He’s soft with me. “I wanted to see you”—I smile at the memory. Lord, how I wanted to ask some follow-ups to that one, but I won’t do that yet. He’s not ready.
“I think he’s more than that.”
She nods, considering me. “Just be careful.”
“I will.”
Finley pushes off the tractor and disappears under the hood, poking around in the engine bay. “Has Mindy said anything to you about Taylor?” she calls out.
“Nothing good.”
She bangs on something for half a minute. “I hoped things would have improved by now. They were at least civil to each other when Jake was in the hospital. I guess it didn’t last.”
I remove another bolt and chuck it into the wagon. “Do you know why they’re fighting?”
“Nope. Do you?” She drops more pieces onto our stack and then stops in front of me again.
I shake my head. “No. I’ve asked Mindy a few times, and she won’t give more than a vague answer, so I stopped probing.” I shrug. “You know how she is.”
“How they both are.” Finley leans in, holding herself up with a hand on the side of the machine. “Or should I say, how we all are. We’ve been through a lot, all of us, but we don’t really share with each other or ask for help when we need it.”
I shift in the bucket seat, turning to face her more fully. “It could be our family motto: ‘Buck up, rub some dirt in it, and then crack a joke to mask all the deeper feelings.’”
“I’ll have it engraved over the door.” She reaches over and touches my knee. “Really, Piper, I’m so grateful you called me when you did. That takes strength.”
I duck my head. We did talk in the aftermath, when I was staying with Finley and Archer, but it never got very deep. She had all the Ben highlights. After all, she came with Archer and Oliver to rescue me. She knew I was struggling creatively before I left Whitby, but she doesn’t know I’m still fighting. She doesn’t know how guilty I’ve felt about everything she shouldered alone. Up until recently, I could hardly decide what to cereal to eat without having a meltdown, let alone confront any lingering guilt about what I had missed because of my poor choices.
“I should have left him sooner. I shouldn’t have let him control my life. I’m sorry I didn’t know about Jake. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I wasn’t paying attention to anything but my own little bubble.”
I need to talk to Jake about it too. It wasn’t only Finley who suffered when the rest of us bailed.
Finley climbs up into the machine and sits in my lap, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “I was doing the same thing. I just kept focusing on work, ignoring the growing problems and trying to pretend everything was fine.”
“We’re a pair of idiots.”
She snorts out a laugh. “We can add that to the family motto. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before.”
“I wasn’t ready. This is the perfect time.” I hug her back, resting my head on her shoulder. She smells like familiar laundry detergent mixed with mountain air. She smells like home. I lift my head. “I want to be here more for you and Jake. Please tell me if you need me for anything, even if it’s only to unload. I’m strong enough now—I promise.”
“I know you are. You called when you needed me, even though I know it’s easier to stick your head in the sand and pretend like it’s all fine when it’s not. Asking for help is hard, but we all need a hand up sometimes. I had learned that lesson with Archer.”
I laugh. “You asked for help, or Archer magically appeared and provided it despite your formidable resistance?”
She groans covering her face with a hand. “That’s basically our love story.” She blows out an annoyed huff. “I’m like Cinda-freaking-rella. And Archer was my fairy godmother.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me. “My sexy godmother.”
I snort. “What does that make me?”
She winks. “Beauty and the Beast, I’m guessing.”
I chuckle. “I did sacrifice myself for your benefit, and Oliver is always trying to get me to stay in his enchanted castle.”
“See? There you go. Next thing you know, you’re being seduced by a singing candelabra and a giant library with one of those rolling ladders.” She climbs off my lap and jumps down off the tractor.
I follow her out. “I’ve always wanted one of those. I just hope he never turns into a prince. The Beast was way hotter.”
She kicks the wagon. “You think we got enough?”
The box is over nearly full of various parts and pieces, including the steering wheel and three different knobs from the interior.