Finn

by Chris Keniston

  "It's been a while." She patted the horse's jaw. "Growing up, my parents had a timeshare in the Dominican Republic. It was only one week a year, but I loved it."

  "You never mentioned that before."

  "You never asked."

  Why would he? Who would have thought a gal who freely admitted to being born and raised in suburban Dallas would know anything at all about horses? In all the late night conversations that might have included him talking about the ranch or the cattle, never did she give even the tiniest hint that she had a clue about any aspect of his life. "Would I be correct in guessing you don't need a leg up?"

  Joanna flashed him one of her I-know-more-than-you smiles, grabbed the horn, slipped her foot into the stirrup and swinging herself up and her leg over, settled easily onto the saddle. "Nope."

  Reins in hand, she tightened her knees against the horse. "I'll wait for you outside."

  He'd been had. Which would explain why she'd lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of riding today. Watching Joanna's back as the horse ambled out of the barn, her hips balancing from side to side with Princess' shifting rump, Finn wondered how many more surprises Joanna might have in store for him.

  ***

  "Hold on to that." Finn handed Joanna the extra wire.

  It had taken all of fifteen minutes or so for the men to realize that not only would Joanna not be a hindrance to their day, she would very likely help their progress. Not that she had a clue about mending fences.

  "This wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd thought it was going to be." An hour or two ago she wouldn't have braved making such a statement. Since Finn had said this was the last post and she'd made it through without losing a finger or passing out from lack of sustenance—she really should have had more breakfast—she figured she couldn't jinx herself now. Besides, she was actually pretty darn proud of herself.

  "Don't stab me with anything, but you're a heck of a lot stronger than you look."

  "Glad to know the gym membership wasn't a waste of money."

  Finn laughed. "Not if you plan to spend a lot of time repairing cattle fences. And that," Finn secured the other end of the tightened wire, "should be that."

  "So now what?" She pushed upright and hoped her face didn't show the pull in her muscles.

  "Now we head back to the house for lunch. Working in two teams today we knocked this fence out and tomorrow we start on the new fence."

  "New fence?"

  "Yeah. Pasture by empty pasture, one at a time, we've been upgrading the fencing. These old wooden posts are always needing repair. As cows rotate out of a pasture we've been ripping them out and replacing them with modern concrete fencing."

  "Makes sense."

  Finn laughed again. "Glad you approve."

  "Sorry," She sucked in a breath and reached for the pliers she'd left on the ground. "I didn't mean to—"

  "I know, JoJo. You're still too much fun to tease."

  "Some things never change." She'd never worked a fence line with him before, but it wasn't much different from studying English or doing dishes. They'd always made a good team.

  He grinned up at her. "No, they don't."

  "How did we let so much time go by?" Joanna really missed her friend.

  "In an age of Internet and cell phones anyone would think staying in touch would be easier." Finn scooped up the stray tools and shrugged. "What is it they say, life is what happens while we're busy making other plans."

  "Ain't that the truth." Writing stories about tourist sites and roaming ghost towns of West Texas had not been anywhere even in the footnotes of her life plans. "Except you've always known this is what you wanted to do."

  Walking back to where the horses were ground tied, Finn nodded. "Since I was old enough to ride a horse I knew that I never wanted to live anywhere else. Do anything else. "

  "Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

  "Maybe." He swung his leg over the horse, settled in the saddle and looked her straight in the eyes. "But nothing is all that it seems."

  Most of the ride back to the ranch house, Joanna wondered what he meant by that. Riding at a respectable pace across Texas flat lands was not conducive to chatting. By the time they approached the barns, the pace had slowed to an easy gait so there'd be no need to walk the horses if they were to be put up for the day. "What do you mean, nothing is all that it seems?"

  Finn shrugged. "Nothing ominous. You're right. This has always been my dream, and I'm pretty much living it. I didn't have to work for years in the oil fields to buy this place nor did I have to spend a bunch more years in school to doctor people or animals."

  "I sense a but coming."

  "Not really. I do what I love but shit still happens."

  "Like what?"

  "I love my Aunt Eileen, but I'd like to have memories of my mother."

  Joanna's heart twisted. She should have kept her fat mouth shut.

  "My niece Stacey was in a car accident that kept her silent for too long." Finn slowed the pace a little more. "Thankfully Connor and the horses brought her out of it."

  "Well, that's good then."

  Finn nodded. "Cycle of life is hard to escape here. We bring animals into the world and occasionally we lose a few. Some to natural causes, some to rustlers."

  "They still have cattle rustlers?" That surprised her.

  "Absolutely. A lot of it is prevented at time of sale with strict rules and inspections, but it still happens and it's never good."

  No, she didn't bet it was. "You've lost cattle to rustlers?"

  "Not for a while." He shrugged. "I'm not saying we don't have a good life here, I'm just saying that no one's life is a Hollywood musical."

  The barn was a short distance ahead and Joanna considered his words. She was pretty sure there was something else he wasn't telling her, but she was also pretty sure that her serious and quiet cowboy needed to be brought out of his shell. Again.

  ***

  Pulling into the barn, Finn slid off his horse and would have smacked himself upside the head if he could. Why in heaven's name did he say anything at all to Joanna? She was right. He was living his dream. The ranch wasn't completely his, all the brothers had a share in it, but Finn and his dad had the bulk of the responsibilities and Finn was perfectly happy with that. The ranch was all he'd ever wanted.

  Even when his brothers started one by one falling for women just like the brothers in their mom's favorite movie, Finn loved the ranch and his life. He still had more plans for expansion and modernization and all of it took time, patience, dedication, and didn't leave much time for a love life, never mind a wife. Besides, now he had a sweet baby niece to fuss over without any of the burdens of parenting. His life was all good. He wasn't lonely at all.

  Uncinching the strap under his horse, he glanced over at Joanna doing the same as if she too had been born and raised here. If life was so good, why did looking at her make him feel like life was all wrong?

  Chapter Seven

  The first inkling that soaking in a hot tub would have been a much better idea than coming into town struck Joanna when she'd stood from the lunch table and her thighs protested. Painfully. Finn had noticed her taking a few careful steps to loosen up and suggested instead of pushing forward that she stay home and take a long soak. Not wanting to look like a wuss, she'd blown the suggestion off with a wave and a chuckle and followed him to the truck.

  Climbing out of the truck an hour later, her thighs, calves and backside all screamed.

  "You do realize you're moving at the pace of my great granny?" Finn held out a hand to her and patiently waited for her to swing both legs off the side of the seat and then, shaking his head, grabbed hold of her waist and lifted her from the truck onto the ground. "You steady enough for me to let go?"

  "Of course I am." Except the second his hands released their grip, her knees protested and she came within seconds of falling flat on her face and making a total ass of herself.

  "Whoa." His hands tightened agai
n and this time he waited for her to take a minced step before letting go again. "You're going to have to walk it off."

  "Yeah. Give me a minute here and I'll be fine." She glanced up the quaint town square and then down the other side. "Which way is Sisters?"

  Finn waved his thumb over his shoulder. "About four stores up."

  "Okay." Every step came a little easier. If she wasn't in so much pain, she'd have laughed at the careful way Finn walked beside her, trying not to let on he was watching her every step. "I'm not going to break."

  "I'm not worried about you breaking. Or even falling. It's the landing I'm concerned with."

  "Ha ha ha. I'm fine. Just got a little stiff not moving for so long." In retrospect, riding a horse all morning after years of not riding was probably not the smartest move she'd ever made.

  Finn stopped in front of a cute little boutique and held the door open. "Whatever you say. But you may want to rethink that soak in the tub when we get back to the ranch."

  There was no need to rethink anything. If she still felt like this after another hour-long ride back to the ranch, she might very well spend the whole night in the tub.

  At the sound of the overhead bell, two women scurried forward. One tall and thin, the other not so much.

  "Well if it isn't Finnegan Farraday. What a surprise this is." The tall skinny one with slightly reddish hair pulled him into a tight squeeze and then, lifting his chin with one finger and examining his profile as though studying a piece of art—or a horse for purchase—she nodded and grinned. "You're getting handsomer every day."

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  "I'm telling you, Sissy," the short and stout woman pinched his cheek, "there isn't an ugly gene in that Farraday DNA."

  Pink flushed bright on Finn's face and Joanna bit back a smile of her own. As well as she and Finn had known each other, this was a new side for her. Of course, back in the day, not many eccentric sisters wandered about campus pinching his cheeks.

  "So," the tall one stepped back and looked to Joanna, "going to introduce us to your lady friend?"

  "Sorry," he removed his hat. "Joanna Gaines—"

  "No relation," Joanna quickly provided when both sisters' eyes rounded like a cartoon owl.

  "No," the tall one said, "I would think not. You're much prettier. I'm Sissy."

  "And I'm Sister," the other sibling with hair almost as wide as it was high, chimed in.

  "What can we do for you?" the two echoed.

  "Actually," Joanna shifted her weight and tried not to groan at the discomfort coursing through her muscles. "I'm writing an article—"

  "Writing?" Sister perked up.

  Joanna nodded. "About a few of the local ghost towns and I was hoping some folks around here might know a little more about the history and the people."

  "Well, mama's people came from Three Corners, but we don't really know too many stories." Sissy shrugged. "What kind of stories were you interested in?"

  "Anything really. Something to spark an idea."

  "I think it was our great great grandmother who was the first to come to Texas. Back then Three Corners had begun to really grow. Miss Lilibeth, our great great grandmother, came here from Boston."

  "Boston?"

  "That's right. The men folk had built a proper town and they were wanting to settle it. They'd heard about folks on the West Coast bringing in wagon trains of brides, so they did the same."

  "Your great great grandmother was a mail order bride?"

  "She was. Her sister Esther came with her. But Esther's intended passed on while she was traveling so she married another fellow and moved on. To California, I think."

  Possibilities ricocheted in Joanna's mind. Everyone loved mail order bride stories.

  The front door opened and the overhead bell rang again. Two men in uniform strolled in.

  "Aren't we blessed today. Not one but two Farradays. Your uniforms came in this morning." She turned and pointed to a back cabinet and Sister hurried across the store.

  "Thank you, Miss Sissy." Judging by the matching chiseled features, Joanna guessed this one was the other Farraday. Shifting sideways, the man from the same Farraday mold spotted Finn. "Hey, bro. What brings you into town?"

  "My friend wanted to talk to the sisters." Finn turned to her. "Joanna, this is my brother DJ and officer Reed Taylor."

  "How do you do?" She extended her hand to one officer, then the other and kept her grin to herself when they each removed their hats. Apparently that gentleman thing ran deep and strong in this part of the country.

  "Joanna's writing about ghost towns," Sissy provided.

  "And we're going to help," the other added gleefully, handing DJ a package wrapped in brown paper like a Chinese laundry.

  The brother's brows lifted with curiosity as his gaze drifted from the sister to Finn and then her. But it was the other officer running his fingers along the rim of his hat that caught her attention. He'd smiled and been polite, but he had a lost boy look that made the writer in her want to know the rest of the story.

  "We've got boxes in the attic with old photos and things." The plump, more animated sister turned to her sibling. "Don't we, Sissy?"

  "That's right. I haven't looked in those old trunks since we were kids." Sissy looked to Joanna. "You'd be welcome to come look through anything if you want."

  "Oh, that would be really cool. Thank you. Very much."

  The sister beamed at her reaction. "We're closed on Sundays. Any time after church would be fine."

  Excitement gurgled inside her. This was going to happen. Her little idea was blossoming into a fantastic idea. "I'll make that happen."

  Finn laughed softly. "I bet you will. I just bet you will."

  ***

  Leaving his brother and Reed at Sisters, Finn escorted Joanna across the way to Ned's garage, pleased to see her moving a little more easily. "Ned is seriously older than dirt, but if he has to, the man can fix any thing that has a motor with chewing gum and rubber bands."

  "Sounds like the perfect mechanic."

  Finn stepped onto the curb. "He is, and if he ever dies, the whole town is screwed."

  "He can't be the only mechanic in town."

  "No, but he's the best." Finn pulled the door open and waited for her to go inside.

  "Well how-dee-do." Ned wiped his hands on a rag. "That truck giving you trouble again?"

  "No. Not here for ranch business. Ned, this is a friend of mine, Joanna Gaines."

  The old man's eyes rounded with interest the same way the sisters' had and Finn realized that maybe he did need to watch a little more television.

  "No relation," Joanna quickly explained. "But I'm here doing research for a story I'm working on about the West Texas ghost towns."

  "Really?" Ned shoved the rag into his pocket. "Which town? There's quite a few in these parts. Some recognized, some ignored."

  "Well," she inched forward, "that depends. I'm looking for some good stories."

  "Oh, that won't be hard. There's lots of folks in Tuckers Bluff whose people came from one of the nearby abandoned towns."

  Joanna's eyes twinkled with excitement. "Yours?"

  Ned flashed a huge grin with multiple missing teeth. "You bet. All the way back to my great great grand pappy. Came here from Ireland. Don't think he meant to stop in Texas. He was heading for the California lowlands, but they'd been running behind and winter blew in early so they didn't dare cross the mountains. By the time spring had come around, most of the folks decided it was just easier to stay put."

  "Which town was this?"

  "Three Corners."

  "Oh, the same as the sisters?"

  "That's right." Ned scratched the top of his head. "Think one of the sisters' aunts was supposed to marry one of my kin, but he died 'fore she got to Texas."

  "Do you know what happened to Three Corners? Or how your family wound up here in Tuckers Bluff instead?"

  "Lots of things, I'm sure. My kin were farmers. Not easy out this way. As yea
rs passed, irrigation became an expensive problem. Eventually they gave up on farming and moved closer to Tuckers Bluff, but I can't speak for the rest of the town. Don't even know what year the last of the town moved away. Coulda been WWII or the hippies for all I know. Lord knows by the sixties times had really changed. Folks didn't want the quiet life. Young people wanted the bright lights of big cities."

  "Did you want the big city? The bright lights?" she asked softly.

  Finn was surprised to see a slight blush tinge old Ned's cheeks.

  "Young men dream, but once I met my Gert, Tuckers Bluff was home for good." A far off look that might have taken Ned back to a day and time long ago settled in his gaze for a few long seconds before he shook his head and smiled at Joanna. "Gert was real good about keeping track of family. Her sister called her the family historian."

  The way Joanna's eyes opened wide, Finn knew Ned had said the magic words.

  "I would love to hear anything you remember about your people and Three Corners."

  "It'd be my pleasure to tell a pretty girl what little this old man remembers. I've got this engine I have to rebuild for Paul Brady, but as soon it's done I'll have plenty of free time to sit and visit. You stop by in a few days and we'll get us some Dr. Peppers, sit out front and pretend it's eighteen eighty again."

  "Thank you. I'd love that."

  "The pleasure will be all mine, missy. I promise you that." With a nod and another toothless grin, Ned returned to the old truck up in the air.

  Outside, standing on the curb, Joanna turned to Finn. "Your aunt was right. There's a potential wealth of information here."

  Finn had to laugh. Growing up, his aunt had ingrained in all of them that she might not always be right, but she was never wrong. Truth was, she was almost always right. "Let's knock on a few more doors and then if it's not too late, we can stop at the café."

  "Sounds like a plan." Joanna leaned forward, and on tippy toe, planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "Still coming to my rescue."