Games of the Heart

Chapter Nine Bunches

I was in the barn saddling my dapple gray, Moonshine for her morning ride. I’d taken my black with the white star between her eyes, Blaise, out yesterday so she could get the lay of the land. This was going to be Moonshine’s second tour of the farm and as usual, my baby girl couldn’t wait to go.

I was singing while I saddled. I was doing this because this was what I did. I was also doing this because I had a beautiful arrangement of flowers in my bedroom in the farmhouse. A surprise delivery that came yesterday afternoon from Janet’s Flower Shop. The flowers were all striking, rich colors. Roses mixed with gerbera daisies tucked into a squat, square glass vase.

It was stunning.

It also had a note attached that said,

Angel,

Thanks for letting me have tonight with Reesee and No.

Mike

Total cool. Total class. Totally thoughtful. And I swear, I squealed inside and felt like a girl again when I opened the door to a delivery guy holding that arrangement and saw the note had my name on it.

I arrived home on a Wednesday afternoon. I reconciled with Mike that night. We went out to dinner on Thursday. Friday was Rees’s actual birthday and Mike called me yesterday morning to ask me to meet him for lunch at Frank’s.

I took him up on this offer because he’d already told me that night was Rees’s, not just because it was her birthday but because it was Friday and every Friday night he had her was Rees’s night with her Dad. They did Scary Movie Friday nights with junk food and had for years. Mike didn’t want to buck that trend with me in the picture because Rees enjoyed that time with her Dad. I also got the clear sense Mike enjoyed that time with his daughter.

I agreed because I didn’t want to be the bitchy new girlfriend who sucked all her Dad’s time. Not to mention, I had a shitload of stuff to do, what with needing to finish unpacking and dealing with my kilns and wheel.

But last night was a special night. Seeing it was Rees’s birthday, No was joining them for the festivities. Gifts would be exchanged, store bought birthday cake consumed and slasher flicks would be watched. I knew this would go late because Mike warned me he probably wouldn’t even call.

He didn’t.

It was now Saturday and Rees’s birthday party was that afternoon at three at Mike’s place so I was psyching myself up for this.

I’d also spent time yesterday going out to get her a present. Mike already sent No out to get his presents from her list so he gave it to me at lunch with the things he and No bought her scratched off. I chose something that didn’t send the message I was trying to crawl up her ass but it was still something nice. Then I threw in a bunch of little things just because I was at the mall, she was a girl, I was a girl, I liked girlie crap and I’d never had a girl to buy for. Not one who was fifteen. Jerra’s girl was six and that kind of girlie crap was different than the girlie crap you could buy for a fifteen year old.

I had a freaking blast.

But now I had a lot on my mind.

Meeting Audrey was one thing that was on it.

What I’d do with Rhonda was another thing.

I was settling in and giving her time. But I was going to have to start sorting her shit soon. I just didn’t have a plan.

I was singing Pink’s “Trouble” as I looked around the barn and dealt with Moonshine’s saddle.

Our farm had the four bedroom house and the grape arbor my grandfather put in for my grandmother because she thought it was pretty and she liked to make wine. It also had the gazebo my Dad put in for my Mom so she could plant the wisteria she loved so much. It also had a big red barn edged in white that had six stalls for horses even though there hadn’t been any horses housed there in decades. It mostly provided storage for older equipment and things used around the house, like the riding lawnmower and, of course, now my horses. In the distance we had a grain silo and a pole barn that held the more modern equipment. When they replaced the silo, my father and grandfather decided to put the new buildings in away from the house so as not to ruin the aesthetic of our traditional family farm.

It was a good decision.

Our farm was big, not huge like some of the corporate farms but large for a family run farm. My family’s farm had suffered like all family farms had back in the farm crisis. A decision was made when the farm adjacent to ours was about to hit the auction block because the banks were going to foreclose that we’d buy it in the hopes the extra acreage would keep our farm off that same block. Four hundred and fifty more acres.

A big addition. A lot of extra work. But the decision proved sound. The extra acreage saved our farm.

When I was young, all you could see all around was flat, Indiana farmland. Acres and acres of corn and soybeans. In the distance, you could see The ‘Burg’s white water tower and some buildings. That was it. We were within the official town limits but not near the town proper.

Now, all around our farm were housing developments. Four of them butting our property. And our farm was one of the very few farms left in the town limits.

They were still dropping like flies. The ‘Burg had seen a lot of development in the last thirty years as farms had been gobbled up.

The good news was, these developments, at least around our farm, were nice. Great landscaping, units and houses on them that were definitely meant for mid- to- mid-upper class incomes. Most of them made of brick. All of them clearly had iron-clad, tome-sized HOA covenants overseen by HOA committees that ruled with fists of steel.

This wasn’t my gig but it made the developments nice.

But the size of our farm meant spring through fall it was a lot of work for one man. As was Indiana tradition for centuries, Dad stayed around helping out Darrin until Fin then Kirby could lend a hand and they did this from a very young age. The crop let Rhonda, Darrin and the boys live a decent life but that life was hardworking.

This didn’t mean that Darrin didn’t do extra in order to give them extra. He did. Mainly because he wanted them to have extra and partially because he was a man who had to be busy and there wasn’t a lot to do in the winter on a farm. So he worked full-time every year November through mid-January at the Post Office’s sorting branch to help them with extra mail around the holiday seasons. He also had contracts with three of the four housing developments to clear the snow from their streets if they got a dump.

I knew that the minute he’d got his license, Darrin had pressed Fin into service to help him do this and thus took on the third contract. Fin would get up way early and go out before school to help his Dad clear snow. Practice, I knew Darrin was thinking, for a life on the farm where the days started early and the meals that ended them were huge because they were busy and physical.

What I found out the day before when Rhonda told me was, in order that they didn’t lose the contracts, Fin had pressed Kirb into service and the three times it had snowed since Darrin died, they’d gone out and cleared it.

This was not good. I didn’t know if the developments hadn’t cottoned onto the fact that Darrin died and they had two minors clearing their streets. Or if they were just being nice and intended to dump the Holliday contract next year seeing as spring was coming and the Hollidays didn’t need bad news on bad news. And I wasn’t worried about Fin because Fin was responsible, Fin had a driver’s license and Fin had done this with his Dad.

What I was worried about was that Rhonda had told me that Fin had pulled Kirb out of bed at three in the morning, an hour earlier than Darrin started, because Kirb hadn’t had the practice. And she also told me getting it all done without Darrin’s expertise meant all three times they were an hour late to school and she’d had to call in their excuse.

She didn’t see anything wrong with this and they weren’t my kids so I wasn’t sure I had a say.

Still, I did see something wrong with it and I hoped it didn’t snow again. But if it did, I needed Fin to give me a lesson on the removal equipment because Kirby was not going out at fifteen and neither of them were going to be late for school.

And Rhonda was a forty-three year old woman whose entire work history included working part-time behind the counter at Mimi’s Coffee House the last three years. Now she had time on her hands, no husband, two boys that would soon be doing their own thing and she had to kick in to keep them fed, clothed and having a decent life.

It was time for her to woman-up.

I just didn’t know, with Rhonda being Rhonda, how I would get her to do that.

I sighed and my cell rang.

I pulled it out of my jacket pocket and smiled at the display.

Then I yanked off a glove, hit the screen with my thumb and put it to my ear.

“Mornin’, gorgeous.”

“Hey, Angel,” Mike greeted then went right into it, “We got a crisis.”

I blinked. It had just turned eight in the morning, how could there be a crisis?

“What crisis?” I asked.

“Think I told you Audrey and I don’t talk.”

This wasn’t starting good.

“Yeah?”

“Well, that means that her part of the birthday celebration I left to Reesee to work out with her Mom.”

I was right. This wasn’t starting good.

“And?” I prompted.

“And I just got a call from IMPD that they picked up the prime suspect in a number of cases, some of them happened in The ‘Burg, all of the ones in The ‘Burg are mine and I gotta go to Indy. This is not good seein’ as I asked Reesee to call her Mom and confirm she had her part of the birthday gig set, which was cake and decorations. Reesee phoned and Audrey said she totally forgot and she’s got something on today she can’t miss which means she can make it but she can’t use the next six hours she has to bake a fuckin’ cake, get her ass to the party shop to buy some fuckin’ decorations and then get it here by two to put up the decorations and set out the fuckin’ food.”

As his language deteriorated through this recitation I figured his mood deteriorated too.

He wasn’t done.

“Obviously, this set Reesee off. She’s hurt and hidin’ it by bein’ pissed. She wants to call the whole thing off. No has offered to get the food for me today and he can get the decorations but Reesee’s angry and standin’ firm she wants to bag it. I’ve given my girl a birthday party every year since she was five. This is not gonna be the year the tradition ends because Audrey’s got her head up her fuckin’ ass. I don’t know how long I’ll be in Indy so I don’t know if I can sort the extra shit in time, including decorating the house and I definitely cannot bake a fuckin’ cake. First, I’ve never baked a cake in my fuckin’ life. Second, that was her Mom’s gig. The one good Mom thing Audrey always did was make great fuckin’ cakes for the kids’ birthdays. This will be the first time in fifteen years my girl isn’t gonna get one.” He paused and I knew he was preparing me with that pause before he finished quietly, “Sorry, sweetheart. To salvage my girl’s day, I need you to step up.”

Oh boy, he needed me to do Mom things with Clarisse.

Already.

No, that wasn’t right. Because Clarisse had a loser for a Mom, Clarisse needed me.

“Right,” I said to Mike, “give me five seconds to control my impulse to hunt down your ex-wife and bitch slap some sense into her. Then go out and open your back gate. I’ll be over in a minute.”

There was a moment’s silence before I got a soft, “Thanks, Angel.”

“No problem, babe.”

Then he asked, “You know how to bake?”

“Not only do I know how to bake, I can decorate the shit out of a cake.”

I heard Mike chuckle.

Then he delighted me by saying, “Control your violent impulse and get over here. My guess is, you steppin’ up is gonna make Reesee’s day. She talked about you a lot last night. All of it good.”

“She did?” I asked and it sounded all breathy.

Mike heard the breathy, read it, liked it and his voice was quiet and warm when he replied, “She did. First time in a long time I had the Reesee I’ve known for years. She liked your coat. Your belt. Your boots. Your fingernail polish. Your jewelry. The sound of your voice. Your hair. And the way you handled Fin, because, she let slip, Fin is messed up about his Dad but refuses to show it.”

I thought the first part of that was awesome, the last bit interesting. I figured my nephew and his daughter had connected but I didn’t know the level. Now I had a guess.

“That’s a lot of things she liked,” I remarked.

“Yeah.” And that word was quiet and warm too.

“All right, honey, open the gate. I’ll be over soon to save the day.”

That got me another chuckle then, “See you soon, Angel.”

“Soon, Mike.”

I hit the button for off, shoved the phone in my pocket, put my glove back on and finished saddling Moonshine. Then I led my baby girl out of the barn, closed the doors to keep the cold off Blaise, swung up on her back and let her loose, galloping across the short expanse from the farmhouse to the opened gate that was seven in, smack in the middle.

Then Moonshine and I galloped right into Mike’s postage stamp backyard where we stopped.

I was dismounting when the backdoor opened and all three members of the Haines family walked out, the male two smiling huge and the female staring. Standoffish a memory, her mouth was hanging open.

Mike’s dog came with and the golden retriever bounced straight toward Moonshine, the dog visibly shivering with excitement at this unprecedented turn of events.

“Jesus, Dusty,” Mike called, his voice vibrating with laughter.

“Total…freaking…cool!” No shouted.

Rees just stared at me as I led Moonshine and a bouncing retriever up to the back deck.

“Hey, guys,” I greeted.

Mike crossed his arms on his chest at the same time he burst out laughing.

“Layla, come here, girl! Here, girl! Away from the big, honkin’ horse in the backyard,” No called, slapping his thighs at the dog, his words like his Dad’s, vibrating with laughter.

Layla. Clapton. Great name.

I grinned my approval at Mike who was smiling and still chuckling at me.

Then I looked to Rees. “Get your jacket, honey. You and I are going decoration shopping and baking a cake.”

She blinked.

Then she asked, “We are?”

Nice. Mike gave me the good part, sharing the news.

“We are,” I answered. “Let’s go. You’re riding back with me to the farm so I can change out of horse clothes and we can go.”

“I’m riding back?” she asked.

“Yep,” I answered then looked at Mike who was still smiling at me. This was a different smile. A better one. “You need to hang around for a minute, babe. Give her a lift up onto the back of Moonshine.”

“I can do that,” Mike muttered then turned to his girl. “Get your jacket, honey.”

She tipped her head back at him. Then she nodded. Then she dashed into the house, all excited teenage girl.

Oh yes, standoffish gone.

“Can I have a ride sometime?” No asked and I looked at him to see he was barely containing an uncontainable Layla by her collar.

“You ride?” I asked back.

“Never,” he answered.

“You want lessons, I have two horses. Just come over and we’ll get you up on one.”

“Awesome,” he breathed.

I grinned.

“Rees too?” he asked.

“She wants it, my horses need exercise. You’d be doing me a favor.”

“Dig it!” he exclaimed.

I saw it then. His boyish exuberance. Fin stopped being like that at least a year ago.

“Get Layla in the house, No, will you?” Mike asked.

“Sure Dad,” No answered and looked at me as he led a still excited Layla to the door calling, “See you later, Dusty.”

“Later, honey.”

Then they were gone.

Mike moved off the deck toward me.

Then he was at me and I knew we probably didn’t have a lot of time because when he got there, he curled a hand warm on my neck and dipped his head but only for a peck on the lips. And I knew I got that because he didn’t want his kids to catch him giving me more but his eyes stated clearly he wanted to give it to me.

“Both my kids love animals. Rees just went from Mom hell to cloud nine,” he whispered, not, thankfully, moving his hand.

“Excellent,” I whispered back.

The light in his eyes that was residual humor died away but they warmed in a way that made the area around my heart warm too.

“Thank you, Angel.” He was still whispering but the words came from the heart.

“Anytime, honey.” I was still whispering too.

His hand gave me a squeeze and the backdoor opened. I lost his hand as Mike stepped aside, turned and I looked to Rees. She had an attractive, light pink corduroy jacket on, a beige fluffy scarf wrapped around her neck making her thick, gorgeous hair fluff out around it like it had been arranged for a photo shoot, matching mittens and a cute little purse with a short strap tucked under her shoulder.

“Ready?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied quietly.

Getting the hint Thursday night and that morning that PDA between us was something Mike wanted to introduce gradually to his kids, I reached out, grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He squeezed back. I let go and mounted Moonshine.

Then I watched with no small amount of fascination as Mike lifted his fifteen year old daughter in his arms like she was four years old and deposited her on the horse behind me.

“See you later,” I called to Mike who was stepping back as I wheeled Moonshine around.

“Later, Dad!” Rees called, her voice louder and livelier than I’d ever heard from her.

“Later,” Mike called back and I walked Moonshine out.

Once we cleared the gate I twisted my head and said, “Hold on a little tighter, Rees. I’m gonna give Moonshine her head.”

She held on tighter and then she asked a question, engaging me for the first time, “Her name is Moonshine?”

“Yep,” I replied as we went from walk to canter.

“That’s cool,” she decreed.

“Thanks. My other horse is named Blaise.”

“Awesome,” she murmured as I took Moonshine from a walk to a gentle gallop.

I wasn’t surprised as we approached the house to see Fin exiting the backdoor with his kickass, farmer boy, sheepskin-lined jeans jacket on. He’d probably seen me ride over to Mike’s. He’d definitely seen the cargo I was carrying when we rode back.

I slowed when I got close to him and an idea popped into my head. And, as usual, I had it then I went with it.

I stopped by Fin who looked up at me and smiled a small smile then he looked at Rees.

“Hey, Rees,” he greeted.

“Hey, Fin,” she said quietly.

Seeing as my brother loved me, every year he brought his family to wherever I was at least once but often twice. This was usually Thanksgiving, Christmas or my birthday. Since I’d had horses as long as I could afford to have them, this meant Finley and Kirby had been on the back of them since they were little. And when they got bigger, they got lessons from Aunt Dusty. Both of them took to them, having natural seats.

Fin could totally take Moonshine and Rees out on a ride while I saw to preparing for a fifteen year old girl’s birthday party hours earlier than I’d planned.

Therefore, I asked, “Fin, honey, Moonshine needs her exercise and I gotta go in and get ready to take Rees out. It’ll be boring for her to hang out while I do my makeup and stuff. Can you do me a favor and take them for a ride?”

Fin’s face took on a look I tried not to let scare me considering, if Mike saw it, he’d grab his daughter and lock her in a basement somewhere or, possibly, shoot Fin dead immediately with his service weapon.

“Sure,” Fin replied casually.

Casual my ass.

I suppressed my grin and twisted to look at Clarisse who was gazing down at Fin like she wanted to pour chocolate sauce on him and eat him up.

Oh boy, definitely rethinking my decision.

Still, I’d had it, I’d gone with it and there I was.

“That okay with you, Rees?” I asked, she tore her eyes from Fin and looked at me.

“Uh…sure,” she replied softly.

“Great,” I said, flicked the reins to Fin who caught them easily and swung my leg around forward. I pulled my other foot out of the stirrup, twisted at the last second and, using the pommel to control my fall, I expertly slid down Moonshine’s side.

Fin instantly moved in but I caught his forearm.

He looked down at me and I got close, tipping my head back and keeping his gaze captive.

“Precious cargo, Fin,” I whispered very quietly.

“I know,” he whispered back the same and my fingers tensed around his forearm.

“I know you know, honey,” I kept up with the whispering. “And a good thing to do is let her know you know it too.”

He held my eyes, his flaring with something I liked and it made my stomach do a little flip.

I’d seen that before a lot over the years but I was stunned to see it so early from Fin.

Darrin’s eyes flared like that when he looked at Rhonda. Anytime he looked at her when she was being Rhonda and her quirks were showing. Darrin didn’t love his wife despite her idiosyncrasies. They were what drew him to her. My brother was a man who had a deep, protective instinct. So deep he had tons to spare. So he found himself a woman who needed him, a woman he could protect daily as well as love. A woman he could look after.

I didn’t think Rees was like Rhonda.

What I got from that flare in my nephew’s eyes was that he was like Darrin.

He liked Rees and he wouldn’t let any harm come to her but more, he was thrilled to be given the opportunity to demonstrate this.

I totally, completely loved my nephew. I knew this from the instant he was born. But I rejoiced in it then, looking into his eyes because it made me understand that Darrin wasn’t really dead since that part of him was alive in his son.

He nodded.

Instead of crying, I grinned.

Then I let him go and stepped away calling, “Give me forty-five minutes, an hour. Yeah?”

Fin was adjusting the stirrups for his extra height and he muttered, “Yeah.”

I looked up at Clarisse and saw her watching Fin like he was not Finley Holliday adjusting the stirrups on a saddle but a Hollywood movie star working out shirtless with weights.

When Fin was done, without delay, he put a boot into the stirrup, a hand to the saddlehorn in front of Rees and he swung up behind her like he did it every day of his life.

Clarisse visibly shivered and her lips parted.

That’s my boy, I thought, grinning like a lunatic because I couldn’t stop.

Fin wrapped his arm around Clarisse and she bit her lip. I suppressed a giggle.

“Later, Aunt Dusty,” he said to me.

“Yeah…uh, later, Dusty,” Rees added.

“Later, guys,” I replied then heard Fin click his tongue against his teeth as he put his heels in my baby girl and she started walking.

I stayed where I was and watched Fin clear the barn. Then I stayed where I was and held my breath as Fin leaned his chest slightly into Rees’s back forcing her forward, his arm got tight and his heels dug in.

Then I watched as they galloped through the fallow field.

Only then did I turn to the house.

“You good?” Clarisse heard Finley Holliday’s deep voice ask in her ear as she felt his warm chest pressed against her back, his arm tight around her belly.

“Unh-hunh,” she answered.

“Good,” he muttered and she felt that in her belly.

They clomped through the half-frozen dirt of his fields, not fast, not slow, Fin holding her tight.

That day started with her opening her eyes excited about her party, her friends coming over, presents and knowing Fin promised to “stop by”.

It became garbage when her Mom told her she “forgot”, she was sorry and she couldn’t help it but she would “make it up to her”.

The weird part was that, for once, her Mom actually sounded sorry. Really sorry.

But Clarisse didn’t care. Like usual, her Mom had ruined everything.

Then cooler than she ever thought she’d be cool Dusty Holliday rode right up to their back deck on a horse. A beautiful horse. Dusty’s gorgeous hair down. Her clothes all western cowgirl awesome.

And now she was riding on Dusty’s horse over Fin Holliday’s land tucked warm and tight and safe against the best looking boy in school.

And as they did, she didn’t care about the decorations, the party, the cake, her friends. She was glad it was going to happen and it was cool Dusty was helping out and she looked forward to shopping and baking a cake with her.

But nothing could make that day any better.

Riding with Fin holding her close, it wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning and it was already the best day of her life.

“Look up and to the left, honey,” Dusty muttered distractedly, Clarisse did what she was asked and felt the light, tingly feeling of the mascara wand Dusty was using on her lashes.

Clarisse was wrong. Although riding Dusty’s pretty horse Moonshine with Fin was the highlight of her day (so far), spending the rest of it with Dusty made it so that day wasn’t just the best day in her life but the best day ever.

She and Fin were out on his land for a long time. Long enough for her cheeks to get really cold but she didn’t care.

They didn’t talk much and she cared about that.

She didn’t know why she could text him easily but not talk to him, not even when he called. He did most of the talking when she sat with him at lunch or when they were on the phone. And he didn’t have much to say so even though she felt all squishy inside after these times were over, she also felt stupid because she barely spoke. That was one of the reasons why she rarely got the guts to go sit with him and his crew at lunch. When she pulled up the courage to approach, he always smiled at her and scooted immediately so she’d have a seat but still, she felt stupid because she sat there not saying anything.

Most of the time he came and sat with her but only after he’d eaten. When he did, her girls got all giggly. It was embarrassing. So she thought it was good that he came after he ate and there wasn’t much time for her girls to act like dorks and mortify her.

Although they didn’t talk much, from Fin, she knew a lot about his Aunt Dusty. She also knew a lot about his Aunt Debbie who sounded like a screaming bitch. And last, she knew he hoped his Aunt Dusty would sort his Aunt Debbie out, not to mention his Mom (Clarisse felt bad but she couldn’t help but think his Mom sounded kind of lame). He didn’t say a lot about this but she knew it. She also knew he was super happy when Clarisse’s Dad stepped in that same night Dusty came home. She knew this because he texted her after her Dad phoned him and told her so. Though he didn’t say, “I’m super happy.” He said, “Killer! Your Dad just called and he’s already shoveling shit back at ADeb.”

Clarisse wasn’t surprised. She already knew her Dad would look after Dusty and looking after Dusty meant looking after the things Dusty loved.

After Fin brought her back to the farmhouse, he’d got off the horse then he put his hands to her waist and helped her down.

She thought she’d have a heart attack but he just set her on her feet and muttered, “Go on in, Rees. I gotta take Moonshine back to the barn.”

“’Kay, Fin. Thanks for the ride,” she’d replied.

He’d looked at her funny in a way she didn’t understand then he kept muttering to say, “No problem.”

Then he walked the horse away.

Even though that was weird, it couldn’t take away her happy glow.

Dusty must have been waiting for them to come back because she met her in the kitchen and off they went shopping.

At first, this made her tense. She’d told her Mom exactly what she wanted for her party. Her Mom wouldn’t care. She’d just grab whatever, get the right colors but not the right stuff and go. But Dusty was artistic and she was worried Dusty would think Clarisse’s vision was lame.

But when they were at the party store and she said quietly and hesitantly that she wanted purple, silver and black, Dusty had decreed, “That…is…inspired. We can so do that!”

Then they so did it and they so did it because Dusty went totally crazy. She bought all sorts of stuff including big bouquets of balloons and trays to put out food and all this glittery, foil wire stuff they could “fashion into a centerpiece” (Dusty’s words).

Luckily they had a craft store down the strip mall from the party store so they went there too. Dusty spent a total fortune on cake decorating stuff, murmuring, “I have all this at home. Should have thought to bring it.” Then announced, “I have an idea for the cake that…will…rock! What do you think of…?” then she went on to describe a total kickass idea for a super kickass cake that Clarisse adored. Then they went to the store to get the stuff for the cake.

So they brought all the stuff back to Clarisse’s house and made it together intermingling cake baking and cake cooling with decorating the house.

No showed with all the food while they were decorating. He hung around and was a total dork but luckily he thought Dusty was a hot babe, “even for an old chick,” (he’d told Clarisse that last part after Dad dropped them off the night they met her). And he’d do anything for a hot babe no matter how old she was, apparently. So he put away the food they’d be fixing later and set out the snack food exactly like Dusty told him to do.

In the end, the cake looked fantastic. The decorations were better not only than any party Clarisse had had, but any party Clarisse had ever been to. And now they were up in Clarisse’s room because, shyly, she’d asked Dusty (whose makeup always looked the bomb) if she would help Clarisse with hers and she’d said yes right away!

“So,” Dusty drew it out, still stroking Clarisse’s lashes with the mascara wand, “Finley’s cute, isn’t he?”

Clarisse jerked and blinked.

Dusty giggled her musical giggle and Clarisse looked at her to see she was pushing the wand into the tube and twisting it closed.

And she did this muttering through her giggles, “The beautiful girl thinks my boy is cute.”

It was weird but way nice that Dusty thought she was beautiful when Dusty was the most beautiful real-life person she’d ever seen.

Dusty stopped twisting the mascara tube and looked her right in the eye.

“He likes you,” she announced. Yes, she announced it straight out! “Like, a lot. Are you two tight?”

“Uh…” Clarisse didn’t know what to say because she didn’t know if they were.

Sure, Fin texted her a lot, she always texted him back and he phoned her daily. They also spent time at lunch, him with her posse, her with his crew daily too.

Was that tight?

She watched Dusty’s arched brows draw together before she asked, “You aren’t?”

Clarisse stared at her.

Then she whispered, “He likes me?”

Dusty’s head jerked and she replied, “Uh…yeah, honey.”

Ohmigod!

Well, she would know. Wouldn’t she?

“You’re sure?” Clarisse asked softly and Dusty’s head tipped.

Then she did something funny.

First, her face got soft. Then her pretty, dark brown eyes moved over Clarisse’s face. Then she got up from the roller seat they rolled in from Dad’s office so Dusty could sit next to her and do her makeup but she did this bent forward. She wrapped her hand gently around Clarisse’s jaw and turned her head to the mirror.

Clarisse stared in the mirror.

Her makeup had never looked that good, ever.

“What do you see?” Dusty asked and Clarisse’s eyes went from Dusty’s awesome makeup job to Dusty who was leaned over, her jaw close to the top side of Clarisse’s head, her eyes looking at Clarisse in the mirror.

“You do great makeup,” Clarisse answered.

Dusty smiled at Clarisse in the mirror then she took her hand from Clarisse’s face and put it on her shoulder. “Look closely, honey,” she whispered and Clarisse looked from Dusty to herself.

And that was what she saw. The same thing she always saw. Clarisse.

“What do you see?” Dusty repeated.

“Me,” Clarisse answered softly, worried that answer wasn’t right.

Dusty smiled at her in the mirror.

Then she said, “Fin sees something else.”

Clarisse felt her heart trip over itself.

“What?” she breathed.

“Beauty. Vulnerability. Delicacy.”

Clarisse was confused so repeated, “What?”

“My nephew is his father’s son. And his father was drawn to things he could look after. The land. The equipment. The family legacy. His wife. The family he made.”

Clarisse didn’t get it and she really didn’t want to sound like an idiot in front of Dusty but this was Fin they were talking about.

So she went for it.

“I don’t get it,” she whispered.

Dusty was silent a second. Then she said mysteriously, “You will.”

Clarisse bit her lip. She wanted to know but she couldn’t ask.

Dusty moved, sat down next to her again and Clarisse turned to her just in time for Dusty to grab her hands.

“I know we’re getting to know each other,” she started, “but I still have to ask you a favor.”

Clarisse would do anything for Dusty Holliday. Anything. And she knew that before she saw her total coolness and the look on her Dad’s face when he was watching her walk down the stairs at Fin’s house.

“What?”

“I love my nephew,” she said gently and in a way that Clarisse knew she meant it, like, really. “And he’s seventeen. He’s a boy. He just lost his Dad. And he can’t really deal with that with his friends. But he also has to deal. The favor I’m asking is, will you look out for him?”

Clarisse didn’t like this. Not at all.

“You mean, snitch on him to you? Like, tell you when he talks about what he’s feeling?” she asked, horrified. Fin would hate that.

But Dusty shook her head immediately at the same time she squeezed her hands.

“No, not that. What I mean is, just you and him.”

Ohmigod!

It had never been just her and him. There were always other people around.

Oh God, Clarisse liked the idea of just her and Fin.

“Just me and him?” Clarisse breathed and Dusty nodded.

“Just you and him. When you’re with him, just be…you. Exactly you. So when you’re with him he can just be…him. He needs that now. He’s trying to look out for his mother, his brother and he needs someone who he can feel safe to be him with. And I think that’s you.”

“I don’t really know how to be when I’m around him,” Clarisse admitted and Dusty smiled big.

“Whatever you’re doing, honey, keep doing it because whatever that is, it’s helping.”

“Really?” Clarisse asked breathily, liking that idea.

She couldn’t say she knew Fin very well. What she could say was that he had a lot going on for a kid. Sometimes the look on his face looked liked what No looked like and what she felt like when Dad and Mom got their divorce then, later, when Dad went for full custody.

But worse.

He didn’t share but she thought it was too much to take with what he did share.

And he was really worried about what his Aunt Debbie was up to.

It felt crap, not knowing how to help him and it felt worse not having any power to do anything. She knew that last part felt even worse for Fin. So it felt awesome when they managed to get his Aunt Dusty home, get her Dad and her back together and then Dad stepped in.

Clarisse might not be able to do anything, but Dad could.

And Fin knew it too and she knew he was relieved.

It would be cool if she could help him out other ways too.

“Absolutely,” Dusty answered, taking her from her thoughts.

Clarisse tipped her head to the side. “That doesn’t sound like much of a favor because I’m already doing that.”

“Yeah and do you like it? Whatever you’re doing with Fin?”

Clarisse nodded maybe a bit too enthusiastically but it only made Dusty’s eyes light in an awesome way. Dusty’s smile got huge so Clarisse figured her nodding that way was okay.

“Then just keep doing it except maybe…more,” Dusty suggested.

“More?”

“Let him in,” she advised. “Let him know you.”

Clarisse wasn’t sure about that.

“What if he doesn’t like what he knows?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, he will.”

“You’re sure?”

“Honey, you’re a girl, I’m a girl and in the girl club we were both born into, if I gave you bad advice on something like this, I’d be flogged,” she grinned and finished, “deservedly.”

Clarisse couldn’t help it. That was funny, real and totally true. So she giggled.

And when she was done she saw Dusty wasn’t smiling.

She was looking at Clarisse with a look on her face that made Clarisse’s heart stop and she whispered, “There she is.”

“Who?” Clarisse whispered back.

Dusty leaned in and answered, “You. Thank you for giving her to me.”

Ohmigod! That was so nice.

Clarisse bit her lip then murmured, “Uh…you’re welcome.”

Then Dusty Holliday did something beautiful. The kind of thing she felt from her Dad all the time. Sometimes from No. Sometimes from her grandparents. Rarely from her mother.

She lifted her hand, cupped Clarisse’s cheek and said gently, “You should let her out more often. Your Dad misses her.”

It was then Clarisse knew what she couldn’t figure out for the longest time. She knew what had gone weird between her and her Dad. Why he was watching her. Why he’d sigh a lot around her. Why he’d do the worst and get that look on his face when he was disappointed she brought home bad grades or she’d sat in front of the TV all afternoon instead of doing her homework.

She pressed her lips together and tried not to cry because it would ruin her makeup.

But, honestly, she missed her Dad too.

They heard the garage door go up.

So Clarisse whispered, “Dad’s home.”

But she knew that Dusty knew and she knew because she’d already seen Dusty’s eyes get warm and her mouth get soft. And Clarisse saw on Dusty’s face what she’d read in Dusty’s diaries.

Dusty Holliday loved her Dad. Bunches.

And Clarisse Haines loved that. Bunches.

“Yeah,” she breathed then she got up and said, “Let’s go say hi.”

Clarisse took one last look at her awesome makeup job then she got up too.

And with Dusty Holliday, she went to say hi to her Dad.

“Can we talk?”

Mike looked to his side, down and to his unhappy surprise saw Audrey standing there actually speaking to him.

And he wanted to say no. He really fucking wanted to say no.

Because he’d spent the day working. And while he worked he hoped things were going all right with his daughter and his woman spending the day together. Not that he’d get home to a shut down Clarisse and a Dusty who was wondering what the fuck was up with his girl.

He didn’t get home to that.

He walked in from the garage to see Clarisse bounding down the steps looking like a fucking model.

He was not blind. He knew his daughter was beautiful and that wasn’t entirely prejudice. But her makeup was stunning, fortunately in a way that didn’t make her look too adult. But she did look too good.

And this was unsettling seeing as he was already dealing with a lot of teenage daughter shit that was seriously fucking unsettling. But he couldn’t commit to that feeling since her eyes were alight, her smile was dazzling and she was bouncing down the stairs with a light step he hadn’t seen in a long fucking time. And she was doing all this after a morning where she’d pitched a hissy fit and lapsed straight from that into silent melodrama all in the expanse of half an hour.

Dusty, grinning and following her, helped his mood. This was simply because Dusty was walking down the stairs of his house, comfortable, natural, like she’d done it a million times before and he liked that a fuckuva lot. It helped that it was clear she’d enjoyed her time with his kids and especially his daughter.

His mood lightened immensely when he walked into the huge back room and saw what Dusty wrought.

Massive bunches of silvery white, glittery purple and glossy black balloons flying from long strings positioned everywhere. Purple and black expertly twisted streamers criss-crossed the ceiling. A glossy black, plastic tablecloth covered the dining room table and this was dusted with silver and purple confetti in the shapes of moons and stars. On the table was an elaborately fashioned centerpiece made of shoots of silver, black and purple foiled wire. Purple, silver and black plastic trays and bowls were already filled with snack foods sitting on the dining room table and scattered around the room. Stacks of plates and napkins following the color scheme were situated around the table. And there was an extortionately tall cake, expertly frosted in creamy swirls. It was decorated with a scattering around the sides of tiny silver candy balls, deep purple whirls of icing borders and there were thin, artistic curlicues and tiny dots of black all around. Finishing it off, in Dusty’s unusual, intricate handwriting that included a lot of swirls, “Happy Birthday, Rees” was written on the top in black.

Christ, if he bought that cake he’d have to pay a small fortune. And if it tasted half as good as it looked, it would be fucking sublime.

He found an hour and a half later, it didn’t taste half as good as it looked.

It tasted better.

Dusty didn’t lie. His woman could bake.

At the time, about half a second after he hit the room and hadn’t quite taken it all in, he heard Clarisse nearly shout, “The cake is five layers! Five! Each cut in half so it’s ten! Filled with frosting!”

He looked to his daughter and he hadn’t seen her that excited, heard her voice that chattering, seen that unadulterated happy light in her eyes in so long he didn’t know what he wanted more. To give her a hug. Or drive Dusty to the watering hole and give her something else.

He gave his daughter a hug.

Then he gave his woman a look that held a promise.

She didn’t miss it and she didn’t hide that she liked it.

Dusty then commandeered No into the kitchen so they could deal with the food that needed to be heated up and Clarisse took his hand and led him around the room giving him a blow by blow of her day with Dusty.

This information included why her makeup was different. Dusty did it.

He could not say he liked it. He also could not tell his daughter that.

Reesee had been allowed to wear makeup when she turned fourteen. Her early efforts weren’t the greatest which meant she was teaching herself and, likely, her mother didn’t give her pointers. Fortunately, she eventually learned that subtlety was the way to go.

He wasn’t a girl but he figured from the way she relayed the incident that sitting with a woman who had Dusty’s beauty and getting your makeup done was a teenage girl treat.

And one thing was certain, Dusty had gone far beyond the call of duty and in doing so entirely erased his daughter’s anger and pain at the disappointment her mother crushed her with that morning.

Not long after, the music went on and the cars started arriving either carrying kids or dropping them off. Mike had learned three years earlier that his presence was no longer required at his daughter’s birthday parties. This year, however, since he’d allowed boys to be invited and Clarisse let No invite some of his friends, he made it clear he would be around to chaperone.

The family component included Audrey and Audrey’s sister, Brooke who Mike liked only slightly more than his ex-wife. She came and gave Clarisse her present, a one hundred and twenty dollar pair of jeans. Mike knew the cost since he’d bought her the same pair and given them to her the day before. This meant Clarisse would be going to the mall to exchange. Not something he was looking forward to because she usually traded up.

Brooke stayed long enough to give her sister a modicum of moral support then she gave him a look that gave him the finger without her hand making the gesture and, luckily, she got the fuck out of his house.

And Brooke was it.

Audrey’s parents didn’t bother showing nor sending a gift with either of their daughters. Then again, Mike figured there was a reason Audrey was the way Audrey was. Her parents weren’t the greatest and they often forgot they had two girls so they definitely forgot they had five grandchildren.

His parents sent money from wherever they were wintering in their enormous RV that was bigger than most trailers. They didn’t stay put for long and the last time he talked to them they were somewhere outside San Diego. They didn’t get near Indiana until late April. They loved Reesee but not enough to endure a single flake of snow.

The amount of money they sent made up for it.

Merry came bringing his sister Rocky with him which caused a ripple of excitement. Rocky was a teacher at school, she was beautiful, she was stylish and she was that one beloved teacher that every kid thought was the shit. Rocky did duty keeping Audrey from standing in a corner by herself because Audrey wouldn’t allow Mike to talk with her, not that he wanted to. And Mike, although he wasn’t fast enough to stop Dusty from walking right up to Audrey and introducing herself (which she did, then she moved right away) wouldn’t allow Dusty to spend more than that time with her so if she wasn’t close to him, he got close to her.

Why Audrey informed Reesee she wanted to be there was a mystery. As one of her meaningless protests that did more harm to their kids than Mike, she hadn’t been to a single party since they separated. She dropped off the cake and that was it. She hadn’t even been in Mike’s house until that day.

Further, why she’d declare she wanted to come then fuck it up for Reesee, Mike didn’t get.

And lastly, since she arrived half an hour late, she’d been giving him looks like she was waiting to make an approach. Luckily, she was forced to stay away. This was because kids kept showing up and giving Reesee presents she’d open immediately and shout, “Look Dad!” Or Dusty would sidle close, hang not too close and, on occasion, brush the backs of her fingers against his. Or Merry would disengage from being cool, cop, pseudo-uncle entertaining some of the boys in ways Mike knew he didn’t want to know from the low, meaningful caliber of their boy-laughter and he’d hang with Mike.

But his luck had run out.

Dusty had gone with Rocky following her to the kitchen to grab bags of chips to replenish and Merry had stepped out front to take a phone call. This left Mike open to Audrey.

Mike caught her eyes and said quietly, “You pullin’ that shit this mornin’ and nearly ruining this for my girl makes you not my favorite person right now so it’s probably not the time for you to deign to allow me to speak to you.”

Then he couldn’t stop his stare when she looked uncomfortable a moment before she asked softly, “Mike, really, it’s important.”

She was dressed and made up to the nines, hair perfect, makeup perfect, outfit perfect. She was not wearing jeans like him, Dusty, Merry, Rocky and every single fucking kid in that room. She was wearing pressed, wide legged slacks, a blouse that probably cost an arm and a leg and shoes he knew, because he bought them, cost over three hundred dollars.

He could not imagine what, other than being kitted out precisely like that, was important to Audrey Haines and he really didn’t want to find out.

What he did know in that moment was that he wished she’d been like other women who got divorced and lost his name. He hadn’t thought much of it until right then. Seeing her removed, not a part of their daughter’s party in any way while Dusty had been in his house twice, the first time he wished he could erase, today he’d want to remember forever, he did not want the one of two single, adult women in his home who had his name to carry it.

“Five minutes,” he allowed and watched her shoulders fall with relief.

What the fuck?

“Thanks, Mike,” she whispered then asked, “Should we go upstairs?”

Fuck no, they weren’t going upstairs.

“Back deck,” he grunted.

“But, it’s cold,” she stated.

“Then talk fast,” he returned.

She held his eyes. Then she gave in.

Gave in. Without a fight or even a bitchy comment.

Seriously.

What the fuck?

He led, she followed and they walked outside.

He closed the door and, unfortunately, she moved down the deck so they couldn’t be easily seen from inside.

Fuck him.

With no choice except one that, knowing Audrey, would in all probability cause a scene, he followed hating it when she did this kind of shit and, for his kids, he had to eat it.

When he stopped close he reminded her immediately, “Five minutes, Audrey.”

She nodded then replied, “Things are changing for me, Mike.”

He didn’t respond.

She kept going. “I have a new job. I, uh…this one pays more.”

Since she had no experience for fifteen years, she’d had some trouble but finally landed a job as a receptionist for some large law firm in Indianapolis. The pay was shit and reportedly she hated it. Worse, with the commute and parking, it ate into the little she earned.

He again didn’t respond mostly because he didn’t care.

“Secretary to two of the associates. The pay is nearly double.”

Mike said nothing.

She kept going. “I started last week and that’s why I lost track of the party today because, well, it’s not an easy job. It’s really busy and I’m on probation. A lot of girls at the firm wanted that job and the probation is short, only a month. I have to do well to keep it.”

She stopped talking. Mike said nothing but wondered why she was telling him this shit. He didn’t care and any extra money she made, she’d spend on her.

“I…well,” she continued, “there’s a big case and I had to go into work today. It’s good, me being able to do that. Some of the other women with, uh…younger kids can’t. So that’s good. And it’s overtime.”

Mike just stared at her.

She pulled in a breath and stated, “Well, anyway, my lease is up next month and I’m getting a place in Indianapolis.”

Mike’s body got tight. She saw it and kept talking, this time fast.

“I’ve found it, it’s nicer and it has three bedrooms.”

Indianapolis was only fifteen miles away. No was a decent driver. He could do stupid shit, he was a boy. But he was getting lots of practice and he loved his sister so he didn’t do stupid shit when she was in his car.

And Indy was a great city. But it was a city. There were some not so great areas of it and Mike hoped to fuck she hadn’t chosen some shithole that wasn’t safe to live where his kids would have to stay when they were with her.

“I thought, well…you could come and see it. It’s nice, Mike. Seriously. It isn’t a gated development or anything but it’s safe. It’s quiet. On the west side so close to The ‘Burg.”

“Text me the address. I’ll do a drive-by.”

“You can view my unit. It’s already open. I can meet you there,” she offered.

Now. Seriously.

What the fuck?

“I don’t need to see it. I’ll drive-by,” he declined.

She studied him. Then she said softly, “Okay.”

“We done?” he asked.

She pulled in another breath then she kept talking softly when she informed him, “I’ve been, uh…learning a few things about myself.”

Terrific.

He did not need this shit. He’d heard it all before.

“Audrey –”

“No,” she said quickly, her hand coming out to wrap around his forearm.

He looked down at it at the same time he stepped away and her hand dropped.

He looked back to her and she went on speaking. “I just wanted you to know I didn’t mean to upset Clarisse this morning. I’m sorry about that. But, I’m trying to…to, well, get on with things and it’s hard at my age to start again –”

Mike cut her off. “No shit?”

She flinched and bit her lip.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell Reesee,” he continued. “I’m not surprised by your shit. She was let down, disappointed and upset.”

“I already said I was sorry and it looks like you did good by her anyway.”

“I didn’t. Dusty did,” Mike returned and she blinked.

“Dusty, the, um…blonde? Your, uh…date?”

“Yes on the blonde, no on the date. She’s not my date. She’s something else or she wouldn’t be in there fillin’ plastic bowls she bought with our daughter and cutting and handing out pieces of a ten layer cake she made with our daughter.”

Something he didn’t get passed through her eyes even as she nodded then he watched her face close down as she said, “You’re moving on.”

“Absolutely,” he replied without delay.

She stared at him and this time he saw it. Pain slashing through her eyes.

Fuck him.

He didn’t need this shit either.

“Now are we done?” he asked.

“I just, no…we aren’t. I just want you to know I’m trying to make good changes in my life and ask you to have patience with me. Ask you to help the kids have patience with me.”

“I’ve heard this before, Audrey,” he reminded her.

“I know you have, Mike,” she whispered then tipped her head to the side and kept whispering, “But I had you to fall on before. I don’t have that anymore. And I…I’m sorry, I should have…before…but now I have no choice.”

“You didn’t then either,” Mike pointed out the obvious.

She took in yet another deep breath. Then she nodded.

“Now are we done?” he repeated.

“Yeah, Mike.”

He didn’t reply.

He walked away from her to the door. He opened it, held it for her and saw Dusty’s eyes come right to him. He shook his head at her even before she saw Audrey round the door. Dusty must have read his face because she looked away without giving him anything and thus without giving Audrey anything when her eyes went right to Dusty when she walked in.

“Dad! Ohmigod! Look!” Clarisse shouted as he closed the door behind him. Mike looked her way and she was holding up some wide, stamped, short, tan leather strap that had a snap on it. He had no fucking clue what it was until Clarisse declared, “Isn’t it an awesome bracelet? Dusty gave it to me! With that top I wanted and the…coolest…barrette. Look!” she cried, dumping the leather thing on the coffee table and picking up a big barrette that didn’t do anything for Mike but clearly his daughter thought it was the shit. “And she got me some makeup!”

“Great, honey,” Mike called.

Clarisse’s happy eyes went to Dusty. “Thanks, Dusty!”

“You’re welcome, babe.”

“She’s, like the…freaking…coolest,” Mike heard one of Reesee’s friends whisper loudly from close to him. “She says ‘babe’ and it sounds real, not totally jacked and trying to sound cool. Did you see her boots?”

“Yeah, Rees says she has horses. She’s totally the bomb. She dresses like a rock star,” her friend replied.

Mike’s lips were twitching as he began to move away from the girls but as he did he noticed Audrey’s face pale and she quickly looked down to her feet. She’d heard.

He’d never seen that kind of reaction from Audrey and that unsettled him too. Maybe she was learning. Then again, maybe she was trying to learn then she’d fail to do it. He was used to that. He just hoped his kids didn’t get chewed up in whatever she was attempting to do with her life.

He hit Dusty and wrapped an arm around her shoulders at the exact same time No wandered into the room followed by Fin.

Dusty straightened at his side and the vibe in the whole roomed changed.

His daughter was beautiful, her friends pretty and his son was popular. Therefore, although this wasn’t a kegger and adults were visible, the room was packed and it included cheerleaders, basketball and football players and a spectrum of ages from freshman to junior.

Fin clearly upped the coolness factor of the party significantly.

Mike did not, until that moment, know The ‘Burg’s high school hierarchy. But at that moment he knew Finley Holliday, even as a junior, reigned as king.

And his eyes going directly to Reesee then his feet taking him there meant he’d just declared in front of thirty plus kids who he intended to make his queen.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath and heard Dusty chuckle but he didn’t take his eyes off his daughter who tipped her head back and he saw her lips form the word, “Hey,” to which Fin’s lips formed the word, “Hey,” back. Then Fin reached out and grabbed his girl’s hand for a quick squeeze before he let it go.

Christ, no crowns were in evidence but still Mike knew Fin just performed a coronation.

“Teenage girls down,” Dusty muttered and Mike tore his eyes from the scene to look at the girls who’d been whispering about Dusty. Their gazes were glued to Fin and Reesee, they were heated, their faces were flushed and it looked like they were only just able to stop from fanning themselves.

“Fuck,” Mike repeated on another mutter and got another chuckle from Dusty.

For some reason, he then glanced at Audrey to see her watching her daughter and Fin with thoughtful eyes. She didn’t look ticked. She didn’t look pleased. She didn’t look curious. She just looked reflective.

He had no idea what that meant and luckily Merry sauntered up with Rocky and took his mind off it.

Five minutes later, Audrey waded in to say good-bye to her kids and only glanced at Mike still holding Dusty to his side with his arm around her shoulders before she took off.

Fifteen minutes later, Rocky and Merry took off.

Twenty minutes later, the caravan of cars started to pick up the kids who couldn’t drive.

Half an hour after that, the rest with cars had left except the two friends of No’s who were in his band. They were up in his room playing and because they were good, it sounded good.

Rocky and Dusty had kept the mess to a minimum and even after Rocky left and while the kids wandered away, Dusty kept at it.

So in the end, he had a clean house save for decorations and a serious need to vacuum. He had rock music coming from upstairs. He had his woman tucked into his side on his couch downstairs. And he had his mind on the deck where Fin and Reesee had disappeared five minutes ago wearing their jackets.

“He’s not going to try even for first base with badass ‘Burg cop Mike Haines in the next room,” Dusty whispered in his ear and he turned his head and focused on her.

“He better not,” Mike replied.

“He won’t,” she told him.

Mike sighed.

Then they heard Fin’s deep laughter drifting in from outside and Dusty went completely still at his side.

He stared at her face which was frozen in shock.

“What?” he asked and her eyes drifted to him.

“Fin doesn’t laugh all the time. But he laughs.”

“So, he laughed,” Mike noted.

“Fin doesn’t laugh all the time. But he laughs. And Mom told me Fin has not had a light moment, not one that she noticed before she left, since his Dad died.”

Mike stared at her feeling this deep. He felt it as the man who tried to get Darrin Holliday’s heart pumping while his sons looked on. He felt it as a father. And he felt it as a father who was also a cop.

“Your girl just earned herself another kickass leather bracelet,” Dusty declared.

That was when Mike burst out laughing.

“What?” Fin, sitting out in the cold, dark night beside Clarisse on a deck chair, asked and she focused on him.

“Dad’s laughing,” she answered.

“What?” Fin repeated.

“Dad’s laughing.”

“So?”

“Dad doesn’t laugh all the time. But he laughs.”

“Yeah and he just laughed.”

“Dad doesn’t laugh all the time,” she repeated. “But he laughs and not like that.”

“What was that like?” Fin asked then he felt something weird in his chest when Clarisse smiled, straight out, big, right in his face and he’d always thought she wasn’t pretty.

But he was wrong.

She was beautiful. And it wasn’t her face made up like it was that day so she looked like an actual model.

She was just beautiful.

Then she answered in that kickass soft voice of hers, but this time it was different.

It was happy.

“Like he’s happy.”

God, he wanted to kiss her. He really wanted to kiss her.

And she turned fifteen yesterday. She was now totally in the zone where he could kiss her.

He didn’t kiss her.

Instead, he asked, “You wanna go out?”

She tipped her head to the side, “Go out?”

Shit, Clarisse Haines, totally cool. She was a freshman but she had it going on way more than any other girl, even the three seniors he’d been out with. Hanging back most of the time, making him come to her. Being all quiet and mysterious, not talking his ear off all the fucking time. Making an approach just enough times so he knew she was interested but not enough that she seemed to be gagging for it. Letting him make the moves, play his plays, giving back just enough to keep him interested but not really giving anything away.

Except this afternoon. This afternoon she was different. Twice, she grabbed his hand and held on. It was only for a few seconds but she did it. And she was meeting his eyes when he talked like she really gave a shit what he had to say. Like it meant something to her. Like she didn’t want him to quit talking. And she talked more too, telling him about her day with his Aunt Dusty and how cool she thought she was.

So, it was time. She was fifteen. Her Dad was seeing his aunt. She was giving him the signals.

It was time.

“Yeah, go out on a date.”

She retreated physically, shifting back a few inches and other ways too, he saw it in her face.

Shit, had he not read it right?

“Dad says I can’t date until I’m sixteen,” she whispered and he could hear it, disappointment was in her voice.

He was disappointed too but not surprised. Fuck, Mr. Haines was with Aunt Dusty for about ten minutes before he was all over the gig with Aunt Debbie. If he stepped up to protect Aunt Dusty like that, he’d totally be all over protecting his daughter. Rees was the only girl he knew who had to wait until she was sixteen to date. And that was another whole freaking year.

“Maybe I can talk to Dusty about talking to him,” she suggested.

She suggested.

Rees.

Fin grinned at her.

That would totally work. Mr. Haines was into his aunt and him stepping up with the Aunt Debbie thing wasn’t the only way he knew that. There were a lot of other signs. A fuckuva lot.

“You good to talk with her?” Fin asked.

She nodded.

“Awesome,” he murmured.

She grinned then looked at the dark yard.

Then to the yard she called, “Fin?”

“Yeah, babe.”

He could swear he heard a little sigh.

Then she said, “I…” and she trailed off.

He grabbed her hand and held it between them on the deck chairs. “What, Reesee?”

Did he hear another little sigh?

Then, “It was really…” she paused, “nice bein’ on Dusty’s horse with you.”

Fuck yeah, it was.

“Yeah,” he muttered, giving her hand a squeeze.

“Do you think Dusty would let us do it again?”

“Absolutely.”

“Cool,” she whispered, giving his hand a squeeze.

She fell into silence and Fin fell into it with her.

Then it hit him he was sitting out on a deck in a development doing nothing but holding hands with a girl, a freshman no less, while her Dad was maybe twenty-five feet away.

And it felt nice.

Jesus.

Rees broke the silence, whispering, “My Dad got back really late the other night.”

“Yeah,” Fin said through a smile, “I noticed.”

“He was really happy the next day.”

“Yeah,” Fin said through soft laughter. “Aunt Dusty was too.”

Rees giggled.

Fin squeezed her hand again.

“We’re like…fairy godmothers or something,” she remarked and Fin burst out laughing.

He heard Ress laugh with him.

That felt nice too.

Then he said, “Don’t tell any of my boys I’m a fairy godmother.”

“My lips are sealed.”

Fin laughed softly again and he stared into the dark yard, sitting on a deck in a development on a cold night holding a girl’s hand with her Dad twenty-five feet away and he did it thinking he wished his Dad had the chance to get to know Clarisse Haines. Being friends with Mr. Haines, his Dad knew her but he didn’t know her.

And Fin reckoned if he’d known her, he’d have liked her.

And then he thought, maybe she should know that. Not, like, straight out or anything.

But she should know it.

So holding Clarisse Haines’s hand out in the cold, Finley Holliday did something he hadn’t done in weeks. Not since that day out in the snow with his Ma being his Ma and Mr. Haines on his knees in the snow working hard to jumpstart his Dad.

Fin talked about Darrin Holliday.

And, her hand getting tighter and tighter in his as he spoke, he knew Reesee was listening to every word.