The Comeback Kiss (16 page)

Chapter Eight

Tessa blinked, stunned. Even though
her antennae had gone up when she
’
d seen the old Mazda she and Izzy shared parked by the lake, she still wasn
’
t prepared for what she was seeing.

Izzy. In the shack.

With Finn.

During school hours.

Smoking.

“
Well,”
Tessa said. “
I think I
’
m speechless. It
doesn
’
t happen very often, so let me see.”
She held up one finger, tried to think of something to say, then nodded. “
Yep. Speechless.”

Izzy took a step forward. “
I just came here to say hi. It
’
s been a long time since I
’
ve seen him.”

“
You don
’
t even rememb
er him,”
Tessa said.

“
Sure I do. He used to give me piggyback rides to school. And he fixed my bike once.”

Finn leaned toward Izzy a bit and spoke in a quiet tone. “
Roller skates.”

“
Right.”
Izzy snapped her fingers. “
Right. Roller skates.”

Tessa crossed he
r arms over her chest and stared at Finn. “
You are best off if you say nothing.”

“
Actually, I
’
m pretty much screwed no matter what,”
Finn said, tossing his cigarette into the open woodstove behind him, “
so I figure I might as well be chatty.”

“
Dermot,”
Bab
s said. “
I think you want to shut up now.”

Tessa sighed, looked at Izzy. “
You go straight home and call the school and tell them you
’
re sick. Shooting everything out both ends. The more disgusting the details, the less they
’
ll want to know. And then you w
ait for me. And you
’
re calling in sick at Margie
’
s, too.”

Izzy huffed. “
Tessa
—”

“
Now.”

Izzy shot a look at Finn, which Tessa couldn
’
t read, then slipped out past Babs. Tessa crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Finn.

“
And you
—”

“
You know,”
Babs sa
id quietly from behind her. “
I didn
’
t get a good enough look at that gorgeous lake. It
’
s all just so charming.”

Tessa waited for Babs
’
s footsteps to retreat, then looked at Finn. They held eyes for a while, the silence only serving to feed her frustration.
Even more infuriating was the fact that not all of her fury stemmed from protectiveness.

“
So,”
she said finally, “
since it
’
s okay for you to hang out in the shack smoking with my baby sister
—”

“
I was smoking, she wasn
’
t.”

“—
maybe next we can take her to R
iker
’
s and get her piss-ass drunk and teach her how to hustle pool. What do you think?”

“
It
’
s not like that,”
he said. “
She came looking for me because she wanted to talk about something.”

“
Talk to
you?
About what?”

Finn let out a breath. “
That
’
s her busin
ess to tell you, not mine.”

“
Whatever,”
Tessa said. “
There
’
s nothing she doesn
’
t tell me. Nothing.”

“
That
’
s a dangerously naive belief system you got there, Tess.”

Ow.
Tessa took a breath and put her hand to her chest. There were so many emotions in there,
all of them unpleasant and tied up in such a whirling ball of bad that she couldn
’
t distinguish one from the other.

What could Izzy tell Finn that she couldn
’
t tell me?

Finn
’
s face softened a touch and he sighed. “
Look,”
he said. “
She just wanted to talk
. Nothing happened of which you would disapprove, except possibly the secondhand smoke.”

“
Possibly?”
Tessa said, her voice taking on some volume. “
You were in here smoking in front of my sister. What the hell were you thinking, Finn?”

“
I was thinking she
’
s
sixteen,”
Finn said. “
I
’
m sure she
’
s been around a burning cigarette before. Jesus, when did you become so uptight?”

Uptight?
Tessa blinked. She was uptight?

“
I
’
m not uptight,”
she said, her voice weakening because even as she said the words, she knew he
was right. She was uptight. She was raising a kid on a tightrope. She had to be uptight, damnit.

“
Oh, God,”
Tessa groaned. “
I
’
m uptight.”

Finn smiled. “
Looks good on you, though.”

Suddenly deflated, she walked across the room and sat on the edge of the cot
. A little black-and-white mutt stuck its nose in her lap and wagged its tail.

“
Cute dog,”
she said.

“
Not my dog,”
Finn said.

The dog wagged its tail a bit more, huffed, and walked away, settling on the floor next to the woodstove and giving a dramatic shi
ver.

“
Dog
’
s cold,”
Tessa said.

“
It
’
s not my
—”

“
Fine, then
I
’
m
cold,”
she said. “
It
’
s freezing in here. Build a fire, would you?”

Finn gave a little nod and tossed some logs into the stove. She watched him as he lit it, his strong hands, the curve of his ba
ck, the spiky redness of his hair. There was a time when they were so close that she always knew what was running through his head. Now, she had no idea, and despite the familiarity of the characters and setting, everything felt foreign to her. When he wa
s
done, he grabbed a yellow backpack from where it sat next to the bed and fished out a pack of cigarettes. He pulled one cigarette out for himself and held the pack out to her.

“
I figure you quit,”
he said, “
but you know how I hate to be impolite.”

“
No. Th
anks,”
Tessa said. Part of her really wanted one, but she hadn
’
t had a cigarette in ten years, and she wasn
’
t about to give in to temptation now.

“
Suit yourself,”
Finn said. He sat down next to her on the bed, lit his smoke, leaned his elbows on his knees,
and looked up at her, his blue eyes locked on hers and meaning business.

“
This might be a good time to give me the full scoop on what the hell is going on here,”
he said.

Tessa
’
s anger was still simmering, but at the same time, she felt overcome with a po
tent desire to share everything with the one person who would understand why she
’
d done what she
’
d done.

“
Well,”
she said finally, “
you remember the night we stole the town bell?”

“
Yeah.”
He smiled at her and she felt her lungs tighten.
Must be the secondh
and smoke.

“
After you relieved me of my virginity and stole my car
—”

“
Don
’
t pull any punches,”
he said, letting out a short laugh. “
I can take it.”

“
Good,”
she said. “
You
’
re gonna have to.”

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Tessa felt her face start to w
arm.

“
Anyway,”
she said, “
later that night, there was a fire.”
Finn nodded, and she could see a twinge of sympathy in his eyes that threw her a bit.

“
I know.”

“
How?”

“
Talked to Joe,”
he said. “
And Izzy.”
He watched her for a moment, a sad smile lurking at
the edges of his eyes. “
I
’
m sorry about your mom. I always liked her, even when she was beating the hell out of me with that two-by-four.”

Tessa smiled, remembering the sight of Finn being chased down the aisle of the school theater with her mother on his
tail, waving that huge chunk of wood. “
God. I
’
d forgotten about that.”

“
Not me,”
Finn said. “
Got the scars and everything.”
Tessa let out a small laugh, then felt her smile fade as she let the rest of the story come out.

“
That night...”
she said, her heart
seizing up at the memory. She tamped down the emotion and kept going.

“
That night was so awful. I
’
ve blacked most of the details out. I remember being down on the porch, waiting for you to come back, and Matt Tarpey coming to the house...”
She shook her h
ead. “
The rest is a blur, except that numb sense of falling and being unable to move at the same time.”

She shot a glance at Finn, who was staring at his shoes, his expression dark.

“
Anyway, a week or so later, the cherry on top of the misery sundae: they
took Izzy from me.”

Finn raised his head and looked at her. “
They what? Who?”

Tessa sighed. “
Mary Ellen Neeley. Social worker from Brattleboro. Izzy
’
s caseworker. Evil little troll of a woman.”
She exhaled. “
I hate her.”

Finn smiled. “
You hide it well.”

“
I
’
d only just turned eighteen,”
Tessa said, “
and Mary Ellen said I couldn
’
t have Izzy back until I was twenty-one. If then. She
’
d interviewed some people in town who told her about the trouble we used to get into and she said she couldn
’
t be sure living wi
t
h me was in Izzy
’
s best interests.”

Finn
’
s eyes flashed with anger. “
What? That
’
s crazy.”
Tessa shrugged. She
’
d spent most of that fury ages ago. “
Mary Ellen basically told me that even though I didn
’
t have a real criminal record, just the pranks and stuff
we did, she had to take everything into account. I was eighteen, I hadn
’
t even graduated yet, I didn
’
t have a job, and if anything was ever traced back to me...”

Finn
’
s eyes squinched shut. “
Like stealing the town bell.”

“
...like stealing the town bell,
then it
’
d be over. I
’
d never get custody.”