Beautifully Hurt (Beautifully Broken)

“Coffee first,” Finlay says as she walks to the door. “My treat.”

Joining her, we step out of the store, and then I lock the door. “Let me just tell Eli.”

We cross the road, and walking into Jackson’s Hardware, a grin spreads over my face. Eli’s carrying a heavy-looking bag down an aisle, his muscles rippling as he sets it down on the floor.

Yep, that’s my man.

He glances our way, then the corner of his mouth lifts. “Done for the day?”

“Yeah.” I walk closer, and standing on my tiptoes, I give him a kiss. “We’re going to get coffee and walk down to the beach to see if there are any properties for sale.”

“You have your phone on you?” he asks.

I pull it out of my pocket to show him.

“Is it charged?”

Letting out a chuckle, I unlock the screen and check. “I have seventy percent left.”

“How long will you be?”

I glance at Finlay. “An hour?”

She nods.

“Meet me here when you’re done,” Eli says, and lifting his hand to the side of my neck, he presses a tender kiss to my lips.

“Okay.” I give him a smile then walk out of the store with Finlay.

“He seems very possessive,” Finlay mentions.

My smile grows. “I love it.”

“Yeah?”

“Eli’s protective of me, and it makes me feel treasured.”

Finlay’s eyes drift over my face. “You love him a lot.”

“With all my heart,” I say as we walk into the diner. “I want a vanilla latte.”

We place our order, and while we wait, I ask, “When will your dad be back?”

Finlay thinks for a moment. “Three weeks.”

“Shoot, that’s after Christmas.”

She shrugs. “We’ll celebrate when he’s here.”

“I haven’t seen him in years.”

“He’s gotten gray,” she says.

“Dad as well.” I let out a sigh. “I need to win the lottery, so he can go on early retirement.”

Finlay lets out a burst of laughter. “You think our fathers will ever retire?”

“Probably not.”

When our order is ready, Finlay pays.

“Thank you,” I say before taking a sip of my beverage.

We head toward the beach, and I point out several places, but none of them catch Finlay’s eye.

Taking off our sandals, we head up along the stretch of sand, and when I realize we’re close to Ethan’s house, I point at his place. “See that white and blue house?”

Finlay stops to stare at it. “So pretty.” She tilts her head. “I love it.”

“That’s Ethan’s house.”

Her head snaps to me, her eyes widening. “You said it was falling apart.”

“He’s done a lot of work on it.”

Finlay turns her gaze back to the house. “I can see why he bought it.”

We continue walking, and as we’re about to pass by, the front door opens. Ethan comes out, and it has me calling, “Hi, Ethan.”

He glances our way, then takes the steps down to the beach. “Taking a walk?” he asks as he gets close to us.

“Yeah, we’re checking to see if there are any houses for sale.”

Ethan moves closer to me, and it makes Finlay take a couple of steps backward. He points to a house up the beach. “See the one with the yellow shutters?”

I look in the direction he’s pointing out. “Oh… yeah.”

“It’s a bargain. You might want to jump on that.”

“Thanks.” I smile at him, then glance at Finlay. “Let’s go take a look.”

“Stanley Jefferson’s the owner,” Ethan mentions. “I’ll text you his number.”

“That would be great,” I say. “Thanks, Ethan.”

He shoots Finlay a glance then walks back to his place.

“Come on.” I take hold of Finlay’s arm, pulling her toward the house.

When we get close, a smile starts to tug at her mouth. “He sure has an eye for a house.”

“Right?”

Taking the stairs up to the porch, we glance through the windows. “I’ll give Stanley a call and ask him to show us the inside.”

Finlay turns around and stares out at the ocean. “It’s perfect.”

We take a seat on the steps then start to dream up ideas of what she can do with the place.

Nudging her with my elbow, I smile. “This is nice.”

“Yeah.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “It’s so peaceful.”

“It is,” I sigh happily. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Me too.”

ELI

Walking out of the hardware store, I lean back against the wall, and then my eyes go to the store across the road.

Instantly, a smile tugs at my mouth as I watch Quinn trying to get Finlay to take a bite of a cupcake. The girls’ laughter drifts to me.

Emotion wells in my heart from seeing Quinn happy, and I get a flashback to when we started dating.

Quinn glances in my direction, and saying something to Finlay, she comes out of the store. She glances up and down the road, then crosses to me.

Her smile widens. “Hey.”

“Hi,” I murmur. When she’s close enough, I reach for her hip and pull her against my front. “Having fun?”

She nods, her eyes sparkling up at me.