Flirting in Traffic (12 page)

Esa was so nervous by the time she parked the car at 7:58 that evening that she felt like a sixteen-year-old on the night of her junior prom.

“Jeez, Jess wasn’t kidding when he said that the party would be packed, was he?” Carla said as they got out of the car and followed a football player and a mummy down the street. Sounds of rock music and children shouting with glee filtered through the pitch-black night. Esa had had to park three blocks away, the streets surrounding Finn’s mother’s house were so packed with partygoers’ cars.

“Finn implied he was related to half of Bridgeport by blood or marriage,” Esa recalled.

“Maybe I should have worn a costume,” Carla mused, her eyes on the bright white bandages of the mummy walking in front of them. “Something sexy…a French maid’s outfit or something.”

“That’d have made stellar first impression on Jess’ mom.”

Carla snorted. “As if it matters what kind of an impression I make on
her
.”

Esa was too distracted to respond. Ever since she’d learned from Finn that he’d tried to call her this week she hadn’t been able to think about anything properly. She glanced down at her body in the darkness, assuring herself that she hadn’t put on her clothes inside out. She recalled Carla’s uncustomary warm praise about her hair and outfit earlier when Esa had picked her up, so she supposed she hadn’t been so out of it that she’d applied two different colors of eye shadow on each lid or something.

Somewhere in all that mental stewing she’d decided that she’d tell Finn the truth about her. Tonight.

She was sick of lying to him. She hadn’t engaged in such a bald-faced lie since her undergraduate days. Even back then her mother had suspected the truth about her moving into her smarmy boyfriend Jarvis’ tiny, disgustingly dirty studio.

This was different, of course. Finn wasn’t her
mother.
So what if he no longer wanted to
hook up
with her—reprehensible phrase—once he understood she didn’t regularly engage in casual sex flings and work as the publisher of a racy singles’ magazine? Why would she want to be around him if that were the case, anyway?

So that you can get in a few more rounds of what was most likely the best sex you’ll ever have in your life?
a sly voice in her head answered.

Well…there was
that
. She wouldn’t be a terrible person for wanting good sex. She certainly wouldn’t be any more single-minded than Finn himself.

But something strange had occurred when she’d seen Finn walking toward her in traffic with that determined expression on his handsome face. Something that made the blood run so fast in her veins that she’d felt lightheaded. A heretofore unknown feeling had overcome her at the sight of him stalking through those cars like a tawny lion on the hunt. The sensation amplified until she was rendered nearly speechless by the time he’d leaned down and she’d caught his scent.

How was it possible that a man could have such a profound effect on her body? Esa wondered as she and Carla followed the football player and the mummy up the stairs to the crowded front porch. Lit jack-o-lanterns of various sizes with facial expressions that ranged from the eerie to the comical glowed festively along the porch parapet. The rowdy notes of
Ballroom Blitz
sounded through the opened front door.

“Hi Chase…that’s not Marisa under all those bandages, is it?” an attractive woman in her fifties with stylishly cut short blonde hair teased.

“Nah, she’s coming with her sister Angie in a bit,” Chase said as he took off his helmet and gave the woman a hug. “You know Seamus Hatfield right, Mrs. M.?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed as she studied Seamus the Mummy. “Used to play football with Finn in high school? Running back, if I recall correctly.”

“You’ve got a good memory, Mrs. Madigan.”

She laughed. “You’re right. A good memory is a necessity of life with all these kids, grandkids and cousins. Go on out to the deck, you two. The kegs are out there and Danny’s got burgers and brats on the grill. There’s more food than you’ll know what to do with in the kitchen.”

“And what about the…” Chase asked as he mimed dealing cards. “I’m planning to win back some of the money that your two oldest sons took from me a couple weeks ago.”

“They’re playing cards in the family room, not that I’m condoning gambling, mind you.”

Chase moved forward and Finn’s mother caught sight of Carla and Esa.

“Oh, hello! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you behind these two big guys. I’m Molly Madigan.”

Chase and Seamus turned to examine them as Esa and Carla introduced themselves and shook hands with Molly.

“Two women that look like them? They gotta be Finn’s, Jess’, Caleb’s…or maybe even Danny’s dates. Danny’s getting up there…starting to play with the big boys,” Chase speculated.

He laughed when Esa glanced at him in surprise, giving away the near accuracy of his guess. He leaned forward and spoke close to Molly Madigan’s ear but loud enough for Esa and Carla to hear. “What kind of boys did you raise, Mrs. M., that they don’t even go and pick up their dates?”

“Finn offered,” Esa said quickly, more to Molly than Chase. She’d already learned from Finn that the neat, attractive woman who stood in front of her wouldn’t take kindly to the idea of one of her sons behaving rudely. “I just wanted to drive.”

“Oh, so you
are
Finn’s friend? He told me to look out for you. And as for Jess, he’s been busy helping Glory and me set up for the party,” Molly assured Carla, as though she were worried she might have been offended by Chase’s teasing. She took Esa by the arm. “Now, come on, you two, and we’ll look for them. I hope they’re not at cards already…or playing Wolf Man, now that it’s dark…”

Carla shot Esa a dubious glance of amusement behind Molly’s back but there wasn’t much of a chance to either tell their kind hostess that she needn’t worry about attending to them personally or ask her what she meant by “playing Wolf Man”. The foyer and homey living room that they walked into was so loud with boisterous conversations and rambunctious music that all Esa could do was concentrate on following Molly through the crowd.

“Oh, there’s Jess.
Jess
!” Molly called out.

Esa spotted Jess out on the back terrace, leaning back on the railing with a beer bottle in his hand and chatting with another tall young man with sun-burnished light brown hair holding a spatula and dressed like a seventies rock star. Given his obvious chef status, Esa guessed he was Finn’s younger brother Danny. He smiled at something Jess said, the quick flash of brilliance reminding her poignantly of Finn.

Molly Madigan had certainly given birth to some awesome-looking males, Esa had to admit.

Jess glanced through the opened patio doors and waved happily when he saw Carla. Esa studied his handsome face as Carla went to join him. She was at least partially mollified that he seemed to be genuinely glad to see her good friend. Carla may pretend like Jess Madigan hadn’t gotten beneath her skin but Esa saw the familiar signs that indicated otherwise.

Carla had gone through several bad breakups in the last five years. The scars that she’d received from those love-affairs-gone-awry were part of the reason that she’d acquired this new, callous, single-minded attitude regarding men and sex. But Esa could sense Carla’s bravado wearing thin when it came to Jess.

And it worried her.

“One down and one to go,” Molly shouted over the notes of
Thriller.
“Maybe Finn is in the kitchen getting something to eat.”

Esa just nodded and followed her hostess into a crowded kitchen. The music was muffled somewhat when the heavy oak door swung shut. Almost every occupant of the room was a woman. Molly introduced her to so many people that Esa’s head spun, but she took extra interest when she was introduced to “Finn’s cousin Dina”.

There was nothing suspicious about Finn’s teacher in the arts of kissing
—
in addition to God knew what other erotic activities. The attractive brunette who looked about five years older than Esa was as friendly as everyone else Molly introduced her to, so Esa supposed she could only be thankful to Dina for being such an amazing instructor.

Although she hazarded a guess that Finn possessed an innate talent when it came to the kissing department.

She also took extra interest in meeting Finn’s three sisters. Anna Jean and Ellen were the youngest—Esa guessed their ages to be around sixteen or seventeen. The purity of Anna Jean’s youthful features made her a perfect Joan of Arc while Ellen’s pert pug nose and saucy grin made her ideally suited for her surfer girl costume. The oldest of the three, Mary Kate, a pretty woman with a gorgeous mane of blonde hair, studied Esa with frank interest when Molly introduced them.

“Finn was here just a minute ago. Not sure where he went off to,” Mary Kate offered politely.

Esa started in alarm when several ear-piercing shrieks of terror penetrated the kitchen windows. She relaxed a little when the combined screams were followed by children’s hysterical laughter. Mary Kate and Molly exchanged a knowing glance.

“Cory and Alex must have talked Finn into playing Wolf Man,” Mary Kate said.

“Finn is playing Wolf Man? Let’s go!” Ellen told Anna Jean before both girls rushed out of the kitchen.

When Mary Kate saw Esa’s confused expression she explained, “You’ll think we’re barbarians no doubt—my husband did the first time he attended one of Glory’s Halloween parties—but the Madigans have a tradition whereby we—”

“Scare our children half to death,” a voice behind Esa said.

She spun around to face a tall, incredibly striking woman dressed as Cleopatra. Cleopatra herself would have killed to look as gorgeous as this woman did when she was in her seventies.

“Glory Madigan,” the woman said with a smile as she held out her bejeweled hand.

“Esa Ormond,” Esa replied as she shook Glory’s hand and studied her with open fascination. “That costume is amazing. And you look
fantastic
in it.”

“Thanks,” Glory said with a cheeky grin. She batted her false eyelashes flirtatiously. “I’ve been working out regularly at the senior center for the past three months. I’ve lost twelve pounds, but mostly just turned all the fat to muscle,” Glory added as an intimate aside to Esa.

“Low-impact aerobics?” Esa asked.

“In addition to water aerobics on Sundays and meditation on Tuesdays.”

“I don’t suppose your referring to the new senior center on 95th and Ashland?”

Glory looked surprised. “Yes, the facility is wonderful. I’m surprised you know about it. Do you live in the area?”

“No, I just heard about it through the grapevine,” Esa responded in a vague fashion.

“Mom’s been bound and determined to get into shape in order to wear that costume,” Molly explained with a grin.

“Mom and Grandma Glory made it,” Mary Kate added.

“Another Madigan tradition,” Molly said with a laugh. “We make Glory a different costume every year.”

“I’m going to get you into one next year, Molly,” Glory said with a determined frown.

From the doubtful expression on Molly’s face, Esa guessed that Molly was nowhere near as fond of dressing up as her mother-in-law was.

“Oh…but we never finished telling Esa about the Wolf Man tradition,” Molly said.

“It all started with my husband Sean and his six brothers,” Glory began. “I had five children and there were hoards of Madigan cousins. One Halloween Sean bought a Wolf Man mask and whipped the kids into a frenzy by hiding in the backyard and making growling noises—”

“I was one of the kids,” Molly piped up. “I was in the seventh grade and invited to the party by my best friend Mary Madigan. When we heard those noises in that pitch-black backyard we were
scared
, I can tell you. But when Dad Madigan came bursting out of the bushes wearing that Wolf Man mask we were petrified. I’ve never screamed so hard in my life.”

Esa laughed when she registered the expression of excitement and incredulous fear that the memory still had the power to bring to Molly’s face.

“How many masks have we gone through over the years?” Mary Kate asked before she took a sip of beer.

“At least a dozen,” Glory replied.

“It was the best part of Halloween,” Mary Kate admitted as mirth gleamed in her blue eyes. “Running around out there in the pitch dark, both wanting to find one of the Uncle Wolves and practically peeing our pants we were so scared he was going to jump out from behind a tree and tickle us until we couldn’t breathe.”

“Sounds like a blast,” Esa agreed, grinning.

“Oh, it was. I was just telling Finn this evening that I kind of wish it was me out there instead of my kids,” Mary Kate said wistfully.

They all paused when they heard a wolf howl and more shrieks of terror emanating from the backyard, followed by hysterical shouts and laughter.

“From the caliber of those screams, it’s gotta be Finn,” Mary Kate said.

“He’s the favorite Uncle Wolf,” Molly explained to Esa.

“Is he?” Esa asked speculatively.

Mary Kate nodded. “Of course my brothers are only truly ‘uncles’ to
my
kids but that hoard of cousins out there doesn’t know the difference. Even my little sisters think Finn is the best Uncle Wolf.”