Page 94 of Strictly Business
“Finn—”
“Thank you for trying.” I straighten my jacket and brush invisible dust from the sleeves. “We should get out there, don’t want to give them any more reason to talk.”
Rejoining the party, I’m met with knowing glances telling me word of the family squabble in the sitting room has made its rounds and everyone has their idea of what happened. Mother stands with a group of friends, including Gladys, and her smile brightens when she sees me. “Oh Finn, darling! I’m glad you’re feeling better. Your father said—”
“Yes,” I say quickly. “I apologize for my display. It must have just been the lack of food.” The women chuckle, and Mother loops her arm through mine excusing us from the group.
“Now, as I was saying, I ran into Amanda the other day and invited her to join us today.”
“Mother—”
“I told her you would be so thrilled to see her. You just needed a little break, some time to get your head on straight. Now that you have your project complete, you’ll have time—”
“Mother.” I pull my arm from hers and take a step back. “I’m not getting back together with Amanda.”
“Honey, she’s cleaned herself up. She is—”
“I don’t want Amanda.”
“Oh, Finnley, is this about that Davis girl?” She waves her hand and tries to take my arm again, but I don’t allow it. “Finnley, you will stop acting this way this instant.”
“Michaela is—”
“The help. Nothing more. Those Davises are not meant for this world. I don’t know what Davina sees in them. Brina is appalled by the way her daughter has handled everything since Alaric’s death, and frankly, we are too.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Mother reels back at my words, her brown eyes wide in appallment. “How dare you talk about them like that. Those Davises have been more of a family to me than the Sheffields ever have.”
“Honey, they’re just plain people; there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Everything okay over here?” Oliver clamps his hand down on my shoulder and gives it a hard squeeze.
“Of course, dear,” she smiles at him. LIke she always does. Always turning her head to look the other way.
“Actually, I was just leaving,” I say, stepping out from his grasp.
“Don’t be silly,” she says giving me a stern look. “You and I were just discussing how he intends to go speak with Amanda.”
“I am not going to talk to her. I have nothing to say. And, you know what? You both can take your money and shove it where the sun don’t shine.”
“Finnley!” Hayley gasps.
Oliver pats me on the back, hard, and grips my shoulder again. He smiles looking around at the guests, who have started to stare before meeting my gaze. “Do we need to go have another conversation? I don’t think the last one stuck.”
The anxiety starts to creep into my veins, but this time I force it back. I swallow the massive lump in my throat and shrug his hand from my shoulder. “If this is what your family looks like, then I think we’d be better off strangers.”
“This is what happens when you sleep with the help,” Oliver scoffs. “You lose any lick of sense—”
“Michaela is not the help!” My outburst brings everything to a halt. “Michaela was not and is not the help. She did more in making Sheffield House what it is than I can ever repay her for and I will not let you speak about her that way.”
“If she’s so wonderful, then where is she? Oh, that’s right, she left you for her ex-husband. I’m not sure if that says more about her or you.”
“Sheffield!” A voice echoes across the gas station. Glancing over my shoulder, Nick and Josh walk toward me. “I didn’t know you were in town,” Josh says when he embraces me. I haven’t seen him since the wedding over a month ago, I haven’t seen any of them. I didn’t tell Josh or Nick the truth before leaving the reception. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. However, when I ran into Josh at the hotel before I left, and we had a drink. I may have slipped that his sister was going back to her soon-to-be ex-husband. And he may have had a few choice words.
“Yeah, I came in for the day. Oliver and Hayley requested my presence at the annual Thanksgiving luncheon. I’m about to head out, though. I’m supposed to help out at the center tomorrow afternoon.”
“How’d that go with your parents?” Nick asks.
“I may or may not have told them to take their money and shove it up their ass.” After Oliver was finished trying to decide who was more to blame for Michaela running back to David, he tried to drag me back into the club for another chat. When I refused, he started to lose his temper despite his guests being there. Somewhere between reminding me that no one wanted me and calling me an ungrateful brat that no one will ever love, I mustered up the biggest smile I could and told him I’d rather be alone than call him ‘Dad’ another second longer. “Things may get rough for a bit, but I’ll be okay.”