Broken Pieces (3 page)

He wondered where Rebecca was now. It had been almost four months since she’d called him wanting money. That was the longest she’d gone without having contact with him since their divorce four years ago.

He’d learned his lesson with Rebecca. Working with animals was far less complicated than dealing with human beings. And Jack had come to enjoy uncomplicated.

Chapter 4

“I
can’t believe you went to school with him and you didn’t remember him,” Kelsey said a moment later as they got into the car. “He’s so hot.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Mariah replied. There had been little hint in the boy of the man he would become, she thought. She dismissed Jack Taylor from her mind as she pulled into the parking lot of a discount store. “You can wait here with the dog and I’ll run in and get what we need to welcome him into the house,” she said.

As Mariah raced through the pet-care aisle of the store, she wondered whatever had possessed her to agree to take the dog. Maybe it had something to do with Jack Taylor’s gorgeous green eyes looking at her so expectantly.

She still found it hard to believe that the skinny young man who had sat behind her in English class had matured into a hottie like Dr. Jack Taylor. She didn’t remember any of the girls in school paying attention to Jack. She’d bet there were plenty of women paying attention to him now.

Dismissing thoughts of the handsome vet, she got
busy and filled her basket with necessities. Dog food went into the basket along with a bed, a leash and collar, food and water bowls and a cute little kerchief that read
TOP DOG
.

By the time she got back into the car, she was more than eager to get home and hoped half the groceries they’d bought hadn’t been ruined by the unexpected delays.

Kelsey greeted her with a beatific smile. “He’s so sweet, Mom. He’s just been lying here licking my hand. I think he knows that I’m going to take care of him.”

“If we’re going to keep him, then you need to come up with a name for him,” Mariah said.

Kelsey frowned. “I’ll have to think about it. I need to pick the perfect name for him.”

As they drove home, Kelsey chattered about the kinds of meals she intended to cook for them. “Since I don’t have any friends here, I’ll have plenty of time to try out new recipes. I was thinking maybe tonight we’d have steak smothered in a sauce of portabella mushrooms and scallions,” Kelsey said.

“Sounds good to me. I have a feeling I’d better enjoy whatever you’re cooking before you meet some of the local kids. Once you find a band of friends, I’ll be back to eating frozen Salisbury steak dinners.”

Kelsey frowned, the gesture doing nothing to take away from her prettiness. “I can’t imagine what I’d have in common with anyone here.”

“You’re probably right. I’m sure none of the other almost fifteen-year-old girls in town are interested in boys, fashion or music. They’re probably all into milking cows and making their own candles and sewing clothing for the poor.”

Kelsey giggled. “Okay, I get your point.” She sat
up straighter in her seat as the house came into view. A red pickup was in the driveway. “Who is that?” she asked.

“Beats me,” Mariah replied. She pulled up next to the pickup, then spied the man sitting on the front porch. Although she didn’t initially recognize him, there was something familiar in the way he sat, with long legs sprawled carelessly in front of him.

As she opened her car door, he stood and stepped out of the shadows of the porch. She certainly didn’t recognize the bald head that gleamed in the sunshine, but the blue eyes that twinkled and the open smile that curved his lips to expose a chipped front tooth were achingly familiar and she raced for the arms that he opened wide.

He laughed as he pulled her into a bear hug that almost stole her breath away. When she stepped back from him, she gazed into the eyes of the man who had been her best friend, confidant and neighbor throughout her childhood.

“Finn,” she said, then stood on her tiptoes and reached up to rub his bald head. “What happened to all that glorious red hair?”

“Male-pattern baldness. When I realized I was having to comb the hair on my shoulders up around my head, I decided it was time to go cue ball.” He stepped back and grabbed her by the shoulders. “But look at you. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I just stepped into a time machine. You look exactly like I remember.”

Mariah laughed in delight. Of all the people she’d thought about over the years, Mitchell Tanner Finnigan—Finn to his friends—had come to mind most often.

“And it’s an easy guess who this is,” Finn said as Kelsey approached where they stood, her new pooch held tight in her arms. “My God, Mariah, is she your daughter or is she your clone?” He offered Kelsey one of those smiles that Mariah remembered, a smile filled with the warmth of the sun. “Hi, I’m Finn. Your mother and I used to be very best friends.”

“I’m Kelsey, and sometimes she’s my friend and sometimes she isn’t,” Kelsey replied, making both Finn and Mariah laugh. “Mom, can I take him up to my room?” Kelsey asked, and gestured to the half-snoozing pooch.

Mariah smiled at Finn. “New dog, long story. Let me just get the door unlocked for her. Then I need to get these groceries inside.”

“I’ll help with the groceries,” Finn offered, and began to grab bags as Mariah hurried to the porch to unlock the door for her daughter.

It took only minutes to get the groceries from the car to the kitchen counter; then Mariah put on a pot of coffee, eager to play catch-up with her old friend.

Finn sprawled in one of the kitchen chairs as Mariah set to work putting away the perishable groceries in the fridge and waiting for the coffee to brew.

“I can’t tell you how many times I thought about you over the years,” he said. “You didn’t even tell me good-bye.” There was a hint of an old wound in his voice.

“Finn, I didn’t even know I was leaving the night that I did.” She put the last of the frozen food into the freezer, then sat in the chair opposite him. “You know how awful things were here. The night before I left, my father went ballistic because I hadn’t folded some clothes to his measure of perfection. He got the
switch and while he whipped me, I decided that was it. That was the last time he was going to lay a finger on me. I either had to leave or I was going to go to prison for murdering him.”

Of course that wasn’t the complete truth. She’d left when she’d missed her period and realized she was pregnant. She’d run away rather than tell her father that she was going to have a baby.

Finn leaned forward, bringing with him the scent of hay and sunshine. “So, what did you do? Where have you been for all these years? What have you been doing?”

She got up to pour them each a cup of coffee, then sat down once again at the table and gazed at Finn. Finn and Mariah had bonded early in their childhood. It had been a bond of the abused and powerless.

She wrapped her fingers around her cup of coffee. “That night I waited until my mother and father were in bed. Then I packed whatever clothes I could get into a tote bag, stole the money that my mother kept in the freezer for household expenses, and I caught a bus to Chicago.”

“Jesus, weren’t you terrified?” he asked.

“I was scared spitless,” she admitted. “But on the bus ride out I met a guy. He was in the army, on an eight-week furlough, and it was magic.” After years of practice the lie fell effortlessly from her lips. “A month later we got married and five months after that, I realized I was pregnant. Unfortunately when I was six months pregnant, my husband, Brian, was killed in a car accident.”

His eyes darkened. “That was a tough break. And so you’ve been living in Chicago all this time, being a single parent?”

“And a teacher. You know that’s what I said I always wanted to do.”

He reached across the table and grabbed her hand in his big one. “And you’ve been happy?”

She cast him a rueful smile. “Yes, for the most part I’ve been happy, although I know I don’t have to tell you about the inner demons that occasionally raise their heads.” He squeezed her hand, then released it and grabbed his coffee cup. “But enough about me. Tell me about you. How are Susan and Kim?”

“Great.” His face flushed with pleasure. “Susan is married and she and her husband live in Virginia. Kim lives here in town and works at the bank.” His pride in his two younger sisters was evident in his voice.

He should be proud. Finn had raised them both from the time they were little. “And what about you? Married? Single?”

He grinned. “You remember Hannah Richards?”

“Hot Pants Hannah? You married Hot Pants Hannah?” She looked at him incredulously. Hannah had been the fantasy of most of the guys in high school with her long shapely legs and penchant for short skirts and tiny shorts.

He nodded, his eyes twinkling. “We’re celebrating our eighth anniversary next month and she’s still got the best-looking legs in town.”

“Oh, Finn, I’m so happy for you. Kids?”

“Two. Jeffrey is six and Gracie Ann is four. We need to have a party, get some of the old gang together while you’re here.”

“We saw Clay last night while we were having dinner. He said the same thing.”

“Ah, now, there’s a bitter man.” Finn took a sip
of his coffee. “He had big dreams of playing professional football and that didn’t pan out. His wife was a bitch in high school and hasn’t changed much over the years.”

“I was surprised when I heard he was married to Sherri,” she replied. “I figured she would have left Plains Point years ago. She was always talking about a career as a model.”

“The only thing she could model now is maternity clothes. About every other year she pops out another baby and acts like she’s the grande dame of the city.” He eyed her with a touch of amusement. “I imagine she won’t be too happy to hear you’re back in town. Way I remember it, you and Clay were pretty thick before you left.”

Mariah laughed. “Ancient history. A high school romance that probably wouldn’t have lasted until graduation.” She smiled as her daughter came into the kitchen. “Did you get the pooch all settled in?”

She nodded. “He’s sleeping in his new bed.” She looked at Finn. “Mom ran over him with the car. The vet fixed him up and now he’s going to be our dog.”

“Then you’ve seen Jack Taylor.” Finn laughed and shook his head. “Every single woman in Plains Point has decided to get a dog or a cat since he moved back to town,” Finn said drily. He smiled at Kelsey. “What are you? About sixteen?”

Kelsey preened at what she considered a compliment. “Actually, I’m almost fifteen.”

“I’ve got a friend who has a couple of girls about your age. I’ll be sure and let them know you’re in town.” Finn stood. “As much as I’d like to sit here all day and visit, I’ve got to get back to the farm. I’ve got chores to do.”

“One more thing before you go,” Mariah said. “Do you know anyone who does odd jobs?”

“You remember Joel Clarkson? He was a couple of years older than us.”

“No, I don’t remember him,” Mariah replied.

“He’s always looking for work. He drinks a bit, is sometimes unreliable, but he’s a pretty decent carpenter and will do almost anything for a fair wage. I’ll call you later with his number.”

“Thanks, Finn.” Mariah walked with him to the front door, where he gave her another hug.

“I’m so glad you came back.” He released her and smiled. “I always wondered what you were like all grown up.”

She reached up and placed a hand on his lean cheek. “I missed you, too.” She dropped her hand and stepped back.

“I’ll call you with that number,” he promised as he went out the door.

“He seems nice,” Kelsey said when Mariah returned to the kitchen.

“He’s a great guy who had a terrible childhood.” Mariah sat at the table and her daughter joined her.

“Terrible how?”

“Finn’s mother died when he was thirteen and his little sisters were three and four. His father was a raging alcoholic and most weekends he’d just disappear, leaving Finn to take care of the little girls. Then one weekend when Finn was sixteen, his father never returned home. Finn didn’t get to be a normal teenager. He was too busy being a father.”

“What happened to his thumb?”

Mariah knew instantly what Kelsey was talking about. Finn had no left thumb. “Right after his mother’s
death he and his father were out chopping wood. His father was drunk, missed the wood and took off Finn’s thumb.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kelsey exclaimed, obviously horrified.

“It was pretty awful at the time, but Finn found a way to make the best of it. Over the next couple of years I heard him tell a dozen stories as to how he lost his thumb. He made up a story about catching a catfish so big it bit off his thumb. Then there was the story about him wrestling with a bear.”

Kelsey laughed. “He sounds like fun. You guys were close?”

Mariah picked up her cup and took a sip of the now lukewarm coffee. “He lives in the house next door. We walked to and from the bus stop together each day and tried to meet in the field between our houses at least once a day. We talked about how much we hated our home life and, as silly as it sounds, drew strength from each other.”

“That doesn’t sound silly,” Kelsey replied. “You never dated him or anything like that?”

Mariah smiled and shook her head. “It wasn’t like that between us. Finn and I were very best friends. He was like the brother I never had.”

“Speaking of brothers, it’s not too late for you to give me a little brother or sister,” Kelsey said with a sly grin.

“I’m not sure I could handle a teenager and a toddler at the same time,” Mariah said with a laugh.

Kelsey tilted her head slightly and smiled. “I think you could handle almost anything, Mom.”

Mariah’s heart expanded. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to do something so right, but she’d
raised a loving, intelligent daughter who made her proud every day.

“And I still think you should get me a cell phone,” Kelsey added.

“Get out of here. A new dog is enough for one day.”

Kelsey got up from the table. “Okay, but you haven’t heard the last of the cell phone problem.”

“Thanks for the warning,” Mariah replied.

Kelsey left the kitchen and Mariah got up to pour herself a fresh cup of coffee. She returned to the table and stared out the open window, where the faint scent of rain-washed grass still lingered from the storm the night before. The sky was a blue she rarely saw in Chicago.

She should be working. She should be pushing herself to get everything done and get back to their high-rise apartment. But she remained sitting, enjoying the warmth of seeing Finn again, surprised to discover the pleasant memories his visit had evoked.