Kiss Me Hard Before You Go (12 page)

Finch jerked his head in her direction and called out, “Coming!” He gazed at the ground, refusing to take one look at her. So help him, he was not going to gawk at her like some dopey love-struck high school boy who just discovered girls.

He swam to the shore and sloshed his way out, pushing the large plant life out of his way. His jeans hung low, showing the grooves on his stomach, and Evie noticed a tanned pinkish spot under his rib cage. He placed his palms on his hips and hoisted them up. Sprinkles of water sporadically landed on his shoulder blades and upper arms as he shook his hair. He was unaware that Evie was ogling at him like a little girl in a room full of dolls.

He bent over and pulled his shirt over his head. Evie made her way to the ATV and sat on it, ready to go and get away from him. He hopped on his and followed her back to the barn.

They turned their engines off and dismounted the ATV’s. Finch’s wet jeans sucked to his skin like a vacuum cleaner. His shoes squished with each step he took, and Evie chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“You wore your shoes in the pond.” She let out a laugh again.

“Yeah. So,” he said defensively.

“That’s why you’re squishing around. I can’t believe you wore your shoes,” she said, shaking her head.

“It’s a pond. Gross things live on the bottom, and I’m not getting a foot fungus,” he said.

“Who knew you were so prissy?” She laughed again.

“Prissy,” he scoffed. “I’m just being smart. Bet you’ll wake up tomorrow with some nasty crap in your toes.”

She looked down at her boots and wiggled her toes. “Nah. They’re not citified like yours.”

“Citified?”

Finch held the barn door open for Evie, allowing her to walk ahead of him. It took her by surprise and she muttered a quiet, “thanks” as he did so.

“I’ve got a stronger immune system,” she explained as they stepped outside.

He let out a laugh. “That is ridiculous. Because you grew up on a farm, your feet aren’t susceptible to a foot fungus?”

“Yep.” She nodded her head.

He scratched at his wet head and tilted his head down. “That’s just crazy talk.”

Evie saw a hint of a smile on Finch’s face, a genuine one and not that irritating smirk he always had plastered on his face. This was real, and she liked it.

“How’d you know the gate was open?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “I’m a night owl and like to walk around at night.” He read her expression, seeing a flicker of worry. He twisted his lips to the side and gave a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not peeping in your window or anything. It’s just nice here, that’s all.”

“Well, I guess I’m glad you’re lurking around the farm then. Otherwise, we would have been in a world of trouble,” she said and her brow furrowed. “Daddy’s got a lot of money riding on those stupid heifers.” She caught herself, realizing she had said more than she wanted.

He could read the discomfort on her face. Like she had just confessed a deep dark secret. Money was money, and most of the time, discussing finances was a big no-no. He got that.

“I better get going. It’s late, and it looks like your dad is home.” He motioned to Gray’s green truck parked in their driveway. The lights were all on, and she could see the shadow of him moving around inside. “I don’t want him to worry about you,” he added. “Bye.” He crossed through the grass and moved toward the twinkling lights coming from the carnival’s temporary homestead.

“Hey, Finch!” she called, and he turned to face her. “Thanks.”

He nodded and started to walk again.

“Try not to be so rude next time you see me,” she added with a smile.

He came to abrupt halt and spun on his heels, facing her. “You too.” He smiled and trudged on.

Evie ambled up the steps and pushed the front door open. She could hear Gray’s thunderous steps and moved to where the source of noise came from. He leaned against their kitchen counter sucking on a Popsicle stick. His lips were red all over.

“Where you been?” he asked with a full mouth.

“The gate was open,” Evie said.

His eyes widened, and he stood up straight, taking a few steps forward. She held her hand up.

“It’s okay. I closed it,” she said. “All heifers are accounted for.”

He looked down at her with an appreciative, crooked grin. The buttons on his shirt barely closed, and she could see his undershirt peeking beneath his plaid button-up. “Good girl,” he said. “You go swimming?” He noticed her gown was wet and her hair was still damp.

“Yes sir,” she said and didn’t give any further explanation. She knew he wouldn’t think it was strange for her to swim in the pond at night or in her gown for that matter.

“Think it’s those same dumb kids from earlier this week?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a deep breath. “Whoever they are, it’s getting old real quick.”

“How’d you know the gate was open?” he asked.

“I couldn’t sleep and was wandering around.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you were out roaming around,” he said, failing to notice the shifting of her eyes and the fact that she was staring at her feet and not at him.

She didn’t know why she felt the need to lie to her dad. But the reaction was instant, and confessing what Finch had done would ruin the moment, no matter how small, and she just didn’t want to do that. She wanted to keep Finch to herself.

***

Finch strolled through the grass, seeing that most of the lights had flickered out from the inside of the tents. His shoes squished as he moved, and he snickered. She was right: it was ridiculous that he wore his shoes in the pond. They were his only good pair too, and now they’d be water logged for days.

He worried that she thought he was a peeping Tom, walking around on her property in the dead of night giving the lame excuse that he was a night owl. So lame, he thought. But something about those rolling hills made him feel peaceful and at home. He never had that “at home” feeling. The farm gave him a subtle hint of what it felt like to have that much comfort that he could kick his shoes off and lay on the grass while looking up at the stars. He’d take it, even if it was temporary. Four more weeks. That’s all he had left, and he was going to milk it for all that it was worth.

He knew he should keep his distance from her, but the more he fought it, the more he had the urge to get near her, just to see her glare at him, or say something snappy to him. She had some decent comebacks, he could admit that, and watching her on the ATV was pretty impressive because he obviously lacked skill when it came to riding on that machine. Still, her dad said to keep his distance, and he had to honor that. If he had a daughter, he wouldn’t want some twenty-two-year-old carny hanging out with the likes of someone like him, either.

Chapter 12

Things were quiet at the skating rink. Most of the locals were enjoying themselves at the carnival, and the few who decided to skate, called it an early night. Gray was out of town helping Cooper deliver cattle to the slaughter house. Cooper raised beef cattle, and their lives were often cut short. Evie never went on those trips. It was just too much – sending the cattle to their deaths. She didn’t want any part of it, and Gray couldn’t understand it. “You gotta toughen up when it comes to them. How else are you gonna be a farmer?”

She didn’t know the answer to that question. But being aware of something and actually seeing it happen were two different things in Evie’s eyes. She just didn’t want to be the one to pull the trigger. It broke her heart when she had to separate the heifers from their calves. The helpless calves’ cries stayed with her, and a tinge of guilt lingered within her each time she saw them.

Evie put her favorite album on the record player, Fleetwood Mac’s
Rumors
, and placed the needle on the song she loved the most. Stevie Nicks’ deep sensual voice blared from the speakers around the rink as she cleaned things up for the night. She could never tire of that song and figured she’d play it at least three more times before she was finished.

She hummed to herself while she re-stacked the shelves with pairs of white roller skates, lining them up by size. Most of them were scuffed with patches of brown, and the wheels were almost worn down to the bearings and needed to be replaced. Gray had purchased them from a roller rink in North Carolina that was closing and boasted to Evie, “I got them for cheap,” he had said, rubbing his hands together. Evie never asked how much he paid, but she suspected, no matter how inexpensive they were, it may not have been worth it. She went inside the concession stand and turned off the popcorn maker and emptied the popcorn kernels into a large garbage bag. She wanted to hurl from the buttery fragrance.

Most of her tasks were completed quickly, and she resolved to put on a pair of skates and skate to a song or two under the beautiful twinkling stars in the South Carolina sky. Why not, she figured. She had the place to herself and could do as she pleased. She sat herself down on the bench, pushed her feet into a pair skates and pulled on the laces, tying them into a nice, neat bow.

“Evie.”

She shrieked, and her hand flew up to her chest. “Todd! You scared the snot out of me,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re easy to scare,” he teased, but Evie didn’t think he was very funny. In fact, she didn’t think anything he said was funny.

“Why are you here?” she asked. She checked her watch. It was late, way too late for him to be there.

He sat down next to her, and she got up, balancing on four wheels. “What? I can’t sit next to you?” He pinched his face, snarling his thin upper lip.

She pointed to her skates. “I was about to skate,” she said.

He got off the bench. “Katie told me,” he said, and Evie knew exactly what she had told him but she decided to play dumb.

“Told you what?” She could hear the lilt in her voice and knew any buffoon could figure out she was lying.

Todd cocked an eyebrow and looked at her incredulously. Evie figured he wasn’t as dumb as she originally thought. “You know what,” he spat. She got a whiff of his breath—a stench of booze.

“You should go on home,” she said. She knew he liked to drink. Katie told her stories of nights when he drank so much he’d pass out and wake up hours later, forgetting what happened. Evie never got the full story, but she suspected he wasn’t the kindest drunk either. Some drunks were funny, some were sad, and then there were the mean drunks. Evie figured Todd fit in that last category.

“You need to help me,” he ordered. He wasn’t asking; he was telling.

She folded her arms against her chest. “I don’t need to help you.” She started toward the rink, and he yanked her by the arm.

“Ow. Let go,” she hollered, jerking her arm free from his grip.

“I’m too young to have a kid,” he said with desperation.

“Well that’s too bad, Todd,” Evie snapped. “You made your bed. Now you have to lie in it.”

“I told her I wasn’t ready to be a dad and that she should get rid of
it
.” He said “it” with disdain as if “it” was a raccoon that was sifting through his garbage.

Evie’s mouth gaped wide open and anger filled her blue eyes. “Get rid of it! What the hell is wrong with you?” She wanted to punch him in his preppy face.

He pulled a sterling silver flask out of his front jeans pocket, took a swig, and then safely put the flask back from where it came.

“You,” he pointed, jabbing his finger into Evie’s shoulder, “need to talk some sense into her.”

She glared at him. “I,” she grabbed his finger and pushed it away from her, “don’t need to do anything.” Her heart was racing.

“She’ll listen to you. If you tell her to get rid of the thing, she’ll do it,” he pressed as his words slurred together.

“The thing,” Evie repeated in horror. “He or she is a baby, and he or she is yours, one that you helped create.”

“I told her I’d pay for the abortion, but she won’t take my money.” He pulled out a stack of bills. “Give this to her and make her use it.”

Evie placed her hand on her mouth and slowly shook her head. “Todd, I can’t...” She backed away from him. He was standing so close—she could count every single hair on his unshaved face, and that was too close for her comfort.

“Take the money!” He threw several dollar bills at her. Evie stared at him with an open mouth.

“I’m not taking your money, and I’m not telling her to do anything. It’s her choice.”

“Just take it!” he screamed. “And quit being such a judgmental bitch!”

“I’m not taking your money, and you need to go home. Now,” she said with a firm voice.

He moved even closer to her, and for the first time, Evie noticed how much taller he was than her. He flared his nostrils and breathed hard and heavy. Evie could feel his body inching closer to hers with every breath. Before she had time to flee, he shoved her against the wooden shed. A nail caught against her back, piercing into her skin. She groaned in pain and tried moving away from the shed. He shoved her again. This time, a little harder.

Todd’s long arms hovered around Evie. She felt constricted, smelling his breath on her, and feeling his sweaty palms pinning her arms. “I always thought you were a bitch. You thought you were too good for me.”

Evie’s mind raced, searching for a way to get out of there. His grip tightened, and she tried to jerk herself free.