The Swailing

The Rockies: Deal

We sit across from each other at the coffee shop, sipping our drinks. They didn't have carrot juice after all so I ordered a green tea, Finn a coffee.

Sabine was hesitant to leave me after she saw my initial reaction to Finn but I assured her that he was alright, that he wasn't going to hurt me. I think she assumed he was my boyfriend and we'd had a fight. Frankly, that's an easier explanation than our actual situation, so I let her believe it. Once she was convinced that I was okay, she gave me another hug and got on her next bus.

So here I am, reunited with Finn and my money. I won't make this easy on him, won't make polite chitchat and relieve his guilt. I won't.

"I really am a better person than this," he says. "I swear."

I sniff, unconvinced, and look down into my tea. "Right."

"Let me make it up to you." He dips his head, trying to make eye contact with me. "Okay?"

I finally level a look at him. "I'm not sure you can."

"I can try."

I shrug.

"Alright. Here's my offer." He leans forward, his elbows resting on the table, his fingertips just inches from my tea cup. "I'll take you wherever you want to go. No charge. We each pay our own expenses."

I'm skeptical.

"Come on," he says. "I obviously feel bad about what I did. I gave you your money back. I returned your memory stick. And I've bought you a delicious and healthy green tea and am willing to spring for a meal, too."

I lift my chin and stare him down with a cool and level look. Then I can't help myself. "Something with fruits and vegetables?" I ask.

Finn laughs. "Sure, you crazy daredevil. Whatever you want."

I finally nod. I'm hesitant to forgive him and trust him again, but I don't have many options at this point. I just want to find my mom and brother, and Finn can probably speed that process up. He's got a car, he's got knowledge I don't have.

"I guess I don't have many options. I suppose you didn't have to follow me. You didn't have to give me my stuff back."

Finn takes a sip of his coffee, but doesn't reply.

"Why did you, anyway? And how did you find me?"

He wraps his long, tan fingers around his mug and thinks before he speaks – something I don't do often enough.

"I thought you'd head straight back to Optima, that whatever fight you and your boyfriend probably had wouldn't seem like such a big deal anymore. So I went the opposite direction. Figured I'd put as many miles between us as possible. I stopped to sleep at a rest stop and when I woke up I ... I saw you getting on that bus. I thought I was dreaming. Or having a nightmare."

I grin a little because his teasing feels good. And sort of familiar and normal.

"I knew you hadn't seen me, and I thought about running the other direction again. But ... "

"You had a bout of conscience."

Something about the way he shrugs makes me think that maybe it was more than that. Maybe taking the money from me was harder for him than I realize. "Why did you take it in the first place? I was going to pay you. I even offered you half of that money I won!"

"I know. But I needed money and you had lots of it. You were an easy target. I'm a jackass. You pick."

"I'm going to go with the jackass thing."