Page 34 of Sycamore Circle

“In school? Well, I didn’t have one.” Figuring he had nothing to lose, he added, “I wasn’t a very good student.”

“Well, what do you like to do? Work here?”

It seemed like Bo thought working at his aunt and uncle’s diner wasn’t something to be proud of. “There’s nothing wrong with working here.”

“I didn’t say there was, kid,” Bo said softly.

Just as Finn clenched his fists, Seth murmured, “Calm down, Finn. We’re not judging you and we certainly don’t want to scare you, okay?”

Bo sipped his water. “All we’re doing is trying to make sure you do some thinking before you take off from home.”

Seth nodded. “Bo’s right. We help guys try to do better all the time. Now, don’t worry. I’ll help you find someplace when you’re ready.”

“How will I know when I’m ready?” The question came out before he could stop it. He clenched his jaw, thinking he must sound so foolish to these men.

“I canna tell you that, Finn,” Seth said. “But I reckon that one day you’ll just know. That’s how it was with me.”

“Finn, I need ya,” Mary called out.

He moved to stand up. “I’ve got to go.”

“Hold on a sec,” Seth said. Pulling out a card, he wrote a couple of things on the back. He turned it over and tapped the top name with his finger. “That’s me. Seth. That’s my phone.” Pointing to the next name, he added, “That’s Bo and his cell. Call if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” He took the card and stuffed it in the back pocket of his jeans.

“Finn, I don’t give my number out lightly. You know what that means?”

“Nee. I mean, no.”

“It means, if you need me, call. If you get hurt or something goes wrong, you call me.” Seth’s voice hardened. “Do you understand?”

“Yes. I mean, I think so.”

Bo clapped him on the shoulder. “What Seth’s trying to say is that you ain’t alone, bud. We’ve got your back and we’re not going to forget about you.”

“If you want to call me to talk about anything, I’ll listen. If you call and say you need me, I’ll be there,” Seth said. “Either of us will be.”

“Danke.” Finn felt choked. “I gotta go.”

Bo grinned. “Yeah, you do. See ya, kid.”

He scooted out of the booth, turned around, and came face-to-face with Chloe. She was sipping her vanilla malt and watching him.

He wondered how much she’d overheard. Unable to help himself, he stared right back.

CHAPTER 12

Chloe knew it was probably rude, but she couldn’t help watching Finn. He looked like he was in the middle of the most intense conversation with the two men in the next booth. At first, she thought he was in trouble or something, but after a few seconds, it became obvious that the men were simply talking to him about something important.

Looking at the men more closely, Chloe decided that they looked kind of tough, but they were both good-looking. Okay, one of them might even be called hot, even though he was kind of old.

One thing she was sure about was that they weren’t Amish. She wondered how they knew Finn.

Mary interrupted her thoughts. “You need anything else, sweetie?”

Pulling herself away from thoughts of Finn, she smiled up at the woman. “No, I’m good.”

“You going to your dance class again today?”

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