"Where the west begins," Finn announced in an exaggerated deep voice before returning to his normal tone. "And the hub of the cattle business at that time. Anyone going from Fort Dickson to Fort Worth would most likely pass through Three Corners."
Joanna looked at the map and almost smacked her forehead with the obvious. "Three Corners."
Finn laughed. "More like three points, but yeah, I see the connection. Where does the third road go?"
Once again, Joanna's fingers flew across the keyboard. She'd plugged in all sorts of search words. "I'm not sure."
"Wait." Finn pointed at the screen. "Click on that picture."
She read the fine print under the photo of an official looking building. Texas West Junior Agricultural College 1868 –1940. "Oh. Wouldn't that be interesting." Sure enough. The west road cut through the old agricultural college.
"It's starting to make sense. The town was founded where the three corners to three popular locations intersected." Finn pushed away from the desk. "Very good, Miss Gaines."
She batted her lashes and dipped her chin in an exaggerated coy southern move, "Why, thank you, Mr. Farraday."
"And look at this." Finn pointed to another image nearby.
Joanna zoomed in on an advertisement similar to the one she'd photographed at the library and read the small print. "Transportation now provided twice a day to Sadieville." She moved the cursor to the bottom corner. "Nineteen twenty-one. "
"Ford's horseless carriages made moving around Texas much easier for some folks." Finn scanned the screen then tapped on the corner image. "Looks like this might have been the nearest town to the college."
"I'll have to make a trip back to the library. Maybe I have the beginnings of a second article."
"A series?" Finn shrugged, his smile displaying an air of approval.
"Knock knock." Becky wrapped on the doorframe. "Sorry to interrupt, but you have a visitor, Joanna."
"I do?" She looked to Finn, though he had no reason to know anything more than she did.
Becky nodded. "I think it's the photographer that your editor sent. He's chatting with Meg. Seems when he checked in earlier today, she didn't realize who he was."
"What's he doing here?" she asked, standing up and resisting the urge to reach for Finn's hand. She didn't need moral support, she'd gotten through the last six years without her friend. It was silly to want to him for back up now. But she did.
"He said he's been checking out the area and realized the address your editor gave him is on his way back to town. Shall I tell him you're busy?"
"No, no. I just hate to impose on your family anymore."
"Oh," Becky waved off the concern. "Aunt Eileen is having a great time with a single man in the living room. I'm not totally sure, but I think she's already got a girl in mind to set him up with."
"Ugh," Finn groaned. "For a single woman, that lady sure channels Dolly Levy."
Becky frowned at Finn. "Who?"
Finn's eyes widened and he looked as surprised as Becky looked confused. "You've never seen Hello Dolly?"
Becky shook her head and Finn spun around to look at Joanna. "You?"
"Hey," she cleared her throat and teasingly sang, "You're looking swell, Dolly. I can tell, Dolly," then chuckled. "What I'm more surprised is that you know who she is."
"My aunt loves musicals. All of them. So did my mother."
All the merriment in the banter slipped away when Joanna remembered his mother had named her children alphabetically because of the old musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
"Excuse me," Becky interrupted. "Hate to break up the fun, but what do I tell the photographer?"
"Right. I'd better go rescue him from the West Texas Dolly." Joanna headed out the door and down the hall. Behind her she could hear Finn and Becky going back and forth about which was more surprising, that she'd never heard of Hello Dolly or that Finn thought of her so readily.
Several paces ahead of Finn, Joanna crossed into the large family room where most of the Farradays were still gathered. Immediately, her gaze fell on Aunt Eileen and the tall dark haired gentleman beside her and the hair on her arms bristled. No. Denise couldn't have done this to her. She had to be mistaken. All she could see was the man's back and part of his profile and just because he had the same build and similar profile and, oh heavens, that same annoying pitch to his voice, she couldn't be that unlucky.
"Good, you're here," Aunt Eileen said from beside the visitor.
As sure as her name was Joanna Gaines, the tall man to stand and face her was indeed the one photographer in the world she'd hoped to never see again. "Joanna, nice to see you again."
She managed to nod and squeak out a polite hello.
"It's been ages." He shifted and stepped forward in her direction.
Joanna didn't budge. She couldn't. "Yes. A long time."
"You look great. Married life obviously agrees with you."
"Uh." She didn't like the cheeky leer. Same damn look that had been a thorn in her side three years ago. Clearing her throat, she did her best to ignore the multitude of curious eyes that had just turned her way. "Thank you."
"So tell me," nose to the air, Mr. Attitude looked about the room, "which of these fortunate men is your husband?"
Damn. Just her luck he would bring that up. A few of the side conversations suddenly hushed and Joanna swallowed hard. "Oh, well, about that—"
Strong warm hands landed on her shoulders. Finn stood at her back. "That would be me."
Chapter Eighteen
What little chatter there'd been in the room came to a screeching halt with Finn's announcement, accompanied by the crashing sound of a glass.
"Oops," Aunt Eileen apologized as stunned faces momentarily turned to her then back to the guest.
"Nice to meet you." The man Finn presumed to be the photographer stuck out his hand. "Nigel Wentworth."
"Finn Farraday," he responded, accepting the proffered hand and then returning his to Joanna's shoulder. The tension in her muscles was increasing exponentially with every second. All eyes in the room focused on him and Joanna. Expressions showing varying degrees of humor, surprise, or sheer confusion lingered silently. "Please," Finn pointed into the living room with his chin, "have a seat and tell us what you think of the project so far."
"I've already taken a few interesting shots. The light out here this time of year creates some fun shadows to work with. Denise didn't say much about the story idea." Nigel turned to Joanna. Finn wasn't thrilled with the way the guy's attention darted down to her cleavage before returning to her face. "What direction are you going to want me to go in?"
Finn couldn't help it, business or not he reached out and snatched Joanna's shaky hand in his and squeezed, then shot the photographer a she's-mine gaze that should have withered his balls with the precision of an arctic frost. The shift in attitude was slight but clear, Finn had made his point. From there the mood in the room shifted to business and Finn watched with amazement, and a bit of pride, as Joanna laid out exactly how she envisioned the articles and the photographs to work together. Even his family had been sucked into the concept, seeming to forget about the earlier bombshell.
A few cups of coffee later, and more pieces of strudel, the project was almost completely mapped out and Nigel stood at the front door ready for the drive back to town. "With the map you gave me, I'll drive out to Three Corners tomorrow and focus my shots there." The guy glanced at Finn standing behind his wife, hands on her shoulders and seemed to hesitate before swallowing hard and adding, "Want to tag along?"
Joanna shook her head. "I've got a lot more research to do."
"Okay." The guy shifted in place and Finn finally saw the idiot's shoulders slump, conceding Finn's win. "I'll send you what I've got so far and we'll go from there."
Joanna nodded. "Sounds good."
Like good southern hosts, Finn stood beside Joanna on the front porch, watching his brothers who lived in town and their wives climbing into their re
spective vehicles and Nigel preparing to follow them back to the B&B. Finn was pretty sure Joanna wouldn't have any trouble with that stuffed shirt again.
They were waving good-bye like characters on a Norman Rockwell postcard when Joanna's arm wound its way around his side and she leaned into him. "Thank you. For catching on. And playing along in front of your family."
"You're welcome." Without thinking Finn dipped down and kissed her temple. "Apparently it's a bit like riding a bike, once you know how to repel the leeches, you never forget." And he was damn glad he'd been here for this particular leech.
"Funny." Her head came to rest against his shoulder and they stood quietly as the train of taillights drove under the Farraday sign and turned onto the road back to town.
Since she showed no sign of moving, Finn remained in place. It had been a very long time since he'd done something as simple as hold a woman at his side, and even then he didn't remember it feeling quite so…nice. "So what's the story here?" He might as well get the background now before they returned inside to face his family.
"You know how it always goes. I was doing some freelance work for local papers. Got sent by one to do an interview of a homegrown celebrity returning to the fold for the annual town festival. Nothing special. Nigel was sent to take the pictures. It's normal for a photographer to shadow the journalist, but in this case the guy felt more like a lost puppy at my heel. Anyhow by the third day the puppy had morphed into an octopus with attitude, but it was hard shaking the guy, even when I explained I didn't like to mix work with pleasure."
Finn nodded, so far it seemed she'd mostly learned her lesson to just tell the guy to get lost.
"I'd actually forgotten about him when we bumped into each other at conference in Fort Worth. He'd skipped right over puppy dog and octopus and went straight to asshole. I just told him I already had a boyfriend. When he wouldn't let it lie, I might have said we were planning on a winter wedding."
"And how long ago was this?"
She sighed and took a step back to look up at him. "Fort Worth? Maybe two years. I've made a point to avoid working with him ever since. Honestly, it was pretty easy. I rarely do anything that requires me to work with a photographer. As originally planned for a back of the magazine small article, any one of the photos I took or a stock photo, would probably have been good enough."
Finn kind of wished she'd stayed close to him a little longer, but they were going to have to head back inside and face the rest of the family. As it was he was a bit surprised his phone wasn't ringing non-stop with questions from the ones on the drive back to town.
"I was going to tell him I hadn't actually gotten married when you stepped in."
"I'm glad I did."
"Me too. He would have just been all over me again.”
Finn didn't doubt that for a single minute.
"With Nigel thinking I'm married, working with him tonight was perfectly normal. Almost pleasant. He really is good at what he does."
"Sounded that way." Finn blew out a heavy breath. As long as this guy kept his eyes and hands on the camera, there wouldn't be a problem.
"Eventually I'll have to tell him the truth, or some variation of it." She flashed an impish grin. "But for now, thanks for playing along."
Finn nodded. Unlike college where playing along as her cock-blocker had been a simple task, like doing the dishes or washing the car, he had a feeling this time around he was going to really enjoy playing the role of devoted husband. He turned on his heel to follow her into the house and a different uneasy feeling set in. Getting even closer to Joanna now might be more than even he could handle.
***
Joanna came through the Farraday front door first. On her heels, Finn quickly closed the door and stood to her side. The sound of the latch catching had every person in the room looking up. Ethan had baby Brittany sleeping on his shoulder, Connor had his little girl Stacey on his lap playing with finger strings, Catherine and Sean Farraday looked up from their chess game.
It was Aunt Eileen who stood near the kitchen entry arms folded, waiting. "We're listening."
"It's my fault," Joanna started.
"It's more of the same." Finn ushered Joanna into the room toward an empty seat. "I don't need to explain the obvious, Joanna is very pretty."
Every head in the room bobbed and Joanna glanced up at Finn. Somewhere deep inside she assumed Finn probably saw her as at least pretty. The same way most people perceived blondes with blue eyes as attractive people, but this was the first time she'd heard him say so out loud and she had to make an extra effort not to smile with delight.
"Guys in college were always hitting on her," Finn continued, "Some got down right obnoxious. A few times too damn friendly."
Every man in the room's gaze hardened as their jaws tightened and Joanna realized that chivalrous streak she counted on so heavily in Finn ran strong in the entire family, including their dad. Even Aunt Eileen's expression shifted from parental annoyance to parental concern.
"When no wasn't good enough, it was easier to simply say she had a boyfriend."
Catherine nodded. "Been there, done that."
Aunt Eileen turned to look at her niece-in-law and the stiffness in her stance eased. "I used to wear a ring on my right hand that I'd picked up at a flea market in high school. On occasion I'd have to move it to my left hand. But I never actually dragged a person into the fib."
Joanna opened her mouth to apologize again when Finn grabbed her arm and shook his head. "The point is y'all should know better than to think I might have kept something like being married from you. Not to mention, who the heck gets married and then stays away from their wife for six years?"
"You have to admit y'all are pretty comfortable with each other," Mr. Farraday added.
"Hell, we lived together for two years."
"Shared a house!" Joanna spat out quickly at the horrified look on his aunt's face. "Just shared a house."
Finn turned to her. "They know that. As many times as they came to College Station, they saw the house and how we all lived."
Joanna noticed the intense way both his aunt and his father watched the conversation and she realized what Finn hadn't, that they had probably always wondered. "We really were just friends."
Finn's head whipped around to look at his family. First to his father who nodded and then to his aunt who showed little change of expression. Finn simply shook his head. "It's late and the work starts early. I'm going to do a quick check outside and then off to bed."
"Yep." Connor set Stacey on the floor and stood up. "Same here. It's way past this one's bedtime."
Backs were slapped, hugs were passed around, and much like the round of good-byes earlier when Adam, Brooks and DJ left, mention was made of another day's work and next Sunday's supper.
"I think I'm going to look through what the sisters gave me." Joanna detoured to the kitchen for a knife, then once in her room, cut open the dust covered box that appeared to have been sealed for way longer than she'd been alive. The first thing to catch her eye was a stack of letters neatly tied in ribbon that brought a smile to her face. Love letters no doubt. Probably from Herman. Setting the stack aside, she retrieved more hand sewn and crocheted items and was surprised to uncover another book similar to the journal Ruth Ann had given her. Lifting it out, Joanna was pleasantly surprised to find it was only one of many journals. Carefully she took the first two and moved to the back porch.
During the day Farraday country seemed vast and barren, but not so in the dark of night. Under the blanket of bright stars against the velvet sky, the world seemed a peaceful, calm place. Comfortable. She felt at home. Pushing off the wooden floor with one foot, she set her rocker to swaying and looked at the first page. Lilibeth Cooper, Boston. "Wow."
"What?" Finn's voice carried from the porch steps.
"Look at this." She popped up from her seat and held up a book in each hand. "The sisters have their great great grandmother's journals and don't know it."
She handed one to him and standing in from of him skimmed a few pages. "Herman was a cook." She flipped a page and smiled. "A baker in Germany, now he was a cook for the new hotel and Lilibeth was very proud of him." Flipping a few more pages, she closed the book. "I feel like a voyeur."
"This one covers the year her husband died." He closed the pages.
She twisted around and set her book down. "I didn't know them, but reading only the first few pages of her story, knowing they didn't have a long happily ever after makes me sad."
"It's too easy to live for tomorrow and not appreciate today." Finn looked over her shoulder into the distance, his expression slight and unreadable.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Joanna wondered if he might be thinking about his mother.
Finn shook his head. "Some thoughts aren't meant to be shared."
"Among friends anything can be shared."
"Anything?" His eyes bore into her, strong, dark, and serious.
She tried to brush off the intensity with a smile. "Of course."
"Even this?" His hands slid around her, his head dipped, and his mouth came down on hers in such slow motions she'd have sworn time had stood still until the warmth of his lips delicately pressed against hers, and then, she was sure if time hadn't stopped, she wished it would.
Chapter Nineteen
He'd lost his mind. That was the only explanation for why Finn had Joanna in his arms, under his touch, pressed against him, her mouth one with his. And if this moment could never end, he would gladly forever give up his sanity.
In years past, they'd shared a pretend kiss. Mouth on mouth. Simple, sweet, only for show. And nothing like this. His hands eased down her back and came to rest on the curve of her hips. His gut tightened, momentarily robbing him of air. What was he doing?
"If you don't want your aunt to have a heart attack," his father's voice came from the kitchen door, "you may want to take that some place more private."
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