Finn squeezed Sophia’s hand. She was freaking out. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Grace about Sophia, but he’d been unable to resist the last time they’d talked a few days ago. A few days ago—when his sister already had travel plans made and forgot to mention them to him. Not that he wasn’t happy to see her and Molly, but a little warning would’ve been nice.
He eyed his sister. Was there another reason she was here? Had his father done something?
“We probably should’ve called first,” Grace said, shooting Finn a smirk. “But now we can get to know the woman who’s made my brother less of a grump.”
“Hey. I’m exceedingly pleasant during our calls, right Molly?”
“Yep. Can Bash and me have pancakes now?” she asked.
“You’re his PT, right?” Shit. He didn’t need his sister reminding Sophia of that fact.
“Umm, yes. PT assistant, actually,” Sophia said, pulling away from his hold. He missed her warmth immediately and itched to yank her back against him. He’d had plans for her this morning—well, for the entire weekend, but he couldn’t drag her back into his bedroom with his family here.
“Right. I guess I know how you met,” Grace said, with a soft laugh.
“Actually, we met before my injury,” Finn said, trying to save the conversation, and Sophia’s nerves. He was going to have a long talk with his sister later about the value of keeping her mouth shut.
“Yes, at my family’s restaurant a few times, right?” Sophia said, and Finn nodded. They’d only officially met once at the restaurant, but he’d noticed her every time he’d gone in with the guys.
“Family restaurant? You must love exchanging recipes with Eric. He can make a gourmet meal out of scraps. And believe me, we tested that more than once when we were growing up.”
“Actually, I’m an awful cook, much to my family’s dismay,” Sophia said. The corner of her mouth tilted up in a smile.
“That’s why you’re dating him? Not that I blame you,” Grace said, and grinned.
“That’s what I keep telling her. Now how about some pancakes?” he asked. “Someone said they wanted second breakfast.”
“Me,” Molly cheered. “I promise not to give any to Bash.”
“Yes, don’t give him any. No matter how sad his eyes look. He does that on purpose, you know.”
“I know,” Molly said, her tone serious.
Sophia laughed, and the sound washed over him. She was calming down, and this was what he wanted. Her meeting two of the most important people in his life. He had no idea when they’d gotten to this point, but now that it was here, he didn’t have a single doubt that this was where she belonged, in his kitchen, teasing his niece and getting to know his sister.
“Chocolate chips or blueberries?” he asked, and Molly gave him an are-you-kidding-me look.
“Chocolate chwip,” Molly said, shaking her head. “Blueberwies only in muffins.”
“Of course,” he said, before leaning close to Grace and giving her a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”
His sister laughed. “Sure you are.”
They spent the next few hours gorging on pancakes and making a quick trip to the dog park so Bash could run around. And while they’d walked, with Molly swinging between Grace and Sophia’s hands, his sister had filled Sophia in on every embarrassing story she had on him. Sisters were pains in the ass like that.
“Enough,” he muttered as Sophia barked out a laugh at Grace’s latest tale involving him trying to skateboard down their icy street and ending up face-first in a shrub. They were back in his condo, Molly was asleep in his lap, so getting up to strangle his sister wasn’t an option.
“He tried to steer with his hockey stick. Oh man, Brandon got in so much trouble after breaking one too many hockey sticks that winter in non-hockey related activities. He’s coming down for the season opener, right? I think he mentioned that the last time I saw him.”
“Yeah, and thanks to Sophia, I’ll be playing in that game. At least I hope I will.” He owed it to Brandon. Season home openers were a tradition they’d started when Finn had reached the NHL.
“I’m looking forward to meeting Brandon. I bet he has the best stories about you growing up,” Sophia said.
“That he won’t be sharing with you,” Finn grumbled, but he was excited to have Sophia immersed in his past, with his family and best friend.
“Spoilsport,” she teased. “I can’t wait to meet him. Oh shoot, I didn’t realize how late it was. I should probably get going.”
“Working at Lanzi’s tonight?” Finn asked, wishing he could keep her here all day and night.
“Of course,” she said, standing up from the couch. “I’m sorry to run, but it was so nice meeting you, Grace. I definitely need more stories.”
“No, you don’t,” Finn grumbled as Bash followed him into the kitchen.
“Yes… I do,” he heard Sophia whisper to his sister.
After Sophia said her goodbyes to Grace and a sleepy Molly, he caught up with her before she made it to the door. He tugged her close, ignoring her weak protests about his sister being able to see them, and he pressed a hard kiss to her lips.
“Call me when you get home, and please be careful tonight,” he said. He hated the thought of her ex showing up at the restaurant anytime she went into work. “Maybe we’ll swing in for dinner.”
“No. You stay here with your family. I’ll be fine,” she said, giving him one last kiss before she slipped out the door.
“I like her, Eric. She’s great for you,” Grace said after Finn shut the door and turned back to his sister and a patiently waiting Bash.
“I do, too.”
“Now, I think I’ll put Molly down for a nap,” Grace said, picking up her daughter and carrying her down the hall.
“As much as I love seeing you, want to tell me why you are here?” Finn asked, when Grace returned to the living room after putting Molly in Finn’s guest room.
“Maybe we wanted to visit,” she said, fiddling with her phone.
“Try again. Is it Jack? What did he do?”
“He’s hanging around and drinking more. And he keeps disappearing for a day or two, but he always comes back. Molly wants to get to know her grandfather, but I want him gone.”
“Shit. Has he done anything? Lashed out at her?” He remembered his father’s violent outbursts after one too many beers on more than one occasion. If his father had laid a hand on Molly, Finn would not be held accountable for his actions. He needed to get the man to leave, but apart from paying him off again, his father wouldn’t willingly walk away. And he wasn’t going to spend his life paying his father to stay out of theirs.
Jack Finnegan had given up being a decent man ages ago, if he ever was one to begin with. Finn had his doubts.
“No. He hasn’t touched her. I promise. But Molly walked in on him arguing with Mom and she got scared. I don’t want to forbid Mom from seeing her grandchild, but I don’t trust him. Why did he have to come back? We don’t need him,” Grace said. Finn hated the pain in his sister’s voice.
He tugged her close, wrapping his arm around her. It sucked having a father they couldn’t rely on. A father they wished would crawl back under the rock he’d recently emerged from.
“I’m going to get up there before the season starts. I think I can get some time away from training in a week or two.”
“And what are you going to do? You can’t order him to leave. I just don’t get it. It was so easy for him to walk away before, so why is he back now?”
“Because he wants money,” Finn said, unable to hold back.
“What?”
“I paid him to leave four years ago. I’d just come into my big contract, and I finally had a way to get him to go. He’d been hinting about us having the finer things in life because I’d struck it big, and so I paid him to go. I didn’t need all of that money.”
“You what?” Grace screeched, bolting up from the couch. “And you never told us? You never told me. You let us think he walked away from his family.”
“Grace. He did walk away. He didn’t have to take the money, but he couldn’t wait to get his hands on it and bail. I wanted us to move on. You were about to have Molly, and I wanted a fresh start for us. He was never supposed to come back.”
“But you didn’t have the right to decide that for us. I can’t believe you paid him. How much? How much did it take for him to walk away from us?”
He winced. “He wanted a million, and I gave it to him. He wasn’t supposed to come back. That was it.”
“A million? That was a quarter of your annual salary.”
“I had it, and I know I should have told you, and probably Mom, but I saw a solution and I took it. My only regret is that he came back.”
“You let us think he’d abandoned us for good?”
“Grace. I get that you’re mad that I didn’t tell you, but you hate the guy. Aren’t you happy that he left?”
“That’s not the point,” she muttered, pacing. “So he wants more? Are you going to pay him again? He’ll keep coming back when he runs out.”
“I know, and no, I’m not giving him more. He’s threatening to tell Mom, thinking that it will destroy her to know he was bought off, but I’m going to tell her. And I hope that when I do, she kicks him out for good.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” He stood up, and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. “I’m sorry for not telling you. You had a lot going on. Molly’s dad wasn’t around, and you were about to give birth. I thought it was for the best.”
“Well, the next time you think something is good for me, how about you clue me in first?”
“I promise.”
She shook her head against his chest. “I can’t believe you paid him off.”
“Mama, I’m hungry,” Molly’s voice broke the silence from the edge of the living room, and they turned to see her rubbing her eyes. Shit. Hopefully she hadn’t heard their conversation.
“Hi baby,” Grace said, pulling out of Finn’s arms and scooping up her daughter. “I thought you were going to sleep longer.”
“I was, but my tummy woke me up. It was yelling.”
Finn met his sister’s gaze over the top of Molly’s head and mouthed I’m sorry. He never should’ve waited so long to tell her the truth. She just hugged her daughter tighter.
“I’m always hungry, and I know the perfect place,” Finn said.
“I bet you do,” Grace said, her face a mixture of sadness and a smirk.
He didn’t regret telling Grace the truth. After all this time, she had the right to know, and he was tired of secrets eating away at everyone. At Sophia. At Grace. And he knew he’d have to tell his mom. He’d rather balance on a Bosu ball with a shattered ankle.
But speaking of Sophia—hopefully she wouldn’t kill him, but he’d been craving Italian since she’d left his arms a few hours ago.
“Go take your break, I’ve got this handled,” Becky said later that night, shooing Sophia toward the kitchen. Sophia wasn’t going to say no, and she headed toward the swinging door. They’d been moving at a steady clip all night, and Sophia was ready to find a booth to lay down in and take a nap. After a night with very little rest, and surprise visitors when she’d been anticipating an early afternoon nap, she was dead on her feet.
She’d also grabbed the wrong shoes in her haste to not be late for mandatory family dinner a few hours ago, and her toes pinched. She was this close to kicking them off behind the hostess stand and making Becky seat everyone.
“You look exhausted, Soph,” her Aunt Rose said, handing Sophia a full plate and guiding her to a table in the corner.
“Yeah, I think everything is catching up with me,” she said, tearing off a corner of bread and dipping it into the herbed olive oil on the table.
“You need to cut back here. Less nights at the restaurant will give you more time to sleep. Don’t let your mother and father discourage you. I know how hard you worked to get to Dr. Anders’ office, and you are an excellent PT.”
Sophia smiled. “And how would you know that, Auntie? Are you spying on me?”
“Of course not, but I just know that when you put your mind to reaching your dreams, nothing will stop you.”
“Thanks, Auntie. If only my parents didn’t give me grief whenever I ask for a day off.”
“Not everyone has to work at the restaurant, and your sisters love it. I swear Joseph is hoping you will, too, but eventually he’s going to have to give that up.”
“I hope so.”
“And when you don’t have to work here, you can keep moving up the PT ladder until you have your own practice. We’ve got some accident-prone family members who will need you,” she said, snagging a piece of bread from Sophia’s plate.
“My own practice? You are definitely getting ahead of yourself, Auntie. I like my job now, and I would have to go back to school for a more advanced degree.”
“Well, if you want it, I have all the faith in you. And if your father grumbles, I’ll be right here to support you.”
“You’re my favorite auntie, you know that?”
Rose leaned in and whispered, “I know that. Just don’t tell Tina and Melissa, we wouldn’t want them to get upset.”
“I’ll never tell.”
“Good. Now, I’ll let you finish this, and you just let me know when you’re ready to talk to your father.”
Sophia nodded, a smile bright on her face. She’d been thinking about school more and more, but there was no easy option. She either had to start over at a local college or find an out-of-state bridge program. That would take her away from her family. From Finn. From the job that she had now and loved.
She polished off the rest of her food and headed back to the hostess stand, shoving aside her thoughts as she watched Becky lead Finn and his family to an empty booth.
What were they doing here?
“Sophia,” Molly called out, waving her hand as Sophia made her way over to the table, turning her attention to Finn’s soft smile. Nope. She’d told him he didn’t need to come in, and using his niece as cover was not cool. At least Tony wasn’t here tonight, but even she could admit that she wanted to see what Finn would do if her ex had shown up.
“Funny seeing you guys here,” she said, stopping next to the booth, her hand on her hip so she wouldn’t reach out and touch Finn. He leaned toward her, but she stepped closer to Molly.
“You said it’s yummy here, and I was so hungwy again,” Molly said, grinning up at Sophia.
“It is pretty yummy,” she said.
“Are you going to sleepover again? Uncle Ewic said French toast tomorrow, and we can watch movies.”
“Umm,” she hesitated, her gaze darting around to make sure no one had heard Molly’s statement. She spotted her mother at the edge of the bar and hoped that she hadn’t heard the little girl.
“Sophia has to work tomorrow, but we’ll see about dinner, maybe,” Finn said, his eyes warm. She wanted nothing more than to have another sleepover, but not while his family was in town.
“I should probably get back to work, but enjoy your dinner,” she said, quickly stepping away from the table, ignoring Finn when he said her name.
“Just what was that about, Sophia?” her mother asked, when Sophia reached the bar.
“Is that Finn from the Strikers? You’re working on him, right? Rehabbing?” her cousin Nicky, tonight’s bartender, asked.
“Yes, but I can’t discuss anything about his care,” Sophia said, feeling her mother’s glare at her neck.
“He’s your PT patient? Can I speak with you?” But it wasn’t a question, and she followed her mother down the hallway to the office.
“Mom, it’s not what you think,” Sophia said as soon as the door shut behind them.
“So you aren’t having sleepovers with your patient? I heard what that little girl said. Sophia, really? You want us to take your other job seriously. And what about Tony?”
Sophia sputtered. “Tony? What about him?”
“You two were so good together, and I thought with him coming back—”
“Tony and I were over a long time ago, and nothing is going to change that,” she shot back. “I’m in love with Finn, and I’m pretty sure he has strong feelings for me, too, but we haven’t talked about it yet.”
“Sophia.”
“No. I understand that it’s not professional, but we’ve kept it quiet. He wants to tell everyone, but I’m waiting until he is no longer a patient. This job is important to me, and he’s important to me.”
“And do you think you’ll still have a job when your boss finds out you’re dating?” Sophia saw the concern in her mother’s eyes, but the glimmer of disappointment overshadowed it, and Sophia steeled herself from the guilt.
“I will deal with that when she finds out. I’m really good at my job, Mom. And the way I feel about Finn.” She paused, a smile on her lips. “He’s amazing and I want you to get to know him when everything is out in the open.”
“You know I just want what’s best for you,” she said, pulling Sophia into a hug. “Just be careful.”
“I will.”
“You could introduce us now. Is that his family?”
“His sister and his niece. They came to visit from Calgary. I’ll introduce you,” she said, leading her mother from the back office. She’d had the perfect opportunity to tell her mother all about Tony and the past, but something stopped her again. It was so much easier to fess up to her feelings for Finn in front of her mother. There was no history there. No guilt.
***
Sophia tossed her keys on the counter and toed off her shoes. She popped the leftovers in the fridge, and her phone buzzed in her pocket. She bit back her grin, knowing it was probably Finn wishing her a good night with a dirty text. She didn’t want to sleep alone in her bed tonight, but there was no way she was going to stay at his place with his family there. It was enough that they’d basically walked in on them this morning. And then Molly had mentioned sleepovers in front of Sophia’s mother.
Well, tonight had been awkward. She’d introduced her mother to Finn and his family, and she hadn’t missed how bright a smile Finn wore at the introduction. But when he’d tried to tug her down next to him, she’d resisted. She’d still been at work, after all. But it’d gone well, and her mother had invited him to Sunday dinner. That had to count for something.
Her entire body buzzed with happiness. Things were going in the right direction, and that direction included Finn in her life and her family happy for her.
Her phone vibrated again, and she smiled. He was so impatient.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and swiped it on, and the happiness drained from her body as Tony’s name flashed across the screen. Fuck. Why couldn’t he leave her alone? He didn’t love her, so it’s not like he wanted her back because he was lost without her—if he had a heart to begin with.
Tony: Don’t you look adorable?
Attached was an image from today at the dog park. Finn’s arm was wrapped around her waist, his lips pressed to hers.
Tony: Dating a client? Tsk, tsk, Sophia. What would your boss think about that?
She dropped her phone. It clattered on the counter as she stepped away, like it would bite her. Had he followed her? Why did he have this picture? Her phone buzzed again, and she picked it up, unable to stop herself and wishing she was at Finn’s right now. In his arms. Protected.
Tony: Nothing to say? How the high and mighty have fallen. Maybe I should have a chat with your boss this week. I bet she’d love to see these pictures. She has a contract with the Strikers, right? How would it look for one of her employees to be sleeping with a player?
Sophia: What do you want?
Tony: There you are.
Tony: I missed you tonight. Had to have dinner with my mother so I couldn’t make it to the restaurant.
Sophia: What do you want?
Tony: No time for pleasantries, Soph?
God, she hated when he called her that. That nickname was reserved for people who cared about her, and Tony hadn’t been one of those people in many years—if he ever had been. She’d wondered over the years, since she’d finally gotten him out of her life, if it’d been a lie from the beginning. If he’d been hateful and violent when they were kids and in school. She couldn’t pinpoint the moment she realized his rage, and maybe she’d been blind to it initially.
Sophia: No. What do you want Tony? Why are you still here?
Tony: Did it ever occur to you that I came back for you?
She snorted.
Sophia: No.
Tony: We should meet and talk about these lovely photos. I’m sure we can come up with something to keep them a secret. You are so good at secrets.
She wanted to throw up. It always came back to secrets. She hated them, yet she couldn’t stop herself from keeping them, but it had to end. She had to stop giving Tony control over her life.
Sophia: I’ll take a pass on that.
Tony: I have no problem talking to your boss about how unprofessional you are.
She switched her phone to silent and poured herself a glass of wine. What the hell was she going to do, and what was Tony’s endgame? She still hadn’t figured out if he had an end in sight, or if he just enjoyed fucking with her. She was leaning toward the latter and kicking herself for not seeing who he was from the beginning.