Love for Scale (31 page)

“Okay, maybe it’s a bit soon, but I feel a real connection with you, Rachel. I really like you and maybe I just got ahead of myself. I shouldn’t have given you this.” He cringed. “Maybe you were right about the flowers.”

Rachel reached around to undo the clasp of the necklace.

Finn’s eyes widened. “No, no don’t take it off. That’s not what I meant.”

She felt silly. She was acting like a moron, but she was so new at this. She didn’t know what to do, how to navigate all these feelings she wasn’t used to. She felt good around him, but it was so foreign to her. Maybe they were moving too fast.

“Listen,” Finn began, “I just really like you. I am trying to not screw it up, but it looks like I’m not doing a very good job at that.”

Rachel shook her head. “No, it’s me. I’m just…I don’t know. Can we maybe start again?”

Finn sighed. “That’s a great idea. But you’re going to keep the necklace, right?”

“Well,” Rachel exhaled, her fingers lightly touching the pendant again. “If you insist. By the way, your mother had excellent taste.”

“Actually, my father did. He bought it for her for their twenty-fifth anniversary.”

Oy God. Seriously?
“You’re not making this easier, Finnegan!”

He cringed. “I’m sorry, forget I said that. He bought it at a garage sale, I’m pretty sure.”

Rachel laughed. “I think my mom got a turkey roaster for her twenty-fifth.”

“Your parents are great,” Finn said.

“You’re on drugs. My parents, no, my mother actually, is a freak.”

“She obviously cares about you a lot. Nobody’s perfect, but just be very thankful you have parents that care about you so much and are still around to show it, even if it’s in their own weird ways.”

Rachel fingered the stem of her wine glass, wishing she didn’t constantly put her foot in her mouth. “I do love them, I think I just need some…distance.”

Thankful the waitress had returned with their salads, Rachel avoided Finn’s eyes and picked up her salad fork.

“Hold on, Rach.”

She looked up having a moment of panic that he was going to do a blessing over the mean.

“It’s New Year’s. I’m sorry if it’s weird, but can we make a toast?”

Rachel put her fork down. “Of course. Not weird; I think it’s nice.” She picked up her glass. “Go ahead. I’m hoping that after all this you have something in mind. But it had better not be a proposal speech.”

“Too soon?” he asked, feigning innocence.

She just gave him a look and he grinned.

“I do have something in mind and not a proposal.” Finn picked up his own glass. “I would like to make a toast to us. And to what I know is going to be a great year ahead.”

Rachel tinked his glass with her own and took a sip. “Not weird at all.”

He nodded and lowered his glass. “Good. Now let’s eat, I’m starving.”

* * *

The rest of dinner was filled with the kind of good conversation Rachel had gotten used to. Finn wanted to hear all about her promotion at the library. And although Rachel didn’t think it was much to talk about, Finn seemed very interested to hear all about the inner workings and politics which ran rampant throughout the city’s library system.

“My friend Steve’s wife works at the university and I get the impression it’s the same sort of dog eat dog world. What is it with you booky types?” Finn laughed.

It was at that exact moment that Rachel realized how little she knew about Finn. This was the first time she’d ever heard Finn mention any of his friends. “Who’s Steve?” she asked conversationally.

Finn wiped his mouth with his napkin. “He’s a friend from the hospital. We go pretty far back. Speaking of which, he and Anna, his wife invited us over for dinner.”

Rachel blinked. “Us as in you and me?”

Finn nodded.

That meant he was telling his friends about her. Wow, that gave their budding relationship a level of legitimacy she hadn’t expected. They were an ‘us.’ An ‘us’ that other people knew about and wanted to have dinner with.

“But Anna is a terrible cook, I’m afraid.”

“Finn!”

He looked up from his sorbet. “What? It’s true. Steve even says so. Anyway, she also doesn’t how to make anything that’s not slathered in butter or oil so I suggested they come to my place for a little dinner party.”

He was so resourceful. Rachel liked the idea of dinner parties. She would probably feel more comfortable if she knew the other couple or if it was say, Sheri and Brian, but nonetheless…

“And I’m counting on you to help me.”

Rachel put her spoon down, cursing the loud clank it made on the side of her plate. “I’m not much of a cook.”

Finn smiled. “You’ve got a few weeks and access to lots of cookbooks at your job. I’m not worried.”

I am. Sheesh, Finn what have you signed me up for?

“So this dinner party will be at your place?” she asked.

Finn nodded, pushing his dish away.

“I don’t even know where you live,” Rachel said. It seemed strange that he’d been not only to her parents’ house but also her apartment and she had no idea where he even lived.

“I’d love to show it to you.” He smiled. “You need to meet Dave.”

“Who on earth is Dave?” Rachel asked, racking her brain to try to remember if he’d ever mentioned a roommate.

“Dave is my cat.”

Rachel laughed. “What kind of name is Dave for a cat?”

Finn shrugged. “It seems everyone on the planet has a good friend named Dave. I didn’t, so I figured that was as a good name as any.”

“You are pretty cute, Finnegan Schwartz.”

It was Finn’s turn to blush. “Want another drink?” he nodded toward Rachel’s empty wine glass.

“No, let’s finish up and get out of here. Unless you have plans for us after here…”

He shook his head.

“Good,” She said. “I’m very eager to meet this cat of yours.”

Not to mention see his home. Rachel was suddenly very curious to see where Finn lived.

Chapter 43

Extraordinary was not a word Rachel would have used to describe Finn’s home. More like: ‘Oh my God, you live here?’

It wasn’t the size of the home that impressed her, but it just seemed so…grown up. When Rachel thought of the homes of people she knew, she thought of her apartment, Aaron’s two bedroom condo (which was going on the market since he couldn’t afford it anymore) or at the high end, Brian’s townhouse. But nothing like Finn’s three bedroom ranch set back in one of the best neighborhoods in town.

A “wow,” escaped her as he pulled into the driveway, the garage door opening before them.

“It was my parents’ house,” Finn explained, sounding apologetic.

She felt like she should have been surprised, but wasn’t. “It’s really nice.”

“Thanks, I had considered selling it after the accident, but my sisters wanted to keep it in the family. They both had their own places with their families so I sold my condo and moved back in.”

They got out of the car and Finn led Rachel toward the inner door. Before Finn had even turned the knob, they heard a plaintive meowing.

Finn turned and smiled at Rachel. “That’s my Dave.” He opened the door and bent down to scoop up the little brown tabby cat. “Come on in.”

Rachel followed Finn deeper into his house, looking around to take it all in. “My shoes…”

“Don’t worry about it, the cleaners come tomorrow.” He turned and stared at her. “Oh God, that sounded so pretentious, didn’t it?”

“I’ll let it slide as long as you don’t follow it up with something about your butler.”

Finn rolled his eyes and put the cat down on the hardwood floor. Dave unceremoniously left them, his tail disappearing around a corner.

“Ungrateful cur!” Finn yelled goodheartedly after Dave. He turned to Rachel, wearing a big smile. “Want the royal tour? You’ll have to excuse the mess.”

Rachel shrugged. “I won’t hold it against you since I know the cleaners are coming tomorrow.” She winked.

“I hate cleaning. And you know what? I’m just not good at it. My mom always had a cleaning service and it just makes sense for me.”

Rachel smiled. “You do not need to justify having a cleaning service. Believe me, I think it’s great.”

“See? You’re a smart girl, that’s what I like about you.”

Finn grabbed Rachel’s hand before he turned and led her through the house, one room at a time. It wasn’t just a quick tour of the home, but more of a room by room expedition through his life.

They started in the living room and Rachel stepped up to the mantle, inspecting all the photographs of Finn and his family.

She turned to look at him as he watched her. “You look a lot like your dad.”

He nodded, sadness in his eyes though he was smiling. “He would have really liked you. He was a fun guy.”

Rachel returned to the pictures, eager to move on before the mood got really heavy. “Which sister is this?” she pointed to a wedding photo.

“That’s Sarah and her husband, Phil. Come on, there’s more to see.”

Unsure what his rush was, Rachel tore herself away from the photos to continue the tour into the dining room.

“This was my grandparents’ dining room set. He actually built it himself. I wish I was into woodworking but I’ve never had a knack for it.”

Rachel eyed the hutch at the other side of the room. She moved toward it, noticing something that caught her eye.

Inside was a place setting of Royal Doulton Bunnykins, exactly matching the one in her top dresser drawer. She turned to Finn. “Was this yours?” she pointed at the dishes.

He looked embarrassed. “Yeah. My mom said I demanded everything be served to me on those dishes.” He smiled, the nostalgia all over his face.

“They’re classics. I have a set, too.”

“Really? That’s very cool. The rest of these dishes were my mom’s too. My sisters didn’t want them, they said they already had their own.” He shrugged. “I guess someday I’ll impress a lady with my dowry.”

“They’re beautiful. Any lady would be lucky to get your dowry,” she said, dying to open up the hutch and look at the underside of the china plates inside to see who made them, but manners dictated she should keep her hands where they were. She consoled herself with the realization that it was not going to be the last time she would be in Finn’s dining room. In fact, she would get a chance to play hostess in just a few weeks. She turned back toward the table, imagining what it would look like, set with a beautiful linen tablecloth and the fine china. Playing house at Finn’s was going to be fun.

“Thanks. And through here is the kitchen. Oh, hello, Dave. Nice of you to join us.”

The slim tabby who had appeared from nowhere followed them nonchalantly into the kitchen. “Sorry again about the mess.”

Finn’s mess consisted of a few dishes and some cutlery in the sink. Hardly anything to be embarrassed about.

Rachel had no doubt that if she had a kitchen like this one to be inspired by daily, she would become a great cook in no time. From the cork floor inlays to the dark cherry cabinets, professional, stainless steel appliances, and the black granite countertops, Rachel was very impressed. “Wow, this is beautiful.”

“Thanks
. This
I can take credit for. My mom had always wanted a kitchen like this but she wouldn’t spend the money. After they died, I had it done and spared no expense as a tribute to her. I wish she’d done it for herself—she would have loved it.”

“I guess so. Cooking would be a pleasure in a kitchen like this.”

“It is, but it’s nowhere near as much fun cooking for one.”

Rachel nodded. She was beginning to know firsthand what he meant.

“Do you want to see the bedrooms?” Finn asked.

It was a loaded question.

Rachel pushed her purse strap up her shoulder and shrugged, hoping he didn’t detect her nervousness at the mention of bedrooms. “I don’t know, a bedroom’s a bedroom, isn’t it?”

He seemed to accept her answer; perhaps she had been reading too much into the situation.

“You’re right.”

Relieved, she smiled at him, waiting for what came next.

“What?” he asked. “Why’re you staring at me?”

“Don’t be so paranoid,” Rachel scolded. “I was just waiting for you to fill me in on the rest of the evening’s plans. I can’t imagine that you intended for the evening to wrap up at…” she looked at her watch. “Ten-fifteen.”

“Oh, sorry,” he looked sheepish. “Now I feel like an idiot. There was actually a party back at the restaurant, but I guess we kind of blew that off.”

She looked at him sideways. “You said there weren’t plans after dinner.”

He fidgeted a little. “We could go back…”

Rachel shrugged. “I don’t think we need to. It’s nice here. Do you have any movies or anything?”

Finn nodded. “Netflix. You go get comfortable and I’ll get the popcorn.”

Rachel left him in the kitchen to nuke the popcorn and grab them drinks and headed back to the living room. She was going to turn on the TV, but one look at the three remotes on the coffee table made her realize it was a task best left to him.

She didn’t have to wait long before Finn brought in a couple of diet cokes while the popcorn popped in the background.

Rachel pointed at the remotes. “Would you mind? I don’t think I have enough testosterone to figure out how to turn on your TV.”

Putting the sodas on the table, Finn picked up the middle remote and clicked a button, making four machines light up simultaneously. “It’s on a macro,” he said with a shrug.

Rachel didn’t pretend to understand what that meant. She opened her soda and took a sip as he turned and left the room.

He returned a few minutes later with two bowls of popcorn, handing her one before sitting next to her on the couch.

He grabbed another remote. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Rachel said.

* * *

“Oh, no, Finn!”

He turned toward her, eyes wide. “What?”

“It’s three minutes to twelve!” As the credits rolled on the episode of House of Cards.

Finn turned the TV to the big New York ball, poised to drop in just a few short moments. “I’ve got some champagne. Should I get it?”

Rachel nodded, excited that for the first time ever she would have someone to kiss at midnight on New Year’s.