Totally His Page 19

  Angie nodded. “But it’s a loan.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “He wrote IOUs,” Angie said.

  “Oh, that will—” Sophie broke off. “IOUs. As in more than one?”

  “Three.”

  “You gave Frank money three times?” Sophie asked. This was completely out of control.

  “He has some things he needs to do, and he said he can’t ask you or take it out of the business, with the fire and everything. He knows that you’re working hard to raise the money to fix up the theater.”

  Sophie couldn’t believe it. He’d taken half the insurance money that would have repaired the theater, but he was using the fire as a reason to borrow money from Angie.

  The bastard.

  “Angie, Frank doesn’t need your money.”

  “He has plans. Something he’s working on that will make things better for you, honey.”

  Sophie rubbed the middle of her forehead as the ache there intensified. “No, he’s not. He always uses me to get close to people, Angie. I’ve told you about my stepmoms. Every time, I was one of the reasons they thought they could trust him, or thought they couldn’t throw him out, or forgave him. He took the insurance money from the fire,” she told her. “And he gets money from the theater once a month. Half of it.”

  “I know he’s your partner,” Angie said.

  In the very loosest on-paper sense of the word only. “Yes. And considering he hasn’t paid a bill in more than a decade, he certainly shouldn’t need money from you.”

  “If he’s trying to do something good for you, something that will help you, then I have to support that, Sophie,” Angie said. “If I can help you reconcile, even a little, with your father, it will be worth it.”

  Sophie’s exasperation boiled over. “Angie, don’t be so naive! I don’t want to reconcile with him! This is why Frank wanted to get close to you and asked you for money. He can spot a victim a mile away.”

  Angie looked as if Sophie had just slapped her. Sophie stood breathing hard and fighting tears. She could argue that her hurting Angie was Frank’s fault too, that he’d put her in this position, but she was the one who’d said the words. And if it opened her eyes and made her more careful around Frank, then Sophie couldn’t regret it, even if it hurt Angie’s feelings.

  Finally Angie gave her a nod. “I’ll just leave these here.” She set the papers she’d been carrying on Sophie’s desk and then turned and left.

  Sophie flinched as she heard the theater door shut a moment later.

  Then she made her way to the door and carefully turned the lock.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Finn let himself into the theater with the key Sophie had made him, followed the pumping bass of the music—Iron Maiden, if he wasn’t mistaken—and found Sophie was beating the hell out of her kickboxing bag. She was breathing hard and sweating, so he assumed she’d been at it awhile. She wasn’t feeling soft or sweet today, clearly.

  They weren’t having rehearsal tonight because the firefighters had drills, but he’d figured Tony and Angel could get some one-on-one time in. He’d hoped Finn and Sophie could too. But then he’d talked to his mom. She and Sophie had had an argument. Their first ever. He’d headed straight over after hearing that.

  As he propped a shoulder in the doorway to watch, he realized that she wasn’t completely steady on her feet and about every fourth punch didn’t land square—or on the bag at all.

  She dropped her arms after one of those misses and reached for the bottle of vodka on the corner of her desk. He watched as she tipped it back, no glass needed. She noticed him as she swallowed. And instead of acting startled, she frowned and set the bottle down hard.

  “You had a beer with my dad?”

  Well, that had been bound to come up at some point. Angie hadn’t told him everything, but she’d said that Sophie was upset about Frank being at the barbecue the other night and Angie loaning him money. Hell, Finn had been upset about Frank being at the barbecue. Finn had worked that night, so hadn’t been there himself, but he’d heard all about it. How funny Frank was, how easily he’d fit in with everyone, how they now couldn’t wait to meet Sophie, and all about how they couldn’t believe Angie hadn’t introduced her to them a long time ago.

  So much for their plan to keep her away from the family.

  He should have known better. Maybe on some level he had. He hadn’t been shocked to learn that Frank had ended up on Joe’s couch. Or that Joe was enjoying having a roommate. He hadn’t been shocked to find Frank was invited to the barbecue either, once he’d thought about it.

  And in spite of himself, Finn found himself smiling about it. His family was loud, and frustrating, and downright obnoxious sometimes, but it was also warm, and loving, and accepting, and generous. And yeah, okay, maybe deep down he’d thought Frank Birch could use a little of all of that. If anyone could make a man want to do better, it was the Kellys.

  Finn pushed away from the doorway and crossed to the stereo and hit the power button. “We drank beers while sitting next to each other at the bar,” he said, facing her.

  “How is that different?”

  “He came looking for me. And I talked to him once he found me. That’s not the same thing as planning to go out for a beer together.”

  “But you still gave him a job and a place to stay.”

  Finn let out a big breath. “Yeah, I asked Jamie to hire him. But the couch thing is someone else’s fault.” He wasn’t even sure whose. He didn’t know if anyone was sure who had first brought it up. It didn’t really matter.

  “How could you do that?” she asked, looking genuinely distressed. “We were not doing the family thing. And now our families are having barbecues together!”

  Yeah. That hadn’t been the plan. “It’s just a pullout couch and a couple nights a week washing dishes.”

  “But it’s Frank!” she said, throwing her hand out to the side and nearly knocking the bottle of vodka to the floor.

  She grabbed for it as Finn instinctively lunged for it as well. The bottle stayed on the desktop without a drop spilled, but they ended up right up against one another.

  She smelled like a lemon drop, her sweet lemony scent mingling with the vodka. And Finn wanted to drink her up.

  “Drunk kickboxing?”

  She nodded. “I couldn’t decide which I needed more—punching something or getting drunk—so I did both.”

  “So I see.” Finn eyed the bottle. “How much have you had?”

  Sophie sighed. “Not enough to erase how crappy I feel.”

  He hated that she was upset, and he probably should have told her Frank was sleeping at Joey’s when he’d heard. But he’d figured it was temporary. And harmless. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Frank staying with Joey.”

  “And working at the bar,” she reminded him.

  He nodded. “That too. But I just thought it would keep him out of your hair until he leaves on his trip.” And it would allow Finn to keep an eye on him.

  “His trip?” she repeated.

  “He said he’s heading out to California in a month or so.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened. “Finn, my dad is like a stray cat. You can’t be this nice to him, you can’t support him—he’ll never leave.”

  “I’m not supporting him. We’re not supporting him,” he said quickly as she scoffed. “He’s working at the bar.”

  “And what about at Joe’s?” she asked. “Is he paying rent? Helping out around the house? Buying groceries?”

  “It’s a pullout couch. Hardly worthy of rent.”

  “So no, he’s not helping out.”

  “He’s only staying for a couple of weeks.”

  Sophie laughed but she was clearly not amused. “Do you know how he got my second stepmother to fall for him?” she asked. “She was my Sunday school teacher. He told her that he’d been laid off but had a new job starting in two weeks. And he was wondering if I could stay with her until then so I didn’t have to sleep in the
car with him. Because it broke his heart to not be able to provide for me.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “So of course this sweet, trusting woman said we should both stay. She had a guest room and a couch. Frank took the couch because he’s such a great dad,” she said sarcastically. “And then while she went to work at the bank where she was a vice president, he cleaned and cooked and did errands for her. And every night when she came home, dinner was ready, her dry cleaning was picked up, and he was reading to me on the couch.” She took a deep breath. “By the time the two weeks was up, he had moved into the master bedroom, and we didn’t move out for another two years.”

  Finn rolled his neck. He and Frank were going to need to have another talk about his conduct around Finn’s family. Especially the women. “I don’t think Joe sends anything to the dry cleaners,” he said, trying to lighten the mood and trying to distract himself from the images of a tiny blond girl with big blue eyes who had been used as a pawn by her father.

  “Finn,” Sophie said with a deep frown. “You have to keep Frank away from your mother. And your aunts. And your cousins. And…your entire family.”

  “I promise you that I’m on this, Sophie.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t believe it. He’s even getting to you!”

  “He’s not,” Finn insisted. “He’s a guy who needed a couple of favors. He needed a way to make some cash, and Jamie needed some help while Gina’s on maternity leave. It’s perfect because your dad doesn’t want anything long term.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s the first time anyone has ever thought that it was perfect that Frank Birch doesn’t want to commit to something.”

  “And you have to understand something,” Finn said. “This isn’t just about him. This is as much about my family as anything. Yes, he took the bar stool next to me and started the conversation. And yeah, I thought of the job. But Frank didn’t have to do anything other than say yes and this snowball started rolling. My family would have gotten involved no matter if your dad was a world-class manipulator or not.” Finn blew out a breath. “My family embraced the chance to take care of somebody. I guarantee that Joe loves this. He’s not having cold cereal for breakfast, because somebody’s bringing cinnamon rolls and egg bakes over for him to share with Frank. And I’m sure somebody cleaned his house for him before Frank moved in. And Danny finally went over and fixed the garbage disposal like he’s been promising to do for two months, and Kyle and Zoe finished painting the trim around the outside windows like they were supposed to this summer. So Joe’s getting plenty out of this. It’s all win-win.”

  Sophie was looking at him like he was completely crazy. “And what are you getting out of this?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re not getting cinnamon rolls or your disposal fixed.”

  Finn shook his head. “Nothing. Exactly.” He was taking care of Sophie. That’s what he was getting out of it. He was keeping Frank out of her hair for the next couple of weeks until he hit the road. It wasn’t the same thing as locking him up in jail for arson, but it kept him away from Sophie. But Finn wasn’t sure how that admission would go over with her.

  “You aren’t using it to get on my good side?” she asked.

  He laughed before he could stop himself. “What about helping Frank would make me think I would get on your good side? I do listen when you talk, you know.”

  She regarded him with narrowed eyes. “Nobody really does stuff for nothing.”

  That made him take the step that was separating them. He put his hand on her cheek. “Yeah, Sophie, sometimes they do.”

  She just stood looking at him as if not sure what to think.

  “I know we said we weren’t going to get involved with family stuff,” he went on. “And I agreed with all of the reasons. But…we care about you, so we care about him. This is not a hardship for us, but even if it was, we are people you and your dad can count on.”

  Sophie swallowed. “You have to keep him away from your mom. And your aunts.”

  Finn ran his thumb over her cheek. He was going to prove to Sophia Birch that she didn’t have to worry as long as he was around. About anything. “I just have to keep him from marrying any of them,” he said with a slight smile. “And trust me, I will.”

  “But they might…You don’t know how he…He’s sneaky,” she finally said, but Finn felt her pressing her cheek more firmly against his palm. “Your mom already gave him money.”

  Okay, he hadn’t known that part. Finn was going to need to have a talk with his mother. “He’s involved with my family now,” Finn said, his smile gone and his voice firm. “That means there are rules. I know where he’s sleeping, I know where he’s working, I have people who can tell me what he’s up to. I can keep track of him this way, Sophie.”

  Her eyes widened slightly.

  “You have to trust me. I know what I’m doing, and I’m doing it for you.”

  “For me?”

  She blinked up at him in an adorably tipsy way that made him want to kiss her. Of course, just being in the same room with her made him want to kiss her.

  “I know you’ve been taking care of yourself for a long time. But I was hoping that as long as I’m hanging around anyway, you’d let me do it. A little.”

  Sophie swallowed. “I don’t really know how to let you do that.”

  “Just go with it,” he told her with a smile, relieved that she wasn’t arguing.

  “But…This show…” She frowned up at him. “I thought I was handling everything. I thought I was in control. And now…this.”

  “This?”

  “I’m not handling any of it. You are.” Her frown deepened. “Kind of.”

  “I am,” he insisted. But he could understand that it might not seem that way. She thought Frank was manipulating Finn. He was just going to have to prove her wrong.

  “Does your family hate me?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Why would they hate you?”

  She pulled away from his touch and reached for the bottle. “I don’t know what Frank’s told them. Your mom said he was going on about how he couldn’t ask me for help. Do they all think I’m a terrible daughter?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Are you sure? They don’t really…” She gave the punching bag a half-hearted slug. “They don’t know how not-happy families work.”

  It hit him that she was right. His family had its imperfections, but in all the important ways it was…wonderful. Sophie had made him appreciate his family more than he ever had before.

  “It doesn’t matter,” he told her honestly. “They want to be there for you.”

  “They don’t really know me.”

  Because they’d agreed that was best. That was easiest. That was the way to keep things from getting jumbled up and complicated and getting emotions involved.

  So much for that.

  “Okay, ninja warrior, let’s go,” Finn said, making a quick decision that he knew in his gut was right. He snagged her hand and started for the door.

  “Go? Where?”

  “You’re going to take a shower and then we’re going to the bar.”

  “The Kelly bar?”

  And maybe, if she hadn’t had a few shots of vodka, she would have been able to hide that she was excited. But Finn saw it. “Yep. We’ll get a couple of burgers and sober you up and talk.”

  “Will it be busy?” she asked, tripping along behind him as he led her toward the dressing rooms.

  “I’m sure it will be.”

  “Will my dad be there?”

  He tried to gauge the emotion behind her question. Did she want him to be there? “He doesn’t work on Thursdays. Zoe and Hannah come in to help out.”

  “So lots of your family will be there?”

  He stopped outside the main dressing room and turned to face her, again trying to determine if that was a positive or a negative in her mind. “Yes. It’s trivia night.”

  “Trivia ni
ght?”

  He grinned at her parroting. “Yep. There’s always online trivia games going on, but right now, on Thursday nights, there’s a nationwide tournament going on. Each bar that participates has a team, and they compete over Skype with other teams in other bars. Our pub has a team, and they’re in the quarterfinals tonight.” She grinned, and Finn realized that she would have probably fought this idea if it weren’t for the liquor in her system. Or her father’s attendance at the barbecue. His heart ached a little as he realized that she’d felt left out.

  “Do you need help in the shower?” he asked.

  She raised an eyebrow. “What kind of help?”

  Her smile was still sweetly tipsy but now had an added hint of mischief, and in spite of everything else—her hurt feelings and anger, her blood alcohol level, the fact that they were on their way to hang out with his noisy, nosy family—heat flooded through him, and he seriously considered carrying her into the shower and personally soaping her up. He tugged on her hand, bringing her closer to him. “Well, if you’re feeling wobbly or dizzy or anything, I wouldn’t want you in there alone. You could crack your head open or something.”

  “It’s weird, but I am feeling a little dizzy suddenly,” she said, her voice a little husky.

  She leaned in, and Finn bent to meet her lips. But the scent of vodka hit him just before he kissed her. He brushed his lips over hers, unable to keep from at least that much, but then he straightened.

  “How about you be really careful in there, I’ll stay right here where I can hear you yell if you need me, and then we revisit this whole idea later after you’ve had some coffee and time?”

  She pouted for a moment. “You know that I’m not drunk enough to not know that I want you in the shower with me, Finn.”

  His whole body felt like it was straining toward her with a “Please, Finn, come on, Finn, let’s go, Finn.” He shook his head. “You need more than…that.” He couldn’t have specifically defined what she needed, but he knew, somehow, that it had to do with his family and the pub.

  “I think you are more than enough,” she said softly.