Page 33 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 2

DECLAN

I was writing up a report from the third instance of Mrs. Brainthwaite’s car being borrowed without her permission when Penny’s voice came over my intercom.

As I reached for the phone, I glanced at my cell phone which didn’t show any missed calls or messages. None of my family members would have called in like that. Was it Tess? Had something happened?

“Sheriff Stone,” I said.

“Dec?”

Finn’s voice sounded strange. I stood up and reached for my phone and keys.

“What happened? Where are you?”

“Can you meet me at the chalet, please?”

“I’ll be there in ten. Where are you? What happened?”

He sniffled. “I’m fine. I’ll, um… I’ll tell you when I see you? Everything’s fine. I promise.”

“Stay on the phone with me,” I said before glancing up at Penny.

“I’m taking lunch, okay? Call Shawn in if you need extra hands on deck.

” I knew he’d cover for me if need be, and I’d do the same for him.

The more time he spent at our place with Tess, the more I was beginning to think of him as a friend rather than just a coworker.

Penny nodded and made a note in her computer that I was off duty. I strode out of the building and straight to the SUV.

“You still there?” I asked.

“Mm-hm.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. You have a clean piece of paper in your head for me?”

When he spoke, I could hear the smile in his voice. “That was a trick. I looked it up on Google. You were trying to get me to fall asleep.”

“You caught me.” I turned out of the parking lot and headed straight for Mikey and Tiller’s property. The only thing that kept me from turning on lights and sirens was hearing Finn’s voice on the other end. Clearly, he was alive and well even though I could tell something had happened.

“I need to warn you my mom is there,” he said, returning to the serious and unsure tone from earlier. “And she’s…”

“Mothers love me,” I said, lying through my teeth. The only mother who loved me was my own. I’d never really met any others in this kind of situation. “Don’t worry.”

Was that why he was upset? Because his mother had shown up?

Suddenly, I remembered today was the day he was filming a dangerous climbing scene. “Baby?” I asked without thinking. “Were you hurt on set?”

“Mm-hm.”

Clearly, he was around other people he didn’t want to say much in front of. I gritted my teeth.

“But I’m okay. Just a little banged up. In fact… you don’t need to… I, ah, shouldn’t have called. It’s okay. I didn’t mean to interrupt your workday.”

“You didn’t,” I said, lying again. “It’s fine. I promise. Shawn’s off today and can cover for me if they need someone.”

I finally turned onto the road that led up the mountainside. “Almost there.”

“Dec?”

He sounded small and scared. Tired and alone. It was killing me. I had to force myself not to slam the accelerator down to the floor. “I’m here.”

I heard the sounds of his arrival. Car doors opening and people talking. Finn’s voice was muffled as if he held the phone against his chest while he spoke to someone. It didn’t matter. I was almost there.

When I pulled onto the Rockley Lodge property and turned down the road toward the chalets, I was surprised to see Mikey unloading a suitcase from his vehicle in the distance.

He’d gone to Houston for the preseason with Tiller, but maybe he’d decided to head back early.

I knew from hearing Tiller talk about it that his preseason schedule was brutal.

It likely didn’t leave much time for Mikey.

Either way, I was relieved to see Mikey back here to oversee the cast and crew who’d taken over the lodge.

There’d been a callout already for violating a late-night noise ordinance, and I knew Tiller and Mikey were sensitive to their reputation in town.

If they wanted the town’s support for their lodge and ski resort plans, they’d need to keep their neighbors happy.

All thoughts of the happy couple disappeared when I pulled up to Finn’s chalet and saw a large bloodstain on the back of the hoodie jacket Finn had on. A handful of people swarmed around him, and I noticed a woman getting out of an SUV with a large orange EMT bag. What the fuck had happened?

As soon as the woman saw me, her eyes widened in concern, and she made a beeline for me and plastered on a big smile. “Oh, Officer… Sheriff. Everything’s fine here. I’m not sure who called you, but it’s completely unnecessary.”

Finn turned his head and met my eyes. His hair was a windblown mess, and his face was pale. A wide scratch like road rash painted his cheekbone, and he held one of his arms close to his body. He looked dead on his feet to the point I feared he’d tip right over and crumple to the ground.

After ignoring the EMT, I strode over and nudged a young man aside so I could assess Finn’s injuries. Before I had a chance to give him a good once-over, he stepped right up against me and wrapped his arms around my waist before leaning his head against my chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said almost too quietly for me to hear.

Damn it felt good to hold him. “What for?” I snuck my hands up the back of his jacket and shirt to feel the warm skin of his lower back. His entire body was shaking.

He let out a derisive laugh. “Claim… Hugging you in front of these people. I just…”

He didn’t need to say it. I could tell he just needed someone. Someone he could trust. Someone just for him.

Knowing his mother was here and he’d still called me made me both angry and sad for him. “It’s okay. If you hadn’t called, I would have been upset when I found out. And I don’t ever mind you hugging me whenever you want or need to.”

His body seemed to relax slightly, and I remembered how unsteady he’d appeared.

“Come on. Let’s get you inside.” I kept an arm around his waist as I led him into the chalet.

His mother was ensconced on the sofa surrounded by magazines, an iPad, a Starbucks cup, and a cashmere scarf-blanket thing half draped over her legs. She was on the phone.

“Oh, there are people here. Gotta go, darling.” She ended the call before realizing Finn was injured. “What in the world?” She stood up and came over to him, fluttering her hands around him as if unsure where to touch. If she decided to touch anywhere, I was probably going to make a rude noise.

I moved past her and guided him into the bedroom and then the large bathroom before closing the door in her face with a murmured, “Give us a minute.”

When I turned to Finn, I could see him tense his jaw. I thought he was going to snap at me about being dismissive to his mother, but that’s not what he said at all. “I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. I really am sorry. It was a moment of weakness.”

I leaned in and kissed him as gently as I could. He made a whimpering noise in his throat and leaned in for more. His body was plastered against mine so tightly, I had a hard time taking in a full breath. My hands landed on his ass and squeezed before I remembered why we were there.

“Fuck. Stop. We have to stop. You’re hurt. Let’s get you cleaned up, and then that medical person can take a look at you.”

When I pulled back, I noticed Finn’s eyes were full of tears, and he was leaning his head back in hopes of keeping them from spilling.

“Shit,” I murmured, pulling his head down and wiping them away as carefully as I could with my thumbs. “Did I hurt you? Fuck.”

“No,” he breathed. “You didn’t hurt me. I needed… I wanted… just… thank you for coming here.”

This man. He wasn’t at all the cocky actor I’d taken him for at first. He was so fucking vulnerable and incredibly lonely. I was beginning to see his need to be loved like a beacon, shining brightly for all the world to see.

But nobody fucking saw it at all.

Except me.

My back teeth ground together. “You can call me anytime. Do you hear me? Anytime. You are never a burden to me or my schedule. Never . Now… what happened out there?” I busied myself getting a washcloth under some hot water so I could wash him off.

“I was doing the tyrolean traverse high above the floor of the ravine. The wind picked up, and I told them we needed to wait for the conditions to improve before continuing. But the helicopter was only booked for a few hours, I guess…” His forehead crinkled.

“Wait. Wait. Where was the helicopter? They’re not supposed to fly in wind like that, and I don’t remember…

fuck. They weren’t there! They weren’t fucking there when the wind picked up.

So who… who the hell was filming other than Joel in the cherry picker? ”

I didn’t follow half of what he was saying other than to grasp the point that this film and the people in charge were assholes who clearly didn’t give a shit about looking out for one of their main stars.

Even if they didn’t care about Finn, they should have cared about their reputation.

It didn’t make any sense for a high-budget film to run that way.

“Did you fall?” I asked, wondering how that was possible if he was at Tempter’s Chimney. It was a canyon with two giant rock faces squared off opposite each other. As he spoke, I carefully wiped the dirt and makeup off his face.

“I fell off the edge, but Bo and Sara had given me top ropes to tie into. The ropes caught me, but I swung against the rock pretty hard when it happened.”

I couldn’t even imagine. Picturing him slipping off the edge of one of those tall ridges made me prickle with nervous sweat.

I dropped the cloth into the sink and pulled him into another careful hug. “I’m so fucking glad it wasn’t worse,” I breathed into his messy hair. He smelled like the outdoors: sun, sweat, dirt, and the tang of metal. “Thank fuck you’re okay.”

Someone knocked on the door. “Finn? Honey? The set medic wants to take a look at you.” Finn’s mom sounded worried.

“Give us another minute,” I said, trying not to growl at her. “Please.”

I redoubled my efforts to clean him up and realized the cut on his shoulder was still bleeding into the cotton jacket.