The Comeback Kiss (8 page)

Tessa shrugged. “
For this town? Not so much.”

“
I bet she
’
ll want to give Finn a reward. You know, for saving the place. Is he going to be in town for a while, do you kno
w?”

Tessa forced a tight-lipped smile. “
I really don
’
t know.”
And I
’
m not conflicted at all about it.
“
Can I get you anything else?”

Astrid
’
s disappointment registered on her face, and she sat back. “
No, thanks, hon. I think I
’
ll be working on this coffee
for a while.”

Tessa nodded and glanced back at the counter, where Max Finnegan stood punching buttons on the register. Max was her boss, Finn
’
s uncle, and possibly the crankiest man in the state of Vermont. He
’
d reacted to the news of Finn
’
s return the sam
e way he reacted to everything
—
one shake of his white-haired head and a rude grumble under his breath. Tessa could tell that Finn
’
s return was hitting Max hard; she
’
d known the man her entire life, and she knew when he was really upset and when he was jus
t
being Max.

She also knew that he
’
d never admit to being upset, so there was no point in directly addressing anything. She slid casually behind the counter and started to refill her carafe.

“
Get outta here, Tess,”
Max grunted. “
Your shift was over an hour
ago.”

“
That
’
s okay,”
she said. “
I can hang out for a while.”

“
Did I sound like I was asking?”

She leaned one hip against the counter. “
Don
’
t know. Been a while since I
’
ve heard you ask politely for anything. What
’
s it sound like?”

Max turned to her, his b
lue eyes narrowing at her. Apparently, despite her best efforts to be casually rude, he
’
d sensed her sympathy. “
Go home.”

“
Fine.”
She jerked the strings on her apron loose. “
Remind me not to try and help you next time.”

“
If I have to remind you, I
’
ll fire
you,”
he grumbled, then grabbed the carafe and brushed past her to go refill the PTA ladies
’
coffee.

Tessa hesitated for a moment as she watched Max with the PTA ladies. She didn
’
t want to leave him in case Finn showed up, but she knew from experience that
at times of emotional intensity, Max liked to be left alone.

She pushed against the swinging door and stepped into the kitchen just as a short girl with a shoulder-length black bob, severe bangs, and dark eye makeup skipped into the kitchen through the ba
ck door. It took a moment for Tessa to recognize her sister, and when she did, she practically dropped her apron.

“
Iz?”
she sputtered. “
What
—
what
—
what... ?”
Tessa put her hand to her forehead and tried not to imagine her sister
’
s curly golden locks lying o
n the basement floor in the home of one of Izzy
’
s crazy friends. “
It
’
s a wig, right? Tell me it
’
s a wig. Even if you
’
re lying. Please lie to me, Iz.”

“
It
’
s a wig, you freak,”
Izzy said, cracking her gum and giving Tessa one of her trademark light-up-the-r
oom smiles. “
I
’
m trying out my flapper look for the Come As You Aren
’
t Ball on Saturday night.”
She put her hands on her hips and gave Tessa a cutesy wink. “
You like?”

“
Oh, hell,”
Tessa whined. “
You
’
re going to that thing?”

“
Um, yeah,”
Izzy said. “
I told
you last month. Sosie
’
s aunt Grace is organizing it. It
’
s to raise money to renovate the old covered bridge on Morning Road. Or maybe it
’
s for the library? I don
’
t know. It
’
s for a good cause, though. Baby ducks?”
Izzy thought for a moment, then shrugged.
“
Whatever. I
’
m sure I told you about it.”

“
No,”
Tessa said. “
You didn
’
t. Now I have to chaperone. You know they
’
re gonna make me bring the punch. I always get stuck with the punch.”

“
Then don
’
t chaperone,”
Izzy said. “
I
’
m going with Sosie, her aunt and unc
le will be there, and we
’
re not even planning to start smoking the crack and fondling the boys until later on, so your time will be best spent staking out the alley behind the VFW afterward.”
Izzy grinned and cracked her gum again. “
And, hey, with the all
e
y? No punch. Although I believe it is BYO crack pipe.”

Tessa quirked one eyebrow at her sister. “
Don
’
t be a wiseass.”

“
But speaking of needing a chaperone, dear sister,”
Izzy said, her eyes wide with glee, “
what
’
s this I hear about you making out with Derm
ot Finnegan behind the drugstore this morning?”

Oh, for Christ
’
s sake.
“
We weren
’
t making out. And how did you hear about that, anyway?”

Izzy pulled out a cherry red lipstick and ducked her head so she could see her reflection in the bottom of a hanging po
t.

“
Melissa Moss was in there this morning
—
buying a pregnancy test, like she needs one. She does that every month like everybody doesn
’
t know she
’
s a virgin and as if anybody cares. Anyway, she saw you guys through the window. It was all over the school by
second period so I
’
m guessing when you get home, the answering machine will be a smoking, charred shell of what it once was.”
She pulled away from the pot and smacked her lips, then casually retracted the lipstick back into the tube. “
Speaking of smoking
and charred, what
’
s the word on Vickie
’
s shop?”

Tessa shrugged. “
Office fire. That
’
s all I know. I
’
m just glad you
’
re not working there anymore.”

Izzy shifted on her feet, a strange expression on her face. “
They don
’
t know how it started? Seems kinda weird
.”

“
Yeah,”
Tessa said. Weird didn
’
t begin to describe the events of that morning. “
So, how was Margie
’
s?”

Izzy shrugged. “
Fine.”

“
And your grades?”

“
Excellent.”

“
Good, because the moment your grades slip
—”

“
You
’
re making me go back to full days at school
and blah blah nag blah.”
Izzy gave Tessa a look that was both irritated and loving. “
You do know why all the adults on Charlie Brown sound like that, don
’
t you?”

Tessa crossed the kitchen and hung her apron up on the pegs by the door. “
Because the rotten
kids they
’
re responsible for have made them clinically insane?”

Izzy gave a short laugh, then leaned casually over the butcher-block island in the middle of the kitchen. “
So... is Finn really a private detective like everyone says? That
’
s so cool.”

Tessa w
atched her sister for a moment. She
’
d learned a long time ago to be wary whenever Izzy was casual. “
Yeah,”
she said. “
He is.”

Izzy nodded. “
And when do I get to see the man who steamed off my sister
’
s panties in broad daylight?”

“
A: The state of my panties
are none of your business; and B: Never.”

“
Big party poop.”
Izzy grinned at Tessa, then her smile dimmed a bit as she glanced toward the door to the dining area. “
How
’
s Max doing?”

Tessa shrugged. “
He
’
s Max.”

Izzy nodded. “
Well, I
’
m starving. I
’
m gonna go
scam a burger and fries for me and Sosie.”

“
Sosie?”

“
Yeah,”
Izzy said, rolling her eyes. “
She
’
s meeting me here so we can pretend to study for our history test but really talk about boys. I told you
—”

Tessa held up her hand. “
Yeah, yeah, I remember. Just
don
’
t be home too late, okay?”

Izzy grinned, jaunted across the kitchen, and launched the door to the dining area open with her hip. “
And you and me? Are
so
gonna talk later.”

She blew a kiss to Tessa and disappeared. Tessa stared as the door flapped back
and forth in her sister
’
s wake, wondering what the kid was up to. Typically, Izzy
’
s brand of trouble was a lot like Tessa
’
s had been. All about the fun, no thought for the consequences. But something in Izzy
’
s face had set off a warning bell in Tessa
’
s he
a
d, and she
’
d learned long ago that instinct was the only thing that counted for anything in parenting.

Or sistering. Whatever it was she
’
d been doing for the last ten years.

She grabbed her coat from a peg at the back of the kitchen and pushed out through
the side door into the crisp day. The sun was bright enough to make her squint but did little to ward off the harsh chill of the Vermont winter. She stuffed her hand in her pocket and ran her fingers over the set of keys there. She heard a noise behind he
r
and her heart skipped a beat as she twirled around, giving no time for her brain to shut down the fervent wish that she
’
d find Finn standing there.

But no one was there. A staccato breeze kicked a plastic bag down the alley between the diner and Astrid
’
s
Laundry and Dry Cleaning. Tessa stuffed her hand back in her pocket.

Finn wasn
’
t coming back. He was running away again.

Which was a good, good thing.

She was almost sure of it.

***

Finn
’
s eyes flew open and for a disorienting moment he had no idea where
he was. Then his focus gripped on the features of Lowery
’
s old shack
—
the shelf with various canned goods, the hodgepodge series of pots and pans hanging from rusty nails in the wall, the old woodstove shooting out warmth from the corner of the room
—
and t
h
e surreality of the past day came rushing back. He sighed, laid back again, and rested his arm on his forehead.