All Finn could manage was half a smile. For years he and Joanna had pretended their way through different stages of coupled bliss to keep away unwanted suitors, but nowhere in the files of his mind did he find any memory of Joanna's lips leaving him feeling warm all over. What the heck just happened?
Chapter Eight
If the citizens of Tuckers Bluff didn't have ancestors who'd once lived in one nearby now abandoned town or another, they knew someone who did. The town that intrigued her the most was Three Corners. So far Ned and the sisters were the only two from that particular ghost town. "I feel as though I've barely scratched the surface."
"Could be." Finn held the café door open for her.
It had taken a few visits to different establishments on Main Street, but Joanna had finally gotten back in the habit of waiting for Finn to reach the door first. There were so many guy friends in school who had similar manners, but years of once again living in the bigger cities and Joanna had slipped back to whoever got to the door first, opened it. Not that she couldn't open her own dang door, but the courtesy was, well, nice.
"Pick your spot," a waitress called to Finn from behind the counter.
"Keep going to the last booth on the end." His hand slid to the small of her back and ushered her forward.
Once she'd taken a step to walk ahead, his hand had fallen back to his side. The sense of loss surprised her. She was going to have to get out more when she returned home. Stop saying no to all the frogs in case one turned out to be a prince. Maybe even give in and give Peter that shot at a second date. Finn momentarily touched her once again as she slid into the booth. Then again, maybe frogs were just frogs.
The two had barely settled into their seats when Joanna looked up at the sound of the over door bell and a tall handsome man in jeans, a blue shirt, and a cowboy hat stepped into the place. "Uh." She tapped Finn's hand.
"Yeah?" Finn looked from his hand to her face.
"I could be wrong, but I think that hunk coming in our direction is another Farraday."
Finn looked over his shoulder and laughed. "Don't tell Adam you think he's a hunk. It might go to his already too big head."
"I heard that." Adam hung his hat on the hook and then gestured for his brother to move over. "Just about every one of my patients today had to tell me that you and a pretty lady are going around asking questions about ghost towns."
"We have been." Finn waved his hand from her to his brother. "Joanna, this is Adam."
"The oldest." She extended her hand to him. It had been sometime during her sophomore year when Finn had shared the story of how his siblings were all named alphabetically because of his mom's love for an old musical.
Adam nodded. "That would be me."
"And your wife owns the bed and breakfast in town?"
"Guilty again." Adam flashed a smile.
Looking from brother to brother, Joanna found herself comparing the two. So far the men she'd met had all clearly come from the same mold. The wide sincere grin clearly a staple in the Farraday genetics, but only Finn's smile reflected the twinkle in his eyes. She'd always liked his smile. From the first day they'd met in class, she'd known he was one of the nicer nice guys just from his smile.
"So tell me," Adam looked to his brother, "why in the world are you wanting to know about ghost towns?"
"That would be my fault." Joanna raised her hand near her ear and wiggled her fingers. "I’m writing an article for Texas Travel. I'd like some fresh background information."
Adam nodded, glanced sideways at Finn, and at Finn's single shoulder shrug, then looked back to Joanna squinting. "Joanna? Now I remember. You're one of the roommates?"
"That's right."
Finn shifted in his seat.
"Two years. Right?"
Joanna nodded. "Yep. Junior and Senior year."
Adam nodded and looked at Finn again. "Were all your roommates this smart and pretty?"
Finn rolled his eyes and Joanna felt warmth rise to her cheeks. She had a feeling the conversation not spoken between Finn and Adam was more personal than a mere compliment.
"Will Meg be joining y'all?" The waitress appeared at the tableside.
"Nah, my last appointment cancelled and I stopped in to get the scoop from the horse's mouth."
The waitress nodded. "You mean about the article?"
"You know about it?" Finn asked.
"Seriously? That's all anyone has been talking about for hours." She put her notepad in her pocket and with her right hand started counting off fingers on her left hand. "One, Joanna is not in any way related to the TV star of the same name. Two, you and she were housemates in college, not to be confused with," she made quote marks with her fingers before resuming counting off, "roommates. Three, she's writing a big magazine article about ghost towns and wants history that hasn't been written down yet. Four, everyone in town is now hunting through their attics and garages in hopes of finding something that will get them mentioned in a brief thank you paragraph that to them is as good as making it into the pages of a New York Times bestseller." She stopped counting and retrieved her pad and pen. "Did I forget anything?"
Finn muffled a laugh with a cough and shook his head. "Nope, sounds like you've got the key points down."
"Good. So," she looked to Joanna, "nice to meet you. Will you two be staying for dinner or is this just a hankering for Frank's pie of the day?"
Finn's gaze lifted to the chalkboard on the opposite wall. "Oh man, blackberry cobbler."
"And homemade vanilla ice cream," the waitress added.
Adam lifted his eyes to the sign, shifted his attention to the wall with a pass thru to the kitchen, then down to his watch and sucking in a breath slid out of the booth, "Better make mine to go. Two."
"Will a bit of cobbler ruin your appetite?" Finn looked to Joanna.
"Not even close. After all the walking we just did I could probably eat the whole tray."
Finn chuckled. "Why am I not surprised." He nodded at the waitress. "We'll have two also."
With a dip of her chin and a nod at Adam, the woman hurried back to the kitchen.
"She seems really nice," Joanna said.
"Abbie's the best." Adam reached for his hat. "If it wasn't for her intuition things might have turned out differently for my wife."
"Really?" Joanna followed Abbie with her eyes, taking in how efficiently the woman went from task to task. Chatting and smiling at customers as she passed or as they called to her on their way in or out of the café. "Business is pretty good here."
Adam smiled. "You might have something to do with that. But I'm going to head home and see what my wife is up to." The man's grin grew mischievously wider and once again heat flushed to Joanna's cheeks and she had to glance down to keep from grinning herself.
Adam had already retrieved his dessert and was halfway out the door when Joanna looked up at Finn. "Has anyone ever said they should make a TV movie about your family?"
"Mine?" Finn's hand flattened on his breastbone.
"All your brothers are stupid in love."
"Well," Finn shrugged. "I don't know that they'd agree with the stupid part, but yeah, they've all found their perfect match. But enough of my brother's love lives. What do you think for the story?"
"I think," Joanna flattened her palms on the table, "that Three Corners is going to be my focus. I did a quick search on my phone and couldn't find a thing. I'm sure it’s the fresh angle I want. How far is it from here?"
"About an hour and half in the opposite direction of the ranch."
"Ruins? Or is it completely gone?"
"More than ruins. It's been a lot of years since I've been out that way, but I'm pretty sure most of Main Street is still intact. I know about a decade ago or so, some movie company from Dallas spruced up the façade and did some exterior shot filming out there."
"Really?" Finding the before photos would be critical for the story she wanted to tell. Or did she want to tell more than one story? If she did, that
would mean spending a lot more time in the area doing research than she'd originally planned for. Taking a quick glance at Finn talking to her as if it had only been six days since they'd last seen each other and not six years, it occurred to her that having a reason to stick around might not be a bad thing at all.
***
"You're Irish?" Aunt Eileen's eyes lit up and Finn knew if she got wind of the stray dog, she'd have him and Joanna walking down the aisle beside Becky and DJ.
"Fifty percent. Dad is a hodgepodge of mostly English we think, but Mom is of Irish descent and still keeps in touch with her grandmother's people in Ireland."
"Where in Ireland?" Aunt Eileen closed her knife and fork and took a slow and deliberate sip of water.
"County Cork."
Aunt Eileen lit up. "Do you know where?"
If Finn didn't know better, he'd swear his aunt's R rolled a little longer giving her Texas accent a bit of an Irish lilt.
"My mom knows, but I don't remember. I do remember my grandma was a Murphy and my Grandda was a Cotter. It's the Murphy's that we still know in Ireland."
"Isn't that wonderful. My family is originally from County Cork. Callahan used to have a G in it. C-A-double L-A-G-H-A-N, but we lost track of our original roots generations ago."
"What about the Farradays?"
"I'm afraid," Finn's dad leaned forward at the table, "the original O'Fearadaigh has been somewhat butchered. From what Uncle George remembers my great grandfather saying, we originally hail from County Donegal, but Uncle George doesn't remember the name of the town. We assume it was too much of a mouthful for him at the time."
"Speaking of mouthfuls, who's up for dessert?" Aunt Eileen pushed away from the table and stood.
"There's always room for dessert." The Farraday patriarch patted his stomach and then stood to help his sister-in-law clear the table.
"I'm sure I can find a little room," Joanna chimed in.
When she tried to join the others in clearing the dinner dishes, Finn stuck his arm out and snatched the plate from her hands. "Guests don't clean up."
"But—"
Shaking his head at her, Ethan hobbled past her on his way to the kitchen with his own dishes and repeated, "Guests don't clean up."
Finn shrugged at her lost expression. "Stick around long enough to pay rent and you can clean up."
"Thanks." Joanna rolled her eyes at him, really pretty blue eyes.
"Here you go." Aunt Eileen set a plate of sweet potato pie in front of her and another in front of Finn.
"Thanks," Finn said at the same time as Joanna. "So," he stabbed at his pie, "what's the plan for tomorrow? Helping with the new fence?"
Reflexively, Joanna's hand slid to her hip and rubbed her thigh. "I think I'd like to drive out to Three Corners and take a look around. Take some photos for reference."
"You should go with her." Finn's dad took his seat at the table. "You never know what's wandering around empty buildings like that."
It took him all of five seconds, maybe seven to weigh the situation. Connor would be working with his horses at his own place tomorrow and would be unable to help out again. Putting up the new section of fence was more than a two-man job, which meant leaving his dad and Sam alone would just create a backlog of work. The answer was pretty easy, there was absolutely no way in hell he was letting Joanna head out to an abandoned town alone. At least not until she learned to shoot a rattler instead of climbing trees.
Chapter Nine
"I didn't think I'd like the peace and quiet so much." Not a morning person by nature, Joanna nodded off a time or two for the first part of the drive to Three Corners, but now she was taking in the vast distance of absolutely nothing. "And let me tell you, an empty road beats Dallas rush hours any day."
"I'm not going to argue with you. I thought College Station had too much traffic."
"Are you kidding?" Joanna sat up straighter. "I loved whipping around anywhere in town in less than ten minutes. It was great."
"You do remember it took longer than that to get to campus from our house?"
"Minor detail." Joanna shrugged a shoulder.
Head tipped back, Finn let out a rumble of laughter. "Life with you was never about the details."
"No," she smiled at him. "I suppose not."
"So remind me," he glanced her way, then back at the road in time to turn off the main drag and onto a bumpy narrow two lane road. "What teensy weensy brawl did we almost start?"
"If you don't remember, I'm not so sure I want to remind you." She really didn't want to bring up the crazy night if Finn didn't remember. She had enough antics to live down, why bring up another.
"Take a chance," he coaxed.
Boy did she wish she could skip it. "All right. It was sophomore—no wait—junior year. Fall. We'd all just moved into the house and the crew went out to celebrate our new place and Natalie's birthday."
Finn nodded. "At the Lazy Horseshoe."
"Right. See you do remember."
"The celebration, yes. The brawl, no."
"Almost brawl."
"Is that like almost pregnant?"
"Not quite." Joanna braced herself as the truck bounced over a deep pothole. "Was someone mining for gold on this road?"
"Not sure if this was originally gravel or just dirt but either way, seventy-five years of weather and heavy-hoofed cattle crossings have not been kind to it." He took his eyes off the beaten up road to pierce her with a steely blue eyed glance. "And don't change the subject. The brawl?"
"Remember the bachelor party?"
He shook his head.
"There was a bunch of guys there for a bachelor party that night. You, Chase and Pierce were playing pool, and Natalie and Calli and I were dancing and having a good time."
"The norm. Got it." He smiled at her and squeezed the steering wheel as they sailed over another bump.
"This one guy with the bachelor party kept flirting with me, or at least trying to."
"Also the norm."
Joanna did her best eye roll even if he wasn't looking. "I mostly smiled and pretended not to hear over the music."
"Sounds familiar."
"Who's telling this story?"
"Sorry." He smiled without taking his eyes off the pitted road.
"Anyhow, he finally got close enough to hit on me where I couldn't pretend not to hear him, so I told him I was with someone else."
"You could have just said no. Most of us guys are pretty much used to not every girl saying yes."
"You know I hate hurting a guy’s feelings, beside the whole with-someone excuse is your fault."
"My fault?" Finn slanted a surprised glance in her direction.
"Yeah, remember? One of the first times we'd all gone as a group to the Horseshoe, that cocky football player kept hitting on me. Refused to take no for an answer."
Finn's gaze narrowed and the muscles along his jaw tightened as he bit down hard. He remembered.
"You were the only one to notice he'd backed me into the corner by the ladies room."
"And I told him to get his hands off you." Finn's knuckles whitened around the steering wheel. "I should have broken them."
"Yeah, well, when he puffed up like he was facing an opposing linebacker on the field, and said, ‘who's going to stop me?’ you stared him down and said—"
"I will."
Joanna nodded. "I thought all hell was going to break loose and instead, his eyes widened, and he stepped back apologizing that he didn't realize we were together, sputtered no offense, man, and practically slithered away."
"And?" Finn prompted.
"And that's when I realized a good offense was the best defense."
She flashed her teeth in a cheeky grin that turned sincere when he chuckled and momentarily taking his eyes off the road, smiled at her.
"You, JoJo," he shook his head like a parent amused with a brazen child, "are something else."
"I'll take that as a compliment." She leaned back in her seat.
"You really want to hear this?"
Finn dipped his chin in a single affirmative nod. "I do."
"All right," she blew out a breath, "this guy was almost as bad as that stupid football player, only even having a boyfriend wasn't enough to shake him off. He wanted to know if I was hooked up, why was I alone?"
Finn blinked and Joanna knew he was retrieving that night's data from his memory banks. The whole thing was still pretty vivid in her mind.
"Hey handsome," Joanna sidled up beside Finn at the pool table and gave him a peck on the cheek.
He gave a soft chuckle and barely shifted his gaze to the dance floor behind them, sliding his arm around her waist. "So who are we scaring off this time?"
"The loudmouth drunk in the red shirt and glasses."
"I'm guessing," Finn retrieved his arm to chalk the cue tip, "you didn't try saying you weren't interested."
"If I had he's too drunk to listen."
Finn's brow furrowed as he scanned the dancefloor more carefully. "Did he do something to you?"
"No. I mean, other than patting my butt once, though he might have just been reaching for the chair and missed, and grabbing my arm when I'd try to turn away, but nothing I couldn't walk away from." She recognized the look on Finn's face. She may not be his girlfriend, fiancée, or wife for real, but she was his friend and he was very protective of her. Truth be told, he was protective of all their friends. More than once she'd seen him step up and help a girl having trouble with a drunk even when he didn't know her. Which was to Joanna's good fortune because he didn't mind being pulled in as her pretend other half to stave off the losers.
"Save that thought, it's my turn." Finn gave her a kiss on the forehead, his eyes carefully watching the crowd over her head, and stepped forward to take his shot.
She raised her thumb at him for good luck. Too bad they didn't really have a thing going. There simply wasn't a nicer guy in the state. And he wasn't bad looking either.
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