Kiss Me Hard Before You Go (35 page)

“No,” he said. “David gave me what he had, and I had some saved, but it still won’t cover the full amount. I’m thinking the bank will work with us.”

“Ain’t no bank gonna work with anyone when it comes to money being owed,” she said.

“Your optimism is so encouraging,” Finch said.

“How much more do you need?” she asked, ignoring his quip.

“One thousand three hundred and fifty-six dollars and twenty cents,” he said.

“Guess who has one thousand, three hundred and fifty-six dollar and twenty cents?” She waggled her painted in brows. “Us.” She pointed to Friedrich and her.

“Don’t forget about me,” Mouse added.

“I can’t take your money,” Finch said.

“She means a lot to you, doesn’t she, Honey Lamb?”

Finch nodded.

“Well, you mean a lot to us. I think between the three of us,” she widened her arms and pointed to Friedrich and Mouse, “we can come up with the rest of that money.”

“No. It’s your money,” Finch argued.

“It’s ours to do what we want with, and besides, I don’t want to work here anymore.”

“Me neither,” Friedrich said.

“That goes for me, as well,” Mouse added.

“You’re all leaving the carnival?” Finch said incredulously.

“Been wanting to leave it for a long time. I just needed a reason to do so, and Kip’s been itching to fire us anyway. We can just beat him to the punch,” Doris answered. “You think Evie’s got room for us on that farm of hers?”

Chapter 34

Evie grunted as she shoved one of the stubborn heifers up the wooden platform and into the semi-truck trailer. She, Katie, and Cooper had already loaded close to fifty heifers. She was worn out, feeling the strain of a day’s hard work. Her muscles ached, and she was drenched with sweat. The morning sun was beating down hard on her, and the cattle weren’t cooperating.

“They’re being so damn stubborn,” she complained to Cooper.

He gave her a look. “They can sense your mood,” he said. He was right, she was irritable. “You’re cranky.”

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m just tired,” she lied.

“You know how I feel about this,” he said.

She had sought Cooper and Spence’s advice, even though she had already made up her mind. Once she told Cooper she intended to sell the heifers, he had argued with her for days trying to persuade her to change her mind.

He was adamantly against the idea. “That’s your livelihood, and once they’re sold, you’ll have nothing – just acres and acres of land with no money coming in,” he said to her when she told him.

She owed too much money to the bank, and Mr. Phillips, the loan officer from Haines First Trust, had told her that if it wasn’t paid within the week, they’d take the property.

“You’ll probably have to sell half of the property next year just to stay afloat. You won’t have any revenue coming in once those heifers and calves are sold,” Spence had warned her.

“I know,” she said with deep breath. “But what else can I do? If you can think of something else, tell me,” she said with desperation.

“I’d give you the money if I had it,” Cooper said. “Gray never said anything. I figured y’all were livin’ as best as you could with what you had, but I didn’t know things were this bad.”

“Me neither, Coop. I think Daddy was hoping the carnival would bring extra income, and he’d talk his way out of this mess, but Mr. Phillips won’t hear me out. He says this has been going on for a while,” she had said to Cooper.

She felt like her life was flashing before her eyes. All her life she complained about farming, and now that it was going to be out of her reach, she couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else.

“What else can I do?” she shouted at Cooper as they stood in front of the loaded truck. The scent of manure permeated the air. The cows mooed and whined behind them. Their big heads tried to get through the open space in the iron gate. “Where am I going to get that kind of money?” She looked up at the sky and then back at him and Katie. “You see it falling? There isn’t a tree around here that grows cash, so what else can I do?” she snapped.

Cooper spit into his bottle. “Like I say, cranky.”

Katie stifled a laugh.

“I don’t know how y’all can think anything about this is funny,” she said.

“We don’t, Eves. This is heartbreaking, but if we don’t laugh, we’ll start to cry and how’s that gonna help you?” Katie said.

“I can’t deal with mushy right now,” Evie said to her. “If you’re going to get all hormonal on me just go inside.”

Katie and Cooper both gave her a look.

“Sorry,” she mumbled and rubbed her right arm. “That last heifer about killed my arm.”

“You need to talk softer to them,” Cooper said. “You keep yelling at them like that, they’re going to be like this all day, and I’m too old to be pushin’ pregnant heifers.”

“Maybe you need to rest a minute,” Katie said to her. “To cool off.”

“I need to get going so we can get done,” she said. She pulled the keys out of her pocket and jingled them. “You coming with me, Cooper?”

“I guess,” he muttered. “Not like I have much choice,” he added.

They locked the gate and made their way to the front of the truck. Evie climbed into the driver’s side, and Cooper sat down beside her. She started up the truck and the engine chugged. The cattle moved around in the back – she could hear their hooves hitting the metal floor, and their cries as she shifted into second gear, and the truck moved along the gravel road.

She continued to the entrance to her property and slowed down. She squinted her eyes and leaned forward, peering closely out the windshield. “Who is that?”

The gate was blocked by an old familiar pick up truck. She braked and shut the engine off. She glanced again and opened her mouth in surprise. “That looks like...” her voice trailed off, and she swung her door open, jumping out of the truck. The cattle were startled. They all let out a chorus of moos. Evie kicked up her pace and ran to the old truck.

He opened the driver’s side, got out, and made his way to Evie in a hurry.

He lifted her off of the ground and wrapped his arms around her. “Evie.” He nearly sang her name with happiness.

“Finch,” she said and kissed him on the dimple of his chin. “I missed you so much.”

“Not as much as I missed you,” he said and lowered her to the ground. He placed his hands on hers and looked down at her. “You’re a sight for sore, tired eyes.”

She could see the bags under his brown eyes and dark shadows surrounding them. “You look beat,” she said.

“I am. I’ve been driving all night,” he said.

“He drives like a maniac,” Stoney added. His head popped out the passenger side window.

“Try sitting in the back,” Doris yelled.

“He is fortunate the Smokeys weren’t out,” Friedrich added, his voice calling from the back of the truck.

“We could’ve ended up in jail as fast as he was going,” Mouse shouted.

Evie laughed and squeezed his hands. “You trying to be the Bandit?”

“Can’t be the Bandit without Frog,” he said.

“I never understood why he called her that,” Evie said.

He shrugged. “People always give pet names to people they love, Laura Ingalls.” He smiled down at her.

“They sure do, Jerk Face,” she replied with a wide grin.

Doris, Friedrich, Mouse, and Stoney got out of the truck and walked over to Evie and Finch.

Evie looked down with a puzzled expression at the suitcases they were holding. “What are y’all doing here?” she asked them all.

“I think Finch should answer that question,” Doris said.

She turned to Finch and gave a questioning look.

“Katie told me,” he said, staring down into her eyes.

She frowned and said, “I didn’t want you to know.”

“Why, Evie?”

“It’s not your problem,” she said.

“Anything that’s your problem becomes mine too,” he said.

“And then it becomes ours too, Honey Lamb,” Doris chimed in, and they all nodded in agreement.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Evie said to him with a wrinkled brow.

“Well, Evie, it brings me great pleasure to tell you that for once you are not right.” He flashed a smile. “Can I say that one more time just for self-satisfaction?”

“What’s going on?”

“We paid the bank this morning. That Mr. Phillips was all too eager to take our money. Seems like the first time someone’s been happy to take anything from the likes of us, but when it’s money, people can change their minds pretty fast,” he said. “So you can back that truck up and let those cattle roam this land.”

“What? How? Finch?”

He gave her a sincere smile. “We put our funds together, and I finally got my father to pay child support,” he said.

“You got money from your dad?” she said.

“We put up our share, and he paid the rest. It’s the least he could do.”

“I can’t take y’all’s money,” she said, shaking her head. “I just can’t. And you got money from him?” she said in disbelief, trying to wrap her mind around their generosity.

“Well, it’s too late for that,” he said with a chuckle.

“Finch, I’ll never be able to repay y’all.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Any of y’all.”

“Aww, who cares about that,” he said. “Remember when I told you sometimes people just give ‘cause they want to.”

“But it’s so much,” she said. “It’s too much.”

“You can’t measure love, Evie.”

“You love me?” she said with a tone of hope.

“Duh, and I sure as hell hope you love me or else I look like a real idiot right now.”

“I love you, Finch Mills,” she said with certainty.

“Well, you’re stuck with me if you’ll have me.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She smiled and giggled to herself. “Finch the farmer. It has a nice ring to it.”

Doris, Friedrich, Mouse, and Stoney cleared their throats in unison.

“Oh,” he breathed, “There’s something else I forgot to mention.” He scrunched up his face. “Can you fit three old carnies in that other house of yours? It seems that you’re stuck with my family too if you’ll have them.”

“Old! Who you calling old?” Doris scoffed.

“Three? I’m counting four,” Evie said.

“I’m only visiting,” Stoney interrupted. “It gets too cold here for my old creaky bones. I’m gonna plant myself in the sunshine state.”

“I’ll take any baggage that comes with you,” Evie said with a laugh, and hugged him tight. “Looks like we’ve got some unpacking to do.”

“Kiss her, Finch!” Doris shouted. “Like they do in the movies.”

Finch raised an eyebrow and peered down at Evie.

“Kiss me hard, Finch,” Evie said.

“Okay,” he said and rested his palm behind her neck, peering down into her eyes. “But this time I’m not going anywhere.”

The End

The Hearts of Haines Series Continues

Check out the sequel,
Like All Things Beautiful
.

In this sequel to
Kiss Me Hard Before You Go
, Evie Barnes is living day-to-day, trying to keep her father’s land and his cattle business afloat. She is adjusting to his absence and to living with Finch and the rest of the carnies, which is creating quite a stir amongst the locals in Haines.

As Finch and the others learn a new way of life that doesn’t involve the carnival, they’re dealing with prejudice from almost everyone in town. A string of suspicious incidents occur, prompting all fingers to point the blame at them.

Just when Evie and Finch learn to deal with the mountain of obstacles facing them, the unexpected happens, causing them to question if their relationship can survive it all.

Other Books By This Author

The Summer I Learned to Dive
.

Since the time she was a little girl, eighteen-year-old Finley “Finn” Hemmings has always lived her life according to a plan, focused and driven with no time for the average young adult’s carefree experiences. On the night of her high school graduation, things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that her mother has been keeping a secret from her—a secret that causes Finn to do something she had never done before—veer off her plan. In the middle of the night, Finn packs her bags and travels by bus to Graceville, SC seeking the truth. In Graceville, Finn has experiences that change her life forever; a summer of love, forgiveness and revelations. She learns to take chances, to take the plunge and to dive right in to what life has to offer.

The Year I Almost Drowned
.

In this continuation of “The Summer I Learned to Dive,” nineteen-year old Finley “Finn” Hemmings is living in Graceville, South Carolina with her grandparents. She’s getting to know the family that she was separated from for the last sixteen years. Finn and Jesse’s relationship seems to be going strong until they’re forced to deal with obstacles that throw them off-track. As Finn prepares to leave for college, she has to say goodbye to the town, her friends and family, and the way of life that she has grown to love.