Only Mine (Fool's Gold #4)(69)

He’d never told her how his parents had died beyond the fact that it had been a plane crash, and she hadn’t thought to ask for details. She’d assumed it had been some kind of accident but nothing this bad. Nothing he’d been a part of. No wonder he held himself together so tightly. No wonder he didn’t want to get involved or have more responsibility.

Everything made sense now. His intensity with his brothers. His concern about their future and safety. He was trying to control fate, and that wasn’t possible.

She stepped in front of him and stared into his dark blue eyes. “You did what you had to do. You took care of your own. Your parents would have been very proud of you.”

He started to turn away, but she grabbed the front of his shirt and held him in place.

“You’re right,” she said. “No one asked you if you wanted to take on that responsibility. You did it because they’re your family and it was the right thing to do. You understood that. Just like you know, deep in your heart, that you don’t want Stephen in the business if he doesn’t want to be there.”

Finn stared at her for a long time, then opened his arms. She stepped into his embrace and hung on as if she would never let go.

“He should have told me,” he whispered. “He should have told me himself. I would have understood.”

She doubted Finn would have made the conversation very easy. Even so, his point was a good one. This was not how he should have found out.

She could argue that Stephen was still a boy, although that wouldn’t help her case of Finn letting them grow and live their lives. Besides, she understood his pain, even if she couldn’t feel it herself. He had given up so much, and now he felt betrayed.

Families were hard. They were great, but they were hard. Or maybe it was just loving someone that made things complicated.

As she held on to him, she realized that her mother had been right. Falling in love with Finn would be easy. Too easy. She was going to have to be very, very careful.

DAKOTA AND HER SISTERS lay sprawled on several blankets in the backyard. Hannah sat between them, laughing at their various antics. The sun was warm, the sky was blue, and Buddy, one of Montana’s rescue dogs, a pale cream labradoodle, monitored them anxiously.

“I can’t believe you’re really a mother,” Nevada said. “It happened so fast. Last month you were single and now you have a kid.”

“Tell me about it,” Dakota said, rolling on her side and facing her daughter. “Obviously I’ve been thinking about adopting ever since I found out how difficult it would be for me to have children. But that was a theory. This is real.” She grinned. “Of course, I’m still single.”

Hannah reached for her pink elephant. It was slightly out of reach, and she tumbled to her side as she stretched. Montana scooped her up and held her in the air. The baby laughed while Buddy whined nervously.

“It’s okay,” Montana told the dog. “She’s fine.”

Montana put the little girl back on the blanket. Buddy crawled toward her. When he was next to her, he angled his body to provide support and maybe protection.

“He’s really good with her,” she said.

Montana nodded. “He does great with little kids. Although he’s a bit of a worrier. He gets crazy when they fall. But he’s so patient. He doesn’t mind if little kids crawl all over him and pull his fur and tail. Some of it is the training, but most of it is his personality. He’s a nanny dog.” She leaned over and rubbed Buddy’s head. “Aren’t you, big boy?”

The dog kept his attention on the baby. He whined a little, as if concerned they weren’t paying enough attention to what was going on.

“I want a baby,” Nevada murmured. “At least I think I do, but not like this.”

“You wouldn’t consider adopting?” Dakota asked, a little surprised by her sister’s reaction.

“Sure I would, but not so quickly. Yes, this was a deliberate act, but you had to make the final decision quickly. Didn’t that scare you?”

“It terrified me, but that’s part of the process. I suppose if I’d been picked by a woman who was pregnant, I would have had more time to get used to what was going to happen.” She touched her daughter’s soft, dark hair. “Except I wouldn’t change any of this.”

“You’re braver than me,” Montana admitted. “The dogs are about all I can handle. Besides, I don’t think I’d be a very good mother.”

“Why not?” Dakota thought her sister would be great. “You’re caring and nurturing. You give everything you have. Look at how you are with the dogs.”

“That’s different.”

“I don’t think it is,” Nevada said. “You’re not as flaky as you think.”

Hannah dropped her elephant again, then reached to pick it up. Buddy nudged it toward her, as if wanting to make sure she was careful.

“How is Finn taking all this?” Montana asked in a not-so-subtle attempt to change the subject. “He flew you to Los Angeles to pick her up. That was nice.”

He’d done plenty of other nice things, she thought. And they weren’t all about transportation.

“He’s a good guy. The baby thing doesn’t freak him out. His brothers are a lot younger and that helps. He remembers the baby stage.”