Page 46 of One Impossible Moment
She stood in the middle of the room, staring at the door he'd slammed behind him, trying to make sense of what had happened.She'd expected confusion.Maybe even shock at seeing her again.But he'd looked at her as if he was torn about her being here or was mad at her.
She wrapped her arms around herself and forced a slow breath.She'd searched for years.That was a long time to convince herself that her feelings for Finn matched his.She'd crossed worlds to reach him.She wasn't going to fall apart just because he needed space.She could give him that.She could be patient.What were a few more minutes, considering she'd already waited four years?
Still, disappointment settled low in her stomach, a dull ache she couldn't quite swallow down.It wasn't the reunion she'd imagined.
He was supposed to be happy to see her.
She moved around the room, touching the edge of the table with its uneven leg, the shelf he'd built from scrap wood, and the blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed.Everything was exactly as she remembered, and yet different.Worn in new places.Smoothed by time.
She sat on the edge of the bed, fingers twisting the blanket.The quiet stretched on, and with it came the thoughts she'd been trying to keep at bay.Had she pushed too hard?Said the wrong thing?Expected too much too soon?She'd imagined this reunion so many times, but none of those versions had him walking away from her as if he couldn't stand to be in the same room.
She pressed her palms to her eyes, willing the sting to fade.
He wasn't rejecting her.She knew that.She'd seen the way he looked at her on the road.The shock and then relief.There was even hunger he failed to hide.
No, something was happening to him.She just didn't know what it was.
She'd spent every day since she was ten years old thinking about him.It was absurd to believe he thought of her, but that's exactly what she assumed.Something was pulling her toward him.He had to feel the same tug.
The minutes stretched.She listened for footsteps, for the door, for anything that meant he was coming back.She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to steady her breathing.
He needed time to accept that she was here.Which was fine, she could stay in one of the other houses and wait for him.
Her gaze drifted to the window.The street outside was empty, bathed in the same muted light she remembered from her childhood visits.Everstill remained mysterious.The men hadn't changed in appearance or temperament.But Finn, though he hadn't aged a day, was different.
She closed her eyes, letting the memory of his touch wash over her.He'd brushed her cheek with his hand.When she touched him, he'd pulled back as if the contact had burned him.Whatever he was going through, it wasn't indifference.
She sat up again, pulling her knees to her chest.She wasn't leaving.Not after everything she'd done to get here.Not after the way he'd held her on the road.She wanted that Finn back.
He could push her away.He could walk out.He could take all the time he needed.But, she wasn't going anywhere this time.
The longer the quiet surrounded her and the light outside shifted, dimming the room, the more disappointment slipped through the cracks.Her throat tightened.She pressed her forehead to her knee.What if she'd made a terrible mistake?
Kallie heard the door open before she saw him.A ripple shot through her chest.She sat up straighter on the bed, her pulse quickening, every part of her tuned to him.When he stepped inside, her body went on alert.He filled the doorway as if he weren't sure he should cross the threshold within his own house.
His shoulders tensed, and his chest rose and fell too fast.He looked wrecked.
And dangerously sexy.
She pursed her lips, breathing slowly to calm her anxiety.Maybe there had been small changes in him since she'd last been here.Or maybe she'd changed.Last time, she hadn't noticed how his shirt clung to his shoulders or how broad he was across the chest.
The veins on his forearms stood out like the many roadmaps she'd studied, trying to find the road to Everstill.
"Finn," she said softly.
He shut the door and stayed there, as if he needed the wood at his back to keep him upright.She watched him try to pull himself together, watched a raw flicker wash across his face before he forced it down.He wouldn't look at her for more than a second, and that told her he was struggling with her being here.
"Are you okay?"she asked.
He nodded too quickly."Fine."
"You were gone a while," she said.
"I needed air."
His clipped tone and the way he avoided looking at her face led her to believe he was lying.
As if answering a thought that she hadn't voiced aloud, his gaze swept over her—slow, deliberate, lingering in a way that sent a warm flutter through her chest.He caught himself a heartbeat later and looked away, but not fast enough to hide the spark that had already passed between them.
