Page 69 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“Do you remember that thing you made me promise never to tell anyone, Blue Jay?” Finch said. “Think very carefully about annoying your big brother any more tonight.”

“There is nothing you can say to me now that would stop me ordering cocktails all night,” Blue said, sounding smug.

“Did you know it was Blue Jay who vomited in the school pool that summer it was really hot, and we couldn’t swim in it for a week while it was cleaned and drained, Nina?” Finch said calmly.

“That was you?” Nina spun to glare at Blue. “We had swimming sports that week, too, and my team was going to win the novelty relay event. We were a shoo-in.”

“You rat,” Blue said to her brother.

“I told you to stop, and you didn’t. Now, if you continue, I’ll put out the other thing we’re not allowed to talk about,” he said.

“I hate you,” Blue snarled.

“What are you hating Finch for now?” Birdie asked, having just appeared. She wore another sparkly headband that said Merry Christmas and a red dress with a Christmas tree on the front that had working lights.

“He told Nina it was me who puked in the pool that summer. That was a McAllister vault secret,” Blue snapped.

“McAllister vault secret?” Nina asked, intrigued. Not having siblings, she didn’t understand their inner workings. Yes, she had friends, but they hadn’t been there to share meals or bedtimes, and annoy her constantly. The things they did within their families intrigued her.

“If it goes into the vault, it stays there. We have plenty of dirt on each other. Take Finch, for example⁠—”

“You don’t want to start this, Blue, because you’ll lose,” Finch said calmly as he picked up a towel and began to dry the tray of glasses Red put on the bar, like he’d been working here for weeks and not just a single night. “Because I was the McAllister who rarely got caught doing things I shouldn’t, unlike you. I was also the one who bailed you out of trouble many times, and I have an excellent memory, even after the accident.”

“Start what?” Red asked. Unlike the other staff, his shirt said “Head Sexy Elf.”

“Finch opened the McAllister vault,” Birdie said.

Red whistled. “Brave call, man. I remember your dad telling me about that.”

“So, spill something on him, then,” Nina demanded.

Blue and Finch looked at each other.

“That will do. The vault is not being opened again tonight by either of you, and, Blue, you should know better than to wind Finch up,” Birdie said, jabbing a finger at her sister. “I’m going to dance with adults and leave you two juveniles to cool off.”

They all watched Birdie stomp to the dance floor and join the other Duke women.

Blue whistled. “She never uses that tone, but when she does, she means business.”

“I guess that means I’m making piña coladas,” Finch said.

Chapter 19

The Rollaway smelled like it always did on a winter’s night, Finch thought. He picked out the scents of spilled beer soaked into the floorboards, mulled wine, and the faint diesel tang that drifted in from the cars.

He’d had many moments in this place when he’d come home on leave. Some memorable, like the night he’d gotten drunk for the first time and then puked in his mother’s vegetable patch.

Some of the fairy lights had blown, and others were flickering. Clearly the electrician hadn’t had time to fix them. Someone had chalked the night’s specials onto the tinsel-wrapped blackboard behind him in handwriting too loopy to be Red’s, which meant Dee had done it. Girls’ Night Special - Pink Mischief and Trouble in Heels. Finch hoped he didn’t have to make any of those.

It wasn’t usually this full on a weeknight, or so Red had told him, but girls’ night drew everyone in. He searched for Nina again and found her with his sisters. She looked good—better than good, but then, Finch was fairly sure that to him, she’d look hot in a sack.

The halter top pushed up those lovely breasts, and the black pants were tight and showed every curve. He wanted to touch her again. He wanted to⁠—

“Make me a Peachy Keen, Finch,” Dr. Hannah said interrupting his thoughts.

“Really, Doc? I’ve never made a Peachy Keen before, and I’m not sure I want to start now. Maybe a nice glass of chardonnay?” Finch said, looking at the lady who had given him his first sex talk, along with the other prepubescent kids in his class.

“Vodka, blueberry-flavored vodka, peach schnapps, and peach nectar,” she said, leaning on the bar like she had nowhere else to be tonight, the metal of her watch strap clinking against the scarred wood. “Don’t forget the vodka,” she added.