The Birthday List(42)

“Can I do that one, Daddy? Pleeeeease?” Kali pointed to the Tilt-A-Whirl.

Finn shook his head. “You have to be taller to ride that one, baby.”

“But there’s a kid.” Kali’s eyes zeroed in on a kid not much taller than her riding with his dad.

“Saw that, did you?” Finn muttered and knelt down to look at his daughter. “You can’t go on that ride alone, and I didn’t buy myself any tickets. I’m sorry.”

“Finn, I’ve got a couple extra,” Cole said. “You can have them or I can take her.”

“Yay!” Kali squealed. “Can I go? Can I go, Daddy? Pleeeeease?”

Finn shook his head and clapped Cole on the shoulder. “She’s all yours. Good luck.”

Cole chuckled as Kali grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the ride. He smiled at me as my niece kept pulling. “At least I fit on this one.”

“Have fun!” Finn and I called to their backs.

As Cole and Kali took their place in line for the ride, Finn stepped closer to my side. “I like him.”

“No.” I feigned shock. “Really? I couldn’t tell by the way you were practically humping his leg.”

“Tease all you want. You like him too.”

Cole was still holding Kali’s hand, smiling down at her as they waited in line. “Yeah. I like him too. He’s a friend.”

“A friend? Come on. What’s going on with you two?”

I shrugged. “I ran into him at that karate class I went to last month. We’ve had a couple dinners together, and he’s helping me with some of the stuff on Jamie’s list.”

“And.”

“And he’s also looking into the murder case.”

“And.”

“And . . . that’s it. Nothing more. I just told you. He’s a friend.”

“Poppy,” Finn chided.

I mocked his tone. “Finn.”

“Be honest.”

The downside of being extremely close to my brother was that I never could slip anything past him. “Honestly? I don’t know.”

“Fair enough.” Finn waved to Kali as she smiled his way from the Tilt-A-Whirl car. She was sitting right next to Cole, her hands gripping the railing across their laps. And Cole was grinning at me.

The ride got started and I waved to them both as they started spinning.

“He likes you too. More than just a friend.”

I sighed. “I know.”

I didn’t want to lead Cole on. I knew he had feelings for me, just like I had feelings for him. But since I wasn’t sure how to deal with them, it was safer just to classify him as a friend.

Finn threw his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side. “It’s okay to always love Jamie.”

“I always will.” Always.

“But maybe you can love someone else too.”

Two years ago, I would have said absolutely not. I would have said that my love for Jamie was all-consuming and I’d never find room in my heart for anyone else. But now, I wasn’t as sure. At some point, I wanted more in my life. A family. Children. Love.

So instead of saying absolutely not, I whispered, “Maybe.”

Finn hugged me tighter. “Something to think about. Since Jamie was my best friend in the world, I feel like I’m qualified to say this. He would have liked Cole too.”

Finn’s right. You would have liked him, Jamie.

We stayed quiet as we watched Kali and Cole on the ride. By the time they came back, Kali had claimed Cole as her own, begging him to take her on one last ride. They did until all the ride tickets had disappeared and we were strolling through the midway, getting some drinks and buying the kids a late snack.

“We probably better get going,” Finn said after the minidonuts and fresh-squeezed lemonades were gone.

Kali was still running around us in circles—literally racing around our legs—but Max was about thirty seconds from falling asleep in his stroller. And from the circles under his eyes, Finn’s energy was fading fast too. He’d probably stayed up most of last night working.

“Do you want some help with bedtime tonight? I could come over and help with baths.”

Finn’s face lit up. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. You can spend some time getting caught up.”

“I’ll take you up on it. I’m behind on a bid.”

That wasn’t surprising. While Molly had more time on her hands since the divorce, Finn was struggling to keep up at work. I’d never say it out loud, but this had been a good wake-up call for him. He’d taken for granted how much Molly had done to manage the kids and run their household. Now he was having to do it all himself—be Mr. Mom three days a week and Finn Alcott, landscape designer and entrepreneur.

But he was still my brother and I wanted to help him before he got worn out.

“I’ll walk you guys out.” Cole placed his hand on my back as we all started for the gravel parking lot.

I got the same tingle that I had earlier when he’d touched me there, liking it more the second time than I had the first.

When we reached the parking lot, Finn jerked his chin to a long row of cars. “I’m this way.”

“See you at the R Bar next week.” Cole shook his hand.