From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(9)

Josie’s heart lurched, and three faces turned to her for a reaction.

Not only would she never get to be a cop like she’d always dreamed of, but she’d also lost her best friend, her partner, only months before. It was a double-whammy comment that he’d made offhand, but such was the new state of her life.

She woke up every day and found a way to trudge on, but something would inevitably rip the wound open again. She’d almost gotten used to the feeling.

Almost.

She smiled back at them, hoping she looked reassuring. “It’s the truth. Everybody needs somebody to watch their back.”

Paul and Mike stood.

Paul pulled her into a hug. “Hey, Jojo.”

She punched him in the side. “One day, you’ll quit calling me that.”

He laughed. “Not today.”

“Where’s Gia?”

“My beautiful wife is in the kitchen with Mom and Gran. Tell her I said that because the more pregnant she gets, the more likely she is to either cry or yell at me. I need all the help I can get.”

Mike gave her a side hug.

“How’s it going, Mikey?”

He ran a hand through his copper crew cut. “I’m starting to wonder if I’ll be a rookie forever.”

“They’re still razzing you? I figured they’d have found fresh meat by now.”

“Last week, somebody put shaving cream in my shoes, and yesterday, they glitter-bombed my locker.”

Josie laughed. “Oh, Mikey.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. I got ’em back by stealing all their deodorant and replacing them with Teen Rave Island Breeze.”

“That was my idea,” her dad said from her side and kissed her temple. “How are you, baby?”

She put on a smile. “I’m fine.”

He sighed and gave her a look that said he didn’t buy it. “Mmhmm. Boys,” he turned to his sons, “get in there and get the dishes so we can set the table. And Jo, go say hi to your mom.”

“Yes, sir,” she teased.

“Twelve years I’ve been a captain, and I will never get tired of hearing that.” He gave her a wink.

She followed the solid shoulders of her brothers into the kitchen where laughter mingled with the clinking of silverware and plates.

Her mother bustled around the kitchen as she passed stacks of plates to the boys, tucking an errant strand of auburn hair behind her ear that almost instantly began to slip back into her face. Gia slid off her barstool and waddled around to the stove with her hand on her belly.

“Ah, ah, ah” Josie’s mother shooed her back to her seat as the boys left the room with armfuls of dinnerware. “You just sit down and finish cooking that baby. Leave dinner to me.”

“Laura, I am so over being an incubator, I could scream. I actually did earlier. Paul had no idea how much rage I could expend on him for drinking out of the milk carton.”

They all laughed, and Josie made her way around the room to greet the women of her family. She came to her grandmother last, who was sipping sherry from a small crystal glass.

“Hello, Josephine,” Gran said with a smile, her gray hair coiffed like Jackie O and lips red—always elegant, always beautiful.

“Hello, Josephine,” Josie answered as she gave her grandmother a hug, breathing in the scent of rose water that reminded her of being a little girl.

“And what is new in the life of my favorite private investigator?” Gran brought her sherry to her lips with her gray eyebrows high.

“Well,” Josie said as she took the barstool next to her grandmother, “a few hours ago, I was exposed to a sixty-year-old man’s genitalia, but I guess things could be worse.”

“I’m not sure I’d complain.”

Josie snickered. “He’s not your type. You wouldn’t have been impressed with his level of hygiene or sobriety. That’s on top of the fact that he likes to show said genitals to anyone with eyes, solicited or not.”

“He sounds charming,” Gran said with a flourish. “How about you? My opportunity to be choosy about men might have passed, but yours, my dear, has not.”

Josie shifted in her seat and avoided Gran’s eyes. “You know I’m too busy with work to date.”

“Yes, yes, so I’ve heard,” she said.

Laura pulled the roast out of the oven, closed the door with her foot, and turned for the dining room. “Everybody, grab a dish and follow me,” she said with the swing of her elbow.

They did as they had been told and followed her to the table where the men of the family sat, chatting. Josie took her usual seat between Liz and Gran, across from the boys and Gia, who laid a napkin over her giant belly and sighed.

“I can barely even reach my plate.”

Paul laid an arm over the back of his wife’s chair. “Just a few more weeks.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled as everyone loaded their plates and passed dishes around.

“Well,” Laura said as she handed Gran the mashed potatoes, “I’ve got one grandbaby on deck. Who’s going to be next?”

Josie kept her eyes on the roast as she forked it onto her plate.

Just don’t, Mom. Not today.

“Don’t look at me,” Mike said as he leaned on the table.