Sophie and I had found the perfect ring for Finn weeks earlier. It was in a black velvet box, tucked into the bottom of my underwear drawer…waiting for the night before the wedding. We’d wanted to surprise him with something special, but maybe it was wrong of us to keep him in the dark. Finn had said before he was greedy and selfish, though I’d never believed it. Maybethere was a hint of truth to the self-deprecation, an underlying need to be loved loudly at all times.
“I don’t think that’s it,” I told her. “But if he hints that it might be, then yes, we should definitely tell him.”
Sophie’s wedding dress hung in our closet, zipped up in a white cloth bag that kept the garment out of my sight. Beside her dress hung my suit, a navy blue affair she’d picked out on my behalf—with Finn—and on the other side of the hanger a suit that would never fit me, but was perfect for the man currently restless in the bedroom. A matching set, the three of us, so no…I didn’t think his mood had anything to do with me and her.
“I’ll make sandwiches or something,” she announced, pushing up from the table. “For when he wakes up.”
“It could be awhile.”
“Maybe.”
Sophie busied herself in the kitchen, slicing sourdough and arranging it on the cutting board before she went to the fridge. By the time she’d finished stacking three sandwiches high with lunch meat and vegetables, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to wait for Finn to wake up to start eating. She brought all three plates to the table and pushed mine close, jerking her chin in my direction.
“Eat,” she instructed.
I tried to wait, but my stomach growled. Sophie took such good care of me.
Of us.
“I’m going to go check on him,” she said.
I nodded, grabbing half my sandwich and smashing it down into something that would fit into my mouth. I didn’t hear any noise from the bedroom while I chewed, so I was surprised when Sophie returned, Finn at her side. He sank down into what had become his chair with as little noise as possible and dug into his sandwich without a word. Sophie joined us eating, and for awhile none of us said a word. The conversation that needed to happen wasn’t something she or I could prompt, and all three of us knew it.
Finn made it through half his sandwich before he reached for a napkin, wiping his fingertips before balling up the paper and tossing it into the center of the table.
“I am fine,” he said, sounding like it was almost true. “I was out with Hunter…out with Hunter and ran into Neil.”
My heart sank like a stone into the pit of my stomach, the food I’d barely finished chewing threatening to come right back up and out. Sophie opened her mouth and closed it, eyeing Finn warily as he stared at the wooden fruit bowl in the center of the table.
“He…he said they’re divorced for real. He told me he missed me.”
Sophie worried her lips together, gently asking, “Do you miss him?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t.”
“That’s good.”
He sucked his tongue across the front of his teeth and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “I told him about you. About both of you.”
“How did that go?” she asked.
“I don’t know and I frankly don’t care. It’s just…” Finn’s jaw clicked and he scrubbed a hand down his face. “I didn’t realize I was still carrying all these feelings until Hunter and I were back in the car, and then it was like a dam broke.”
He sniffled, shook his head.
A single tear leaked from the corner of his eye, but Finn was quick to swipe it into oblivion.
“I didn’t expect it is all,” he went on. “I don’t think I ever really…I didn’t get over things with them well.”
“I know,” I said, reaching over and setting my hand on his thigh. He grabbed it and squeezed, and I wished more than anything Sophie and I could go back in time and save Finn from the heartache that couple had caused him, but I also knew if we did that, he wouldn’t be suited to be with us now.
To be with us for the rest of our lives.
“I don’t think he’s a horrible person, but he treated me horribly,” Finn kept speaking. “He used me—they both did. I wanted to be sure you two weren’t…that’s unfair. There’s no comparison.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie said.
“It was just a shock.” Finn dropped his head back, stared at the ceiling and took a fortifying breath. “I’m better now.”