Finn

by Chris Keniston

  "You look too serious. A penny for your thoughts."

  No way in hell she was telling him that she liked being in his arms a little more than she should. Finn was one friend she did not want to lose. "I guess my mind wandered off to the ghost town and the story."

  "Gee thanks. Nice to know when a guy is dancing with a girl, her mind is on her job."

  "No." She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "After seeing the buildings for myself I'm anxious to get my hands on the information the sisters have. I tried Googling the town name and found very little."

  "Anything useful?"

  "Just a few references to births and deaths, very little on the town itself. I guess the curiosity of it just tickles my mind all the time until I figure out the puzzle."

  Finn chuckled. "If anyone can put the pieces together, it's you."

  "Appreciate the vote of confidence."

  "You know I've always been on your side."

  Yes, he had. Every up and down the years she'd known him, he'd either cheered her on or held her up. Why in heaven's name had she let time and distance slip between them?

  ***

  “The crack of dawn is going to come too dang early tomorrow," Ken leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

  Finn knew exactly what he meant. Any other Friday night and he'd have been all for going home over an hour ago. Even though he knew darn well that his sisters-in-law and their friends occasionally came to Boots 'N' Scoots for their traditional girls night, and even though he knew they'd gotten home without incident every single time on their own, he still couldn't bring himself to leave them in Butler Springs to drive back home alone. Fortunately, the good thing about having a police officer for a good buddy was that leaving the ladies in the bar rubbed Reed the wrong way too. "It was a good night."

  Ken's lips tipped up in a sly grin. "Yeah, it was."

  "How many women did you dance with?" Reed looked over his shoulder into the backseat at his friend.

  The guy shrugged and kept his eyes closed. "Lost count."

  "You seemed awfully cozy with the redhead." Finn watched Ken in the rearview mirror.

  "She was nice, but I think she was trying to shake off an ex or something, ‘cause she started getting awfully clingy. Even when I said all I wanted to do was dance."

  Finn knew what he meant. Not that he didn't like doing the horizontal tango as much as any other red-blooded man, but sometimes all a guy wants is to have some serious fun. He felt the corners of his mouth tip up in a grin to match the one still plastered on Ken's face. Finn couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so hard, or danced so long. At least not before Joanna's arrival. And what the hell was he going to do about that? More than once he'd been too tempted to lean a fraction closer, turn his mouth a smidgen more in her direction, and taste those lips for real. But he knew too many folks that mixed friends and benefits and it hadn't work out the way they'd pretended. Not to mention the challenges of mixing city and country. Two fast ways to kill a friendship, and much to his own surprise, Finn had no doubt that this time he didn't want to lose his friend.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Almost nine o'clock. Joanna hadn't meant to sleep in, but it had been a very long time since she'd closed down a bar. Come to think of it, she wasn't sure she'd ever actually closed down a bar.

  "You're moving better." Aunt Eileen held out a cup of steaming coffee. "I heard you coming down the stairs. Your stride is smoother."

  "Yes, thank you. I need to remember not to wait more than a decade to ride a horse again. I may have to visit Finn more often." She wasn't sure but Aunt Eileen's smile seemed to slip just a pinch before falling back into place. What had she said? Blowing over the rim of the cup, she glanced around the kitchen and into the living room.

  "The men are off working on the new fences already." Aunt Eileen opened the oven and pulled out a foil-covered dish. "I've kept the french toast casserole warm."

  "Oh my, that smells divine."

  Aunt Eileen's eyes twinkled brightly as her smile widened. Setting the plate down in front of Joanna, she stepped back. "The boys love it."

  Stabbing at the softened bread with a fork, Joanna speared a piece and almost melted into the chair as the warm flavors burst in her mouth. "Oh, wow." She waved an empty fork. "This is so worth the calories."

  "Would you like scrambled or fried eggs to go with that?"

  "Nothing, please. I need to fit in my jeans when I leave."

  "Nonsense." Aunt Eileen waved a spatula. "Protein isn't fattening."

  "It's not the protein I'm worried about." Joanna savored another morsel. "This is seriously way better than regular french toast."

  "Glad you like it." Aunt Eileen slid into the seat across from her. "So, what are your plans for the day?"

  "Is there a local library or newspaper?"

  Aunt Eileen nodded. "Both. Why?"

  "I thought I might find something on Three Corners."

  "Aren’t Sissy and Sister going to help you?"

  "Oh they are, but I'm having a hard time finding facts online and thought perhaps the archives at a nearby library or paper might have something I can use."

  "I'm going into to town for my Saturday social club meeting, I'd be happy to give you a ride. Introduce you to Marion at the library."

  Joanna's mind stuttered a second expecting Aunt Eileen to break into the song from the old musical before her thoughts caught up with what the woman was saying.

  "She's only there a few days a week," Aunt Eileen continued, "not sure about Felix. He only puts the paper out once a week. Guess I never paid attention to the hours he keeps."

  "A ride and introduction would be wonderful." She couldn't decide if Felix was a thousand-year-old man who still used turn of the century typesetting or a part-time twenty something hunk whose parents had miserable taste in names. "What time are you leaving?"

  "Any minute."

  "Oh." Joanna stood. "I'll get my laptop and my boots and meet you back here in a second."

  "Sounds like a plan."

  Joanna hurried back upstairs and exchanged her fuzzy red slippers for her borrowed boots. She'd told Finn the partial truth last night. Ever since walking the wooden sidewalks, she could feel the life of that old town in her bones and was damned anxious to find out all she could. There had to be something big worth writing about. There just had to be.

  ***

  Poker. Of all the things Joanna would have expected the ladies social club to do, playing cards would not have been even a footnote. And yet, why was she surprised? Aunt Eileen was a hoot. Probably a card shark too. She'd dropped Joanna off at the Tuckers Bluff public library and hurried on to her weekly game at the café.

  Standing in the old brick building, Joanna took in the surroundings. Unlike her movie counterpart of the same name, the librarian Marion was an older woman who made the sisters look like spring chickens. Aunt Eileen had explained that the only way for the town to keep the library going was to have volunteer staff. Marion had been in charge ever since she retired from the Butler Springs public library well over ten years ago.

  The woman knew every nook and cranny and had led Joanna to a dusty section of the back storage facility. "We'd been working backwards from most recent to the beginning of time to record all the data on microfiche. Now it's all about computers. Bottom line, what little we have on Three Corners is at the back of a long line to be scanned and stored."

  Joanna wasn't sure if the sweet old lady was using the royal 'we' or if there really were other people to help her scan and store this stuff. Looking at the aisles of shelves filled with books and ledgers and stacks of mismatched tomes, it struck her that it might take the lifetimes of several volunteers to get it all scanned to computer. "I can take it from here."

  "Oh no." Marion pulled out a pair of white cotton gloves and handed them to Joanna, then retrieved another pair for herself. "Some of these books are quite valuable. It may not look it, but this storage space is temperature controlled."
r />   "Of course." What more could Joanna say? That the place looked like her Aunt Peggy's spare junk room? Or a scene from a Vincent Price film noir? A dangerous place to be in the dark.

  "Now." Marion surveyed the printed cards on the rim of the shelves. "I'm pretty sure we can find some of what you want…here." She came to an abrupt stop and grinning like a kid about to sit on Santa's lap, pulled out a large bound volume that Joanna assumed had to be old newspapers.

  Prepared with her gloves on, Joanna received the old book, arms out, and waited as Marion continued to stack several more volumes on.

  "All right. That should get us started."

  An hour later a group of young teen girls had come in to use the computers for their own research project. Assured that Joanna could be trusted not to damage the old papers, Marion had delightedly hurried off to tend to the teens. It had never occurred to Joanna that there was someplace in this state where every kid didn't have their own computer, but what she found more interesting still was that not a single one seemed to mind. They'd come in laughing and giggling and gathering books before sitting down to the computer.

  For the few minutes she watched the girls, Joanna felt like she'd turned on an old movie set in a simpler time. She had to ask herself who had it right, these kids or the ones back home glued to their phones.

  She'd gone through volume after volume in search of anything on Three Corners. All she had uncovered was the town had, at some point, some sort of paper of their own as she found two copies of the Three Corners Gazette. One proudly announced the opening of the Three Corners Emporium and another with a lead article on the new cook at Millie's Restaurant. She had found a very brief piece on the arrival of God at Three Corners with the building of the new church. Most likely the one now home to her rattler friends.

  In another tome filled with mostly larger town papers she'd been intrigued with the unique ads encouraging the military and university students to dine and dally in a town called Sadieville. Apparently the mayor staunchly believed in encouraging tourism to their little corner of West Texas. Joanna wasn't completely sure what made Sadieville worth the visit, but she made a mental note to look up whatever had become of the town and even took the time to snap a couple of pictures of the ads with her phone. If by chance the place had been left for dust like so many other towns in the county, it could be interesting to add it to her list.

  "I see you're still here?" Aunt Eileen sneezed and rubbed her hand under her nose.

  "It's a little dusty." Joanna didn't know why she felt responsible. It wasn't her job to dust the shelves.

  "A little?" Aunt Eileen shook her head and came to a stop behind Joanna. “The ladies were thinking you'd been locked up here long enough and should join us for a bite to eat."

  "How nice of you, but you didn't have to come all the way here for that. You could have called me."

  Aunt Eileen tipped her head slightly, still smiling, but didn't say a word.

  "That is," Joanna blew out a long breath and shook her head, "if I'd given you my number."

  This time Aunt Eileen chuckled. "It's not that far a walk. My luck needed changing. Besides, now I've burned enough calories to have a good excuse for eating some of Frank's apple crumb pie." She leaned in, looked around as though checking for spies, and lowering her voice, said, "His is better than mine, but don't tell anyone I said that."

  "No, ma'am," Joanna said.

  "Smart girl. Repeat that and I'll swear in court you're lying."

  Joanna laughed softly all the way back to the café. A hoot didn't even begin to cover describing Aunt Eileen.

  ***

  "If you hammer that post in any deeper it's going to pop out somewhere in China."

  Finn looked from his dad to the post he was banging away on. Maybe he was a tad out of sorts. "I'm done."

  "I bet." His father smiled. "Want to tell me what has you so distracted today?"

  "Not distracted, just didn't get enough sleep."

  "Ah." Sean Farraday bobbed his head. "Yes, well, there is a reason we ranchers tend to head to bed early."

  The old cliché had been part of the Farraday mantra—early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. His mom's sayings were repeated often too, even though Finn wasn't old enough to remember her saying things like, Contemplating the immortality of the crab, or Repeat that and I'll swear you're lying. Hearing either of those always brought his mother to mind. "Do you still miss her?"

  Instantly, a faraway look took over the Farraday patriarch's face. He didn't need to ask who Finn meant. "Not the way you're asking. I got over that hurt a very long time ago."

  "Then what?" Finn needed something to do with his hands and gave the new post an extra whack for good measure.

  "When I hear Grace laugh and swear it's your mother in the room, I wish Helen were here to see how sweet our Grace of God turned out."

  Finn had almost forgotten that Grace was to be Gavin. Only when she popped out a girl and his mom had said it was by the grace of God she'd had a daughter, that Grace became the next Farraday name in the alphabet.

  "Same thing with you six brothers. I know how proud she'd be to see each of you grown into fine men. Each and every one of you were her pride and joy from the moment you took your first breaths. I'm always glad she got an inkling of what Adam and Brooks lives would most likely become. It was pretty obvious that they had a lifetime passion even at ten and twelve. The veterinarian and doctor. She worried about Connor though."

  "And you wonder why?" Finn picked up the scattered tools and carried them to the next post hole. Connor and Ethan were the two wild men in the family.

  Sean shook his head. "Can't say I wasn't glad your mother didn't have to worry through sleepless nights about Connor working the oil rigs. Though your Aunt Eileen did enough of that for all of us."

  "That she did. I always think of Aunt Eileen as the sunny side of life. The optimist. But since Connor married Catherine and Ethan is determined to finish his time in the marines at a desk job once he's fit for duty again, Aunt Eileen has given a whole new meaning to cheery."

  "You thinking about making some changes of your own?" His father set the next post into the hole. "Maybe taking dating a bit more seriously?"

  Finn's gaze shot up to his father. Judging by the chuckle that erupted from deep in his dad's throat, Finn must have looked surprised as hell.

  "What, son? You don't think I remember what it was like to be a young man working this ranch six days a week with nothing to keep me warm at night but some liniment?"

  "Well, no. I mean, I didn't, I wasn't thinking about that." Or maybe he was—just a little. At least since Joanna had shown up. Until now, as happy as he was for his brothers, he hadn't thought he needed anything more in his life. Hadn't felt alone. Now, even with a room full of people, maybe he did. Hell, he didn't know what to think anymore.

  Still smiling, his dad steadied the pole for Finn to hammer in. "The right woman has a funny way about making a man change his thinking. That is, if he was thinking at all."

  Finn slammed the sledge hammer onto the post head. Maybe that was Finn's problem, maybe he should just stop thinking.

  Chapter Fourteen

  "Check out the suit. Three o'clock." Aunt Eileen held her cards close to her chest, her face forward, but her gaze to her right. "Citee booy."

  The rest of the ladies at the table shifted in place, coughed, rubbed their neck, and performed a few other ingenious moves to inconspicuously catch a glimpse of the man who had just walked into the café.

  Being an out of towner herself, Joanna had to agree with Aunt Eileen. This guy stuck out like a cactus in a rose garden. Or perhaps it was the other way around, a rose bush in a cactus patch.

  "Oh, my." Sally May waved her fingers under her chin. "Not bad. Not bad at all."

  "Oh for heaven's sake woman, put your eyes back in your head." Ruth Ann shook her head.

  Aunt Eileen squinted at her friend. "Ruth Ann, put your glasses on."r />
  Shooting Aunt Eileen a brief roll of her eyes, Ruth Ann set her cards face down on the table and pulled a pair of glasses from her bag. The second the spectacles were settled on the bridge of her nose, she waved her hand, fanning herself as Sally May had done. "Oh yes." Taking off the glasses, she closed the ears and put them back in her bag. "I do think I could use a fresh glass of iced tea. Extra ice."

  "He sure is a cool drink, I'll give you that." Dorothy Wilson returned her full attention to the cards in front of her. "Wonder if he's passing through?"

  "Probably," Nora the nurse said softly, "I wouldn't be lucky enough to have the likes of him sticking around. Especially if he's single."

  "Who passes through this town all gussied up like that?" Aunt Eileen glanced from Nora to the man seated in a booth close enough to watch but far enough away to be out of ear shot and back.

  "Sure looks like an expensive suit." Sally May rearranged her cards. Joanna wasn't sure but it looked like she'd just moved the same card left, then right, then left again.

  "Think he's a friend of Meg's?" Ruth Ann looked to Aunt Eileen. "After all she was dressed pretty sharp first time she came into town."

  Aunt Eileen pressed her lips together, shook her head and pulled out her cell. "Meg didn't say anything." Her fingers flew across the screen and a few seconds later the phone dinged and she her head "Nope. Meg doesn't have any friends coming to town, but she's on her way over."

  "Oh, heavens," Sally May looked up, her eyes wide, her mouth slightly open. "You don't think he's one of Toni's, you know, first husband's kin?"

  "Oh no." Ruth Ann looked to the man, then waved Abbie over.

  "I was just on my way to check if you ladies needed a refill." Abbie leaned in close and forward, lowering her voice. "Our guest is waiting on old man Thomas."