Page 33 of Jolene's Justice

“No way!”

“Oh my God!”

“So you, like, know him?”

The girls all spoke at once and continued to bombard her with questions about Marcus. The boys rolled their eyes, trying to act like they didn’t care. But Jolene could see interest in the way they surreptitiously listened.

They talked with the teenagers a little longer before they ran off for the rides. Finch was nearly on their heels, his excitement uncontainable and adorable.

“Why do you act like you’ve never been on one of these rides before?” Jolene asked, laughing at his exuberant energy.

“Because I haven’t,” he stated simply. Jolene stopped abruptly and gazed at Finch’s back. He realized she wasn’t with him and stopped to look back at her. She stood there, mouth gaping, trying to process what he had just revealed.

He stepped back to her, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s the matter?”

“You’ve never been on an amusement ride before?”

“No.” There was something in his eyes he wasn’t saying. But before she could decipher it, he dropped his gaze to the dusty ground.

“Why not?” It was shocking that a thrill-seeker like Finch had never done this before. His excitement about going on the rides was palpable.

He slid his hands into his pockets, refusing to meet her gaze as he muttered, “It’s complicated.”

“Did you never go to Six Flags or Busch Gardens when you were little? Amusement parks are everywhere. I mean, who hasn’t been there at least once in their lives?”

“We didn’t go on too many vacations when I was young. My parents were busy with work.”

Jolene tilted her head to the side, considering the feasibility of the explanation. “Wow. Okay, then.”

“Why does this surprise you so much?”

“I mean, you’re you. You love a good thrill ride. Right? You flew dangerous missions. It seems like you enjoy the rush of adventure. You and your buddies never did anything like this when you were on leave or something?”

There was a hint of embarrassment in Finch’s body language as his shoulders contracted. “I almost did. Once.”

His tone revealed that there was a story he was hesitant to share. Or maybe he was uncomfortable. Jolene was struggling to decipher his cues. “What happened?”

Finch shrugged. “Just didn’t work out.”

Tilting her head, Jolene studied him intently, trying to read his thoughts. The way he shifted his weight from foot to foot and avoided eye contact indicated that there was more to it than that. She stepped closer and put a hand on his arm. “Finch?” she questioned gently. “What is it?”

He sighed. “I want to tell you everything. I promised myself I would.” He stood still and ran a hand through his hair, his gaze fixed on his feet. “It’s just difficult to talk about.”

“I don’t understand.”

Someone bumped into Jolene, making her stumble into Finch. His arm wrapped around her waist, steadying her as the person mumbled an apology and passed by. Suddenly realizing they were in the middle of the thoroughfare, he steered them to the side out of the path of excited fairgoers.

“You sure you want to hear this?” he asked once they were out of the way.

“Well, now I’m worried. More than I was before.”

Finch nodded, then quickly removed his arm from around her waist, as if suddenly aware of the intimacy. Abruptly dropping his chin, he took a step back, looking as if he was worried he’d crossed a line. She felt unusually bereft at the loss of contact. She took his hand and led him over to the split-rail fence that surrounded the fairgrounds. Leaning against it, she looked up at him, concerned when he still didn’t look at her. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Tell me,” she urged softly.

After taking a deep breath, he slumped against the fence, his shoulders sagging in defeat. “I met a girl in high school. By senior year, we were pretty hot and heavy and spent as much time together as we could. That spring, a traveling fair like this came through town. My buddies and I were planning to go. She hated these places, so I was prepared to go without her. One last hurrah with the guys before we graduated and went our separate ways.”

“You never made it?” she asked when he paused. “Did something happen?” She was curious about who the girl was, but worried something had happened to her since it was obvious his plans had fallen through. She really hoped he wasn’t going to tell her his high school sweetheart had died or something.

“No, nothing happened. She wouldn’t let me go.”

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