Chapter 13
“Thanks, but no thanks, SJ,” Finch said, settling her back on her feet after she’d deliberately stepped into his path and he’d nearly flattened her.
“Your loss,” she said, shrugging.
He’d rather walk into a room full of women and tell them he needed a hug and help with his emotions than go to bed with Sydney Jane. The woman had slept her way pretty much through every single man—and a few married men—in Lyntacky.
Now that the music was over, everyone was hurrying back inside to the warmth.
He followed, and was soon standing with his family and other friends.
The past few hours had gone like that. He’d wandered from group to group, not really settling in one, but keeping an eye on her.
Nina’s tribute to her mother had been from the heart, and pretty much everyone in the room had been crying by the end.
She was over by the bar now, drinking coffee and talking with some guy he’d learned was called Kurt, a new barman at the Rollaway.
Finch had lost the art of being sociable. Once, he’d been the man who could walk into any room and feel at ease. Since the accident, he now had fears and insecurities and loathed how much he’d changed.
“It will take time to get back to the man you were, but that doesn’t mean this version isn’t worth fighting for, Finch. The new you may be a better version.”
He’d asked the therapist what was wrong with who he’d been, feeling raw and pissed off by the comments. The woman had said, “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Finch had driven away from that session thinking for the first time about the man he’d become.
He’d once been someone he’d always believed he was proud of.
Okay, so maybe he’d realized his family hadn’t had the best of him over the years.
In fact, he’d walked away and not looked back, other than occasional visits, but not much else.
He didn’t accept failure, nor did he accept any kind of weakness in himself, or, if he was honest, others.
“You’re frowning,” Brody Duke said from beside him. “You all good, bud?”
“Peachy,” Finch replied.
Brody leaned in close and studied him. “Even though you’re frowning, you look lighter.”
“Lighter?”
“Better, on the inside.”
He thought about that for a few seconds. Was he feeling better on the inside?
“I’m getting there,” Finch conceded.
“Talk about your feelings,” his therapist had said.
“How are you physically?”
“It’s a slow journey, Brody, and I’m not sure I’ll get all the way there, but I am improving. Being able to drive is huge.”
“Freedom,” Brody said with a knowing look. “We all need that sometimes.”
They both had interfering families, so freedom in the form of alone time never came easy. Taking a drive sometimes gave you that.
“Do you think you’ll be able to play anytime soon?”
Lyntacky had a couple of nonnegotiable passions: square dancing and baseball. A few other things found their way in now and again, but those two were the main ones.
“Not sure I’ll be ready for that, but we’ll see.”
“Well, you’ve got some time before the weather gets warmer, but if you’re bored, Ryder needs someone for a thing he’s running on Saturday. You can be on the coffee machine.”
“Thing?”
“Function,” Brody said, waving a hand around.
“I’ve never worked a coffee machine in my life, and I don’t plan on starting now.”
“I happen to know that’s a lie,” Brody said, looking over the heads of people in front of them to find Klaus.
“Using Klaus’s coffee machine one time does not make me an expert, and I only did it because he wouldn’t stop bugging me until I’d had a lesson.”
“And knowing the Finch I went to school with, you perfected it, right?”
“I like to learn things the right way, unlike you Dukes who don’t read instructions and take time to learn.”
“One assignment, Bud, in third grade,” Brody said. “You need to move on.”
“Your part of that assignment was to build the base and stand for the rocket launcher, and you failed because the rocket fell sideways and broke into little pieces.”
“I remember that,” Ryder said joining the conversation. “You cried, Finch.”
“Out of frustration only,” he added.
“Wept like a baby,” Caleb Stanway said, overhearing the conversation.
They took a walk down memory lane, then, reliving moments from when life had been simple and their greatest worry was what their moms had packed for lunch.
Finch looked for Nina and couldn’t see her. He moved away from the group to get a better look but still couldn’t find her.
“Looking for someone?”
“No, just wondering if I can leave now,” Finch lied. People knew he was grumpy and unsociable, so the answer wouldn’t surprise the Sheriff of Lyntacky. He’d known the man most of his life.
“You can leave anytime, Finch, and everyone will understand.”
“Thanks.”
“I need a favor, Finch.”
“Don’t tell me you need a deck built too?”
So far today, he’d been asked to work in the Swing Through Café—another square-dancing name seeing as that was also law in Lyntacky—and to put some edging around Mrs. C.
’s garden. Plus, JD needed some loose boards fixed in his barn, which Finch thought was a pile of BS, as the man was on top of things like that.
“No, my deck’s all good. Thanks, though, and I’ll keep you in mind if that changes,” Sheriff Dans said.
“Appreciate it,” Finch drawled.
“Has Nina told you anything about what’s going on with her?”
He looked for her again and found her heading into the kitchen. Finch wondered how she was holding up.
“Personal stuff,” the sheriff added.
“Not sure why I’d be the one she’d talk to about that kind of thing, Sheriff. We’re not close.”
“Okay, must have read that wrong, then. Saw you two upstairs earlier when I was getting something for Nancy.”
He didn’t add the word “kissing,” but it was a given by the look in his eyes.
“Completely wrong.”
Sheriff Dans held up his hands. “My bad. Just do me a favor and keep your eyes out for anyone in town who makes you uneasy. You military types can spot that kind of thing a mile off.” He then wandered away, leaving Finch with more questions than he’d had minutes ago.
Keep an eye out in town for anyone that makes you uneasy? What the fuck did that mean? And what did it have to do with Nina? Was she in some kind of trouble?
People were saying their goodbyes now around him, and he needed to make sure she had a ride home. He headed for his family.
“Jump in with Mom and Dad, Lynx. I need to drop someone home,” Finch said to his brother.
“Who?”
“Mom and Dad. You know, the people who raised us.”
“Very funny. Who are you dropping home?”
“Bart. He and June have had too much to drink,” Finch lied easily.
“Right, of course, that’s who it is, and not that pretty lady you’ve been watching all day.”
“If I punch you here, at least Dr. Hannah is close to fix your pretty face so your fans don’t come after me,” Finch growled before walking away.
He moved through the remaining guests, nodding and saying goodbye as they did the same to him. Finch finally tracked Nina down in the kitchen.
“I want things to stay as they are for now, Sergio, so you don’t need to worry, ’kay?”
“All good, Nina. We can talk about this another day. Today’s a tough one for you.”
The man looked a little desperate to Finch, facing a tipsy, emotional woman.
“It is,” she said. “B-but it’s important you know your job is safe.” She spoke slowly, like English was a second language.
“Thank you, that means a lot,” Sergio assured her. “And I’m real sorry about your mom, Nina.”
She ran at the man then and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him hard.
“Okay, time to go home,” Finch said at the look of fear on Sergio’s face. He eased her back. “Let’s go, Nina. I’ll drive you.”
“I was telling him his job is safe,” she whispered loudly.
“He got that part.” Finch pushed open the door and walked back into the dining area. “But you’ve gone a little heavy on the wine, so how about you leave that for another day.”
“I’m not drunk!” She slapped her chest.
“Sober as a judge,” JD said, coming forward to catch Nina as she stumbled. “Are you going to take her home?” he said, looking all class as always.
“Yeah, I got her,” Finch said.
“Look at you being all chivalrous and shit.”
“I’m sober. It’s what sober people do, JD,” Finch said, not liking the calculating look in his eyes. “But you can take her if you want to.”
“Also sober,” JD said. “And while I’m her boss, I’m also her friend so—”
Nina lunged for JD before he could finish that sentence. He caught her and hugged her close.
“You doing okay there, girl?” JD’s wife, Zoe had arrived.
“Finch is taking her home. Are we good with that?” JD asked, releasing Nina.
“I don’t know. Are we?” Zoe asked with narrowed eyes as she studied him.
“For fuck’s sake,” Finch snarled at them. “I’m taking her home because she can’t drive. Plus, there are those children you keep having that likely need you, so I thought this would be easier on everyone.”
“We do need to relieve the babysitter, so you’re right, there,” she said, unfazed by his clear irritation.
“Why is Finch yelling?” Sawyer wandered up. He had Ally with him.
“He likes Nina and is feeling sad about her mom. Is that why?” the girl said. “He hugged her the day Mrs. Winters passed away.”
Finch didn’t groan out loud, but it was a near thing.
“There was hugging?” Brody Duke said, arriving next. “You didn’t tell me that before today, kiddo.” He ruffled his daughter’s hair, which had her slapping him.
“Teenagers don’t like their hair messed up.” Ally glared at her father.
“Now, that’s just too bad,” he said, doing it again.
“Fine, one of you take her home, like I said, seeing as you’re making a big deal out of something that doesn’t need to be a big deal,” Finch snapped.
“Why does my big brother look like he’s about to make a run for it?” Birdie asked.
“Because your new family are all assholes is why,” he snapped at her, then added, “Sorry, Ally. I’m going. Bye.” Leaning in, he kissed his little sister’s cheek.
“Just messing with you because we can,” JD said. “Take her.” He nudged Nina at him. “We don’t like her anyway.”