The Comeback Kiss (28 page)

It wa
s a chick.

Finn considered this for a second. “
What did she look like?”

I don
’
t know.
Wallace yawned.
You all look alike to me.

Finn stood up, ran his thumb and forefinger over his eyes. “
I can
’
t believe I
’
m talking to a fucking dog.”

Whatever, man,
the do
g said. He looked at the package of dog food, then back up at Finn.
You planning on using that as a doorstop, or were you gonna feed me eventually?

Finn grabbed the food and stood up. Wallace hopped up and followed him, tail wagging, panting happily, just
like a normal dog. Finn got a bowl from the cupboard and filled it with food. Wallace dug into it happily. Just like a normal dog. Which meant that if anything here was abnormal, it was probably him.

Which came as no surprise.

Chapter Fourteen

Tessa rol
led over in her bed, her arm flopping over the other side, which was empty. Confused, she opened one eye.

Nope. Definitely empty.

She rolled over onto her back, closed her eyes again, and in a moment, he was there again, next to her in the bed. He kissed h
er gently, his hand running through her hair and sending shivers through her.

“
You know I love you, don
’
t you?”
he said.

She pulled back and looked at him.

“
You stole my car,”
she said.

“
I brought it back.”

“
After ten years.”

He nodded. “
Yeah. What does th
at tell you?”

He moved his hand down her shoulder, over her breast, down to her stomach. She sighed.

“
That you
’
re the world
’
s worst procrastinator?”
she said.

He laughed, picked up her hand, kissed the palm. She felt waves of heat break over her down to he
r toes.

“
I need you to know,”
he said, staring into her eyes. “
That I love you.”

“
Why?”
she asked, her voice quivering, but she knew the answer before he said it.

“
Because I can
’
t stay with you,”
he said. “
We both know that.”

“
Why not?”
she asked.

He pulle
d his hand away from her. She reached for him, but the bed seemed to grow bigger, the space between them too wide.

“
Five tomatoes for a dollar,”
he said.

“
What?”
she said. She pushed herself up, tried to crawl across the bed, but it was too big. He laid on
his back, his hands behind his head, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

“
Finn,”
she said. “
Don
’
t go away again.”

He turned to look at her. “
I
’
m already gone, babe.”

And then the fire alarm went off and she shot up in bed to find it was its normal size, an
d empty. She blinked a few times, the shock of the sound and the smell of something burning wrenching her from her dream into the real world. It took another moment before her brain processed all the signals.

Fire.

She jolted out of bed and ran across the
hall to Izzy
’
s room. Empty. She ran into her mother
’
s room, where Babs was staying.

Empty. But the bed was made. Points for Babs.

She ran down the stairs, the air getting smokier as she went. Her heart calmed when she heard voices in the kitchen and recogn
ized the smell: burned bacon.

Izzy must have tried to cook again.

She threw the front door open and pulled open the window in the living room before going into the kitchen. There, she found Babs standing on a stool, trying to turn off the smoke detector.

“
You have to hit it with something,”
Izzy yelled over the screaming alarm.

Babs nodded and looked around. Tessa grabbed an old can of SpaghettiOs out of the cabinet and tossed it to Babs. Babs caught it in one hand, and smashed it against the smoke detector
, which screeched out one final wheezing complaint before the face popped off and swung lazily from exposed wires. Izzy hooted and clapped as Babs gracefully stepped down from the stool and tossed the dusty and dented can into the garbage.

“
Well, it seems
my family curse is still in full effect,”
Babs said, glancing behind her at the hissing pan in the sink. Tessa leaned over and saw a few blackened pieces of bacon floating in oil-slicked water. Babs clapped her hands together and grinned. “
No matter. I
’
ll
beat it eventually. What do you girls say I take you to Max
’
s for breakfast?”

Tessa looked at the clock on the wall; it was 7:18 in the morning. “
You know, if you could take Izzy, that would be great.”
She tugged at the hem of her oversized Spin Doctors co
ncert T-shirt. “
I really need to take a shower, and then I
’
ve got to get in for the lunch and dinner shifts
—”

“
No, you don
’
t, actually,”
Babs said, putting one arm around Tessa
’
s shoulders. “
Max and I decided that I could take your shifts for a few days. W
ell, I decided more than he did, but I think he
’
ll take the news just fine.”
She shared a conspiratorial look with Izzy. “
And I believe you have some shopping to do.”

Tessa looked back and forth between them. They were both smiling. This couldn
’
t be good.

“
Shopping?”
she said. “
For what?”

“
The Come As You Aren
’
t Ball, of course.”
At Tessa
’
s blank look, Babs gave her a squeeze. “
Saturday night. It
’
s the benefit for the library.”

“
Or the ducks,”
Izzy said.

Babs grinned. “
Oh, the ducks. Now, who doesn
’
t want t
o help the ducks?”
She linked her arm through Tessa
’
s. “
You should come with us. I
’
m going to go as a Goth chick, can you imagine?”
She threw a wink at Izzy. “
It was Izzy
’
s idea.”

Tessa shook her head. “
I think I
’
ll pass.”

Babs and Izzy shared another look
, with Izzy
’
s clearly saying, “
I told you so.”

“
Well, okay, darling. If you insist, it
’
s your choice.”
She released Tessa and stretched out her hand to Izzy. “
Looks like it
’
s you and me, kid.”

Izzy stood up and let Babs guide her out of the kitchen. Tessa
watched them walk out together, her throat tightening with conflicting emotions as Izzy happily headed out with Babs. On the one hand, it was a relief to have someone else taking care of Izzy. On the other hand, how come it was so easy for Babs? Why didn
’
t
Izzy argue with her? Why did they get to share conspiratorial winks when Tessa was only partially friend, mostly warden?

How was it that Babs was there for one day and already she was mothering Izzy better than Tessa had in the past ten years?

Tessa flew
out after them, catching them in the foyer just as they opened the door. She grabbed Izzy
’
s backpack and held it while Izzy finished shrugging into her coat.

“
Don
’
t forget to be at school by 8:05. If you
’
re late
—”

Izzy grabbed the pack and made a face. “
I
know, I know.”

“
Don
’
t worry, Tessa,”
Babs said. “
I
’
ll take her in myself.”

Izzy grabbed Babs
’
s arm. “
Oh! Oh! Can I drive?”

Babs raised one eyebrow at Tessa. “
Can she?”

Tessa smiled at Babs, appreciating the deference. “
I hope you
’
re insured.”

Izzy squealed
and bounced down the front steps. Babs tucked Tessa
’
s arm in hers and leaned her head against Tessa
’
s.

“
She
’
s a lovely girl,”
she said. “
You
’
ve done an incredible job.”
She pulled back and looked at Tessa. “
You enjoy your day off.”
She started out, then t
urned suddenly.

“
Oh! I almost forgot; there
’
s a note for you on the sofa,”
she said, her eyes twinkling for a moment before she followed Izzy down the porch steps.

Tessa watched until they pulled out of sight. Slowly, she shut the door, then went to the so
fa and picked up the folded piece of paper with
‘
Tessa”
scribbled on the front in Finn
’
s handwriting. She ran her fingertips over the scrawl, and deja vu fell over her as she remembered all the notes he
’
d written her when they were kids.

But that was then.
This was now. And they weren
’
t kids anymore. Squelching the warm feeling, she unfolded the note and read it.

T
—

Hope you slept well. I had to go see a man about a horse. Or something like that. I don
’
t really know what that means. If it
’
s something bad, l
et
’
s pretend I never said it.

Tessa smiled.

Thanks for letting me crash. I
’
ll be back to confer with my client after she gets home from school, assuming she
’
s managed to go that long without getting into any major trouble. If she has, give her some milk an
d cookies, on me. Samoas if you have
’
em.

As for you, get to work on that mole, damnit.

Always,

F.

Tessa let out a light laugh and pressed the note to her chest before she realized that she was acting like a love-struck teenager. Which was ridiculous. She
folded the note, walked over to the coatrack, and tucked it in her purse. At that moment, the doorbell rang, and she gave a startled yelp and jumped back.

“
Oh, no,”
a high-pitched, saccharine voice came through the door. “
I hope I didn
’
t startle you.”

You
’
ve gotta be kidding me,
Tessa thought, then pulled the door open. She blinked twice, not believing her eyes at first.

But no. It was definitely Mary Ellen Neeley, social-working troll from hell, standing on her porch, clutching her brown leather padfolio t
o her chest and looking like righteousness warmed over.

“
Tessa!”
Mary Ellen stepped inside and gave Tessa one of her big, pseudo-warm hugs. Pseudo-warm because Mary Ellen was all of ninety-eight pounds and couldn
’
t manage a body temperature of over sixty d
egrees in the middle of July, and also because Mary Ellen Neeley, with all her bright smiles and white teeth and curly blonde froth hair and soft-spoken manner, was possibly the most insincere person ever to walk the planet.

Still, Tessa hugged her back be
cause Mary Ellen was her lifeline to keeping Izzy, and if that meant faking affection for the popsicle-stick troll, then that
’
s what she
’
d do.