and Hannah had never stopped loving each other. They hadn’t hurt each other; they’d just been hurting and unable to deal with things. It was different with her and Fin.
“Okay.” Tom nodded. “Back to the case, then.”
Yes.
The case would help to clear her head.
Work was the one constant in her life that she could count on. It wasn't going anywhere, and that gave her a sense of stability.