Chapter Eight #3
“Finn. Congratulations on your recent wins—two of them, I hear. And the win last night… Wow, thirty-eight to nine. Impressive. Plus, I’ve read those interviews you gave last week.
Son, you can’t fool me. I know what you’re doing.
Don’t give me that crap about how you’re just pitching in, helping out the home team.
Don’t try to tell me you plan to sell run-down ranchettes out there on the prairie for the rest of your life.
You’re making a move. You can’t fool your old man. Call me back. We’ll talk strategy.”
Finn almost threw his phone at the far wall.
His dad did that to him sometimes. Made him want to break things, made him want to toss back his head and scream at the ceiling like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Finn Sr. made decisions about how things should be and then obstinately expected everyone to go along, to do whatever he wanted them to do. To change their lives to suit his own personal ideas about who mattered and what counted.
Finn should probably just call him back and tell him to get the hell over himself, maybe even try to make him see how far off-base he was. But hadn’t he done exactly that the last time the old man called?
He just didn’t feel like trying again right now.
Finn deleted the message and got on with his day.
* * *
Kenzie made it through Saturday night and Sunday morning without giving in to her ridiculous eagerness to reach out to Finn, to ask him if maybe he had a little free time that afternoon.
They could hang out with the kittens. Take a walk around town or sit out on the back deck at his place watching the prairie grass rustle in the wind, maybe spot a hawk or an eagle soaring high in the clear blue sky.
Somehow, she kept herself from contacting him. Yes, they were friends—good friends, with benefits. But they both needed their space, after all. They both needed to remember that they had separate lives, and alone time was a good thing.
On Monday, Finn was already on the field when she arrived for practice. Her silly heart actually skipped a beat when he spotted her and came jogging over.
“Good weekend?” he asked.
“It was thrilling. I cleaned out the refrigerator and mopped the kitchen floor.”
He stepped a little closer. “Tom and Ed were glad to see me today when I dropped in at noon.”
She truly did love that he checked in on the kittens when she couldn’t be there. “Thank you.”
“Hey. It’s Tom and Ed. I should thank you.”
“Right… But you will let me know if stopping in to see them gets old, right?”
“You bet. But it hasn’t happened yet.”
For a long, weirdly wonderful moment, they just stood there by the bleachers, grinning at each other.
He broke the smile-fest. “You free tonight? Let’s get some dinner. We could go out or—”
“Come to my house,” she said, sounding ridiculously eager to he own ears. “I’ll, um, fix us something.”
He looked at her like she’d offered him the moon, but then he said, “Come to my place instead.”
“I really shouldn’t.”
He knew why without her having to say more. “Tom and Ed will be lonely.”
“Yeah. I haven’t seen them since I left for work this morning. And they are just babies, you know.”
“Yes, I do.” His eyes made the kind of promises that had her breath coming faster. “Bring them to my place.”
“I would love to, but—”
“Not in the mood to haul all their gear over there with you?” One corner of his mouth had kicked up in a crooked smile.
“Exactly,” she said. “It’s kind of a lot.”
“No problem. Just so happens I bought a litter box and the litter to go with it, food, bowls, a cat bed and some toys I think they might like.”
She actually gasped. “You didn’t!”
“Oh, yes, I did. What can I say? I’ve been promising them a playdate at my place.”
“Oh, so they understand English now?”
“Of course, they do. They’re very bright boys. And now that I’ve made them a promise, their feelings will be hurt if I don’t follow through. It’s a trust issue. They count on me to keep my word. If I don’t, they’ll grow up cynical and unable to form meaningful relationships.”
“Oh, Finn…” Too bad grabbing him in a hug would be wildly inappropriate given that they were in plain sight of the entire football team.
He suggested sheepishly, “I was kind of hoping you might pick them up and bring them along with you. I’ll get takeout from Satterfield’s.”
What could she say? He’d won her over completely back at the part where he said he’d bought everything her kittens would need to feel at home at his house. “I can’t stay too late.”
“I know. School tomorrow. I promise I won’t keep you past…?” He waited, letting her fill in the time.
“I really should leave by nine.”
“Nine. Got it.” He swept off his hat. “That’s a yes, then? Dinner at my place, Ed and Tom included.”
“That is a yes.”
* * *
Finn had a plan and his plan worked perfectly.
Later, at his place, they ate fork-tender filets, roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus as Tom and Ed batted a jingle ball around at their feet. They cleaned up after the meal together.
What was it about cleaning up the kitchen after dinner with Kenzie? Finn asked himself. It flat-out made him want to take her to bed.