Ticket To Ride (Passing Through Series Book 2), page 14
She snorted. “Who doesn’t like pancakes?”
Ryan giggled. “Hey, Claire.”
“Yes, Ryan.”
“See you later, alligator.”
She knew this one. “In a while crocodile.”
Finn’s voice didn’t enter the fray, and she hoped he’d got home safely last night.
Someone tapped on her door and Poppy peeked around. “I really am sorry if they woke you. On the plus side, Ben makes great pancakes.”
Poppy smiled and closed her door.
“I’ll see you in the kitchen.” Claire got out of bed, because after all, who didn’t like pancakes.
The morning had turned a little cooler, so she put a thick sweater on with her jeans. Makeup seemed redundant, but she scraped her hair into a ponytail.
The noise swelled up the stairs from the kitchen. All four children seemed to be speaking at once. Undercutting their shrill voices was Horace’s rough murmur and Ben’s deep bass.
She walked into the kitchen and nobody paid her any mind. They went right on doing what they had been doing. Helping herself to coffee, she wandered over to the large kitchen windows.
Even in the time she’d been here, the seasonal changes showed. The aspens guarding the river were almost completely bare and the grass had turned a dull shade of brown.
Someone thudded into her legs.
Sean gripped her knees and gave her a toothless grin. “Clah!”
“Well, hello there.” How could you not return such an unrestrained grin? All she’d done to deserve it was show up this morning.
Sean made grabby hands at her. “Up!”
“Sean.” Poppy ducked in and tried to run interference. “Let Claire have her coffee first.”
“No, it’s okay.” Claire picked Sean up and propped him on her hip.
“Pwitty.” Sean petted her hair, and Claire made a point of not thinking where those sticky little hands had already been this morning.
“Pancakes are ready,” Ben said, and went past her with a large platter. “That looks good on you. You should do something about getting one of those for yourself.”
Claire pulled a face at him. Honestly, she’d never given any thought to children. On some vague level she’d supposed they weren’t for her. “Did Finn come in?
Spotting the pancakes, Sean wriggled to get down.
“We ran into him at the Elk.” Poppy looked up from settling children at the table and winked at her. “Brinn can you tell Finn breakfast is ready?”
“But Mom, the pancakes are ready.” Brinn kept an eagle eye on the platter. She already had the maple syrup at the ready.
“Brinn.” Poppy gave her daughter a hard stare. “He’s near the woodshed.”
With a pout, Brinn made a big deal of climbing off her chair.
It was the perfect reason to go looking for him, and Claire put her cup on the counter. “I’ll do it.”
“Really?” Poppy smirked.
Horace stopped with his juice halfway to his mouth. “Why are you going to find him?”
Ben chuckled and winked at her. “Go get him, Tiger.”
Still laughing, Claire let herself into the crisp morning.
The air smelled like woodsmoke and dry leaves. This is how she saw it. Finn had been good to her since her arrival. Maybe he needed a friend too. That was her surface theory, anyway. Deep down, or maybe not even that deep down, she would like to be more than friends.
She walked around the house, saw Finn and stopped in her tracks.
Shirtless, with only a pair of low-slung loose pants Finn was doing yoga. She recognized a sun salutation from her yoga classes, but on Finn, it looked a whole lot better than anything she’d seen. Sleek muscle bunched and stretched beneath his tan skin. He flowed from one pose into another, completely absorbed in his practice.
Even the dappled morning light was playing along and creating tempting shadows across him.
Oh my.
And then he turned his back to her, and Claire stared some more, but this time because of the network of scars marring the muscular expanse. Some of them had the precision of surgical scars, but others were bunched and ugly. It was the back of someone who’d been through a lot of pain.
Finn turned and caught sight of her. He stopped and straightened. “I didn’t see you there.”
“Yeah.” So many questions and still so much beautiful Finn to rob those thoughts from her brain. “I came to find you for breakfast.”
“And caught me doing yoga.” His grin was pure charming Finn. “I promise I pump iron on odd days.”
Pity for him she recognized it for the diversionary tactic it was. “Is the yoga for your back?”
He grimaced. “Sorry you saw that. It’s can’t be pretty.”
“I’m sorry you went through that. It must have sucked.”
“It did.”
They stared at each other. She felt shy and tongue tied. Since she had returned with Andy that night, Finn hadn’t made another move to kiss her. Yet, the way he looked at her made her believe he really wanted to, that and the way he could never keep his hands off her for long.
Finn bent and snatched a towel from the ground. “I had a couple of back surgeries.”
“Okay.” She had guessed that much. “What happened?”
“I ran afoul of a few stray bullets.” He tried to make light of it as he rolled up his mat. “Also took one too many falls from high places.”
“When you were in the services?”
Finn nodded and tucked his mat under his arm. His towel hung around his neck.
Her conversation last night with Horace had shifted things, and the peace between them last night had felt significant, like a bridge to another place. “I spent some time with Horace last night.”
“Yeah?” Finn rubbed a palm over his hair and made it stick up. “How did that go?”
“It was…nice. Friendly.” It might mean nothing. It might mean a whole lot more. She didn’t know yet, but it was progress. “I was worried about you.”
Finn stilled and his face softened. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
She shouldn’t have said that. It had made him uncomfortable. “But I did.”
“I like that you did.” His tanned skin did great things for the blue of his eyes. “But I was fine. I am fine. It’s part of why I do the yoga as well. It helps center me.”
Claire nodded. “We should get to breakfast.”
“We should.” He glanced at her mouth. “Poppy also told us last night about the dress you offered her. You did a nice thing there, babe.”
“Poppy is a nice person.” It was hard to think clearly with him this close. And he called her babe and she hated that. At least, she’d always hated it in the past.
“So are you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You like to pretend you’re all tough and hard, but I’m on to you.”
Being this close to near-naked Finn melted her resolve and a few other body parts. “You are?”
“Yup.” His big, rough palm slid to her jaw. His gaze heated and held her in place with its intensity. “Inside you’re all sweet and gooey like a marshmallow.”
“A marshmallow?” She didn’t like that so much either, but his thumb was stroking her bottom lip, and she couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
“Soft and silky and sweet,” he whispered, his eyes an intense blue blaze that held her mesmerized. “So fucking sweet.”
Kiss me. She had never wanted a kiss more, but she didn’t have the courage to close the three inches separating their mouths. It wasn’t a good idea at all.
Why was that again?
Her life was so complicated right now. By what she’d witnessed yesterday, so was his. They lived in the same house, and if things went badly, it would affect everyone. She wasn’t staying, and he’d straight up told her he wasn’t a good relationship bet.
None of those reasons made any difference, and she stood there, her heart pounding, as Finn dipped toward her, and his lips brushed hers. “So sweet, and so beautiful.”
“Finn.” His name slipped out on a low needy moan.
“Right here.” His mouth covered hers, firm but still seeking her permission.
Needing more, Claire licked at his bottom lip. She knew all the reasons why not, she knew it could be a horrible idea, but she just didn’t care.
On a groan, Finn opened his mouth to her. His tongue slid against hers as he took over the kiss. His other hand gripped her hip and pulled her closer.
Her hands spread over the bare skin of his waist.
Possessive and consuming, Finn kissed her as if he had nothing better to do and nowhere to go. It wasn’t a prelude to something else, but a destination that grew more demanding.
His cock pressed through his thin pants into her.
Feeling how much he wanted her, wanted this, went straight to Claire’s head. She didn’t want to hold back, and she pressed herself against him, glorying in the connection of chest to breast and groin to groin.
She lost track of the where and the when and allowed the who to own her in the press of body to body and the complete and utter possession of her mouth.
“Finn!” Ryan said from behind them. “Are you kissing Claire?”
Claire tried to hide her head in Finn’s shoulder.
Finn chuckled. “Well, I was, but then you interrupted.”
“Gross.” Ryan made gagging noises. “Mom sent me because there aren’t that many pancakes left, and she says I can’t have any more until you and Claire have had some. So, you need to come now.”
Claire managed to drag enough composure together to face Ryan. “Then we’ll come now.”
“Good.” Ryan eyed them suspiciously. “I’m not leaving until you come.”
Finn clasped her hand and twined their fingers together. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
“No, you won’t.” Ryan folded his arms and stuck his chin out. “Ben says that all the time, and what he means is he’ll come after more kissing.” His expression grew pinched. “But this is pancakes, Finn. Pancakes!”
Chapter Fourteen
Claire hated confrontation, but the text from Tara had come in after breakfast. They hadn’t spoken since Tara had left her to fend for herself and gone dancing. Tara hadn’t even called the next day to make sure she had gotten home in one piece.
The five adults were sitting around the kitchen table finishing their coffee. Poppy and Horace were sharing the newspaper while Ben checked his phone. Finn and Ben were speaking about last night’s activities.
“It might settle down,” Finn said. “Everybody got what was coming to them.”
There had been an incident the night before involving local boys getting pay back for one of their own being beaten up. Nobody had been arrested, and witnesses had all clammed up.
“Maybe.” Ben shrugged. “But this gives me a bad feeling. I think it’s escalating.”
Despite their conversation, sitting here like this was peaceful and normal, almost like they were all part of the same extended family. She didn’t want to leave and deal with Tara, but sooner or later, they would have to have this conversation.
Tara wanted Claire to meet her at Kelly’s as soon as possible. For a minute, she almost went upstairs and changed but couldn’t really summon the energy. “I’m going out for a bit.”
Looking at her from her newspaper, Poppy smiled. “Hot date?”
“Something like that.”
Finn lowered his mug to the kitchen table and gave her a hard stare. “How much like a hot date?”
Poppy laughed, and Claire winked at him. “I won’t be long.”
She went to the front door, stopping in the vestibule to pull her coat on.
Finn propped his shoulder against the doorframe. “Wanna tell me where you’re going?”
“Did you follow me out?” She pulled her hair out from her coat collar.
“Yup.” He sipped his coffee. “Not liking the idea of any sort of date and you.”
This jealousy thing he had going on was kind of cute. “I’m going to meet Tara.”
“Why?” He frowned. “She left you to find your own way home. She’s a shit friend.”
Claire sighed, because even before the Denver incident, she had never been that comfortable with Tara. “I know that, and now she needs to know that.”
After a moment, Finn nodded. “Okay.”
“You know I wasn’t asking for your permission?” His bossiness was less cute.
Finn grinned at her. “If you say so.”
When she got to Kelly’s, a short walk later, Claire had to suppress a groan.
Tara was sitting at one of the tables with her other bestie, Vince’s ex-wife, Chelsea.
Claire hadn’t grown up there, but even she knew the history between Vince and Kelly and Chelsea. Sitting in Kelly’s coffee shop was the height of insensitivity and plain old petty.
“Hi Kelly.” Claire didn’t expect Kelly to return her smile, but she did. Kelly’s smile disappeared when she saw where Claire was heading.
“There you are.” Tara rolled her eyes. “And wow, are you ever going local!”
Tara said it like it was a bad thing, and Claire couldn’t resist responding, “Thanks.” She turned to the other woman and nodded. “Chelsea.”
Chelsea was a voluptuous brunette with a face that would have been pretty if she didn’t always look like she’d caught a bad smell. “Claire.”
“The wedding.” Tara looked at each of them in turn. “Is in two days.”
It didn’t take a clairvoyant to work that one out. “Ben and Poppy’s wedding?”
“Obviously.” Chelsea rolled her eyes.
Also, that look didn’t do much for Chelsea’s face.
A horrible thought occurred to Claire. “You aren’t planning to go, are you?”
“Why not?” Tara sneered. “Just about the entire town is going, and I live in this town.”
“I’m going.” Chelsea glared at Kelly over Claire’s shoulder.
“Jesus, Chelsea.” Tara sneered. “Give it up already. You divorced Vince. What he does and with who is none of your business.”
Chelsea scowled. “I’m still not leaving her alone with him. She’s the maid of honor.”
Alone seemed an exaggeration given how many people were expected at the wedding. “You and Ben are also divorced.” Somebody needed to be the voice of goddamn reason. “Showing up at his and Poppy’s wedding would only make a scene.”
“So?” Tara grinned and made Claire’s hackles stand up. “She stole Ben from me, and that means she doesn’t deserve a happy wedding day.”
“Ah, hell no!” Kelly stood beside their table with a cup in her hand. She banged it down on the table and coffee sloshed over the edge. “Don’t even tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
“Poppy didn’t steal Ben from you.” Claire couldn’t listen to her line of bullshit self-delusion any longer. “You lost him, long before Poppy even came to town.”
Tara gaped at her. “That’s not true.”
“It totally is.” Kelly glanced at Claire and then went back to Tara. “You lost him because you screwed around on him.”
“What the fuck do you know?” Chelsea turned on Kelly. “It’s not like you can ever keep a man.”
“Girls.” Peg appeared at the table. “You need to take this outside or take it down.”
“This is my store.” Kelly folded her arms. “I’m not taking anything outside. They can leave.”
“Quite right.” The town hated her enough, and Claire refused to be associated with those two anymore. She couldn’t believe she’d been stupid enough to do so in the first place. “Ben is not yours,” she said to Tara. “And he hasn’t been for a long time. If anyone has to get real, it’s you.”
Peg and Kelly whipped their heads her way and stared.
“He’s crazy about Poppy, and she makes him happy. Happy in a way you never did and never could. You know why?”
“Why?” Kelly was all big eyes.
Peg muttered, “Hot damn.”
“Because you’re the most self-centered, self-involved, selfish woman I’ve ever met.” And Claire had her own bone to pick. “And since you couldn’t be bothered to ask, I did get home safely from Denver the other night. After you ditched me and went dancing with a new man, and probably used that black Amex you got from another man to pay for it.”
Tara paled. “You bitch.”
“Oh, please.” Claire almost laughed. “The word was invented with you in mind. You’ve never had a good word to say about Poppy, and that’s because you’re jealous.”
“I don’t have to listen to this.” Tara stood so fast her chair toppled.
“You’re jealous because you’ll never have what she has,” Claire called after her. “You haven’t got what it takes to make Ben love you, but she has.” She had to raise her voice as Tara and Chelsea reached the door. “You show up at my house for that wedding, and I’ll throw you out myself.”
Peg and Kelly blinked at her.
Peg found her voice first. “And I’ll give you a hand taking out the trash.”
*
Claire did her best to hide in the attic. With Poppy and Ben’s wedding the next day, the Twin Elk’s Prayer Chain had descended en masse. Their mission: to turn Winters House into dream wedding central.
Claire peeped through the porthole attic windows at the activity in the garden. Peg, with a clipboard worked a whistle and a megaphone as she got the prayer chain hopping to the outside decorations.
A flock of women harangued Finn and Hank to get final touches to the gazebo ready. It might make her a bad person, but she giggled as Hank fled and left Finn surrounded.
“Team one,” Peg bellowed through her megaphone. “Let’s get the organza on the gazebo.”
Finn looked like he wanted to cut and run.
