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“Love you.” I kissed his forehead and left his room.
With a deep breath, I went downstairs to Finch, wondering how this night would end.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Finch
I was in so much trouble.
This man, this family, this night. It was more than I’d thought it would be, and no matter how often I tried to swallow the emotions threatening to choke me, it was pointless.
I was attached, and trying to convince myself otherwise was foolish. What was in my heart could never be hidden and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that my father was about to find out.
“Hey.” Easton entered the living room, grinning at me like I was exactly who he wanted to see.
“Bedtime rituals all done?”
“Yes, uh, I don’t know what your plans are, but mine were likely going to end with a beer and the news. I’d rather have a glass of wine, maybe talk.”
Yep, so much trouble.
“I’d love that.”
I watched as he moved to the kitchen. The house wasn’t completely open concept, but the dining room and kitchen were like one large room, and there was a giant archway between the living room and the kitchen that allowed me to watch him work.
He didn’t ask if I liked red or white, but in truth, neither did anything for me as a fae. There was no hiding how nervous he was as he searched his kitchen for what I assumed was a corkscrew.
When he walked into the living room with two wineglasses in hand and a bottle of white, I was sure to smile, hoping to put him at ease even while I was freaking out inside.
“So, what made you want to be a nurse?” He placed the glasses on the table and slowly poured.
“I always wanted to help people and be there for those who really needed someone. Being a nurse is exactly that.”
“You’re certainly the best nurse I’ve ever seen.”
I chuckled and accepted the glass of wine. I thought he’d move to the seat he was watching the movie on, but instead he plopped down right beside me.
“Why’d you become a firefighter?”
“I always wanted to be one. I don’t have some story like a fireman rescued me as a kid and therefore I felt destined to become one. I just thought they were cool as shit and that love never went away. And here I am.”
“And why Fool’s Pass? I mean there are cities and towns where there are fires galore. Not much in these parts, though.”
“Laura, my wife. She actually grew up in Red Root but wished she lived in Fool’s Pass, and I grew up in Eden Faire and also wished to live in Fool’s Pass. I met her at an autumn festival here, and the rest is history.”
“That’s funny.”
“Did you grow up here?”
“No, I wasn’t born anywhere near here. As a matter of fact, I traveled my whole life and worked all over until I found Fool’s Pass and knew I never wanted to leave.” Only about five percent of that was true.
“No family?”
At work I avoided personal questions easily, but here with Easton, with nothing that could pull me away or that I could use as an excuse to avoid the topic, I realized I needed to come up with something.
“I’m estranged from my father, so I don’t have a lot of fun things to talk about when it comes to him, but I’m close to my mom.”
“Does she live in the area?”
