Hold Me Close (Ryker Falls #5) - Wendy Vella Page 0,49
aware of was conducive to relieving stress, which she was trying to do.
“Thanks, but I don’t go far and am fine alone.”
“This is far,” he said. “So no more walking this far alone.”
She snapped her teeth together, because anything that came out of her mouth right now would likely be a curse, and she was trying to stop those too.
“Just let it out. I can handle it.” He was still smiling.
“I don’t want to swear at you, because it’s beneath me.” She sniffed. “And now I need to get back and have coffee.”
“I have coffee already on. Want some?”
“I don’t think so, but—”
“You keep going with that and you’ll hurt my feelings.” Fin grabbed her arm and forced her to walk as he tugged her along with him. “I thought we were friends?”
“We are, and it’s not me that’s been in hibernation.”
“I wasn’t in hibernation, I was working. Now come and have a coffee with me.”
“I need to get back, Fin.”
“It’s 7:00 a.m., Maggs. What the hell are you getting back to?”
She didn’t know how to answer that.
“I have donuts. I got them last night.”
“The sugary ones?” Maggs said before she could stop herself.
“Yup.”
What would it hurt to have a quick cup of coffee with him? Nothing at all. It’s not like you haven’t done that before. She wouldn’t touch on anything personal, like his family, and then she’d leave after a donut.
It sounded easy. She had a bad feeling it wouldn’t be.
Chapter 21
“Have you been hiking with Mallory?” Excellent, Maggs. You just told yourself not to touch on anything personal.
“Not yet, and before you ask, I haven’t spoken to my father either. Joe and the others are constantly calling or appearing on my doorstep to see if I’m all right, and then probing gently into what’s up with my family.”
“It’s only because he cares… they all do. You’re one of theirs and upset because your family are in town. It’s natural they worry. Their way of showing that worry is by constantly checking you’re ok.”
“I know,” Fin sighed. “It’s like being smothered by one of Jack’s knee rugs.”
“But we won’t discuss it if you don’t want to. It, being your family.”
He shot her a look. “I got that, and that’s very accommodating of you.”
She shrugged as they took the right fork that led to his cabin. “I don’t want you asking me personal stuff, so I won’t ask you any.”
“Thanks. And sorry, by the way.”
“For?”
“I was rude to you the night I saw my father at the lodge.”
“There seems to be a pattern forming there.”
He snorted but didn’t add anything. They reached his cabin. Long and low with a gabled roof, it was bigger up close than she’d realized.
“I’ve never been in here.”
“What, never?” He unlaced his boots inside the back door, and Maggs did the same, then shrugged out of her jacket. Pulling out the wallet, she handed it to him to see if he might recognize it.
“I found this on the trail, and no, I’ve never been in your cabin. I had no reason to come inside.”
“Visiting a friend?” Fin took the wallet and opened it.
“Okay, sure, but you never invited me,” she said as he pulled out the note and opened it.
“Well, I’m inviting you now,” he said, reading the words.
“I met the Robbins sisters and Mr. Goldhirsh on the trail, and they read the note. It’s really lovely, isn’t it, Fin, and sad. But I’m not sure we should be looking at it.”
“You have absolutely no context as to who wrote this note and why, and yet it’s made you go mushy,” Fin accused her.
“It’s about loving someone so much you’re willing to risk all to take a chance on that love,” Maggs said, reading the note again.
“You got all that from those words?”
“The Robbins sisters did too.” She felt the need to defend herself.
“Women,” he muttered. “Getting all gooey over a few words.”
“So you’re not a romantic then?”
“I’m a realist. Some note that could have been written years ago is not romantic, especially when the contents suggests that whoever wrote it was willing to break two relationships to achieve their goals.”
“But what if the relationships were unhappy ones?”
“You’re serious?” Fin shook his head. “You’re actually debating with me about a note when you have no clue who wrote it or why? This A.J. sounds like he wasn’t convinced anyway.”
“You can’t know that. Maybe he needed some time, and this note would have arrived and he could see that she really loved him.’