Purgatory, West Virginia
April 5
Finn and Charlotte walked up the hill to Auggie and grandpa Bill’s cabin, two wheezing, panting bulldogs in tow. Auggie was sitting on the porch playing chess on the tablet Finn had given him. Finn could tell Auggie was trying to ignore him, but the lure of the pups had the boy bounding down the stairs.
“These are Miss Fern’s dogs.” He dropped to his knees to embrace the slobbering mutts.
“Not anymore,” Finn said.
Auggie looked up, confused.
“She passed away, and I kind of inherited them.”
“That’s awesome,” Auggie shouted and resumed his canine wrestling match.
“I want to talk to you.” Finn tipped his head toward the porch. He turned to Charlotte, silently asking her to join him, and she came to his side.
Auggie reluctantly pulled away from the pups. He stood and dusted off his pants. “I know you’re leaving.”
“Yeah.”
“You want your tablet back?” Auggie asked.
“No. That’s… Look. I was wondering if you’d maybe want to come back to Beaufort with me.”
Auggie’s eyes widened. “Where’s that?”
“South Carolina. We’d have to make it official with the authorities and all. I’d be your foster dad. I’d start the process of adopting you. I mean, I’m probably not your first choice…”
Finn’s words were cut off by the force of the small boy plowing into his legs, jarring a laugh from his gut. He knelt to eye-level with Auggie. “I’m probably going to be a shit dad.”
“That’s okay. You make good sandwiches, and you’re good in storms and stuff.”
“Hey, what do you know? I’m a fucking great dad.” Finn ruffled his hair. Auggie pushed him away. “Let’s get your stuff.”
“Finn,” Charlotte scolded.
“Right.” He cleared his throat. “We gotta clean up our language. You’re going to go to school, and I can’t have your teacher calling me every fu— fudging hour on the hour complaining about your toilet mouth.”
“I’m not—” Auggie started to protest.
“You are,” Finn insisted. “And you’re not gonna get beat up. Want to know why?”
Auggie nodded.
“Because I have six buddies as big as me. Any kids that give you a hard time, we’ll knock their heads together like coconuts.” Finn slapped his hands together with a loud clap.
“Oh jeez,” Charlotte muttered and walked away.
“What’s wrong with her?” Auggie asked
Finn shrugged. “She’ll get with the program. Go get your stuff.”
Auggie ran into the cabin.
“Get with the program?” Charlotte hissed. “Finn, you cannot tell an eight-year-old boy that six trained spec ops guys are going to fight his schoolyard battles.”
Finn shifted to accommodate his erection. Charlotte Devlin was never hotter than when she showed her inner steel. He knew the moment she noticed; her eyes saucered, and she licked her lips.