The Comeback Kiss (46 page)

“
Hey,”
he said, giving Babs a weak smile that was not at all up to Finn
’
s usual standards. Something had gone horrib
ly, horribly wrong. And so soon after it all seemed to be going so right.

Oh, Finn,
she thought.
You abominable putz.

Finn zipped up his pack and threw it over his shoulder.

“
Hey, look,”
he said. “
The rental car is at Riker
’
s. I left it there last night. I
’
m gonna hike on out and get it, and then it
’
s gonna be time to go.”

“
What?”
Izzy said. “
You
’
re leaving? Why?”

Finn smiled at her. “
Tarpey
’
s confessed, kid. You
’
re safe, I
’
m outta here. That was the deal.”

“
No,”
Izzy said. “
I
’
m the boss here. I
’
m the one w
ho hired you. I should get to say when you leave.”

Finn let out a breath and honestly, Babs had never seen him look more miserable. He looked up at Izzy and tried to smile.

“
Deal
’
s done, Angel Face.”

Izzy looked from Babs to Finn, then stomped her feet and
tore up the stairs to her room. Finn watched her, his emotions raw on his face in a way she
’
d never seen before.

He turned to Babs. “
You gonna be ready to go in about an hour?”

“
No, actually.”

Finn raised his eyebrows, looking surprised. “
What?”

Babs pul
led on a bright smile. “
I
’
m staying. I spoke to Tessa about it last night before she went out looking for you. She
’
s going to rent me her mother
’
s room, and I
’
m going to work at the diner.”

For a moment, Finn
’
s expression of misery was replaced by one of t
otal surprise.

“
So, you
’
re gonna live here?”

“
Yes,”
Babs said. “
The penthouse belongs to Bryson
’
s partners, anyway, and the money from his insurance will certainly stretch farther here than in New York. I
’
ve been thinking about going for a while now; I jus
t didn
’
t know where I wanted to go, until I came here.”
She smiled. “
And I think there are things I can do here.”

Finn let out a halfhearted laugh. “
Yeah, you fit right in here. But you manage to do that everywhere.”

Wow. That was an oddly genuine thing fo
r Finn to say. If there was any doubt in Babs
’
s mind about what happened last night, it was gone.

“
I
’
ll miss you,”
she said quietly. “
When I made the plans, I half thought you
’
d be staying, too.”

“
Well, you half thought wrong,”
he said. “
I
’
m not a small-to
wn guy. The pace here is a little slow for me.”

“
Now that
’
s a crock of crap if ever I heard one. You
’
ve been happier in the last few days here than you ever were in New York.”

“
Yeah, well...”
His expression tightened, and he looked back at Babs. “
I
’
ll ret
urn the car for you, and uh, you give a call when you
’
re in the city next, okay?”

Babs was surprised at how potent her sadness was at the thought of her redheaded thief going away. “
You won
’
t be coming back to say good-bye?”

Finn shook his head, let out a
bitter laugh. “
I think I
’
ve said it.”

“
All right, then,”
Babs said. She moved closer, put her hands on either side of his face, and pulled him down so she could kiss his forehead. She wanted to tell him he was a good man, that she believed in him, that she
knew he would do well, but instead she just smiled and said, “
I
’
ll miss you.”

Finn smiled, started toward the door. Behind Babs, the kitchen door swung open and Wallace came darting out. Finn looked down at him.

“
What? You
’
re coming with me?”
He paused fo
r a moment, then looked up at Babs. “
Guess he
’
s coming with me.”

Babs watched, unsmiling, as Finn made his way to the door. He paused for a moment, cursed under his breath, then walked back and grabbed the macaw cage. Babs raised an eyebrow.

“
I don
’
t have
a job at the moment,”
he said. “
Tell Vickie that I
’
ll pay her back. Tell Tessa...”
He shook his head. “
Tell Tessa I stole it.”

“
You
are
stealing it,”
Babs said.

Finn let out a harsh laugh and nodded. He met Babs
’
s eyes, gave a wan smile, and left.

Babs sto
od there for a few moments, then marched up the stairs and pushed open the door to Izzy
’
s room.

Izzy flipped over from where she was lying on her stomach and set her feet on the floor. She sniffled and rubbed at her eyes.

“
Is he gone?”
she asked.

Babs shut
the door behind her. “
Yeah.”

Izzy nodded, her pain clear on her face. Babs walked over and sat down next to her on the bed.

“
You know, New York isn
’
t that far away,”
Babs said quietly. “
We could go visit. See a Broadway play. Do some shopping.”

Izzy
’
s chi
n twitched.

“
She was almost happy,”
she said, a tear tracking down her cheek. “
I just wanted her to be happy so bad. She
’
s given up everything for me and she was almost...”

Babs pulled Izzy into her arms and let the child cry on her shoulder for a minute.
But just for a minute.

“
You know, sweetheart,”
she said, pulling back a bit from Izzy, “
it
’
s one thing to express sad feelings. It
’
s another thing to indulge them.”

Izzy nodded, swiped at her face, and straightened her posture. “
Okay.”

Babs tucked her inde
x finger under the girl
’
s chin. “
I
’
ve got an errand to run right now, and I
’
d really love it if you
’
d come with me.”

Izzy gave a soft smile and sniffed. “
Sure. Where are we going?”

Babs stood up and held out her hand. “
To the post office. I
’
m expecting a f
ax from a friend, and with any luck, it
’
ll stir things up a bit.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Finn sat in Babs
’
s parked rental car, staring through the windshield straight ahead as he white-knuckled the steering wheel. His view wasn
’
t great; mostly the ivy tha
t clung to the brick walls of Village Pizza, which jutted up against the parking lot at Max
’
s. He looked to his left, through the length of the parking lot to Max
’
s Diner.

Just go, you idiot,
Wallace said from the seat next to him.

Finn shot the dog a look
. “
You know, there are a thousand ways to get rid of a dog in New York City, and a lot of
’
em are painful.”

Go,
Wallace said, turning around twice in the front seat before lying down, snout on his paws.

Finn sighed, undid his seat belt, and got out of the
car. Every step toward the diner, he had to resist the urge to go back, but eventually, he was there, his hand on the doorknob.

He just couldn
’
t turn it. He
’
d sworn he
’
d die before setting foot in that diner and...

Oh, fuck it. It wasn
’
t like he was a man
of his word, anyway.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside. The gregarious morning chitchat came to a sudden halt, and all that was left was “
All My Exes Live in Texas,”
playing on the crackly old radio. Pammy, one of the waitresses who had been a fix
ture at Max
’
s Diner forever, froze with the last plate for a table of four in her hand. The woman who ordered the eggs had to grab the plate and place it on the table herself.

“
Hey,”
Finn said, giving a short wave to the crowd.

A few people said hello, one
or two men nodded, and then Abigail Husteff got up and threw herself into Finn
’
s arms, sobbing.

“
Thank you so much,”
she said. “
I never would have been able to afford Mr. Peabody
’
s leukemia treatments if it wasn
’
t for you.”

Finn reached one arm up and gav
e her a few awkward pats on the back, then looked to her girlfriend, Cindy Simes, who mouthed the word “
cat.”

Finn cursed under his breath. He wanted to tell them all he was no hero, that it was Tessa; it had all been Tessa.

But he couldn
’
t. Instead, he pa
tted Abigail on the shoulder again. “
Yeah. Hey. No problem.”

A moment later, Cindy huffed, got up, and peeled Abigail off Finn, giving him a grateful smile as she guided Abigail back to their table. Finn glanced around the room, and they were all looking a
t him with that mixture of happiness at seeing him, and genuine gratitude. He smiled back at them.

“
Yeah, um,”
he said. “
Is Max here?”

Pammy, who had regained herself sometime during the scene with Abigail, pointed toward the kitchen. Finn nodded, gave one
last wave to the crowd, and curled around the counter to get to the kitchen door.

And there was Max. His hair was a little whiter, his build a little stockier, and when he turned around the cranky-old-fucker lines had etched even deeper between Ms eyebrow
s, but it was Max.

And it felt good to see him. Somehow, Finn had never imagined this moment without physical threats and kitchen utensils being used as weapons. But both he and Max stood there, perfectly quiet. The old clock on the wall ticked loudly as t
hey stared at each other, and then finally Max spoke.

“
You
’
re okay, then?”

Finn felt a huge lump in his throat, and tried to swallow it down. “
Yeah. I
’
m okay. You?”

Max gave a curt nod. Finn took a deep breath.

“
Look, I
’
m on my way out of town...”
he began.

There was a slight change in Max
’
s expression, but Finn couldn
’
t quite read it.

“
Back to Las Vegas, then?”

“
No, actually,”
Finn said, smiling lightly. “
I thought I
’
d try New York.”

Max
’
s brows rose a touch. “
Oh, yeah? Pretty close by, then?”