“You always know how to look on the bright side of things,” Finn said.
Emma kept her eyes trained on Mandy. If the woman recognized her, she wasn’t acknowledging it. Emma didn’t know if she was relieved or saddened by the development. She thought about saying something to the clerk, but she didn’t know how to broach the subject.
Finn took the decision out of her hands. “You remember Emma, right?”
“I do,” Mandy said. “It’s really good to see you.”
“You, too,” Emma said, her mind wandering back her father’s trial and the young woman who insisted on sharing her lunch with a destitute teenager every day. “It’s really good to see you.”
“I thought you went with Grady and James,” Mandy said to Finn. “Did something prettier grab your attention?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a total pain in the ass?”
Emma didn’t like Finn’s tone.
“You tell me every day,” Mandy said, reaching out and chucking Finn under the chin. “Your brothers do, too.”
“Well, as long as you’re happy with your lot in life.”
Emma realized they were teasing each other. They were comfortable together, like family. She and her brother had been that way before … well, before everything in the Pritchard house fell apart.
“Oh, no,” Heidi whined. “Does this mean you’re off the market, too? I’m crushed.”
Emma realized that Finn’s cheeks were bright red – and she didn’t think it was completely due to the cold.
“You’re embarrassing him, Heidi,” Mandy chided. “He’s still trying to put the moves on her. He doesn’t want you to ruin his game.”
“If I didn’t think my brother would beat my ass, I’d be drowning you in a snow bank right about now,” Finn grumbled.
“Well, the easy way out of that is to take Emma and your hot chocolate and go for a nice walk together,” Mandy suggested. “Alone.”
Finn shook his head ruefully. “While I don’t want to give in to your machinations, I do want to get away from you.”
Finn tightened his grip on Emma’s hand and dragged her away, casting a woeful glance over his shoulder one last time. Once they were away from the crowd, Finn shot Emma an apologetic look.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “Mandy is a world-class meddler.”
“She’s really nice,” Emma said, her voice low. “She was really nice to me during my dad’s trial. She was the only one nice to me, in fact.”
“How?” Finn asked, feigning ignorance.
“She realized I wasn’t eating lunch every day, so she started sharing her lunch with me,” Emma said. “She started showing up with a breakfast sandwich and a juice for me every morning, too. I tried to tell her no at first but … .”
“Yeah, she’s not very good with the word no,” Finn said. “Just ask my brother.”
“How long have they been together? Your brother and her, I mean.”
“About seven months now,” Finn said.
“But you all knew each other as kids?”
“James was too old for her when we were kids,” Finn said. “He could have been arrested if he was interested in her back then. It’s all good now, though.”
“And you like her, right? Even though you pretend to be angry with her, you still like her,” Emma said.
“Oh, I’m really angry with her,” Finn said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t love her, too.”
Emma nodded knowingly. “It’s nice that you have people like that in your life.”
Finn opened his mouth, unsure how to proceed. “You don’t have to be alone, you know.”
“How so?”
“Well, you could let me take you out to dinner,” Finn suggested. “Then you definitely wouldn’t be alone tonight.”
Part of Emma wanted to say yes. Part of her wanted to bask in his warmth – and that easy smile – and pretend that she was a normal person, even if it was only for one night. That just wasn’t an option for her.
“Thanks for the offer,” she said, finishing off her cup of hot chocolate. “I’m not really dating right now. Thanks for the hot chocolate. It hit the spot. I should really get back and finish up my shift.”
Finn reluctantly let go of her hand, sadly watching her retreating back as she plodded across the snow-covered road. He’d crashed and burned. Again.
Nine
Mandy saw Emma walk away from Finn and return to the Aspen display. Finn was watching her leave, his face sad and wistful. She was so busy watching Finn, she didn’t notice that James had returned.