Page 42 of Always and Forever
“The Ethan you know never had so much to lose,” I answer bluntly.
“Fuck,” he swears under his breath. “That bad?”
“Yeah.”
Thankfully, Finn doesn’t push for any more details. We stand there in silence for a few minutes before I push off the railing and turn toward the street that leads to the residential neighborhoods.
“Come on. You wanted to see some of the houses we’ve got available for rent, right?”
He watches me for a minute, and I meet his gaze steadily. After a second he nods, and we set off. We take our time walking up and down the streets as I fill Finn in on life in Dogwood Cove. He’s not as into the outdoors as I am and straight up laughs when I mention surfing on the coast.
“Dude, that water is fucking frigid. I wouldn’t surf in California, I’m sure as shit not going to surf up here.”
“What do you think wet suits are for? If you’re going to live here, you need to embrace the elements, man. If you won’t try surfing, how about mountain biking? Skiing? Kayaking?” I rattle off several other popular activities, trying to contain my laughter as Finn shakes his head at every one.
“I’ll stick to running, on pavement, and hitting the gym when I need to.”
“Man, California turned you into a pansy,” I can’t resist teasing.
“Really? What are you benching these days?” Finn fires back.
“One ninety on a good day,” I reply, and he grins triumphantly.
“Two hundred, bitch. Which means you can take your freezing water and death mountains and suck it.”
Well, damn. Finn’s hiding some muscles under that slick exterior. I have to give him that point, but I’m still not going to let him get away with being such a city boy. Not if he really wants to move here.
“Death mountains is a little extreme, don’t you think?”
He shakes his head vehemently. “No way. I watched the episode of Alone where they got lost up on the north end of the island. That’s not gonna be me.”
I bark out a laugh at that. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? That show is total bullshit. They were ten minutes from a Tim Hortons the entire time. Have you ever been up there? It’s not the Rocky Mountains, it’s Vancouver Island. Pretty hard to get lost for very long.”
Finn glares at me. “You’re not selling me on this shit, Ethan. I took the job with Pierre for the challenge of starting something new with a legend like him. You living in the area was a bonus. But don’t think for one second you’re gonna get me doing any of that nature crap.”
I hold up my hands in defeat. “Fine. I guess I’ll show you the local gym next, then.”
An hour later and Finn’s convinced. The winery he and Pierre are opening will be located just twenty minutes outside of town. We found him a house he’s interested in and he’s already left a message for the landlord. He even checked out the gym and the track at the high school and deemed them adequate for his fitness needs. Yeah, you best believe I rolled my eyes at that. Instead of going back to Mila, I manage to convince him to go somewhere else to eat, so we stop in at the pub for lunch. Over a pint of local beer and a burger, we continue to catch up.
“After the third bachelorette party of the day you get pretty tired of the drunk bridesmaids who justhaveto meet the man who makes their ‘favourite wine, like, ever.’” Finn huffs out a sarcastic laugh. “Honestly, that’s part of the appeal of coming here. A smaller market, sure, but also that it’s not the tourist trap Napa’s become.”
I detect a note of fatigue in his voice. Something that tells me all those years in California weren’t sunshine and roses.
Later that afternoon, once I drop Finn back at his car outside the bakery, I make my way over to the grocery store to grab a few things. As I’m walking up and down the aisles, wondering if Summer would be interested in a picnic tomorrow, my phone vibrates with a text message.
SUMMER: Hey, would you mind if I spent tonight at my place?
What the hell? My stomach plummets. I knew she wasn’t okay this morning. Did I push too hard by asking her to leave clothes at my place? Shit. I tamp down my panic enough to type out a reasonable reply.
ETHAN: I’ll miss you, but if you need some time at home, of course that’s fine with me.
SUMMER: Thanks, I’ve just got a lot I need to figure out with the resort, and I’m really tired. Someone… likes to keep me up *winky face emoji * *heart emoji*
Okay, the playful tone of that message makes me feel better. But I’m still worried I pushed her too fast. Before I can type out anything else, another message comes through, this one letting me release some of the tension that creeped into my shoulders with her messages.
SUMMER: And I was thinking, I need a day off from paint fumes and hauling trash. Want to hike to the hot springs tomorrow?
ETHAN: Sounds awesome. I’ll pick you up in the morning.
