Eerie

Chapter 36 A Proper Date

Chapter thirty-six

A Proper Date

"It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both." - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

At exactly noon, Fin knocked on Hailey’s door as she scrambled to get her other arm into her jacket.

“Just a second!” she hollered. She didn’t know what he had planned, but she did know that it was an overnight date, that Asher would probably go ballistic if he knew, that she didn’t care—Asher didn’t own her and she was allowed to date whoever she wanted—and that she needed to stop worrying about Asher right now and pack a change of clothes, which her jellied in-between shirt helped her throw together.

“Bring your mittens,” he hollered back, and she caught them when her shirt lobbed them from the closet.

“Miss Hartley,” Fin said when she emerged. He took her bag and offered his arm. “Ready?”

“Mr. O’Shea. Thank you, and I think so…”

He let out a wistful growl.

“Call me Fin,” he said. “I love it when you call me Fin.”

“Where are we going, Fin?” Hailey could hardly contain her excitement.

“Up,” he said.

“You’re taking me flying?” she said, her voice going way higher than she intended.

“As promised.”

He led her out the door to his giant red truck, which took them through the White Forest gate.

“Why are we here?” said Hailey, clutching her seat as visions of homicidal Yetis and man-eating trees danced through her head.

“Relax,” Fin told her. “The airfield is this way, and I-MET keeps the whole flight area clear of bad things.”

Before long, a hangar came into view, and Fin parked his truck next to a tiny red and black two-seater, which stood on skis and bore the Yeti’s team logo on its tail.

“Where are the wheels?” Hailey pointed to the airplane’s feet.

“In the hangar, I think.” He opened the hatch and gave her a boost.

“Why aren’t we taking the small one?” she remarked after she bonked her head and bumped her elbows squeezing into her seat.

Fin shook his head as he strapped her in.

“Zip up and put on your mittens. There’s no heat back here.” With their luggage secured behind Hailey’s seat and their headsets donned, Fin fired up the single engine plane, and his voice crackled in Hailey’s ear.

“It’s a short, thirty-minute flight to the lake and a ten-minute go on the snowmachine.”

“The what?”

“The snowmobile,” he clarified. “You need to learn some Alaska words—” Fin cut himself off to make a radio call. “Bear Towne traffic, Cub bravo-tango-uniform–tree, taking runway zero-four, departing north, Bear Towne.”

He throttled up for takeoff, and Hailey gripped her seat.

“This is incredible,” she said, low enough that it didn’t activate her mike, and she watched as they rounded a corner and flew over the campus.

Olde Main tilted only slightly to the north, and she could see enough detail to notice two students walk briefly outside the Trinity Center, grab their hoods around their faces, and walk back inside. No doubt they’d decided to take the tunnel. It wasn’t below zero, but it was darn close.

Thirty minutes passed in a flash, and Fin pointed out the left window. “There it is,” he said, dipping a wing.

Sitting in the middle of a white wonderland was a small log cabin, and the plane descended until it landed without a sound on a white field nearby.

“Where’s the lake?” Hailey asked as the engine spun down.

“You’re sitting on it.” Fin opened the hatch and helped a horror-stricken Hailey outside.

“Holy crap, is this safe?” She stiffened her legs, which in her mind, was the only thing keeping them from falling through the ice.

“I don’t know,” Fin said as he transferred their gear to a waiting snowmachine. “Better not bend your knees or else the whole lake might cave in,” he teased.

He buttoned up the plane then handed her a pair of goggles.

“Relax,” he said as he cinched her hood for her. “This ice is at least two feet thick. Now, it might get cold back here, but if you hunker down behind me, I’ll block the wind for you.” Something serious darkened his expression, but then he smiled.

“Well, hop on.”

“How did you get a snowmob—a snowmachine out here?”

Merely winking in response, Fin adjusted his goggles and revved the engine.

Sounding more like a chainsaw than a vehicle, the snowmachine whined and roared as it skimmed across the snow-covered lake and up a gentle hill. They wound around a few trees and parked in front of a beautifully rustic log cabin resting on stilts with a snow-covered roof over its head.

“This is it,” he said proudly.

“It’s sss-sss-so c-cute.” The ride across the lake was a lot colder than she’d expected, and though her parka had kept her chest warm, the wind blew up her sleeves and cut right through her pants.

Fin hurried her inside, where it actually felt colder.

“That’s mm-mm-much better,” Hailey said with a crooked smile as Fin threw a log into the woodstove.

“Give it a second, and it’ll be nice and toasty in here.” He lit a fire, and he was right. Less than ten minutes later, she was shedding her parka. By then, Fin had the generator going, lights on, hot chocolate made, and blankets deployed on the couch. Then he clapped his hands together.

“I’ll be outside catching dinner,” he told her, and he grabbed a fishing pole next to the door.

Hailey knew exactly nothing about fishing, but she was pretty sure you needed water. She had no idea how Fin planned to break through two feet of ice. “The lake’s frozen, Fin—how are you gonna catch anything?”

He cocked his head and held up a giant corkscrew.

“It’s not frozen solid, my little southerner.”

Hailey looked over his shoulder through the window with a skeptical frown.

“Thar be trout in that lake,” he said like a pirate, which made Hailey laugh out loud.

“And we’re gonna eat it—I’ll make my special glaze and some rice and beans…

” He pointed his finger at her. “And YOU will owe me an apology, ye of little faith. Keep the fire going,” he reminded her as he headed out the door.

Through the window, Hailey watched him auger through the ice, bait a hook, and drop it through the hole. Almost immediately, he pulled out a fish. He held it up and pointed at it, nodding his head as if to say, “Told you so.”

Smiling, Hailey took a look around the cabin. It was divided by a couch into two small rooms. In the kitchen area was a small propane stove for cooking, a utility sink, a tiny fridge, and a heavy wooden table.

Less than half an hour after he grabbed his fishing pole, Fin was back inside with four trout and a triumphant smile.

“I’ll have that apology now,” he said as he took off his coat.

“You’re amazing,” said Hailey, feigning her best swoon. “I never should have doubted your skills on the ice,” she continued, and then she bowed her head and batted her lashes at him. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Alright,” he said, matching her sarcasm. “If you ever kiss me, I’ll forgive you.”

Her playful smile evaporated. “I already kissed you.”

“No,” he sang. “I kissed you.”

This wasn’t fun anymore. She was way too shy to make a first move. Even after last night. So, she tucked her hair behind her ear and changed the subject, like the coward she was.

“How can I help with dinner?” she asked, nervously standing over the day’s catch, not that she’d even know where to begin with a fish that still had eyeballs.

“Here,” he said as he brought down some plates. “You can set the table and pour the wine—don’t tell Pix.”

“I won’t.”

It wasn’t that she’d never had alcohol. Uncle Pix had been giving her and Holly beer in a shot glass since they were in grade school, but if he ever found out that Fin fed her wine, he’d probably kill him.

“Do you come here a lot?” If she had a cabin like his, she’d never leave.

“I used to come here…” he said as he lit a lantern on the table, “all the time.”

“Alone?”

Fin became very busy at the stove, stirring and studying his secret trout glaze as if he hadn’t heard her.

“You bring a lot of girls up here?” she said smiling and pleased to see him squirm for a change.

“Um…no,” he answered, still stirring and turning down the flame.

“Just me?” she pressed.

He cut the fire completely. “Time to eat,” he said without looking at her.

Hailey watched him shovel a fish onto her plate, and then he pulled her chair out, waiting as Hailey took her seat. Fin sat, too, and picked up his fork but then dropped it loudly.

“Alright, long story short? I brought one girl out here one time—and then she hanged herself, pass the wine?”

Holy shit.

She grabbed the bottle, lifted it to her lips, and downed three giant gulps before passing it to Fin. What else could she do?

He stared at her stark-faced for several seconds until finally she wiggled the bottle, and he grabbed it.

“Sláinte.” He didn’t bother with the glass, either.

“I’m sorry I kept prodding you,” she said. “It’s not your fault.”

“What?”

“When someone kills themself, it’s never somebody else’s fault.”

Fin looked up at her with what Hailey thought was a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong, Fin,” Hailey said with a chuckle, “you’re very handsome and pretty easy to love, but…

” her voice trailed off, and Fin searched her eyes from across the table as she continued.

“But, you’re not all that,” she said, chasing her nervousness away, and Fin smiled.

“You’re not a puppeteer, and you can’t know what’s going on inside someone’s head. ”

“What’s going on inside your head, Hailey Hartley?”

“I’m still glad you don’t think I’m disgusting,” she laughed. “And I really wish you’d kiss me with your tongue again.”

Hailey pressed her lips together and picked up the wine bottle.

“Whoa,” she chuckled with wide eyes. “What’s in this stuff?”

Fin’s shoulders shook. “Sodium Pentothal?” he laughed.

“Well, it’s working. Anything else you’d like to know?”

“Yeah,” he said, his smile vanishing. “How do I win your heart?”

Hailey gazed at him from across the table, her heart thumping in her ears. His eyes were so bright, so honest. She looked at her plate, and as she did so, a gigantic grin grew across her face.

“You wrote the book on that, didn’t you, Fin.”

When she looked up, he was still staring at her and looking mighty content.

“Will you tell me about your curse?” she asked, finishing off her first fish. The secret glaze was awesome. Actually, the whole night was awesome.

“It happened when I was seven years old, so I don’t remember all the details, though my parents tell me I was very sick—scarlet fever, I think.

Anyway, they were desperate. They called on Adalwolf and asked him to save me, which he did.

In exchange for saving my life, he demanded an eternity of servitude.

My parents pretty much became slaves. And so did I, only… ”

“Only what?”

“Only I never killed anyone for him. And it used to piss him off royally,” he laughed. “Anyway, I live my life over and over and over. I age until I turn seventy, then I wake up the next morning a seven-year-old. It’s a little annoying.”

She tried to imagine it… living through grade school—ugh—middle school again… Being thirteen again? Thank-you, no.

“What’s your psychotic boyfriend going to say when he finds out you spent the night with me?”

“Nothing good.” Hailey pressed her hand to her temple. “Asher gets jealous. I probably won’t tell him. Besides, I doubt he’ll even notice I’m gone. He hasn’t been around much lately, and he only wants me some of the time anyway.”

“Well, I want you all the time.”

He took her chin with his thumb and forefinger, and she gazed up at him, hoping he’d bring his lips a little closer, but instead, he dropped his stare and finished off the wine.

“I’m going to marry you, Hailey Hartley,” he said suddenly, and no doubt fully under the influence of the second bottle of red, so she went with it.

“Where’s my ring?”

“In my jacket.”

“You’re such a clown,” she told him, shaking her head, but he wasn’t laughing—drunk, no doubt.

He put his hand on her shoulder and moved his face close to hers. “No snooping,” he said. “I want it to be a surprise when I give it to you.”

“Oh, it will be,” she said, raising her brow.

While Fin tossed cushions off the couch, Hailey looked around the cabin.

“Where should I sleep?” If he thought she was going to crawl into a sofa bed with him, he was drunk and stupid.

“You’re sleeping here.” He motioned to the bed. “With me.”

“I’ll just sleep on the floor,” she said.

He threw a pillow in her face. “You’re sleeping in the bed,” he repeated. “With your clothes on, my little nudist—no arguments—I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

That’s what he said, but what he did after Hailey donned her pajamas and slithered under the covers was grab her immediately, pull her into a cuddle, throw a leg over her hips, and hold her tight all night long.

And she fought sleep so she could enjoy every second.

“Fin,” she whispered long after he’d started snoring, “I think I love you, and I’m scared to death.”

Someone else was awake all night, too, and when Fin returned to campus the next day, Asher was waiting for him…with a reminder.

“Good evening, Pádraig,” Asher said when he stepped inside the dorm room, and the human had the audacity to roll his eyes.

“What do you want Asher, you wanna talk about Hailey? Fine. Let’s talk about how you’re planning to kill her, and then I can remind you of our agreement,” he said with far too sharp an edge in his voice.

Such disrespect would not go unpunished.

Asher fixed his gaze on Pádraig’s eyes.

“Yes,” said Asher, boring into the man’s mind. “Let’s talk about Hailey.”