Lovely Hues | Fillie AU

Chapter Thirty One

The drive from the NAACP office in Washington DC back to Duke and Pricsilla's house in Baltimore had been mostly silent. Finn's mind was close to exploding with all the information he had been given. And with the knowledge that, not only was it okay for him to return to his love, but that it would be of great service to return to that little town.

When Mr. Black had said it, Finn just about jumped out of his seat. How had he not thought about it that way before? We need people there, in the community—people with pull—to make the difference. He had been so pin-pointendly focused on getting to the city to help. Of making it to Washington DC where he would talk to people in charge and exchange ideas about how to get the U.S. Military integrated. When Mr. Black had told him that there were already dedicated people months away from pulling that off, he felt a sense of satisfaction in knowing that, and eagerness to return to Millie, but he felt unaccomplished. He had given himself over to fight for civil rights, and after just a week in the city, he was done?

Flashy, was the word Mr. Black had used to describe the type of influence Finn had been looking to have and it shook him from his mind. He didn't need to be flashy. It didn't matter if the difference he made was painted in a pretty light, or unknown to the majority of people. It just mattered that he was doing something. And the idea that he could have everything— Millie, her family—that is to say—happiness, and be able to work on civil rights from the heart of East Plains. Well that was a combination of events that momentarily made him wonder if he was actually just dreaming. Because Mr. Black was telling him that he could have it all.

But he wasn't dreaming, and it didn't take long for him and Caleb to wrap up business on the East Coast, meeting with Mr. Black a couple more times to get everything straight, and start their trek back to East Plains and the loves of their lives. They didn't drive straight through, they stayed in a couple hotels and made the trip in four days. They didn't want to sleep away their first days back, so they made sure not to tire themselves out.

The day they arrived back home—that's how Finn had started to think of this little town—it was rainy. Cold. There was mist that hung low to the ground and made the horizon hard to see. The trees lining the road were blurry, mossy, mosaics and the road ahead was a splotchy dark cloud. But they took their time, slowing the truck down so they had time to avoid any deer that may have darted across the highway and to assure that they didn't tailend any other travelers trying to brave the weather.

The rain didn't help, but they made it back within the town's limits and as they drove down the county road to Caleb's farm, anticipation started to make Finn's stomach turn on itself. He had allowed his excitement to cloud his vision and was suddenly struck with the real fear that Millie may not take him back. There was nothing he recalled that would suggest she was angry with him, but intuition, or maybe anxiety, told him that she was probably not happy with him. How could she be? He practically just left her swaying in the wind.

But as soon as they pulled on the dirt road that ran directly into the farm's main entrance, Finn's eyes honed in on a familiar vehicle and his heart leapt into his throat. What was she doing here? Millie didn't come to the farm. She told him during one of their walks that she hadn't returned to the farm since her husband's death.

"Millie's here?" Caleb squinted forward at the car and then a look of realization dropped his mouth into a frown, "The anniversary. . ." he whispered, shaking his head.

"What?" Finn asked, "Of Louis's death?"

Caleb nodded, sucking in his lips in clear pain.

Finn barely waited for Caleb to park the truck before jumping out and running, as fast as he could without falling, to the small barn that her car was parked in front of. Caleb followed behind but gave him space. If Finn had known the exact date of Niles's death, he's sure it would've brought him heartache each year, and so he understood that Caleb was needing comfort too. But right now, his priority was Millie.