Page 11 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“We’re just taking Nina to see her mom. Do you want a ride home?” Birdie asked.

“Of course he wants a ride home. The man left to avoid Blue and Meadow, without his coat, and he is now wearing Caleb’s and likely has a headache,” Sawyer said in his deep growly voice. “Get in the SUV, both of you,” he added, looking from Finch to Nina.

“I really⁠—”

“Now,” Sawyer added. He then took Birdie’s hand, and Birdie took Nina’s. They were soon being towed behind her husband to a large black SUV. “Finch!” Sawyer barked when he noted his brother-in-law wasn’t following.

“I can drive myself,” Nina protested.

“I’ll walk!” Finch called.

“Birdie will go into the rest home with you, and I’ll sit in the car because I can’t use an inside voice—apparently,” Sawyer said. “I have a few calls I need to make, and this will be the perfect time without a kid interrupting me.”

“I’ve been making my own decisions for years now,” Nina said, but then got into the car because arguing was suddenly beyond her. Crying always made her tired. What surprised her was that the opposite door opened, and Finch McAllister got in as well.

“Sometimes you need someone else to do that for you,” Birdie said. “Sawyer excels at it. Just ask his family.”

Her husband glared at her.

Finch had found her crying in the Circle Left gardens. Nina hated anyone seeing her vulnerable, so she’d gone on the defensive, just as he had.

It had been the first time she’d seen him since his discharge from the army, and he looked nothing like the man she remembered. This one had lost weight. His hair needed a cut and was unbrushed. To her, he’d looked angry and wounded.

It had taken little provocation for them to go at each other. She’d tried to apologize, knowing he was going through a hell of his own, but he didn’t want to hear it. Then he’d wanted to apologize, and she’d walked away before he could.

Now he was sitting beside her in a car—the last thing she wanted right now.

“Blue’s angry with you,” Birdie said as they pulled out of the parking lot at Circle Left. “I’d run in the opposite direction when I see her, if I were you, Finch.”

“I’m the eldest, remember, so it’s the rest of you who should be scared of me,” he replied.

Nina felt his eyes on her, but she kept hers focused out the window. Strange how the tension in the backseat was thick enough to cut, but those in the front didn’t seem to feel it.

“How’s the head after your walk, Finch?” Sawyer asked.

“Okay.”

“So it hurts, then?” Sawyer added.

“A bit, but it was good to get some fresh air.”

“Yeah, the air where you live is terrible,” Birdie drawled, which made her husband snort.

“You’ve been living with him too long. The old Birdie never talked like that,” Finch said.

She listened as the siblings debated that point. Nina knew Birdie was worried about her brother, but, like Blue, believed that with family help, he’d get through.

Nina wasn’t so sure. This man was nothing like the old version of Finch McAllister.

She felt a touch on her cheek. It was brief, but it had Nina turning to look at him. He mouthed the word “Sorry,” and she nodded, then turned away again.

Why did her skin suddenly feel like it was on fire? People touched her all the time, and she never reacted like that.

Nina was pleased when they stopped at the end of the McAllister driveway because the strain of sitting next to Finch was making her jaw ache from clenching it.

“I’ll walk from here,” Finch said. “Thanks, and bye,” he added, getting out.

Their eyes caught briefly as she turned again to look at him, and then he was out of the car, and they were driving away.