“I have experience with the press.”
“Right, playing in New York would give you practical knowledge,” he replied as he shivered. The heater was still blowing chilly air, so I pulled up at the next light and peeled off my coat. “No, you should keep that.”
“I spend 80 percent of my life on ice. I have the constitution of a polar bear. You need it more.” I draped it around him despite his weak protests. With a hum of pleasure, he pulled it on, burrowing into the oversized coat like a chilly little eaglet. I really needed to stop watching eagle nest hatchling videos in my downtime. “There. Better?”
“Much.” He pulled the collar of the cocoa-colored shearling coat up to his nose. Given that it was an XXL plus extra tall, he was lost in it. If we weren’t still mentally fried from what had happened a few hours ago, I would have felt all kinds of randy seeing my tiny guy in my big coat. Right now, though, my libido had checked out. Maybe it would reappear later. I hoped.
We rode along in silence, the radio playing some old ?60s hits. Finn was lost in his head, gazing at the wintry streets. The shivering had stopped anyway. When we pulled into his drive, he sat there staring at his place as if he wasn’t sure where he was.
“He was going to shoot us.” Finn’s voice cracked as he spoke. I left my truck running while we sat there, hot air blowing so hard on our faces my eyes were dried out and my nose felt like sandpaper.
“Let’s get you inside, baby.”
He nodded, a few tears sliding down his cheek. The truck ticked as the engine cooled while I got him out of the truck and through his front door. He found the lights. Then, he looked up at me at his side, my arm around his middle.
“I can walk.” He padded away, leaving me at the front door. I toed off my sneakers and followed him to the tasteful living room. He flopped down on the sofa, the furred collar of my coat resting on his ashen cheeks. “I could use a drink.”
“Yeah, I feel that. I would love a stiff one myself, but booze and my mellow pills don’t mix. Can I make some coffee?”
“Right, yes, of course. You can’t drink. Please, coffee. Cream is in the fridge.”
“Got it. You just rest, baby.”
“Can you check the doors and windows? To make sure they’re all locked?”
“Totally can do that.” I knew that fear well. Many were the nights Harper and I had lain in bed, me cuddling her to me, my face bruised from a beating, startling at every little noise. Trauma made a soul jumpy.
His kitchen was cute. The appliances were older but well taken care of. The fridge was covered with pictures of him and his students as well as some of him and his brother. Drawings from his students, awards from the school. He was so beloved. Not just by me either.
I took a moment to text Harper to let her know that I was okay and that there might be some news flowing into her feed with my name in it. I promised I would talk to her in the morning. She was out on a date with some guy she worked with. She’d been flirting hard with the guy for weeks, and so, she was probably busy getting her freak on with said dude. A dude I hadn’t met yet, but then, she hadn’t met Finn either, so that was tit for tat or whatever they said.
I turned off my phone.
As the coffee perked, I did a sweep of his home. Nice place, a little on the small side and somewhat old, but it was Finn all over. When I returned to the kitchen, I poured two mugs, creamed them, and toted them to the living room. Finn was right where I had left him, still wearing my coat, and all that I could see were his little nose and eyes.
“Did you check the windows?” he asked, carefully taking the hot mug from me.
“Yep, and the doors. No one is coming in here.” I sat down beside him, thighs touching, and took a sip of my coffee. Strong as hell. Which might be a good thing because we had a long night of talking and processing to do.
“I feel as if I don’t know which way to turn my thoughts. My mind touches on something, then leaps off in another direction. I can’t settle my emotions or my thinking.” He cradled his mug in two hands. Thankfully, they weren’t trembling as badly anymore. He glanced at me from under thick lashes. “I’ve never felt such anger before directed at me or a child. It’s… terrifying. Poor Jamie.”
“Yeah,” I huffed while I stared at the little statuette I’d given him sitting on the entertainment center that held his TV, a few books with cloth marks hanging out of them, and a stack of papers. “He’s going to be scarred from that, but… ” I turned on the sofa, knee up, arm coming to rest on the back behind hisshoulders. “He had someone to stand up for him, and that will make a huge difference.”
Finn shook his head. “I was too scared to do anything. You were the hero.”
“Pfft. No, I was just doing what I’ve been doing for years. See some asshole dude trying to hurt someone you love, and you get your dumb ass in front of your loved one.”
He swallowed loudly. “I know we’ve been through a lot tonight, and it may not be the best time for you to get into it all, so please tell me if you’re too upset to talk about your childhood before I broach the subject.”
“Nah, it’s fine. There’s no good time, baby.” I gave him a flimsy smile. I suspected he was using my past to avoid having to think about what he’d just lived through. Avoidance. Something that I knew well. “It started well before either my sister or I were born. Dad was a violent man even as a child, according to a great-aunt whom we met once. Mom left after Harper was born, not a clue where she went. One time, a neighbor told us they’d seen her when they’d been in Texas visiting family, but I didn’t care. She left us with him. Yeah, she was running for her life because he’d beat her for years, but… ”
“I’m sorry for asking.”
“No, no, I want to get this all out because I love you, and you need to know the full story before we get any more involved. This way you can tell me to take a walk out into Lake Ontario and not come back. I would not hold that against you because I am fucked up in big ways.”
“I would never tell you to do that.” He wiggled around to face me, tucked his feet under his backside, and reached out to take my hand. “I love you no matter what.”
We’d see. Taking a deep breath, I plunged back into my timeline, something that I never did with anyone other than Dr. Quackers. I started at the beginning, when Dad had to shifthis aggression to his kids because his battered wife had gone shopping for groceries and had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.
