Vacation (50 page)

"I just want what's best for you.
Finn is..."

I pulled away and poked my finger in his
chest. "Finn is a good man. He's hard working, and he's never once said
anything nasty about you. Not once."

"Why should he?"

"Because if I know you at all, then
whatever happened between you and Clark was your fault." I poked harder.
"Whatever you said to him today has him broken – again."

"I told him the truth." My
father swatted my hand from his chest and gave me a stern look.

"The truth." I laughed darkly.
"The truth is that I was going to change all my plans. I was going to stay
here with you and Parker. I was going to ask if I could work under your wing
and learn what you've learned or help you build your business. I was going to
move my life and dreams around, and Finn is the main reason why we might have
gotten our family back."

"Chloe-"

"No. Fuck all of it. I'm done with
you. Finn and I
will
be
together."

"I'm not supporting that."

I let out another angry chuckle.
"Good. I'd hate to have to hear you touting your greatness when it works
out to be the best love affair of all times."

I didn't give him a chance to respond
before I turned on my heel and half-stomped to my bedroom, slamming that door
for good measure. I hated him, and even worse, I hated the way I acted because
of him.

Finn and I could figure out everything on
our own, and if we didn't work out, I'd do what I'd been doing for the last
eight years. I'd do it my damn self.

Chapter 24

Finn

Her father was right. I honestly had
nothing to offer Chloe, except my body. I would be her whore as long as she
would allow me to, but that was it. I didn't have money or a future that I
could show her to prove why our relationship was safe to take to the next
level.

She was going to consider staying in Aspen
with me and give up on her dreams. I needed to figure out a way to tell her
that she needed to go live her life, and when she was done, come back to me. My
dreams and ambitions were smoke I'd blown up my own ass for years. Nothing was
going to become of it, and I knew it.

My phone buzzed as I headed to the newest
run for an afternoon of losing myself in the beauty of the mountains.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Where are you?" His voice was
pinched, and I figured I had an ass chewing on the way. No doubt Chloe's father
had called and given my old man a piece of his mind, much like he'd done me.

"I'm around. What do you want?"
I couldn't force fake happiness.

"Finn. Come over to the house and
let's talk."

"I don't want to talk, Dad. I worked
my ass off for you today. I'm going to take my board up in the mountains and
try to pretend like everything is okay." I sighed and ran my fingers
through my hair.

"Everything
is
okay," my father growled, and I could tell he was holding
back his angst. "Look. I want to tell you about what happened with
Jonathan Burke. It's a story you need to know, and after I'm done, if you want
me to fix it for you and Chloe...I will."

"I appreciate that, Dad, but honestly,
I'm good. Chloe's a great girl, but she's far too much woman for a simple man
like me. I'm not sure what I was thinking. Like you said, I should have
listened to you and kept my dick in my pants."

"Finn, stop it. Get your ass over
here." He was losing his grip, and I was done upsetting him.

"I'll stop by later. Love you, Pops."
I dropped the call and parked the old truck by the road, not wanting to get a
ticket, seeing that the slopes were closed. They never would let patrons on the
mountain after a hard snow without packing it. But I'd been skiing my whole
life. It was no big deal. I'd just have to be ready to shift at a moment’s
notice if the ground felt too unstable beneath me.

My phone buzzed, and I turned it to silent
and dropped it in my back pocket. After working to get myself layered up with
clothes, I started the long trek up the side of the mountain. It took me a damn
hour just to get to the top. I'd never appreciated a ski lift so much in all my
life.

I checked my phone to see messages from my
father, Brian, Parker, and my girl. I chuckled and dropped it back in my pocket,
not willing to feed their emotions. They were overreacting. I was spending a
couple of hours by myself, remembering why I
wasn't
all the things Chloe's dad said I was. Somewhere along the
afternoon, I'd started to convince myself that he was right.

Chloe was far too good for me, and I would
tell her that, but letting her go just didn't honestly seem like something I
could do. If she shoved me away, I'd leave without a fight, but I wasn't going
to shove her off. I couldn't. I let everything go and focused on the mountain
ahead of me. I prayed like hell it would be a long ride down. I didn't know if
I had the stamina to walk back up the hill after the long morning I'd had.

My phone buzzed again and I pulled it out,
growling loudly.

"What?" I growled into the
phone, knowing it was Brian and he would forgive me later.

"Dude. Your dad's pretty upset. He
just called and said that he's coming to find you."

"I'm fucking snowboarding. I'm a
grown-ass man, Brian. What's the big deal?"

"Um, there was a blizzard last night,
and you of all people know that makes the mountains dangerous. Go home and stop
being a dick. He's worried."

"You and I have been on these
mountains our whole lives." I ground my teeth together. "When's the
best time to ski?"

"Now, but that's beside the
point."

"No, it isn't. Tell me why now
is the best time to ski
?"

"Because the mountains are empty.
Finn. I'm not playing your games right now. If your dad is worried, then
respect him, like I know you do, and get your ugly ass home."

"My ass is not ugly. Ask any girl
within a five mile radius." I had to lighten the conversation. I couldn't
handle much more strife.

"Finn. Go home, dude. We'll go out
tomorrow and take a mountain down together."

I sighed and resigned myself to giving
into them. Everyone had their panties in a wad, and once again, it was my turn
to bend and comfort them. "Fine. I'm already up here and there's one
fucking way down."

"Good. Enjoy it and get home. Text me
if you're free later, and we'll grab a beer."

"Yeah, fuck you," I mumbled, and
pulled my glasses down.

"I'm not your type, remember."

"Right. You're entirely too
hairy." I smiled, not wanting to cause any stress on anyone, just wanting
a moment to myself.

"Hey."

"What?" I bit my tongue.

"Whatever that mean old fucker said
to you today...let it go."

"Does everyone know about this?"

"Small town, Finn," he laughed.
"I'm hanging up. Be careful and call me later."

"Later." I pulled the phone from
my face and honestly considered lobbing it halfway across the mountain just to
get a moment of peace. My dad's problems were his problems, and I didn't need
him fixing mine.

I let my thoughts go and bent my knees,
turning sharply and shoving off. The wind hit me in the face, and I took
shallow breaths, turning and twisting my body as I'd been doing all my life.

Jonathan Burke’s voice lifted inside my
head, and I couldn't seem to shake his words.

"You
stay the fuck away from my little girl. She deserves better than you could ever
give her. Do you hear me? You're a piece of shit who will rot in this town,
boning any available woman, and dreaming about a life that will never ever be
yours. Do yourself a favor and don't bring down Chloe to your level. You'll
hate yourself for it later. Ask your father about that."

Was my mother like Chloe once? Was she
wealthy and filled with plans? Had my father fallen in love with her and
changed everything? Did it matter? She had been happy.

I could remember so many happy moments
with my folks. Wealth didn't matter and building legacies didn't mean shit if
there wasn't someone there to enjoy them with, someone to pass them on to.

My dad was right about one thing” I did
need to know the story. It wasn't just about him and Jonathan; I was pretty
sure it involved my mom, too.

Had she been with Jonathan, and then Dad
stole her?

I lost my footing for a minute, but
righted myself.

"Keep your head in the game," I
grumbled and over-corrected my next turn. There was no time to fix the error,
and I covered my face and tried to relax as I flew forward, knowing it was
about to get bad.

The world flew by, colors mixing and fading
as I tumbled over myself over and over again. I hit something hard on the way
down and lost my vision for a minute.

I lay there for what felt like forever,
trying to remember where I was and what I needed to do to get up. It was so
damn cold, and the sky was darkening. I fumbled with my phone in my pocket as
dizziness rolled over me.

Pressing my dad's number, I put the phone
on my chest and closed my eyes, waiting to hear his voice.

"Finn? What's up, son? You on your
way over?"

I could hear him, but I couldn't seem to
respond. Fear rushed through me, and I groaned, wanting so damn bad to tell him
where I was and what I was up to, but words wouldn't form.

"Finn? Stop dicking around, boy.
You're scaring me." His tone sharpened and his anger seemed to burn
through the phone.

Tears burned my gaze, and I let out a
painful breath. My mind was blurry and even breathing was hard. I had to have
punctured a lung and hit my head on something. Why else couldn't I get a word
out?

"Goddammit, son!" I could hear
him yelling at Milly to get the truck and call 9-1-1. I let myself fade out as
he continued to yell at me to stay awake and think good thoughts.

I let Chloe take up my mind, the warmth of
her smile and softness of her lips keeping me busy. I didn’t know how much time
had passed before the sound of voices around me ushered in relief. Someone was
there to help. Now if I could just flag them down – but I still had no ability
to form words.

"Here. Here he is. Bring the
stretcher." Someone knelt next to me and picked up the phone. "Hi,
this is Leah Smith. We've found him. We're going to assess him and get him to
St. Marks. Meet us there."

"Hey, buddy." A male voice spoke
near my ear, and as badly as I wanted to respond, I couldn't. Fuck me if I
wasn't paralyzed. If I thought I wasn't good enough for Chloe before, this was
a moment of clarity. "Just stay still, Finn. We're going to make sure your
neck and back aren't broken, and then we'll get you to the hospital. Your dad's
gonna
meet us there. Just open your eyes if you can
hear me."

I tried, but nothing happened. It was like
being trapped in my body with no way of communicating out.

"He's breathing, Leah, but
non-responsive. Brain injury, I would assume."

They poked and prodded at me as I lay
there with my eyes closed, trying to focus on breathing.

"He's got tears coming from his eyes,"
the female spoke. "He can hear us."

"We're going to pick you up now. If
something hurts, just cry out if you can, and we'll stop." The guy patted
my chest. "It's going to be fine. We've got the best doctors in the world
right down the road."

I didn't remember much more other than
bright lights flying by above my head as I opened my eyes for a moment and
groaned. My father was running beside the bed with tears streaking down his
face, and I knew the shit was bad. He glanced down and pursed his lips.

"I'll see you soon. Hang in there,
okay. Don't leave me. You're all I've got and I'm a selfish bastard."

He patted my chest, and I tried to mumble,
“of course not,” but nothing came out. I closed my eyes and let the darkness
take me. It was far less frightening than knowing what the hell I'd done to
myself.

If I survived, I was done taking shit for
granted and defining myself based on other people’s opinions. I knew who I was
and who I wanted to be. Outside of all of that, I knew who I wanted, and if I
could have another shot at showing her, Chloe would be mine forever.

Chapter 25

Chloe

I spent the rest of the night in my room,
even refusing Parker as he tried to come in with some food. By Sunday morning,
I was feeling a little less manic. The fact that Finn didn’t call was
upsetting, but I would give him a day or so to cool off. My father had most
likely torn him down to nothing, which still grated my nerves completely. I was
somewhat pissed at Finn for letting my father affect him so much, too, which is
why I hadn’t texted. My dad's opinion wasn't my own, and Finn should know that.

A knock at my door pulled me from my
thoughts.

I tugged the covers up around me and
called out. "Come in."

Parker stuck his head in the room with a
cute frown on his boyishly handsome face. "Can I come snuggle?"

"Yeah. Get in here." I moved
over, making room for my little brother beside me.

He pounced on the bed and turned on his
side, curling up and smiling. "I'm sorry about what happened between Dad
and Finn."

"Me, too." I reached out and
brushed his hair back. "It's okay, though. I need Dad to step back, and
this was just one way to make it happen. I think he thinks he can use his money
to hold power over me, but he can't. It's his attention and love that I want.
That would have me visiting every holiday, no matter what."

"Yeah. I think he knows that. He's
just scared to care about someone and then lose them like we did Momma."

"How are you holding up? I know it's
been a long time, but Dad gets so depressed this time of year." I brushed
my fingers through his hair again, realizing that I'd not even thought to check
on him.

"I'm okay. I just try not to think
about it."

I nodded. "Me, too."

"I tried to text Finn, but he didn't
respond. That was yesterday." Parker pushed my hand away. "You're
going to cause my dandruff to come out, and then I'll have to shake my head and
make it snow in here."

"
Ew
,
sick." I pushed at his chest as he laughed.

"I'm worried about Finn, Sis."

"Let's go ride over to his house and
see if he's there. We can get a coffee on the way."

"Peppermint hot chocolate?"
Parker sat up and lifted his eyebrow in question.

"Yeah. One of those, too." I sat
up and pulled with me, tucking them under my arms. "Where's Dad?"

"No clue. He left a note that said he
would be back soon."

"Alright. Let's make a run for it,
then. I don't really want to see him yet." I waited for my brother to
leave the room before getting up and dressing in some sweats and a long-sleeve
shirt.
 

The sound of my father taking to Parker as
I walked down the hall caused my heart to contract. I adverted my gaze and
walked past them, grabbing my jacket and my keys.

"Where are you going, Chloe?"

"To check on my boyfriend who's been
ignoring me since yesterday. Can I use your SUV or did you want me to walk? I
know nothing belongs to me, so if you want these clothes back, just let me know
that, too."

"Just be careful," he mumbled
and turned back to Parker, continuing their conversation.

I was surprised by his unwillingness to
fight with me. I shouldn't have been
egging
him on,
anyway. I'd promised myself that I would work on things with him, but it was so
damn hard when he kept throwing daggers at the people that I cared about.

The car was nice and toasty by the time
Parker got into the passenger's side and buckled up.

"What was that all about?" I
glanced over at him and put the jeep in reverse.

"Dad has something special he wants
to get you for Christmas, but he needs help with it." He shrugged.

"What is it?" I turned on the
lights and windshield wipers, not feeling so good about driving across town all
of a sudden.

"I'm not telling you," he
chuckled.

I hit the brakes as the jeep rolled over
something. "What was that?"

"The chains. Dad put the chains on
the tires last night. I helped him."

"Where was...oh. In my room."

"Yeah, but it's cool. Gave us a
chance to do something together. He stays so busy with his clients and stuff,
that it was a good reason to call in. Family meltdown is what he told
them."

I laughed, unable to help myself. "It
was that."

"I'm glad you told him that he hadn't
been a dad since Mom died. He has been to me, but I think you remind him so
much of Mom that he struggles with just being around you." My brother
shrugged. "It's stupid, I know, but I think that's part of it."

"You would think that would make him
love me more, not less." I turned on the radio, not wanting to dive into
the reasons why my father was such a jerk to me most days. "New
subject."

"Right. What are you getting Finn for
Christmas?"

"I got him some cologne, but I can't
figure out what else he might like." I looked over at my brother.
"What would want if you were him?"

He looked at me and rolled his eyes.
"You. Duh."

"He's got me."

"Does he?"

"Stop analyzing things. You're
sixteen. Fart in the car and blame it on me, but don't grow up. I need some
immaturity in my life. That has to be you."

"It will always be me." He
reached over and tugged at my hair. "Be careful on the side roads if we
have to get on any. I was watching the weather this morning and it's
nasty."

"We do, so just help me watch out for
things?"

"Of course."

We rode in silence the rest of the way out
to Finn's, which was a gift in itself. Finn's truck wasn't out in the yard,
which was surprising. I knew he worked on Sunday afternoons, but I would have
thought Clark would have let the guys off to rest or go to church.

"Where's his truck?" Parker sat
up and looked around.

"No clue. Wait here and let me make
sure he's not inside."

"Yeah. Sure. You got a key?" He
lifted his eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. We're dating...I think."

"I'd say so."

I got out of the jeep without responding.
Of all of the people in the world, my little brother was not going to become my
make-shift girlfriend. With Jessie out of my life, I'd have to make some new
friends, but they'd be girls and they would not be related to me.

After finally getting the key in the lock,
I walked into the house to find it just as I'd left it. Not a dish out or a
pillow moved. I check Finn's bedroom and stopped in my tracks. The bed wasn't
even touched.

"Did you not come home at all?"
I flipped on the lights and looked around as though there were something that
might give me a clue to where the hell he was.

Maybe
he stayed at his dad's.

Surely, he wouldn't have stayed with some
random girl in town just because my dad kicked him in the proverbial nuts. No.
I wouldn't even let those thoughts occupy my time. He was mine, and I was his.
This wasn't about infidelity, but about him needing to work through all the
shit Dad slung at him. I only wished he would have let me help him. For each
negative Dad was sure to have hit him with, I could have pulled out ten
positives.

After locking up, I jogged back to the
jeep and got in.

"No luck?"

"No. He wasn't there last night for
sure." I sunk back against the seat and growled. "Now what?"

"Have you tried texting him?"

"Yes, pointer of the obvious. Of
course, I have."

"Okay, shit. Put your teeth back in
your head."

I turned to him and bit at the air for
good measure as he laughed.

"Do you think it would be too much if
we went by the shop where he works? His dad owns it, so he would know where
Finn was, I'm sure."

"I think that's fine. We're just
concerned friends. They shouldn't get upset about that, and anyway, the worse
he can do is send us packing."

"True." I turned the radio to a
new channel, stopping on the local one to hear the weather.

"Local
news update... Bear Creek Lodge will closed down until further investigations
are completed regarding the tragic accident of a twenty-seven-year-old local
male. He's still in critical condition at St. Marks and the town is joining his
family in praying for him to make a full recovery. This should serve as a
warning that as the city council always advises, no ski..."

Parker reached up and turned the radio
down. "How old is Finn?"

"I don't know." I glanced toward
my brother. "You don't think that was him, do you?"

"How the hell don't you know how old
he is? You guys are dating, right?"

"Yes, but I haven't gotten around to
having him fill out the full survey." I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm
sure he's fine. We're just over reacting."

"No, you're under-reacting. We were
just at Bear Creek, and if Finn was upset, where else would he go?"

"Stop." I turned down the road
to his father's shop as tears burned my eyes. "You're scaring me."

"Well, I'm scared, too."
Parker's voice rose, and I reminded myself that he was just a kid. Anything
tragic was scary, but nothing tragic had happened. Finn was probably at the
shop, working himself into a hole so that he didn't have to think about my
father's attack.

I pulled up and turned to my brother.
"You want to go in with me?"

"No. Just go find out what the hell's
going on and let's find Finn."

I nodded and got out of the car, pulling
my jacket in tighter, and jogging toward the open door. The place was empty,
which I would have expected for a Sunday morning, but the two cars out front
led me to believe someone was somewhere in the building.

"Hello?"

"I'm back here. I'm coming."

"Milly?" I called out and jogged
toward the sound of her voice. I met her in the middle of a short hallway and
by the look on her face, I knew the accident was Finn. "Where's
Finn?"

"Oh, honey, he got in an accident on
the slopes yesterday. Did Clark not call you?" She moved toward me as
dizziness washed over me.

"What kind of accident? Is he okay?
Where is he?"

"He's at St. Marks in a coma. He's
going to be there for a few days and then they'll try to bring him out of it."

"In a coma?" I choked on a sob
that rose sharply inside of me. "Oh my God."

"I know, sweetheart. It's pretty bad,
but they're hopeful that if they let him rest, his body will repair the damage
to his brain."

"I need to get up there. Where is he
again?"

"I'll drive you. No need to have you
in the bed next to him."

"My brother is with me." I
reached for her, and she pulled me into a warm hug as I started to cry.

Fear crashed in around me at the thought
of losing Finn before I really got him. Things had moved so quickly between the
two of us, but I wasn't planning on slowing them down. I wanted to push full
speed ahead to see what the future had in store for us. I was a risk taker, and
he was one person I was willing to bet the whole lot on.

"I'll take you both. Dry your eyes,
sweet girl. It's all going to be okay."

I pulled myself together and turned,
walking quickly back out to the jeep to get Parker out. He took one look at my
face and got out of the car, walking around and pulling me into a hug.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know. He's in a coma right
now." I squeezed him and walked to Milly's truck, getting in and scooting
over to make room for him to hop in, too.

They introduced themselves as I sunk into
my thoughts, not capable of talking without crying. I had to force myself to
think about various designs to keep my mind off of the feel of Finn's hands all
over me and his sweet lips hovering above mine.

I thought I might explode by the time we
made it to the hospital, but I'd pulled myself together. We piled out of the
truck and walked into the ICU together. I worked hard not to jog toward the
room number Milly called out to me. Stopping in front of the door, I turned to
my brother, who had stopped and was staring into space wide-eyed.

"I don't want to go in. I'll stay
here." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Call Dad and tell him to come get
you. Tell him what happened. Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll do that." He pulled
his phone out, and I glanced toward Milly.

"I'll stay with him. Go on in there.
Clark's in there. He'd love to see you, I'm sure."

Right.
After Finn's accident really boils down to being my fault, or Dad's, really.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked and pushed
the door open.