Hold Me Close (Ryker Falls #5) - Wendy Vella Page 0,40
would. I just don’t know why.”
Fin battled with what he knew. Battled with the promise he’d made not to tell anyone about how she’d reacted in the bank and on the road.
Rarely did he keep secrets from Joe, and that burned inside him. Especially one as big as this.
“Let’s head to the stables and get a beer,” Jack said. He and Luke left, and Joe jumped in with Fin in his cruiser.
“How’s everything with your family?” Joe asked.
“Shit, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to interfere, and this is your business to deal with, Fin, but I met them when I dropped some stuff at the lodge.”
“What stuff?”
“Stuff. I met them at reception.”
“I’ve already told Maggie to keep out of this, Joe. I’m telling you too.”
“And I respect that, really I do, but you’re my friend and I worry about you.”
“No need to worry about this or me.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No, and we’re never discussing this. Now, do you want to know about Maggs or not?”
“What? Since when do you keep stuff from me?”
“I had an ingrown hair this morning, right— “
“Okay, right, some things we don’t share.” Joe raised a hand. “And this family thing, you need to talk I’m your man.”
“I won’t.”
Fin drove slowly down the road and told Joe what he knew about Maggs. Starting with the bank robbery and her reaction.
“And you think it was way more than just a scared reaction?”
“I do. It struck me that what was happening was triggering a memory inside her.”
“Like PTSD?” Joe asked.
“Yeah. Same thing on the road when we heard that bomb from the military base.”
Joe whistled.
“There’s more.” He told Joe about the scar on her arm too.
“Christ, what the hell happened to her over there?” Joe looked grim now.
“I don’t know, but I think it’s likely it’s connected to what happened in that shooting.”
“The one she told Bailey she wasn’t hurt in, and all was good?”
“Yup.”
“Well, hell.”
“So watch her, okay? We both need to watch over her now,” Fin added.
“That’s a given, and I have to tell Bailey.”
“I knew you would.”
“It’s how we work, Fin.”
“Understand that, and Bailey can maybe get Maggs to talk.”
“If anyone can, it’s my wife. She just sits there staring at you silently until you break. It’s a skill, bud. She can get me to tell her anything.”
“That’s pathetic. Man the fuck up. Seriously, you should have that shit under control by now.”
Joe’s smile was slow but it filled his face.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have that under control. I wake every day wondering what I did right to have her come back into my life.”
“It’s a beautiful thing, what you two have,” Fin said. “You both deserve it after such a shit start in life.”
“Thanks, and yes, it is beautiful.”
“Do we hug or something now?”
“No, we’re good. So your folks—”
“Still not going there, Joe.”
“Come on, man, you’ve been through all kinds of hell with me. I just want to help you. You know that don’t you? This is not about them, it’s about you.”
“My dad’s an asshole.”
“This much I’ve heard before, and that your mom passed away when you were a teenager.”
“Why the sudden interest now?” Fin hunched his shoulders liked he always did when his family was mentioned. It was an itch between his shoulder blades he couldn’t quite reach.
“Not sudden at all, but now that my life is filled with love and harmony, I find I want the same for you.”
“That’s nauseating, and besides, I thought you said Ella did her business all over you and Bailey in the early hours of morning?”
“Well sure, but that’s just part of the deal.”
“Deal?”
“The parenting gig. You take the sweet with the sour.”
“Or shit, as the case may be.”
“The point here is, Fin—”
“So pleased there is a point,” Fin muttered.
“That you’re holding on to a crapload of angst from your past which is stopping you from moving forward. If you don’t want your family in your life that’s your deal, but if it’s messing with you maybe you need to talk to someone about it.”
Joe had hit the nail on the head, it was and always had, messed with him, but he wasn’t admitting anything. “Bailey came up with that.”
“I’m intuitive!”
Fin snorted.
“Oh look, we’re here,” Fin said parking the truck. “Sorry, bud, no time to continue on with this conversation.” Fin leaped out as soon as he parked the truck.