Page 9 of Finn

“Where is your hometown?” I ask, fully expecting he’s from somewhere ordinary.

But then he replies, “Juneau.”

My brows shoot up. “Wow. As in Alaska?”

He chuckles. “Yeah, as in Alaska. I still have a cabin up there, but I don’t have much time to get to it a lot.”

I’m still pretty impressed, so I blurt out, “I’ve never known anyone from Alaska.”

He laughs again. “Well, now you do.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “I guess I do. That’s really cool.”

I reiterate that I’m up for getting out of Boots, and I sure as hell am. Since we’re both done with our beers, I make a quick return to behind the bar, where I rinse out and put away the glasses.

Once that’s done, I grab my purse from a low shelf, toss my phone inside, and ask Finn, “Are you ready?”

He nods once. “I am.”

As we step outside Boots, I relock the front doors and let him know, “I’ll just follow you, okay?” I turn and point to where my cobalt blue car is parked off to the side. “I’m the Honda Accord over there.”

There’s only one other vehicle in the lot, a dark gray Escalade, and it’s only a few feet away. I assume that it’s his.

Sure enough, he takes a step in that direction and says, “Sounds good. This is me. I’ll take it slow so we don’t get separated.”

“Great.”

Following Finn is easy. He does indeed drive slowly, as promised.

Within minutes and only a few turns away, we proceed into and through a quiet neighborhood of large homes that sit way back from the road.

At the very back of the development, we pull up to a large set of black wrought iron gates.

“I guess we’re here,” I murmur to myself.

And we are.

While I idle behind Finn, he opens the gates remotely from inside his Escalade.

“Okay, this is nice.”

Blowing out a breath, I follow Finn up a long, lit driveway leading to his house.

Whoa, wow!

What a house it is—a huge, stately red-brick mansion.

He parks in front, so I do the same, pulling in just behind him.

There is a set of garages angled off to the left with a bit of a turnaround.

That’s good. I’ll have plenty of room to loop around and head back down the driveway when I’m ready to leave.

Hopping out of his SUV, Finn steps over to my car.

Once I get out, I wave my hand around and say, “Your house, this property, these grounds… It’s all beyond amazing.”

“Thanks.” He shrugs and looks down.

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