Page 20 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“Thank you, Finch.”

He released her and stepped back. “Anytime.”

“Now we both know you don’t mean that,” she said, forcing her lips up into a smile.

“True.”

“So, how come you’re building the coffee hut extension?”

Finch stuffed his hands into his pockets so they couldn’t reach for her again. Nina wasn’t a tall woman, but he’d always thought of her that way because her personality was so big. Today she looked small and vulnerable, and there was that stab of heat in his chest again.

“I think it was one of my family members who put him up to it, and I can imagine how the conversation went as they pulled up at the coffee hut window. ‘He needs a direction, Klaus. Something to help him heal.’ And then they would have worked out a plan to get me there to build the extension.”

Nina giggled at his words. “It’s only because they love you.”

“I know, but sometimes I wish they’d just let me be an asshole and get through this my way.”

“Will you get through it your way?”

He kept his eyes on hers, taking in the dark smudges underneath and the exhaustion in every line of her face.

“I don’t know. See you around, Nina,” he said as Ally walked out the door, holding her cream. “Take care, and I’m really sorry about your mom.”

“Thanks for the hug, Finch. If you ever need one, you know where to find me.”

He raised a hand and climbed back inside his pickup. Ally followed after hugging Nina first.

Finch backed out of her driveway and then shot the kid seated next to him a look. “Get out that useless phone your dad forced on you and call someone in your family, Ally. Nina’s mom just passed away. Ask them to look in on her.”

“Aww, that’s so sad.” She pulled out the phone and made a call.

At least within the hour, Nina would no longer be alone with her pain, and that made him feel a lot better.

Chapter 6

Nina went back inside after Finch and Ally left. That hug had felt good. She told herself it would have felt good if anyone had given it to her. But from the angry and wounded Finch McAllister, it had somehow been worth so much more.

After breaking several speed limits, Nina had reached the rest home yesterday. She’d then sat at her mother’s bedside, holding her hand, singing and talking to her until she drew in a last shaky breath in the early hours of this morning.

She didn’t know how long she sat there holding those cold, lifeless fingers, numb with grief, until a nurse had told her it was time to leave.

After kissing her cheek one last time, Nina had rested her head briefly on her mother’s chest, a place she had known so well over the years, and thanked her for being the wonderful mother who she loved very much.

She didn’t remember the drive back to Lyntacky, but had reached her home safely. She’d fed Mabel, washed, and climbed into bed. Nina had then cried until exhaustion had taken over and she’d slept.

This morning she’d woken with tired eyes and a heavy heart.

Nina headed back into the kitchen with her now empty mug to put on more coffee, as today was likely a four-cup day. After filling Mabel’s empty bowl, Nina went to her swing chair and wrapped her arms around her knees, staring out the window.

Life in Lyntacky went on around her. People were heading off to work or dropping kids at school. Life would be normal for some today. But not her. It wouldn’t be normal for a while.

Nina had been alone a lot in her life. Yes, she had friends who she now considered family, but only her mother was a blood relation, and just sometimes that got to her. It was strange not knowing if she had inherited her small ears and barking laugh from her father, or some other member of his family.

Normally, it didn’t bother her too much. Today it did.

As she looked around the little home she was so proud of, with its eclectic mix of color and style, it didn’t make her happy like it usually did.

Her phone rang then. Nina looked at the caller ID and found JD’s name there.