by Unger, Erin;
Take Mom’s side or Joze’s?
Mom would disappear in her work. Joze seemed to be there for good. He would stick around in case she needed him. Tonight at least.
“I’ll get you a plate.” The tone in Mom’s voice could break glass.
With his thumbs hooked in the back pockets of his jeans, Joze remained outside the dining room as if he knew his intrusion wasn’t OK. “Sorry to interrupt. But thanks.”
Should she ask why he’d showed up so unexpectedly? Maybe not in front of the family.
Glass, silverware, and plate in hand, Maddie returned to the dining room. He started to speak but she gave him a warning look, and he shut up.
The lasagna didn’t taste as good with the strain filtering around the room. Maddie cleared her throat. “Anyone want some ice cream? I can get it out to thaw.”
Joze shot her a questioning glance.
She returned it with a wide-eyed stare and mouthed, “We’ll talk later.”
He pressed his lips together.
Aster prattled on about college life and her new boyfriend. Either she didn’t notice the cold stares from Mom or she was refusing to acknowledge them. Maddie wasn’t sure.
Joze kept up with Aster’s fast New York talk she’d adopted. At least it kept Maddie from having to steer the conversation to safe ground the whole time.
It was good to see Aster so sure and happy. Yet sadness tinged her eyes the entire meal.
Devin arrived as Maddie brought the ice cream to the table. “What are you doing home already?”
He squeezed her tight, his duffel bag smacking her right arm. “I got an earlier flight. I couldn’t take another minute of speech class.”
She breathed in his earthy cologne. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
When he released her, she studied his stubbled jawline that was wider than she remembered. He lifted the corner of his mouth. “And not crashing onto the tarmac?”
He always had a way with words. Not the right way. Maddie grimaced. “Devin.”
“What?” He hugged Mom. “Insensitive, I get it. Sorry.”
18
Joze eyed Maddie’s cousin, Devin, stood, and put out his hand. Two cousins home, one left to arrive. “Good to see you.”
Devin dropped his duffel bag on the Oriental rug and shook his hand. “Joze, right?”
He nodded. Had he been that memorable?
“Are we having a party or what?”
It seemed more like a war waging right under the surface of conversation. “If you want to call it that.”
Maddie and Aster served Devin a huge helping of dinner. The whole time, he talked with his mouth full.
More than once Joze had to force himself to pay attention to the new bout of chat around the table. At least Mrs. Clare had stopped giving him the stink-eye. He studied Maddie as much as he could. She steered all conversation clear of the past couple days. Why? She had mentioned she wanted to keep a tight wrap on it, but he didn’t like it one bit.
Devin spread his hand on the table. “Joze, you’re a paramedic?”
What? He’d missed something. “An EMT.”
“Cool. I have my degree in nursing, but I work for an insurance company.”
All the eyes looking back at him were blue. Definitely a dominant gene in this family along with the blond hair. Joze quirked an eyebrow. “So you’re the one always giving us trouble.”
They all laughed. For once, it didn’t come across forced.
Maddie started to pick up all the plates. Her nervous movements made it clear she was on edge. Was there anything he could do to assure her? He took another quick look at her mother. There was nothing she’d let him get away with even if her daughter was twenty-six and way past the age of being under a mother’s thumb. Pushing down his frustration, Joze forced a fake smile.
Maddie’s cousin rested her elbows on the table and leaned in. “I say we play board games. I need to get my mind on something else or I’m going to lose it. You, too, Joze. Unless you have work in the morning.”
He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, working hard not to grin. Staying was exactly what he had in mind. “Aren’t you all exhausted? I usually work second shift, so it’s doable for me, but you’ve got to want to go to bed soon after being on the road.”
He almost did a double take when Maddie didn’t object or speak up against him staying. Was she coming around, recognizing the importance of his presence?
Games scattered across the living room floor, everyone but Mrs. Clare sat and argued over which one to play first. She’d disappeared once the games came out.
Maddie kept flitting her gaze to him. Was it a somewhat shy glint in her eye? For once her tough girl act wasn’t overshadowing everything that passed between them. But he had to admit the tough girl was who she was. And he’d loved her once for it. Hmm. But he’d seen the vulnerable side of her in the past day too. What a surprise that she’d let him. That side of her was just as appealing.
Maddie moved some tendrils of hair out of her face, and his fingers itched. He remembered how it felt to stroke her silky hair. Joze struggled to get the thought out of his head.
But maybe he didn’t need to.
19
Devin dropped the fake money into his hand. “I think we all need some snooze time.”
Two in the morning. Wow. Joze pushed to his feet. He’d tried to keep the games going as long as he could, but when Aster’s head actually landed on the game board, it was time to go. Even Maddie’s eyelids drooped and looked like a kid coming off a caffeine high about ready to crash into the nearest soft object and pass out. And he’d been more focused on Maddie’s sweet lips than taking his turn. More than once he’d had to play off the track of his thinking when Devin stared him down. Could they work things out? Was he ready to really forgive and take a chance with her? The gaming had brought their natural companionship out like it’d been when they were in college. And he liked it. Why keep denying his feelings for her?
Note to self, find Todd and drill him on that day four years ago.
Maddie rubbed her face. “Let me walk you to the door.”
He followed her and tried not to look at the curvy shape of her body the whole way there. She tried to hide it some but…
He clamped down his thoughts. How did he ever think it possible to stay away from her when he was putting himself at her disposal every chance he got?
Maddie slowed as they drew closer to the door. She looked over her shoulder at him and gave a small smile. “Thanks for tonight. They needed a break from reality.”
What about her? Was she OK that he’d stayed? Her quick glances and lingering fingers meant something, didn’t they? “And you?”
They were out of sight of the living room where they’d been playing, but she peeked over as if she didn’t want anyone to see them. He looked back. They were alone.
“Joze, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.” Instead of pulling back as he’d expected, she put an unsteady hand on his chest.
Was she giving in to the truth of how good they were together? He willed his heart to stay steady but it trampled to a heavy beat. Please don’t let her notice. He held his breath. He was losing the battle. With fingers as steady as he could muster, Joze put a firm hand on her elbow and willed the tingles to stay at bay. “What idea is there to get?”
She pulled him by his shirt a step closer. He couldn’t stop the overwhelming desire her gesture and their closeness created. He leaned down, millimeters from her lips. “You make me crazy.”
She closed her eyes. Her breath caressing his cheek, and she whispered, “Joze.”
Now she’d done it. He couldn’t hold back. He nuzzled her nose with his and closed his eyes.
A second later, Maddie shoved him back, and he jerked into alert mode. “What?”
Feet scuffed the wood flooring behind them. Good thing he caught his balance. Aster padded past them and up the stairs.
With a sigh, Maddie got on her tiptoes to
see over his shoulder. “I’m coming.”
Aster didn’t turn but raised a hand.
What was he supposed to do now? She’d almost let him kiss her. No mistaking it.
Control. It was going to take a lot from here on out. He raked a hand through his hair and dared to move close to her again. Shouldn’t he be fighting to stay apart? He didn’t let the thought win.
Maddie bit her lower lip, her eyes not quite meeting his. “I’ve been taking all your time up. Sorry about that.”
He put a hand on her shoulder and enjoyed the warmth that met his fingers. “I want to. Besides, I have a few days off this weekend.”
She looked so unsure, almost scared. He wanted to stroke her cheek so badly, but he didn’t.
When she settled her fingers on his forearm, he nearly went mad. This wasn’t the same Maddie who’d pushed him away even yesterday. Was he ready to meet their past head on at all costs?
Devin cleared his throat at the living room door. “See you tomorrow, Joze?”
Maddie flinched, but this time he didn’t remove his hand. An invitation.
Maddie piped up. “Oh no, he has things to do.”
Huh? Hadn’t she heard him? “What’s on the docket for tomorrow?”
“I figured you’d be here for Maddie, that’s all.”
And he wanted to be. “Sure.”
Devin rested against the door frame. “Hey, we could have a cook-off like the old days, cuz.”
Another competition. Joze was game. “I’ll bring my famous Reuben sandwiches. The guys down at the squad will tell you they’re the best.”
Her cousin pumped the air. “You’re on.”
With arms folded, Maddie looked from one to the other. “You think the others will be up to it? I heard Jocelyn is having a very hard time right now—me too.”
Devin’s hands went up. “It’ll keep us from perseverating.” His voice had a catch in it on his next words. “And mom wouldn’t want us to…wallow.”
She gave in with lowered eyes. “True.”
Devin wasn’t going away. That meant Joze wasn’t going to be acting on any of the pent-up emotions swirling his belly. He gave her shoulder one last squeeze. “Set the alarm.”
She nodded. “Make it dinner time, OK?”
He fairly skipped down the steps on his way to his car. Joze rummaged through his pockets for his keys.
He breathed in the cool moist air of night, a slight breeze of pine floating toward him. Should he stay a while? There were plenty of people in the house for safety, and Maddie’d promised to sleep in Aster’s room.
He peered into the black woods filled with the chirp of frogs and then down both directions of the street. All clear.
Hitting the unlock button, Joze reached for the door handle and opened it.
A flash of something…someone moving fast cleared the front of his car. He jerked back but not before something hard glanced off his forearm. Ow. “Who—”
The attacker raised his arm again. His raspy voice husked out like sandpaper against wood. “I said stay away from her.” The object connected with the side of Joze’s head. “But you don’t want to listen.”
He crumbled to the ledge of the doorframe, one arm hooked between the car and the door itself. “Stop.”
His world shifted and spun. Why couldn’t he make his legs pull him up? The guy couldn’t get away this time. Joze couldn’t allow him to.
He managed to stand. Took a step. The asphalt under him wobbled. “Don’t you—go near—her.”
A streak of brown jacket vanished behind him. He ducked. Not another hit. It would finish him for sure. He tried to spin around but wobbled against the car. Fire seared his brain.
The perpetrator, hood covering his head, careened into the driver seat of a tan car parked in the neighbor’s drive. He sped away.
With bleary eyes, Joze tried to make out the license plate. OMJ. Then was it an eight-six-nine? He repeated the letter-number combination over and over and collapsed into his car as carefully as he could. With his phone in hand, he put the numbers into his memo app. Every movement sent shockwaves of pain through his eye sockets. Should he go back to the house, call emergency services? His buddies could do a number on this guy now that he had something trackable.
If he landed on the Clare doorstep right now, there’d be too many questions, and Maddie was bent on keeping it from the family. He couldn’t.
And he couldn’t leave now either.
Joze reached up and touched his head. Something warm and wet coated his fingers. He winced.
He knew who to call. With one eye closed, he dialed David Beaucamp’s cell. He worked the third shift for the police department, and they’d talked the other day about getting together for a game over the weekend. He was on patrol tonight. When his friend answered with a snide remark he held in his own response and got to the point. “Hey, can you do a license plate check for me?”
“How much is it worth to you?”
“Dude, I don’t have time to mess around. I just got hit and now the guy’s run off. OMJ8690.”
His friend’s voice chopped to attention. “Where are you? What do you mean you got hit? Your car or you?”
Joze pulled the phone away from his ear an inch. The tense voice of his friend exacerbated the drumming pain. “Me.” He gave the address. “Don’t come with blaring sirens and lights.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Sure, man. I’m on my way.”
Joze parked his car in the Clare driveway. No way was he going to let the guy think he’d run away. And he wanted to be very visible. Joze grabbed some napkins out of the console and put them against his head with gentle pressure.
David pulled along the curb. He shined his spotlight on Joze, who waved at him with furious movements. “Turn that thing off.”
David threw the switch and deadened the light. He stalked over to Joze, his slick black hair catching a glint of light from the streetlamp. “You tied up in that stalker case Tuttle has?” He looked to the house. “Is that why you’re here?”
“Something like that.” Small town, loud gossip. It hadn’t gotten past the force, had it? He looked up to meet David’s eyes. His buddy was a good six inches taller than him, but Joze didn’t let it get under his skin that he was on the small side. “It’s personal, really.”
“I’m supposed to be on the other section of town. You should call Tuttle.”
“You know why I can’t do that.” He wasn’t ready to have Tuttle talking to Maddie again right now. Not with the family around. They walked over to the police cruiser. It was nice having friends in the force and on the squad.
“Let me guess, you want me to keep this under wraps?”
Joze nodded.
“Well, here’s the info on that plate.” David bent into his cruiser and looked at the computer screen attached to his dashboard. “Registered to a red pickup. I put a BOLO out for it.”
“Whoa, stop there. This man was in a tan, four-door sedan, a Chevrolet. Late model.”
“I need to call that in, then. Sounds like stolen plates.”
Joze dug around in his mind. Wait, something wasn’t right about the numbers. Were his eyes that blurry or were the numbers taped to make different ones? He had to think for a moment. “Um, I don’t think so. More like he taped the numbers to appear different. They were a little uneven.”
David had his mic in his hand. “OK. And…”
“Keep this quiet, OK? Think you can let me in on anything you find?”
“Yeah, of course. But you do know there could literally be thousands of vehicles in all the possible combinations, right?” He spoke the information into his mic, talking back and forth with the dispatcher on the other end. Then he turned back to Joze. “By now he could’ve removed the tape, but we’ll do what we can.”
“Figured as much.” Joze pulled the napkins away from his head. The bleeding had stopped. There wasn’t enough to need stitches. �
��Wanna get a picture of this for the report?”
His friend went to work on filing his statement and taking photos of the wound on his head and arm. “He got you good. You should have it checked out.”
“I wish I’d gotten a punch in.” How had he allowed the guy to sneak up on him? “But I think it’s fine. I don’t need to go in for this.” A terrible guard he turned out to be. What had he been thinking about to distract him that much? He returned to the moments leading up to the attack. He had done a sweep of the area. But still. The sedan was parked on the far side of a neighbor’s car. He should’ve noticed it.
Joze went back to his vehicle and looked at the spot from where the guy had sped off. He couldn’t see the location where the sedan had been. He then moved to the sidewalk leading to the Clare house. He couldn’t really see it from there either without craning his neck. No lights illuminated the area. And trees flanked both sides of the cement drive.
The perp had to have been waiting in the trees by his car. Plain and simple. What he wouldn’t give to be able to cut all those trees down right now. Could he find a way to put spotlights on the wooded area?
David followed him. “I’ll do a sweep of the area and get out of here.”
So much for Joze heading anywhere but the front seat of his car.
20
Maddie raced to grab the phone off the receiver. “Can’t anyone hear this thing ringing?” Into the phone, she said a breathy hello.
“This is Mrs. Canney from Anby Church. I am so sorry for your loss.” When she spoke a moment later, her voice shook. “Lonna was a dear friend and prayer partner.”
Maddie had to hold in her own shaky sob at the weeping of the woman on the other end. Had Aunt Lonna mentioned her before? She wasn’t sure. There’d been lots of church friends she’d spent time with. “I’m calling to see if you wouldn’t mind if some ladies from the church provide meals over the weekend. We want to make your load a little easier, what with the funeral and all on Sunday.”
It took Maddie a second to speak. All morning, tears had threatened. It had started with Aster determined to go through some of Aunt Lonna’s things, and now she couldn’t shake the gloom that hovered. “That’s so kind…thank you.”