Revision (COMPLETE)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"You have a friend request from Finlay Gabriel," the message from Delaney's inbox called out to her, taunting her.

Fin—after all these years. She slammed the keyboard drawer shut loudly before rising to pace in a nervous circle around the room. She twirled a long strand of copper hair around her finger nervously. Upon further inspection she noted that there was no personal message attached, no salutation, just a generic friend request from a man who probably delighted in filling up his friend roster with as many anonymous names as he could. He probably had six hundred such friends.

She resumed pacing, only this time Bugs, her floppy eared mutt, followed her, pawing at the back of her calves. "Not now, Bugs," she huffed. The pup refused to take no for an answer, demanding some attention this time by nipping at her ankles. "What's gotten into you, boy?" She bent to scratch him under the chin. "Mom's having a bit of a crisis right now, you go play," she coaxed the dog unsuccessfully. Finally giving up, she threw herself back into the cushy leather office chair that had been a house-warming gift from her mom. She stared up at the framed watercolor painting of the ocean, hoping for the calming effect it normally gave her. Although after Fin's message it offered no such solace. She examined the red-haired figure looking into the waves as if she could find answers brought in with the tide. With renewed clarity she focused back on her computer. She read and reread the message ten times. She then selected it and clicked delete.

If only it were that easy to delete Fin.

Still, it gave her momentary relief, even though she knew full well that she'd only deleted the notification for the message. The real invitation, the one that awaited response, was lingering on her homepage, but she couldn't deal with that now. She reclined in the chair, rubbing her temples with her fingertips, trying meditation to relax her muscles and calm her rapid heartbeat.

"Damn it, Fin," she choked aloud as she shut down her computer by pushing the green button on the front of the CPU, aborting standard shut down procedure. "Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone."

On the way up the stairs of her two-story colonial she picked up stray action figures, spaceships and colorful ponies, settling them into the basket in the narrow hallway. After turning the alarm on, she curled up in bed, pulling the covers up under her chin as Bugs settled in on the vacant pillow beside her. She scrunched her eyes shut and tried to forget ever knowing him.

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"Todd, really I'm fine," Delaney said for the fifth time. "Plus Shane's sisters are coming over tonight to visit with the kids, so I'm tied up."

"Great!" His eyes brightened with hope. "Then you'll have a sitter. One coffee, I promise. It'll do you good to get out of the house."

She blew her cheeks out, expelling a loud gust of air. Would one coffee make him realize she wasn't interested?

"I'll see what I can do," she promised, before heading back out to her car.

Why did he have to look so hopeful at the prospect? Her stomach churned in response. Todd had really been there for her the last couple of years, so he knew what she'd been through. That should've been enough to guarantee her a pass.

He'd been hired as an associate by her father-in-law, Bob, less than a year before Shane's accident, and since Shane's death he'd become the right hand man to both he and Delaney. Poor Bob had practically withered and died with his son, losing track of everything that had once been important to him. If it weren't for Todd, Delaney had a notion that the family business would've fallen apart too. She owed him a great deal of gratitude, and she knew that. She just didn't have it in her to offer the sort of gratitude he desired.