Opening the door, I squeal, “Finn, I thought we were meeting…”
It’s not Finn. It’s his dad.
“This isn’t a threat it’s a promise,” he says, handing me a thick envelope.
I watch as he turns and walks away.
Sitting on the bed, I open the envelope with shaky fingers. I notice the letterhead firsts. It’s from an attorney.
Dear Ms. Tessa Jones,
You have a choice to make and I do warn you to think very carefully before you act on this letter or go running to Finn. I’m asking you one time to leave town. I want you gone tonight without any drama or fuss, and you are never welcome back here under any circumstance. If you choose to stay the following will happen. Will will lose his practice and license to practice. Don’t ask questions, I can make things happen in this small town. Tommie will be evicted from the building she rents from me. Your choice.
Sincerely
Dr. Evans
The pages go on forever. Pages and pages of documentation and proof of his power fill my hands. There are even pictures of Will and Tommie in their practices smiling and helping customers.
Finn’s dad just made every decision there was to ever make. My dreams for the future were just shattered in the form of paper and ink. I’d never jeopardize Will or Tommie’s practices for my own selfish reasons. They’ve both worked so hard to build their careers from the ground up and who am I to take it all away when they are expecting their first child.
I sit here and write two of the hardest notes I’ve ever had to write in my life to say goodbye to the best summer of my life. The first one is to my sister and Will and the second one is to Scarlett. I don’t share details, rather just tell them I have to leave.
Pulling into the fairgrounds, I hear my cell phone.
Finn: Meet me by the Ferris wheel.
Me: Okay
I can’t do this. I can’t walk away but I can’t allow Will and Tommie to lose their practices and livelihoods.
Suck it up, Tess. Walk down the middle of that fair and give everything you have to Finn with your final goodbye. I finally spot Finn with a group of his friends and don’t miss his eyes light up when he sees me. He rushes over to me, swooping me off my feet and twirling us around in a circle.
“You are fucking gorgeous, Tess.”
“I love you, Finn,” I say in a rush holding all my tears back.
“What’s wrong?”
Finn immediately picks up on my distress, cupping my face and waiting for an answer.
“Nothing,” I lie. “I want you to walk me down this fair and show everyone in town who you belong with.”
I know it’s incredibly selfish asking him this knowing I’m leaving him, but it’s just what I need to let him go.
“Any fool already knows who you belong to.”
Finn walks me down the county fair.
My hand spends the whole time memorizing his. We pass several booths, and I want to stop and scream to the world what is happening, but in slow motion, step by step I lose Finn and our love story.
“Finn,” a random voice shouts.
We both turn towards the sound to see a group of men.
“Hey,” he hollers back.
“Do you mind?” He asks, gesturing to the group.