Page 35 of Falling for Her

“You said it was dangerous and that you only wanted me to go with you until I was older.” This is exactly what I told him when we went fishing the first time.

“You lied to Ms. Finley about it.” He nods. I can see the tears welling in his eyes. “That was not the right thing to do. You took advantage of the fact that she didn’t know better and, in the end, she got hurt.”

“But Dad, I⁠—”

“You lied to her,” I repeat, “and that was not the right thing to do. You are supposed to be the man of the house when I’m not here, and take care of things.”

“Lincoln,” Finley says softly, “it’s really my fault. I should have checked with you.” I look over at her.

“You should have,” I agree, “but he shouldn’t have put you in that position.”

“I’m fine,” she assures me.

“It could have been so much worse,” I inform her. “He could have slipped and fallen in the water. You could have had an accident, and then what?”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to put him in any danger. I thought it was just fishing.” She gives me a sad smile. “I’ll run things by you from now on.” She looks at Asa. “See you two tomorrow.” She turns and walks into her apartment and shuts the door behind her.

My chest gets tight.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Asa says.

“I’m not the one you have to apologize to. You need to say you’re sorry to Finley.”

“Now?”

“First thing tomorrow morning.”

“I will. I’ll go and clean up inside.” He walks past me and up the back steps. I think about going to her, but I know I should give her and myself a couple of minutes to cool down.

I follow Asa into the house. “I’m going to go and take a shower, and then we’ll talk about dinner.”

The night drags as I make dinner for Asa and we head out to the tree house. Looking over at Finley’s apartment, I see light coming from the living room window. I hope she decides to come out and join us, but she ends up staying in her apartment all night. When we head inside to go to bed, the light is off.

I wait until I slide into bed before I text her.

Me:

Are you okay?

I don’t know if she’ll answer me or not, but I figured it’s the right thing to check on her.

A couple of minutes later, she answers me.

Finley:

I’m fine. A bit sore, but that’s normal, I guess.

Me:

Do you need anything?

Finley:

No. I just took two acetaminophen, and I’m heading to bed.

Me:

Let me know if you need anything.