Tamsyn didn’t hear whatever it was the presenter said next. All she could hear were Finn’s words repeating in her head as she tried to comprehend the enormity of his action in wanting to name the center after her. She didn’t deserve the accolade. She would have thought, after all they’d been through, the last thing he’d have wanted would be the constant reminder of her in his life. But it seemed she was very wrong. And if she was wrong about that, maybe she’d been wrong about other things as well.
She looked at the documents poking out from her handbag lying on the hotel bed—the copy of legal title to the land her mother had left her, and realized why looking at it caused that niggling sense of familiarity. It was the land Finn had tried to get for the easement—the one he needed for the road to Tamsyn’s Place. And as she stared at the papers, she knew what she needed to do.
More, she now knew exactly where her place was. And maybe in going to claim it, she could stand to be spontaneous just one more time after all….
Twenty-Four
The persistent hammering at the front door woke Finn from his slumber on the couch where he’d collapsed last night. The racket matched the hammering in his head.
Last night, all his duties to everyone else behind him for a while, he’d done some serious damage to a bottle of whiskey and now he was paying the price. Still, it had been worth it for the brief oblivion it had given him. He mourned Ellen, but he was dying inside for what he’d done to Tamsyn and for how his choices had lost her from his life for good.
He caught sight of himself in a wall mirror and made a sound of disgust. He looked terrible. Hair unkempt, clothing slept in, face unshaven. Maybe he could just scare away whoever was at the door without having to speak—something he was sure would make his head ache even more.
Finn swung the front door open with a growled greeting and felt the world tilt at his feet when he saw Tamsyn standing there. He rubbed his eyes—clichéd, he knew, but he couldn’t quite believe what he saw.
“You look like hell,” she said, walking past him and into the house before he could say anything. “We need to talk.”
“By all means, come in,” he said, closing the door behind her and following her down the hall to the kitchen.
He stood there, saying nothing, just drinking her in as she moved around the kitchen preparing a fresh carafe of coffee. She was a sight for sore eyes and he was glad those sore eyes didn’t deceive him, but what the hell was she doing here?
Once the coffee was brewed, she poured them each a mug and handed one to him.
“Drink,” she ordered then went to sit at the casual dining table in front of the French doors.
He joined her and took a long draw of the life-sustaining brew. She’d made it strong. Good, he had the feeling he’d really need his wits about him for whatever came next.
“I have a proposition for you,” she said, pulling a sheaf of papers from her voluminous handbag and setting them on the table.
“A proposition?”
It certainly wasn’t what he’d expected to hear from her lips. He sat up a little straighter. She was a far cry from the desperately unhappy and wounded woman who’d driven away from him two days ago. Something had happened to change her, but what? Whatever it was, he was grateful it had brought her back here, to him, even if only for a short time. Grateful enough to give his full attention to whatever proposition she wanted to make, no matter how badly his head hurt.
“A business proposition, actually. I don’t know if Lorenzo told you—”
“I haven’t spoken to him since the funeral on Monday,” he interrupted.
Tamsyn nodded. “Okay, well, it seems that my brother and I are the proud owners of this.”
She pushed a copy of a title plan toward him, and her finger pointed at the acreage adjoining his own. The very acreage he needed a slice of to complete his dream for the respite center. His headache grew to new proportions. How on earth had she and Ethan gotten possession of the land? And why was she telling him this? Was it so she could have the satisfaction of rubbing his face in it, in telling him that for what he’d done to her he could wait until hell froze over before he could have that easement?
“I don’t understand. I’ve been approaching the trustees for months with no satisfaction. How did you get hold of it?”
“Ellen gave it to us.”
She lifted her eyes and stared at him, gauging his reaction, no doubt, and he didn’t disappoint. The shock that hit him now was second only to the shock that had shaken him when he’d opened his front door to her just a few minutes ago.