From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(10)

“I don’t know, Mom. If I have anything to do with it, it’ll be my turn,” Liz said. She took a bite of peas. “I know how you really want me to be on 16 and Pregnant. Having a baby’s basically like getting a puppy, right?”

“Don’t even joke about it, Elizabeth Marie,” Laura warned. “I’ll skin you, and your father will skin any boy stupid enough to even think about it.”

Everyone smiled down at their roast and peas and potatoes, except for Laura, who turned her attention to Josie.

“How about you, Josie? Meet any eligible young men this week?”

“Mom,” she warned.

Laura’s eyebrows were up as she reached for a bowl of carrots. “Is that a no?”

“That’s a no.”

“Well,” Laura said as she spooned carrots onto her plate, “it couldn’t hurt to be a little more lip gloss and a little less gunmetal.”

Josie’s mouth hung open for a split second before she snapped it shut. “I don’t have time for lip gloss, and I happen to like guns.”

Paul snorted. “Speaking of boyfriends, I saw Jon at the station the other day.”

Josie shoveled roast into her mouth to stop herself from responding.

Her father chuckled. “Rosie made him wait an hour for a check she’d cut him weeks ago. I think it was sitting on her desk the whole time he was waiting.”

Josie set her fork down with a clink almost loud enough to be disruptive. “Am I the only one who doesn’t find it amusing that half the precinct knows the details of my love life?”

“Oh, come on, Jo,” Paul said with a smirk. “Giving Jon hell is the least we can do to dish that asshole a little payback.”

“Language, Paul.” Laura gave him a look.

Josie eyeballed him too. “Look, as much as I appreciate the thought, I just wish everyone would drop it.”

Paul leaned on the table, his smirk fading and face hardening. “The guy left town with his ex he’d knocked up and didn’t even have the guts to tell you he was leaving. I mean, what kind of coward doesn’t break up with someone face-to-face?”

A thousand thoughts fired through Josie’s mind, so many that her mouth couldn’t even pick one.

Gia elbowed him in the side. “Paul,” she hissed.

He looked at his wife like he had zero clue. “What? I’m just saying, we all hate him just as much as she does.”

Josie shoved her rage down from cracking skulls to spitting nails. “I don’t need reminding, and I very seriously doubt that your feelings about him are stronger than mine. Can we just not talk about it? Please? For God’s sake, I just want to come to Sunday dinner and not have everybody up my ass.”

“Language!” Laura said, exasperated. She turned her fury on her husband. “Hank, control your children.”

Hank set his fork down and leaned on his forearm. “Josie, honey, on behalf of our entire misguided but well-meaning family, I would like to apologize. I know we have a funny way of showing it, but we only want you to be happy.”

Josie made eye contact with each member of her family. “It would make me happy if everybody dropped it. I’m fine, okay? I don’t want a boyfriend, and I don’t need help from the vigilante heart police. Now, can we please change the subject?”

“Sure, Jo. Sure.” Hank turned to the other side of the table. “Gia, I think we would all love to hear about the nursery. Has Pauly finished painting, or do I need to knock some sense into him?”

Gia let out a breath and smiled, breaking the tension with the details of paint swatches and curtains before she and Laura entered into a debate about stomach versus back sleeping. Josie ate her meal in silence as the family chatted, and the only real comfort she felt was in the moment her grandmother patted her hand, and they shared a smile.

Dinner eventually ended, and the table was cleared by Liz, who stacked all the dishes in the kitchen for Josie and her grandmother to attack, as they did every Sunday.

Josie leaned against the counter with a towel slung over her shoulder, watching as Gran rolled up her sleeves and buried her weathered hands in the bubbles.

“Don’t be mad at Paul or your mother, Josie.” Gran’s eyes were on her hands as she scrubbed a plate.

“I’m not mad. I’m fine.” Josie thought maybe she’d sounded convincing.

Gran eyed her and dunked the plate in the rinse side of the sink. “You can’t fool me.”

Josie sighed as she took the plate from Gran and ran her towel over it.

Gran picked up another plate and went to work on it. “Your mother believes that a family would satisfy you because that’s where she’s found her joy. She just doesn’t realize how horrible she sounds when she tries to help.”

“I know they mean well, really, but I dread coming over here every week. How can I keep moving forward if everyone keeps bringing up the past?”

“Moving forward, hmm?”

“What? I’m fine,” Josie insisted.

“You keep saying that. When was the last time you went on a date?”

Josie’s lips pressed flat. “That’s not the point.”

“Okay, when was the last time you went out with your girlfriends?” Gran raised an eyebrow and handed Josie another wet plate.