Page 48 of Making Home with You (The Rockport Beach #3)

Sarah

I can’t even process what is happening. I’m emotionally and physically exhausted from all the shit that went down with Andrew just hours ago and now I’m dealing with a psycho who thinks my boyfriend belongs to her.

She’s unstable, but she’s also weak and exhausted, and it shows on her face. The dark purple circles that rim her eyes and her matted unkempt hair, says she hasn’t slept or showered in days. Her normally heavily made up face is red and blotchy, aging her well beyond her early thirties.

She looks far from stable and when she lunges at me, she’s slow and awkward, and the knife is pointed down.

I grab hold of her wrist just as the sirens cry out in the distance. It won’t be long before the police arrive and arrest her, but she doesn’t seem concerned.

Her eyes shoot down to where my hand clutches her wrist and she yanks hard trying to break free, but I hold firm. My other hand wraps around the base of the knife, again holding it in place.

“Let go!” Carla screams in my face and her breath reeks of booze and cigarettes and dirty teeth, but I don’t relent.

“You don’t want to do this,” I say, shaking my head at her, our eyes locked together. “Just put the knife down. Listen, the police will be here any minute and right now, you’re in a good place.”

I’m trying to talk her down, bide time until the police arrive, but I can tell out of the corner of my eye, Finn doesn’t like the idea. He’s moving toward us and I know it’s going to throw Carla into a tailspin.

As soon as she realizes he’s coming to protect me, she’s going to up her game. And if Ryan has taught me anything about the crazy and the unstable, it’s that they’re unpredictable and that when push comes to shove, they lose their shit.

I can’t look away from her and risk losing the edge I currently have on her, but I can’t let Finn come any closer either.

“Stay away!” I yell, but it’s like Finn doesn’t hear me, too wrapped up in my safety. “Seriously, Finn!”

“Listen to her, Finn,” Carla chides manically, a high-pitch laugh ringing out above the sound of the sirens.

When Finn finally stops, the sound of his feet no longer moving along the worn wooden planks of the dock, I breathe out slowly.

“If you kill me, they will arrest you,” I whisper to Carla. She’s quiet, taking in my words and I use the opportunity to get inside her head. “I want you to put the knife down and go to Finn.”

Her eyes find mine, and she smiles, but it’s sad and I watch the tears well up in her eyes.

“If you kill me, you’ll never be able to be with him.”

She contemplates my words, and all I can hope is that she’s too manic to realize I’m setting her up.

I feel her grip on the knife loosen, but the pounding feet of the incoming police officers shake the dock and Carla snaps back to life.

She again begins to push the knife toward my body, the tip nearly poking my thigh and it takes what little strength I have left to force it away.

“Call them off!” I scream at Finn, my eyes darting quickly to his and then back to Carla. I know any disturbance in what I’ve already stabilized will just set us back and I’m not sure I have the resolve to see this out any longer.

As much as I despise Carla for what she’s done, I don’t want her dead, but with the way the police are aiming their guns at her, I can’t help but think that’s what they want.

It won’t fix the situation. Carla is sick, and she needs more help than the criminal justice system can provide. I need to walk away from this unscathed, because right now Carla is looking at minimal time in prison. But if she stabs me, they can get her for attempted murder.

I don’t want that for her. She needs to be in a mental health facility where doctors can treat her and help her find a way to a stable life.

Finn holds a hand up and the group of officers stop in their tracks, but one officer in particular doesn’t seem as keen as the others to back off.

“Listen to me, Carla,” I demand, my voice firm. “You need to go to Finn. I’m not willing to risk my life over a guy. He’s yours.”

She looks at me and then at Finn, but I never take my eyes off her. I’m trusting that Finn hears the plea in my words and knows that I’m not talking to her, but to him.

I need him to lure her away from me. I need my words to be desperate enough that she believes me.

I watch her shoulders sag as if she’s suddenly relieved, and then I hear Finn’s deep voice murmur, “Come here, Carla. Come to me.”

Her grip on the knife is gone, it’s now resting in my hand, as I watch her stagger toward Finn’s outstretched arms.

But like hell if I’m going to let her reach him.

I have no idea if she’s still armed and I don’t want to find out.

Without missing a beat, I chuck the knife into the water, the sound causing Carla to look away from Finn, and it gives me just enough time to catch her off guard.

I catch her in the back of knees with my leg, sweeping her feet out from under her. She crashes hard onto the dock; her body slamming down and her head bouncing wildly like a ragdoll.

She goes unconscious the moment she hits the wooden surface, and by the time I take a breath, the officers have descended upon us and it’s out of my hands.

It’s Finn’s arms that grab me when I finally feel the weight of my day crash into me, and I let my body sink into him.

And for the first time that I can remember, I let myself cry. I’m sobbing into Finn’s chest as he runs his hands up and down my back.

I put my life at risk not once but twice tonight and it’s a place I never want to find myself again.

“Shhhh, Sarah,” Finn murmurs into my hair making a hushing noise as he presses his lips to the top of my head. “I’ve got you. It’s over.”

In between muffled sobs and hard drawn in breaths, I hear Finn’s conversation with Detective Greenwood.

He’s been cleared of any wrongdoing and his file will reflect that, but he will eventually need to meet with the detective to give his statement on what occurred tonight, as will I.

And as I finally calm down, my sobs turning to soft muted cries, Finn and I make our way back to the room at the inn.

I strip off my clothes and Finn follows suit, and heads to the bathroom, starting the oversized shower,

The waterfall of rain begins to cascade down on me as Finn steps in and takes my exhausted body in his arms. We stand like this for what feels like forever, his hands running up and down the length of my body.

“Let’s agree that there will be no more of you putting yourself in danger,” Finn says, and something about his words makes me smile.

I look up at him, and he leans down, our mouths meeting in a soft kiss. It’s a kiss that says so much without using the words. It says I love you.

It only takes one moment, one fleeting second of fear, of worry, of heart-shattering sadness to realize what a person means to you. Finn and I had that moment today and it’s something I never want to relive.

“I agree,” I say, nodding my head, but knowing that Finn’s job alone puts him in danger. “I guess we can just be grateful that you’re the chief in a small town where stuff like this only happens once in a lifetime.”

Finn chuckles a bit and I look up at him with a questioning looking on my face. “I guess, unless you’re part of my family. Those are the people who bring big drama to this town.”

I laugh too, thinking about Kelsey and Erin and now me, we’re the problem causers, the bringers of drama. But it is nice that we can laugh about it despite the horribleness that could have come from all of it.

I wake the next morning to the light filtering in through the crack in the curtain. It’s late, but Finn is still asleep. Obviously we both needed the rest.

I roll over and snuggle against his warm sleepy body and he slides his arms around me.

I’ve taken today off and so has Finn. We both need time to recover from what happened last night.

And a part of me wonders if I’ll ever be able to set foot in the offices of Bolton and Fisher again.

The memories that I hold are unpleasant and the idea of having to walk through that parking garage again makes my stomach turn.

But I guess people have dealt with worse things and moved on with their lives.

As if Finn can read my mind he says, “Have you ever thought about starting your own business?” His voice is husky with sleep and for a second, I wonder if he’s talking in his sleep.

“You awake?” I ask, tilting my head to look up at him.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” he responds, a smirk on his face and he shifts so his hard length presses against me. “Why?”

“The question was weird and I thought you might be talking in your sleep, but I can feel you’re definitely not asleep.”

He laughs a little, and says, “So have you?”

“Maybe a little, but I live with my brother and I don’t think he’d appreciate me quitting my job to pursue a pipedream.”

I think about when I lived with Ryan in Boston after I graduated and how he eventually had to kick me to the curb when I couldn’t find a job.

I don’t think my ego could take that a second time.

I definitely know I couldn’t go crawling back to the bar with my tail between my legs, and begging my parents to let me live with them again. It’s all so insanely embarrassing.

“It’s not a pipedream, Sarah,” Finn says sternly. “You’re good at it.”

“Being good at something doesn’t mean you can turn it into a career.”

Finn shifts again, but this time, he props himself up on his elbow, and looking down at me, he tucks my hair behind my ear.

“I’m going to be totally honest with you…” He stops and takes a deep breath. “I don’t want you going back to work there. But that’s not the only reason I brought it up. I really think you’re talented and I truly believe you can make a career out of doing what you love.”

“Why didn’t you just say that to begin with?”

“Because I watched you kick a guy’s ass yesterday and I wasn’t sure how’d you’d handle me telling you to quit your job.”

I laugh out loud and swat at Finn’s bare chest, finding his worries and his need to have me close adorable.

“I’ll make you a deal. You start your own business with the few clients you have…the pub, Kelsey’s inn, the few places you secured off Kelsey and see how it goes. In the downtime you can tend bar at the pub, but I don’t think you’ll need to.”

I contemplate Finn’s idea. I do sorta miss working at the bar. The tips were good and Erin and Ryan aren’t charging me much in rent. I could probably make it work with what I bring in doing marketing gigs and bartending a few nights a week.

“Okay,” I say, my heart racing at the idea of making a leap like this. “On one condition, when Ryan kicks me out, you better let me live with you.”

Finn’s laugh is hardy and he grabs me around the waist and pulls me on top of him. His large hand wraps around the back of my neck and he guides my mouth to his, kissing me hard and I feel him smile against my mouth.

“I’d do anything for you, Sarah.”