you as his mother and the EMT quickly ushered him away from me.
When I called the diner, Pim answered and admitted they were too busy for delivery. I placed a large order of burgers and sandwiches and headed out to pick them up. On the way back to town, I called Tess to give her a quick update so she would know where I was and why Shawn might get called in.
“As long as Finn’s okay?” she asked.
“He’s just a bit banged up. I think it terrified him, though. He looked pretty spooked, and so did the two production assistants who saw it happen.”
“Why doesn’t he use a stunt double? It doesn’t make any sense.” I appreciated her concern and completely agreed. But I also understood how he’d gotten himself into his predicament. He’d been treated like a child for so long, and rock climbing was one of the activities that made him feel competent. To be an accomplished rock climber and let someone else film your rock climbing scenes would be hard to bear.
“It’s a long story. Everything okay with you and the baby?” I asked her.
“Yep. This little monster is on a salad kick which is probably a good thing. Tell Finn if he wants a couch potato buddy to watch movies with, I’m his gal.”
“I will. Call or text if you need me, okay?”
“Declan?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t have to be everyone’s person, you know.”
She knew how hard that would be for me to hear regardless of how right she was. “What if I want to?” I teased her. I knew she didn’t mean to imply I shouldn’t be there for Finn. She was more selfless than that.
“I’m just saying, I’m okay for a while. Go be with Finn. He needs you. Besides, your friend Truman brought over a basket of fresh veggies from his garden and asked if I wanted to come hang out at his spice shop this evening. He’s doing some kind of seminar on homeopathic stuff for preggos and new parents. He said it’s a good place to connect with other Aster Vallians who are… what did he call it?… ‘harboring a fugitive.’” Her laugh rang out and made me smile. “I forgot to tell you that. I died laughing. He’s freaking adorable.”
When I arrived at the diner, I quickly ended the call and made my way inside to pick up the food. Solo was finishing packing everything up at the front counter.
“Hey, Sheriff,” he said with a smile. “Your crew at the station are going to love you today.”
“I’m off duty,” I said. “Taking it to Finn and some folks up at the lodge.”
He glanced over where Pim was busy taking someone’s order. He lowered his voice. “Ah. Well, tell him I said we’re on for another session on Wednesday night.”
“I’ll let him know. Hey, Solo? You’ve been doing some odd jobs for Mrs. Brainthwaite. Any chance you know what’s going on with her car?”
He looked at me in confusion as he swiped my credit card through the machine. “What do you mean? Is it acting up? I’m not really good with mechanical stuff about cars.”
“No, nothing like that. I keep meaning to ask you about this. Her car has been taken out of her driveway several times and left around town. She said sometimes she loans it to you…”
Suddenly, Solo’s face widened in fear. “Sheriff Stone, you have to know I would never, ever use her car without permission. I promise.”
I shook my head and tried reassuring him. “No. Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you took it. I was only wondering if there’d been a misunderstanding or anything.”
He pursed his lip for a minute while my receipt printed out. He slid it with a pen over for my signature. “Are you sure… I mean… she’s kinda getting up there. And sometimes she gets a little confused? I wonder if maybe she’s forgetting loaning it to someone else or… I don’t know. But I told my dads about a time earlier this summer when she called me the wrong name. They said it sometimes happens when you get older, but it seems like it’s happening more and more.”
Shit. I was going to have to figure out how to handle a delicate situation. But I was glad Solo didn’t have anything to do with the joyrides. When Finn had mentioned him wanting a car, I hadn’t known what to think.
“Okay, I’ll handle it. Thanks.” I picked up the big bags of takeout containers. “And tell