They both looked at her with such concern that tears threatened. She glanced away.Get it together, Alex.
“Of course. I’ll send you my thoughts before I leave today, and we can compare notes via email throughout the week as planned.”
She tried to answer, but her voice cracked. She cleared her throat. “Okay. I’m gonna grab my stuff and bail. Thanks.”
Jeff stopped her. “Let’s get you an escort in case those assholes didn’t leave.” He picked up his phone to call someone.
“No, really, it’s okay. I came in from the garage stairwell and wasn’t aware they were here until Sam told me. I’ll leave the same way.”
Jeff opened his mouth to speak, but Alex cut him off. “Really, Jeff. I… I don’t want to lose my cool in front of anyone. Please. I’ll sneak out the back and be fine.”
“If you’re sure…” He reluctantly put the handset back in its cradle.
“I am. And thanks. See you guys after the break.” Alex bolted.
She updated her team and left as fast as possible. The tears began once she got in her car and she couldn’t stop them. She noticed a security guard observing her and realized Jeff had sent someone to check on her despite her protests. That only made her cry harder.
As she drove home, all she could think about was the media besieging her place of work. This was the second time within a matter of days that her professional environment had been disrupted by personal matters. For her entire career, she’d fought to keep those two aspects of her life separate in order to prove she could do the job. Now, her personal life was spinning out of control and taking everything else with it. Her carefully constructed walls separating the two worlds were crumbling.
I can’t do this, she thought.
Once home,Alex stripped off her work clothes, washed her face, and changed into her favorite pair of jeans and a soft, long-sleeved tee. She clicked on the TV in the living room for background noise while packing her bag for the trip to Los Angeles. As she threw a couple of outfits on the bed, she caught her name mentioned in the other room and wandered out to listen. Footage from this morning in her office filled the screen as the local news anchor described the scene.
“C’mon!Really?Freakin’ vultures.” Alex couldn’t believe they had the story on the air so quickly. “Why is this news?”
She sat down hard and reviewed the past month in her head. She could think of half a dozen times where she’d left work early or rearranged meetings to accommodate her relationship with Fin. How many meetings had she been late for or unprepared for because she’d spent a little too long on the phone with him? She’d begged off a few gatherings with friends because she’d scheduled a phone call with him. She must be starstruck. That’s the only excuse for letting her life derail like this.
This is bullshit, she told herself, anger replacing the helplessness she’d been fighting all day. After all these years of telling herself that she would not sacrifice her career or her goals for a man, she had done exactly that. Before Fin, she never would have been sloppy with meetings, let deadlines slide, or rearranged her schedule for some private time with a man. She was done with this.
Alex opened her laptop and looked up flights for West Texas. She found a flight later this afternoon that would put her at her parents’ house before supper. She purchased the ticket, then called her mom to tell her she was coming home for the holidays after all. Eddie and Gabe had already planned to care for Felix while she was away, so she let them know the cat needed their attention a day earlier.
Her next call needed to be to Fin. She set a kettle on to make a cup of tea and went to repack. Christmas in West Texas required a vastly different wardrobe than sunny Los Angeles. After adjusting her packed items and settling down with her cup of tea, Alex punched in his number.
Fin setdown his phone in shock. Alex wasn’t coming.
They had been so excited they were able to find time together over the holidays. Fin had invited his family to join them. His parents couldn’t make the trip, but Fin’s brother had taken him up on the offer and his family would arrive tomorrow. Fin could hardly wait to introduce Ethan to Alex.
But she wasn’t coming. Not only was she not coming, she didn’t want to see him anymore. She wasn’t up for “all this madness.” According to Alex, his life was a madhouse and didn’t fit in with her life plans. She needed to focus on her career and “the Hollywood bullshit” didn’t work for her.
He sat still, replaying the conversation in his head, letting her words wash over him.
Sometime later, Fin realized he was sitting in the dark. The sun had set. He stood up, stiff from sitting still for so long, and moved toward the bar, where he had a bottle of superb Scottish whisky waiting for him.
Chapter25
Licking Wounds
Fin had arrangedfor a car to pick up Ethan and his family at the airport while he worked on tidying up and getting the bungalow ready for overnight guests. Addie referred to it as her cabana, but in actuality, the building was a small house complete with two bedrooms, two baths, a modern kitchen, and a roomy living area. Earlier that morning, Fin put fresh sheets on both the sofa bed in the living room and the bed in the second bedroom. He assumed Ethan and his wife, Moira, would take the bedroom and the two girls would sleep on the sofa bed, but he would leave the sleeping arrangements up to them.
The intercom chimed as Fin put away the last of the groceries he’d purchased for the week. He confirmed the visitors were his family and hit the button to open the front gate. On his way to greet them, he picked up the garbage bag sitting on the porch, the empty bottles inside clinking together, reminding him of last night’s binge. Fin dropped it in Addie’s bins as he walked to the front of her house. They didn’t need to see evidence of the hot mess he’d been last night.
Fin came around the corner as his brother and his sister-in-law attended to his nieces in the backseat. The two little girls exploded from the car as soon as their parents unbuckled them from their seats and raced to him. “Uncle Fin! Uncle Fin!” they cried. He grunted as they almost barreled him over with their hugs. He squatted to their eye-level and gave them the once-over. Shaylee, the oldest at seven years, was a miniature version of her mother, her sky-blue eyes framed by long, dark lashes that matched her hair. Tara, the five-year-old, had the coloring of her father. She had the same blue eyes, but her hair was a light sandy color somewhere between brown and blond.
“Who are these wee lasses you’ve brought, Ethan? They are far too grown up to be my nieces!” As expected, the girls burst into giggles and shouted their names to him.
The driver finished unloading their bags, and Fin pulled out his wallet to tip the guy. “Och, you don’t have to do that, lad. I can take care of it,” Ethan protested.
“Let me. I’ve been holing up my money for so long, I’m delighted to spend it on my family.” Fin shrugged him off and thanked the driver.
