From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(78)

The door opened, and Josie exited the bathroom with her chin high and a mask of composure on her face.



You can do this, Josie said to herself.

She was determined to walk out of the situation with some shred of dignity and repeated one of the many lessons that her grandmother had taught her, “Good manners are made of petty sacrifices.”

Jon and Tori’s heads were together, but they straightened up when they saw her. Jon looked like a rat in a snake den, and Tori gave her another warm smile. Josie tried to give her one back, but it was bullshit; she only hoped Tori couldn’t tell. Josie assessed the pair of them as she approached, noting their body language and proximity, and realized with some certainty that they really weren’t together. She hadn’t even known she’d doubted it before that moment.

Josie watched his eyes bounce uneasily between the two women.

“I’m gonna go grab my stuff. I’ll just be a minute.”

He gave Tori a pointed look, but Tori just kept on smiling as he turned and walked away.

“Come on, Josie,” Tori said benignly. “Let’s see about that tea.”

They walked into the kitchen, and Tori started her teapot.

“How about vanilla chai?”

That sounds terrible.

“Sounds great,” Josie, a coffee girl through and through, said as she took a seat at the table.

Lola came running in with a brush and a Barbie doll and thrust them toward Josie. “You brush the hair for Barbie?”

Tori held her hands out for the doll. “Here, baby, let Mama help you with that.”

The little girl hugged the Barbie and brush to her chest and gave Tori the stink eye. “No.” She took a step closer to Josie.

“It’s okay,” Josie said as she turned to the little girl. “You want me to help you?”

“Yes, pwease.”

Josie smiled as she took the brush and the doll, whose hair was snarled. As she brushed out the Barbie’s mane, Lola laid her hand on Josie’s thigh and leaned in to watch.

“Ooh, so pooty!”

Josie couldn’t help but laugh. “She is something else,” she said to Tori.

Tori was leaning against the counter, watching them with a smile on her face. “That, she is.” She pushed off and sat down across from Josie. “I wanted to tell you, Josie, for what it’s worth…I really am sorry. We never meant—”

Josie held up her hand, unwilling to have that conversation with the manifestation of her pain, who was sitting across from her, offering tea. “Tori, please. Please don’t. It’s just better for all of us if we leave it alone, okay?”

Tori took a breath, her face tight, almost like it physically pained her to stop talking. “Okay. Whatever you want, I owe you that.”

Josie nodded. “Thank you.”

“But, please, if you ever want to talk about it—”



Jon cleared his throat from behind Josie with his eyes on Tori. He’d practically dumped a drawer directly into his bag in the rush to get the two women out of the same room. Josie glanced at him and then back at Tori, who looked mildly cowed but mostly challenging. He wouldn’t be surprised if she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’ve got my stuff, Jo. You ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

Tori jumped up. “Hang on, let me get your tea to go. Sugar?”

“Just a little,” Josie answered.

Jon watched from the threshold of the kitchen as Tori poured out tea into a paper to-go cup with a little spoon of sugar and handed it over to Josie, who looked like she had a porcupine in her pocket. Tori gave Josie a knowing smile, and Jon shot Tori what he hoped was an authoritative look as Josie thanked her and turned to face him.

Tori gave him two thumbs-up with a stupid grin on her face behind Josie’s back.

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll text you and let you know how things are going.”

“All right. You two be careful, okay?”

Lola ran to Jon, and he knelt down.

She looked at him with the biggest blue eyes on the planet. “Bye, Daddy.”

He scooped her into his arms and kissed her cheek, squeezing her tight, holding her close, not knowing how long it would be until he held her again, until he smelled the sweet scent of baby soap and lavender or felt her tiny arms around his neck or her weight against his chest.

Life seemed so much more dangerous when you had something to lose.

“I love you.” He kissed her hair.

“Love you, Daddy.”

He passed the little girl to Tori along with a good-sized portion of his heart. “Call me if you need anything.”

“We’ll be fine, Jon. You just take care of yourself. Come back in one piece.”

They smiled at each other, and he nodded.



Josie watched the whole exchange with her heart in her stomach.

Thinking about Jon having a baby and seeing him with her were different things. He was a father. That tiny person was his, and she seemed to make up nearly his entire universe. As desolate as his leaving her had been, she understood why with sudden clarity.

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Jon slung his bag over his shoulder and brushed past Josie to open the door.

“Thanks again, Tori,” Josie said as she picked up her bag.