Page 56 of Making Home with You

Me: yes, mostly, but I’d appreciate you not sharing this with her.

Ryan: wtf is going on Finn?

I don’t reply, instead hit the call button and ring him.Ryan picks up straightaway.

“What the fuck’s going on?”he repeats.

“Yeah, hi to you too,” I answer sarcastically.

I hear Ryan exhale.“Sorry, that was harsh,” he concedes.“How are you?”

“Fucked,” I reply.

“I can see why,” he says.“What’s going on?Erin mentioned this woman has been giving you some shit, but going to a reporter?That seems kinda extreme.”

I scrub a hand over my face.“That’s the kind of woman she is,” I admit.“But regardless, it’s all bullshit, okay?Please trust me when I say that, Ryan.”

“I do,” he says quickly, and I immediately feel relieved.“Does Sarah know though?”

“She does,” I say carefully.“Not all of the details, because I can’t actually talk about it, but she knows something’s going on, yes.And like I said, Ryan,” I continue, “I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t show her this.She’s got enough going on without having to worry about my drama.”

Ryan doesn’t say anything at first and I can’t help but wonder if he’s trying to work out if me keeping things from Sarah is such a good idea.Hell, maybe he’ll just ignore my request and show her the article anyway.As much as I might think he’s okay with us seeing each other, god knows Ryan and I don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to the women he cares about.

“Alright,” he eventually says.

“Thank you,” I reply, grateful.“I really appreciate it.”

“If there’s anything I can do though,” he adds.“Anything at all, you let me know, okay?God knows I owe you.”

For a second, I’m actually stunned into silence, unsure if I heard him correctly.“What?”I eventually get out.

“I owe you, Finn, for all the times you kept Erin safe, you know that.”

My head falls back as I stare up at the ceiling.“No you don’t, Ryan,” I reply, deadly serious.“I was doing my job and I was taking care of a friend, you know that.You don’t owe me at all.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do, seriously, let me know.”

“Thanks,” I tell him.“Appreciate it.”

After I hang up, I send off an email to the detective I spoke to about Carla’s allegations, including the link to the bogus news article and a single question;can she do this?

I don’t get a reply, so forcing myself to focus on my job, I get back to work.

By the time I’m packing up for the day, there’s still no response from Detective Greenwood, but there is a text from my brother.Sighing, I open it.

Beck: family dinner, you coming?We need to talk.

“For fuck’s sake,” I can’t help but mutter, when am I going to catch a break here?

Sighing, I fire back a quick response.

Me: yes, am bringing Sarah too.

Beck: ok, cu tonight.

For a second I’m tempted to reply and ask him exactly what we need to talk about.But maybe I’m reading too much into it all.Maybe it’s something to do with the pub or their wedding or any number of other things that have nothing to do with the shit I’m currently dealing with.

Grabbing my things, I shoot Sarah a quick text, reminding her about dinner, before going home to shower and change.