Page 82 of Chance of a Lifetime

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Finn sighed. “I found your necklace that night at the bar, after you all went home. The clasp was broken, but instead of giving it back to you right away, I took it to a jeweler to have it fixed. The day I drove it to your house, Liam was outside and, well...”

“Well, what?” she asked sharply.

Finn dipped his head in obvious remorse. “He said you’d been so distraught about losing it, you’d be mad when you found out I’d kept it from you for a few days. I should’ve told you immediately, instead of trying to make it a surprise.”

Cora blinked at him, stunned. She had been upset. For days she’d felt the loss of her mother’s necklace like a missing limb, but there was no way Finn could’ve known that. He was just trying to be kind. “Finn—”

“No, please let me apologize. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away. I ended up giving it to Liam and just asked him not to mention I stopped by.”

Cora remembered being so happy to find Liam standing in the yard, holding her necklace. It was in the grass. That’s what Liam had said. He’d looked her straight in the face and taken the credit for someone else’s good deed. He was a master at manipulation, all right. She wondered just how often he tricked people into thinking well of him. A distasteful thought suddenly occurred to her. “Finn, did you fix my broken lawn mower?”

“No. Not at all.”

Well, at least Liam wasn’t lying about tha—

“It wasn’t really broken,” Finn explained. “The carburetor cup just needed clearing. Once I did that, it was good as new.”

Cora frowned.

“Please don’t be angry with me,” Finn said worriedly.

She wasn’t used to seeing him look so...lost. Usually he seemed so steadfast and confident, comfortable in his own skin.

“I’m not,” she assured him. “I’m very grateful for what you did. It was too kind of you, really.”

He looked so relieved, it was almost comical, but Cora was in no mood to laugh. She was so fed up with Liam and his lies.

“If—if you want,” Finn said tentatively, “I can take your necklace back to the jeweler so they can fix that rough edge.”

Cora’s immediate thought was to turn him down because the idea of being without it was unnerving, but he looked so hopeful. Quickly, before she could change her mind, she unclasped the necklace, then placed it in his hand. “It’s one of the only things I have left of my mother’s. I’ve worn it since I was a little girl.”

He cradled it in his hand with reverence, as if she’d just given him the Holy Grail. “Perhaps I shouldn’t—”

“I trust you,” she said simply. “I know you’ll take good care of it for me.” And she did trust him. Finn was a good person. Unlike another man who had Cora quietly fuming.

As soon as Suzette returned, Cora made her excuses to them both and headed home to confront a lying, manipulative snake in the grass.