Finally Finn (Los Rancheros #4) (7 page)

“Who is your employer?” His eyes go flat, so
I hold up my hands. “Just wondering if they would take offense to
you leasing out their pets.”

“Who did you say you were again? And whose
children are you to be bringing on the premises?” he asks more
cautiously. I debate the question, wondering if I should give out
Batty’s name to just anyone. Fuck it.

“Finnigan Brennick. He’s a—”

“Oh, you don’t say.” He laughs in relief.
“Everyone knows Finnigan Brennick, a good Irishman on the cover of
TIME,
and all.” My hackles rise in alarm. Sean holds up a
hand.

“I take care of Deklan Thomas’s horses, of
Rolling Bridges.” Of course I know who Deklan Thomas is, he’s only
the lead singer for Fandy’s band. I laugh at the irony.

“I’m Sadie Dinah. We’re doing a talent show
with Fandy,
Triple Threat
.”

“OH!” he says loudly, getting several
people’s attention. His voice is lower when he leans in. “I’ve
heard him talk about it while at the house. That’s fantastic. Of
course, have the wee ones come over. I’ll have to clear it with the
couple, of course, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Hmm.” I still think Deklan has a problem
with me in general, much less at his house, since the last time he
saw me I was beating my band member with a bottle of water. I do
remember his wife, though. Very tattooed and pretty. “Let me give
you my number. If they’re okay with it, let me know. They have a
lot of activities after school, so it would have to be Fridays
after school.”

“That would work perfectly.” He pulls out a
phone. “We’ll swap information and be in touch, how’s that?”

“Sure.” In for a penny, I guess.

I get in the car and drive to pick up the
girls from school. Even though I picked up clothes from my house,
I’m still wearing the clothes I got a few weeks ago. The
lightweight jersey, maxi dress I’m wearing today is one of my
favorites. I love wearing flip-flops, too. If anyone I know sees
me, they will probably fall over in straight shock.

When I pull up in the Charger, I yawn and
reach for my phone, already anticipating the line. I go through
multiple emails from my assistant Jacque about my parents, and
several from record label executives. I hear the bell ring, letting
the kids out of school, and try to send off a reply to the
producers about the at home visits we want to take to some of the
contestants hometowns when I hear yelling. Not kids excited to get
out of school yelling, but angry yelling. I look up and check the
mirrors first, thinking it has to be an angry parent—they’re always
impatient and honking—but don’t see anything. When I look to the
right of the school, several people are corralling kids and looking
farther up the line.

Seeing kids being protected from something
has me immediately popping the door handle and stepping out of the
car to search for Bridgette and Hannah. Four cars down, on the
other side of the main entrance, there is a group of people,
several adults and two very small, brown, curly heads.

“HEY!” I explode. My heart, my head, every
part of me goes fucking ballistic. I know those little brunettes
trying to hide behind a teacher. I hit the latch for the trunk
without taking my eyes from the group and slam my door, running to
the trunk for the baseball bat I always keep in whatever car I’m
driving.

Rounding the other side of the car, I have
tunnel vision. I don’t see moms running for their kids or teachers
slipping children back into the building. I see my girls cowering,
when I dropped them off all smiles and giggling.

I rotate my wrist, making the bat circle at
my side. The movement catches the eye of one of the aggressors, and
when I see his face, I see red.

“Bridgette, Hannah, get in the car now,” I
order in my best, no nonsense voice.

“Aunt Sadie!” they cry in unison and run to
me. I touch each of their shaking shoulders and push them behind
me.

“Get in the car and lock the doors. I’ll be
there in two minutes. Go now.” They leave me, reluctantly, and the
teacher that was holding off the two people I hate most in the
world backs away as well. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I
growl.

Brian nods to the bat clutched tightly in my
fist. “You gonna use that on us in front of all of these witnesses,
bitch?”

“If I have to, you bet your ass. Now answer
my question.” Patricia straightens her shoulders and sticks her
nose in the air so that she can try and look down at me. I still
have half a foot on her, even barefoot.

“We just want to talk to you.”

“If you have anything to say, you contact my
lawyers. You don’t come to a school full of little kids, you stupid
bitch, and you sure as fuck don’t talk to my kids.” Brian’s
eyebrows go up.

“Oh, are they yours now? Shacking up with the
owner of the record label, I have to admit that was a ballsey move,
even for you, Popper.” I step up to him and immediately smell the
cloying cologne mixed with sweat, but don’t step away.

“If you have a problem with me, you deal with
me. All of these kids and people have nothing to do with it, and if
you ever so much as look at those girls again, I will take you
down. Do you understand me, little man?” Brian’s face goes red, but
Patricia puts a hand on his arm. “I don’t know how you found me, or
this school, but you best forget this address. Now, if you’re not
gone by the time I get back to my car, I’m pressing charges.
Attempted kidnapping, for starters.”

I lock eyes with both of them before taking a
step back, then another. Patricia pulls Brian off the sidewalk and
between cars, but he shrugs her off and takes aggressive steps
toward me. I raise the bat without thought, prepared to knock his
head all over these parents’ vans if I have to.

He chickens out, smirks, and turns toward the
parking lot. I watch his shiny bald head, having lost Patricia when
they separated, and jog back to the car, count the kids in the back
and scan the vicinity for Patricia, just in case.

I don’t see her. What I do see are parents
stepping out of their cars. At first, I’m thinking lynch mob,
they’re definitely coming to put me down for endangering their
kids, but then they start to clap. I blink, stunned. I can hear the
sirens over the crowd now.

Opening the passenger door, I toss the bat in
there then look to the back. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you at
all?”

“No,” they say together. Hannah leans
forward.

“You’re like, for real Robin. So cool, Aunt
Sadie.” I have to take a seat as my knees give out. Bridgette has
always called me Aunt Sadie, but never Hannah. Go figure something
like this would make her like me.

“Ma’am, these officers would like to take
your statement. If you could grab your ID and step out of the car,
please?” a man in a suit says. I eye him and guess he must be the
principal. Where the fuck was he when shit was going down?

I turn the key in the ignition and crack the
windows, making sure the air conditioning is on full blast, but
leave the passenger door open. I don’t know why. Crazy scenarios
are running through my head since I didn’t actually observe my
brother and sister leave. Images of them trying to get to the kids
and me diving through the door to speed away is all I can think
about. I keep my hand on the doorframe to the car.

The cops take my statement, asking me who
they were, if I know the case number of my lawsuit, if I want to
press charges, get a restraining order, if they can talk to the
kids. I let the kids talk to the police, not even thinking that I
should be calling Batty until my phone starts exploding. An officer
looks at me with concern. I shrug.

“It’s their father. I need to let him know
what’s going on.”

“Alright, ma’am. We’re done here for now. The
suspects fled, but please contact us if you have any trouble at
all.” I shake everyone’s hand.

“Thanks.” I leave the now emptying school and
head straight for home.

“Aren’t we going to soccer?” I shake my head.
No fucking way I can take them running all over the place in two
different directions out in the open.

“Not today. We’re going to skip it.” They get
pouty, and maybe a good mom wouldn’t break routine, but my nerves
are shot. “Let’s go swimming in the lake.” The girls start bouncing
and clapping.

“We’ve never swam in the lakes before! Can I
jump off the dock like we do at the pool? I’m a good diver,”
Bridgette practically yells in my ear.

“Yes. We’ll take it slow and move up to that,
okay? You’re both practically fish, anyway.” They giggle and I
smile, pushing the remote for the Los Rancheros gate that I took
out of the truck.

My phone goes off again as we pull up to the
house. “Go in and get your suits on. I’ll be in to put sunscreen on
you in just a minute. I have to talk to Uncle Finn first.”

“Hello?”

“What in the ever loving fuck is going on,
Sadie?!” Shit, he’s pissed. I sigh and rub my temple.

“Brian and Patricia were at the school when I
went to pick up the kids.”

“How can this happen? Where was the school
security?”

“Oh, I don’t know. All I did was borrow your
truck and the teachers helped the kids in and smiled at me. They
parked in the parking lot from what I saw.”

“This is unbelievable. I’m coming home.”

“What? I know you’re freaked out. I’m still
shaking, but they never touched the girls. The police took
everyone’s statement, including the kids, and they never touched
them.”

“Sadie.”

“Finn, I swear they’re fine. We’re at the
house for the rest of the day, behind all of the gates that this
place has. We’re skipping soccer. I’ll have them call you if you
want.” He sighs.

“Fine. Have them call me before bed,
please.”

“Okay,” I say quietly, but the call has
already been ended. A cold sense of unease works its way through
me.

Walking into the house, it’s a tornado of
backpacks, socks, and other various clothes all the way down the
hall. I pick up as I go, starting a load of clothes like I usually
do at bedtime when they change out of their clothes for the day. I
French braid their hair and slather them with sunscreen then change
my clothes.

When we get out to the docks, I set the
fluffy towels down on a long dock and peer into the water. I’ve
never seen anything but fish in the water. I turn back to the
girls.

“Has there ever been any alligators or snakes
in here that you can remember?” They shake their head no, eyes
wide. “Alright, here we go.”

I take a step back and cannon ball into the
lake in my bikini. I come up for air and smile at them. “Jump in
one at a time. I want to be close when you go in, just in
case.”

Hannah goes first, and I make sure I’m right
in front of her on the dock. She holds her nose, squeezes her eyes
shut and jumps. Right on top of me. I get a knee to the eye socket
and go under.

I surface coughing, holding my eye and check
on Hannah. She’s literally swimming circles around me.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you okay? Did I
hurt you? I jumped really far, didn’t I?” I smile through the
pain.

“Yeah, you did, kid. Great job.” I turn to
Bridgette, my cheek on fire, my eye tearing. “Your turn, Bridge.” I
back the fuck up.

Both of the girls work on their butterfly
stroke for a while and we move closer to shore to do handstands. We
play and laugh. I’m relieved that the incident at the school seems
to be forgotten.

“Help me, help me!” Bridgette yells. I move
to her quickly.

“I’ll save you, little girl!” I yell back.
Both girls start giggling and I pick Bridgette up and start
tickling her. It’s Hannah’s turn so she starts pretending to need
help and I turn to her when there’s a pounding on the dock.

“HANNAH!” Boom, splash. Before I have time to
freak out, Finnigan Brennick in a goddamned suit and tie lifts
Hannah out of the water and rushes to shore. Bridgette squirms out
of my arms.

“Uncle Finn!” she yells, jumping on his
back.

“Hannah, can you hear me, Hannah?” Finn is
checking for injuries as I slowly make my way out of the water.

“Hey, you’re really good at this Uncle Finn.
But you’re supposed to tickle me,” Hannah says. He collapses back
on his butt.

“What?”

“Yeah, Aunt Sadie tickles us. It’s part of
the game.”

“Aunt Sadie . . .” he pants.

“Come on, girls. Let’s get a popsicle and let
Uncle Finn catch his breath.” The girls get up and beam.

“Can you stay for dinner, Uncle Finn?”

“This is the best surprise ever!”

“Can you read me a story tonight?” I shoo
them in.

“He’ll be in shortly. Go now.” I roll my lips
in and bite them nervously. Finn stands up and wipes the sand off
his slacks, getting sand all over his hands.

“I saw the car in the ditch and thought . . .
I thought she was really drowning. They can’t swim, Sadie,” he says
angrily. I turn to the dock and grab a towel. I can hear his shoes
squishing behind me.

“Yes, I crashed the car in your driveway
facing the front yard and it threw them, in their bathing suits,
into the lake in the backyard.” I roll my eyes. “Oh, and they can
swim.”

“No. They fucking can’t.”

“Yes. I taught them in a pool almost from the
first day I was here.” He blinks at me.

“Why would you do that?” I throw my arms
up.

“Because we’re in the land of one thousand
lakes and they’re six. It’s dangerous for them to not know how to
swim.” I grab the girls’ towels and brush past him, already knowing
there’s going to be puddles all over the floor I just mopped last
night.

When I get in the door, there are indeed
puddles everywhere. I throw the towels down and hear squishing of
expensive shoes behind me.

“Oh, hell no. You take that off outside and
towel off first then go straight to the shower.” Finn’s eyebrows
crash down.