“If you hadn’t gotten the cops after me, none of this would have happened!” Dave replied loudly. “Lucky for you I was able to outrun them and get away before they took the car and impounded it or something!” They were almost toe to toe now and Dave leaned in obnoxiously close and said, “You’re welcome.”
Oh, no, he didn’t…
“Are you seriously expecting me to thank you?” Finn cried. “For stealing my car? Causing God knows how much damage? And my car is not a piece of crap!”
A snort of disgust was his brother’s first response. “Oh, really? Then answer me this–how come it wasn’t sturdier? I mean, look at it!” Dave took a step back and nodded and then looked over at Grace. He gave her a knowing smirk. “Seems to me it all worked out well for you, so…yeah. If anything, I got the short end of the stick! And what the hell was up with canceling the credit card? I had to sleep in the damn car, thanks to you!”
Finn sputtered and seemed to try to say at least a dozen things at once, but none of them were being articulated particularly well. She knew he was angry and frustrated, but he wasn’t the least bit intimidating to his brother. If anything, Dave looked extremely amused.
“So look,” Dave said, still smirking. “You’re going to need a new front tire–should probably just replace all of them–and the front passenger quarter panel is pretty messed up so you’ll need to take it to a body shop. And the passenger side mirror is gone.” He chuckled. “I don’t even know when that happened!”
Grace noticed how Finn’s hands were clenching into fists and then releasing as he listened to his brother talk. She wondered why he wasn’t grabbing him and shaking him. If it were her, she would have punched him in the throat by now.
“You’re paying for all of this, Dave,” Finn said firmly.
“What? Why?”
Grace had to bite her own tongue to keep from responding.
“Why? Because you did this!” Finn snapped. “The car was in pristine condition when we were in Carson City! This is going to be a couple thousand dollars to repair everything!”
“And where am I supposed to get the money for that?” Dave demanded. “Didn’t you just hear me say how I had to sleep in the car? If I had a couple of grand lying around, I wouldn’t have had to do that!”
“That really isn’t my problem! And what happened to all your Vegas winnings?”
Taking a small step back, Dave scrubbed a hand against the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, well…I sort of hit a couple of the smaller casinos on the way home, and…you know…my luck wasn’t as good.”
Finn groaned and then completely seemed to snap. “This is what I’ve been talking about! Everything I tried to get through to you on our trip! You don’t think at all, do you? You just go and do whatever it is you want without even considering the consequences!”
“Consequences? I thought I’d double my money and then I could have a little breathing room so you’d get off my back! It’s not my fault these smaller casinos have shifty dealers! I was ahead by almost a grand when…”
“Do you even hear yourself?” Finn yelled. “It’s not the dealers’ fault, it’s yours! How can you not get that?”
Seemingly ignoring Finn’s question, Dave continued with his own train of thought. “I was up by almost a grand when I started to lose! With all the shit with the damage to the car, I figured if I won enough, I would be able to get it fixed! But that all fell through! I couldn’t get my groove back, and eventually, I got thrown out of the last casino!”
“Dammit, Dave!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…go ahead! Lecture me! Tell me more about what a screwup I am! You know you’re dying to!” Then he glanced over at Grace and frowned. “I’m sure you’ve been having a field day playing the sympathy card with this one. And I’m sure you’ve been filling this bimbo’s head with just how awful I am and how you’re going to beat the crap out of me when you get home! So, bring it on! Show off for the tart!”
Grace knew Finn was at his limit, saw his fists were now completely clenched, but…so was she.
“You son of a bitch!” she cried, storming over and windmill kicking him in the face. Dave stumbled back with a howl of pain right before Finn’s fist connected with his jaw.
“Tart?” she yelled at Dave, who was rolling around on the ground. “Where do you get off calling me a tart? And for that matter, how old are you? A hundred? No one even uses that word anymore!”
“What the hell!” Dave cried. “I think you broke my nose!”
“Good! And I hope Finn broke your jaw too!” Finn gently clasped her shoulder and tried to move her, but she had a lot of restless energy and couldn’t stand still. “What an ass!”
“Okay, okay, killer. You need to calm down.” He turned her to face him, and she was surprised to see him smirking. “Seriously, what was that?”
“What was what?”
“That kick! Where the hell did that even come from?”
“Oh,” she began with a small laugh. “Well…remember when I mentioned how I like to take classes at the gym?”
He nodded.
“Yeah, well…I’ve taken a lot of martial arts classes. Like…a lot.” Winking at him, she added, “And I look super cute in my uniform.”
He laughed softly. “Of course you do.”
“And I do kickboxing too, so…” She shrugged. “And I took some self-defense courses too. Although this is the first time I got to use it in real life, so…yay me!” She did a happy little clap because she felt empowered.
Hugging her close, he said, “You probably shouldn’t be quite so giddy about breaking someone’s nose.” They both looked over at Dave who was just starting to sit up.
“He totally deserved it!” she said with just a hint of defense. “He stole your car and your credit card, Finn! He left you stranded on the other side of the country! And look at your car! I’d say he deserves a heck of a lot more than a kick to the face! And on top of that, he called me a tart! A tart! Seriously, in my entire life, no one has ever called me a tart!”
Dave groaned, and Grace took a menacing move toward him and was glad when he flinched.
Before she could go on, Finn hauled her even closer and covered her lips with his–effectively silencing her. When he lifted his head, he wasn’t smiling or smirking. If anything, his gaze was incredibly serious. “Best tasting tart I ever had.”
And then they both burst out laughing.
“So glad everyone’s having such a great time while I need to go to the emergency room,” Dave said sarcastically as he came to his feet. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and she could tell he was silently counting to ten before commenting. Letting out a long breath, Dave looked sternly between the two of them. “You cannot just go around…kicking people in the face.”
Cocking her hip, she looked at him and felt mildly annoyed that he was basically reprimanding her after everything he’d done. “Oh, really? And you think you can just go around stealing people’s cars and credit cards? How is that okay in your mind?”
“Well…”
“And, how dare you!” she interrupted, ready to fully unload on him again. “Don’t go twisting this around like I’m the one who did something wrong here! This is about you, you loser!” she cried, shaking a finger at Dave.
“Hey!” Dave whined, still holding his nose. “Cheap shot.”
“Shut up!” Finn and Grace both yelled at him.
This was not the way she envisioned her afternoon going. All morning, she imagined she’d drop Finn off, and then she’d talk him into going to lunch–even though they already said they wouldn’t. Then, maybe, she’d ask to see his house. And then maybe, just maybe, she’d find a way to stay one more night. It was nothing more than a delay tactic and she knew it, but…it was what she wanted. It didn’t matter that they agreed on a clean break; she wanted more time, dammit!
“C’mon, guys! I’m bleeding to death here!”
Grace looked over at Finn and saw the resignation in his face and kn
ew…it was time. There wasn’t going to be any lunch, or a house tour, or even one more night.
“You should go,” Finn said quietly. “This isn’t your fight, Grace. And I really should get Dave to the hospital.”
“Maybe I should go with you,” she blurted out. But Finn saw the suggestion for what it was.
Another delay tactic.
Shaking his head, he reached up and caressed her cheek. “No. It’s time.” He paused. “Clean break, remember?”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“I know it’s what we said,” she replied with a slight tremor in her voice. “But if I did break his nose, then I should be the one to take care of the hospital bill.” It was a legit reason even though everything in her screamed to make Dave pay for it himself for being such a jerk. One lone tear trailed down her cheek before Finn’s thumb gently brushed it away. Her breath caught and she wanted to just lean into him, hold him, and not let go.
“Grace.” That was all he said–just her name. But she knew what it meant.
With a curt nod, she took a step back.
And then another.
Turning, she forced herself to walk across the parking lot to the truck. Reaching behind the seat, she went to reach for Finn’s bag, but suddenly he was right there beside her doing it for himself.
It was time for her to go.
This week was nothing more than a detour from her normal life, and as much as she appreciated the time away and the distraction, it wasn’t real.
At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.
And it just made her incredibly sad.
They had said everything they had to say last night, and right now, they both had to get their lives back on track individually. No more leaning on each other. No more distractions.
No more…them.
There was a part of her that was waiting for Finn to stop her–for him to tell her not to go. But he didn’t. If anything, he looked just as sad as Grace knew she did. They walked around to the driver’s side and he opened the door for her. “Finn, I…” but the words died in her throat when her gaze met his.
Yeah, it was time for her to go.
Sitting behind the wheel, she fastened her seatbelt as Finn closed the door. She quickly rolled down the window. He rested his hands on the door as he crouched down slightly to look at her. “Clean break.” And she had to wonder if he was saying that for her or for him. “Have a good flight home, Grace. Be happy.”
Seriously? That was it?
“Finn, I…”
His hands gently tapped the door as he straightened. “Don’t drive the flight attendants crazy, okay?”
And then he turned and walked away, leaving Grace wondering how it was possible for her heart to hurt more right now watching Finn walk away than it had a week ago when she walked away from her own wedding.
9
It was after eight on a Friday night and Finn was bent over the engine of a 2015 Dodge Ram. He was tired and his entire body ached from the long hours he was putting in, but he didn’t have anything else to do. So here he was. Everyone had gone home for the day and he kind of enjoyed having the garage to himself. In the background, he had some Florida Georgia Line playing, and he did his best to convince himself all was well.
This was just a routine tune-up he was doing, and there wasn’t any reason for him to be doing it this late on a Friday night, but it was a good distraction. If he kept himself busy enough, Finn knew he wouldn’t have time to think about all the ways his life was a complete shitshow and how much he’d screwed up. Hell, almost every time he closed his eyes he could still see the look on Grace’s face when he wished her a safe flight. What on earth was he thinking?
Clean break.
Yeah, that was the plan, but more than anything, he had been trying not to make waves. That was always the way he’d been. When things got tough, he was the peacemaker who hated confrontation of any kind. And even though he knew that didn’t quite describe their situation, he was simply trying to hold it together and do the right thing.
Like an idiot.
Still, at the time–at that moment–it was for the best. She really did need to get back to her life in North Carolina and deal with the aftermath of canceling her wedding, and he had to deal with Dave–unfortunately. And as much as he had wanted to take her up on her offer to stay, it was just prolonging the inevitable. Their lives were in different places–literally and figuratively–and until they worked on the things that initially brought them together…well…you could only hide from reality for so long.
The only positive aspect of her leaving was the fact that Dave was safer. She definitely would have kicked his brother in the face again. Or worse.
And he would have totally approved.
Stepping back from the truck, he stretched. There was nothing more he needed to do tonight. His concentration was shit and it was okay to admit he was done. The first order of business was getting something to drink. Then he needed some dinner.
“Did I even eat lunch?” he asked himself, trying to figure out where the day went. His stomach was growling, and now that he thought about it, the last thing he had was a bagel and a cup of coffee at seven this morning.
Walking into the break room, Finn grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and gulped the entire thing down until he got brain freeze. Cursing, he tossed the bottle in the trash and frantically rubbed his forehead before going to wash up.
Off in the distance, he heard someone knocking on the glass door by the reception area. His first thought was that it was Grace coming back to surprise him, but he instantly pushed it aside because he gave her no reason to come back and see him. It had been three weeks and as stubborn as he knew she could be, it bothered him how her stubbornness didn’t extend to fighting for him.
Sighing, he quickly dried his hands and walked out to the reception area where he came up short.
Dave.
Son of a bitch.
Yeah, things had not gone well for Finn and his brother after Grace left. As usual, Dave played the victim and tried to make Finn the bad guy, and when that got him nowhere, he got angry and verbally abusive–also typical. But the icing on the cake was when Finn got home from their trip to the ER and received a call from his father, begging Finn to go easy on Dave.
Talk about the straw that broke the camel’s back…
That led to an argument between Finn and his father, followed by one between him and his mother. They both begged him to cut his brother some slack and then made excuses for Dave. But what had really done it for him was how neither seemed too concerned about all the ways Dave had done him wrong or how his actions had cost him so much.
Finn hadn’t spoken to any of them since.
The scorecard in his head was pretty much full of people not talking to him, and the common denominator for all those problems was standing at his door holding up a bag of takeout.
“Shit,” he muttered, slowly making his way to the door. He unlocked it but didn’t move to let Dave in. No matter how hungry he was or how good the food smelled, he had to stand his ground. “What do you want, Dave?”
Looking somewhat contrite for a change, Dave held up the bag which Finn now realized was from his favorite pub in town. “I saw the light on a little while ago and figured I’d find you here. I brought a peace offering–two barbecue bacon cheeseburgers and an order of crinkle fries. Can we talk?”
Everything in Finn wanted to say no–to tell Dave to go to hell and slam the door in his face–but…he didn’t.
And he was blaming it on being delirious from hunger.
Stepping aside, he motioned for him to come in and then locked the door behind them. “C’mon. We can sit in the break room.” And surprisingly, Dave waited for Finn to lead the way. Once they were there, Dave set the food out on the table and had a seat. Pulling out a chair, Finn sat and reached for a burger. “How’s your face?”
Okay, not the most eloquent way to ask how someone w
as doing, but again, he was blaming his surly mood on hunger.
Dave shrugged. “Everything still kind of hurts, but…it’s healing.”
“Nothing was broken,” Finn reminded him a little sharply. “I would have thought any pain would be gone by now.”
“Me too, but…I don’t know. I guess I’m a slow healer.”
Or just a colossal baby, he thought darkly.
“So what’s up?” he finally asked, although his focus was more on the food he was about to eat than anything else. For a long minute, there was no response, and Finn could see his brother was carefully considering his words and braced himself for whatever BS he was about to be handed.
“I’m sorry I stole your car.”
Say what now?
The burger was midway to his mouth when Finn froze. “Uh…what?”
“I’m sorry I stole your car,” he repeated. “And your credit card.” He let out a long breath and shook his head. “I…I was completely out of line, and at the time, I thought it would be funny, but…I didn’t take into consideration what I was actually doing to you.” Raking a hand through his hair, he leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to pay you back for all of it. I worked out a payment plan so…you know…it won’t be all at once, but you will get it all. Every dime. And just so you know, I talked to Jack over at the body shop and he told me how much the repairs cost so all the numbers I came up with are based on that and the credit card charges.”
Finn shook his head and murmured, “I must be hungrier than I thought and I’m hallucinating.” Without looking at Dave, he took a bite of his burger, groaning at how good it tasted.
“You’re not hallucinating and I’m glad I bought the extra burger,” Dave said, sliding another foil-wrapped burger toward Finn. “Here’s the thing. You have no idea how hard it is to be your brother.”
Tossing his burger down, Finn snorted with disgust. “I knew it! I knew this was somehow going to be my fault!” Standing, he kicked his chair out from behind him. “Why can’t you–just for once–take responsibility for your actions?”
Drive Me Crazy: Road Tripping Series Page 15
