Holy fuck. He hadn’t expected that to come out. But Bullet was nodding, and Jed took that as a good sign.
“Brotherhood?” Bullet said. “You willing to help run a program like that? You know what it takes? Because just like the Dark Knights, there’s a lot more to it. Finances, planning of events, community outreach, figuring out who’s worthy of our patches and who’s not going to cut it. A junior program would have to be managed the same way. But there’ll be more to it. Meetings with schools, teachers, counselors. You’ve got to make sure there are plans in place for something like this. You can’t just jump in and start a program without direction. And even then you’ll need authority from the parents, and some might tell you to fuck off.”
Jed stopped pacing and said, “None of that scares me. And you’re right, some parents might not be okay with this. But maybe we can find ways to win them over. I sure as hell don’t want to give up on the idea just because some parents might tell me to fuck off. I can give a dozen reasons off the top of my head why a kid should take part in something like this. Hell, Bullet, I’m a walking example of why this community needs it.”
Bullet lifted his chin and said, “Can you be ready a week from Monday to present your ideas to the group at church?”
“Seriously?”
Bullet arched a brow. “Would I joke about church?”
“Awesome, man. Yeah, I’ll be there, and I’ll put my ideas together beforehand. Thank you, Bullet.”
“And what about Frick and Frack out there? What’s your plan with them?”
“Diesel should be here in an hour, right?”
Bullet nodded.
“They want to work for three hours. I promised Hail I’d take him to the library, so I was hoping Diesel could watch over them until I get back. I’ll pay them out of my own pocket. Marco’s into working with his hands, so I thought I’d have him shadow me at the shop after school the afternoons I’m working, just to keep him busy. I didn’t promise them jobs, if that’s what you’re worried about. But if we can swing it, I’d like to give them a few hours a week, assuming they can get work permits.”
“Your head and your heart are in the right place. But things like this can come back and bite you in the ass when a kid fucks up.”
“I don’t mind a bite in the ass every now and again,” Jed said with a grin.
A low laugh rumbled up from Bullet’s chest. “Don’t fool yourself. You’re a soft-hearted guy. Your bite in the ass could lead to a broken heart when some little man fucks up.”
“It’ll just make me work harder.”
“Yeah, I’d imagine you will,” Bullet said as they walked out of the office. “You’re going to the library with the kid, huh? Sounds like your sweetheart’s already made her mark on you.”
She did that a long time ago.
JED PICKED UP Josie and Hail and, on the way to the library, he told her about the Young Knights program he was going to present to the members of the Dark Knights. As he talked about mentoring teens and helping them stay out of trouble and develop skills they could use to find jobs right out of high school, she fell even more in love with him.
“I think you’re amazing,” she said. “I’m really proud of you for putting yourself out there like that for those boys. It sounds like Bullet was excited about the program.”
He reached across the seat and squeezed her hand. “Thank you. I think he is. I have a lot of research to do to get ready to present it to the club members. But it feels right, you know? Last night when you were talking about your pipe dream, I didn’t think I had any. But now I do. I want to do this, Jojo. Even if the club doesn’t end up supporting it, I think I’ll continue spending time with Ricky and Marco. I want to help keep them on the right path.”
“Am I on the right path, Moon?” Hail asked from the back seat. “Because I want you to keep spending time with me, too.”
The look in Jed’s eyes as he glanced at her precious boy was so much more than just a guy talking to a random kid. Josie could feel how much he cared for her son.
“You’re on the right path, buddy, and if you ever step off it, your mom and I will be there to set you straight.”
That seemed to satisfy Hail, who went back to playing with his trucks, but hearing him say your mom and I had Josie playing over thoughts of the future. They drove past the ice cream shop, and the line spilled out the door, which jarred Josie from her daydream.
“Oh my gosh, Moon!” She pointed to the shop. “We’re never that busy. I bet she needs help.”
“Why don’t you go help her out and I’ll take Hail to the library?” He pulled over to the curb.
“I don’t want to do that to you.”
“It’s okay, Mama,” Hail said. “He likes the library.”
Jed winked at Hail and said, “That’s right, buddy. See how well he knows me?”
She really wanted to be with them, but she couldn’t just walk away knowing Penny might be overwhelmed. “Let me just run in and see if she needs help. She said there’s a college kid who helps her sometimes. I have no idea if they’re there. I’ll be back in a minute.”
She climbed from the truck and hurried into the ice cream store. “Excuse me, sorry,” she said as she weaved around the line.
“Josie!” Penny said from behind the counter, where she was scooping ice cream into a gingersnap cone. “This is all you, girlfriend.”
“Me? What do you mean?”
“They saw my social media posts. People have been coming in all afternoon. I think we’re down to just two dozen cookies and a handful of bowls and cups.”
“Ohmygosh. I’ll help you. Let me go tell Moon so he can take Hail to the library. I’ll be right back.” She raced out of the ice cream store to the truck and pulled the door open. “I need to stay. They’re buying all the stuff I made!” She squealed with glee and climbed across the seat, planting a hard kiss on Jed’s lips. “I’m so excited!” She leaned over the seat and kissed Hail’s cheek. “Will you be good for Moon, bean? I have to go to work for a little bit.”
Hail nodded.
“Okay. Thank you!” She pushed from the truck and said, “Come get me when you’re done? I’m so excited I can barely see straight. This is insane.”
“This is well deserved,” he said. “Go, babe. We’re proud of you!”
As she ran back to the ice cream shop, she realized he’d said we’re, making the moment even more special.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER, after Jed had driven Ricardo and Marco home and Hail was fast asleep, Josie and Jed shared the excitement of their evening with Scotty. Once Scotty retreated downstairs, Josie and Jed lay in each other’s arms on the couch in the living room, fully dressed. Jed’s hand rested on her back, playing with the ends of her hair. Josie thought she’d had a full life with Brian. She hadn’t wanted for a darn thing when he was alive, and this new life, new world she was discovering, wasn’t necessarily better, but it was different, and different brought a wealth of new emotions and dreams. She’d never imagined a life this full of opportunities, friendships, and love. Penny was so excited about how well Josie’s goodies had sold, she wanted to plan a gingerbread day at the ice cream shop. Josie had never met anyone like her. Penny had no fear when it came to her business. She jumped in with two feet and made it work.
She thought about that and realized she was wrong. She knew a few people like Penny. Hadn’t she and her siblings all done the same thing when they’d decided to escape their parents’ wrath? Hadn’t Jed jumped into mentoring and into his relationship with her—and Hail—without hesitation? She snuggled closer to him, feeling warm all over. She had her family back, a job she loved, a beautiful son, and a man she was pretty sure she’d loved for a very long time. I loved Brian with everything I had at the time. She knew that was true, which was why she decided not to allow herself to feel guilty for acknowledging that she was happier than she could ever remember being.
“I just want to lie like this until morning,” she said sleepily.
“No. I’m pretty sure he thinks you’re supposed to be here, but you won’t get any sleep with me lying on you like this.”
“Babe, I don’t get any sleep when I’m not with you. It’s like a piece of me is missing.”
“Then stay,” she said softly. “Just hold me tonight, and when Hail gets up we can say you came over early and we fell asleep waiting for him to wake up.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life.”
Chapter Fifteen
JOSIE PARKED IN front of Red and Biggs’s two-story brick home. She was meeting the girls to help plan Sarah’s baby shower, but she was thinking about Jed. It had been more than a week since Hail had found them asleep on the couch in the morning. He’d crawled on top of them and said, Moon’s here! Can we make pancakes? as if waking up to Jed sleeping in their living room was a normal occurrence. Jed had since become a constant presence in their house, staying overnight, eating breakfast with them, and hanging out when he wasn’t at work, church, or preparing for his presentation to the Dark Knights about his proposed mentoring program. He was so excited about it, he’d spent hours researching other mentoring programs, talking to teachers, parents, and business owners to get their insight. For a guy who had seemed clueless about kids and rules, he’d turned out to be very intuitive, especially where Josie’s boy was concerned. Affection seemed to come easily for Jed. He was always tousling Hail’s hair or hugging him, and he took every opportunity to teach him things. They had long conversations about the whys and hows of everything from trucks and cars to stars, planets, and plants. One afternoon they’d gone to Jed’s apartment to hang out with Quincy and Penny, and Jed had spent an hour showing Hail around the auto shop, letting him check out the engines and even sit on his motorcycle, which her little man ate up like he’d been starved for information. Hail was just as attached to her big, sexy boyfriend as she was. They’d become not only a couple, but a family, and she couldn’t stop smiling about it. In fact, she was pretty sure she hadn’t stopped smiling for almost a month, which was great—except before Jed had left that morning he’d said he liked her well-fucked smile—and now she was certain everyone she saw was thinking the same thing!
She had to stop thinking about him so she’d stop grinning like the well-loved woman she was—at least for the next few hours. The last thing she needed was to be teased about being well fucked, which she knew the girls would do. They’d taken Hail to lunch at Whiskey Bro’s, and she’d finally met Isabel, a stunning brunette with Elizabeth Taylor eyes and a personality that was bigger than life. Josie had instantly liked her, but Isabel had taken great pleasure in teasing them about glowing. Josie just didn’t want things to be uncomfortable with Crystal. They’d become close, as she had with all the girls she’d met through Jed and Penny. She’d been overwhelmed with the praise and support from all the girls the evening she and Penny had sold out of gingerbread treats. Crystal and Gemma had ordered a gingerbread castle for one of the parties at their Princess for a Day boutique, and Finlay had asked her to bake favors for two of her upcoming events. She was beginning to think that Penny was right and she might need business cards after all.
She tried to school her ridiculous smile as she carried a box of baby-shower-themed gingerbread goodies to Red’s front door. She’d never been to a baby shower planning party before, and hoped her jeans and sweater were appropriate. When she rang the doorbell, it sounded like everyone ran to answer it.
Red greeted her warmly. “Hi, honey. Come in. I’m so glad you made it.” Behind her Dixie, Gemma, Crystal, and Penny pushed in close, each one dressed in jeans.
Relief swept through her as she stepped inside. “Hi. I’m sorry I’m a little late. I forgot I had to stop for gas.”
“You’re not late,” Finlay called out as she and Isabel came down the hall.
Red put a hand on Josie’s back and said, “You’re right on time, sweetheart. Let’s go into the dining room.”
“What’s in the box?” Dixie asked.
“I don’t have much cash to contribute toward Sarah’s party, so I made a few things,” Josie explained.
“That reminds me. Thanks for sending cookies into work with Jed,” Isabel said. “And Tracey said to put in a request for girls’ night because she misses seeing you every day.”
Josie had been playing around with new gingerbread ideas and Jed took most of them into work with him. “I’m glad you’re enjoying them. I’ve gained five pounds in the last month.”
She followed them into the dining room, which had family pictures on every wall, and pink and white balloons tied to the back of each chair, as if it was the actual baby shower. There was a bowl of punch and two bottles of wine in the middle of the table, along with sandwiches, and finger foods. She set the box on the dining room table and shrugged off her coat. “I’ll call Tracey about getting together.”
“She’s awesome, by the way,” Isabel said.
“Diesel sure seems to think so,” Dixie said, which sparked a litany of comments about mysterious and, according to Tracey, terrifyingly gruff Diesel.
“We have a big announcement to make,” Penny said. “I’ve sworn Josie to secrecy until today.”
“It’s killing me!” Josie admitted. “Holding on to this secret has been so hard.”
“Like the hard boyfriend you surely don’t keep any secrets from?” Dixie teased.
“Can we please not go there? He’s my brother,” Crystal reminded her, which made everyone laugh.
Dixie put her hand on her hip and tossed her long hair over her shoulder, leveling Crystal with a serious stare. “Now you know what it’s like for me when you guys talk about my brothers that way.”
“Okay, enough,” Red said as she walked around the table. “You girls have nothing to complain about. All y’all’s men are like sons to me, so maybe we should keep talk of their sexual prowess to a minimum and focus on the new little baby coming into our big, beautiful family.”
“Can I just say one thing about Moon—Jed? I promise it’s not dirty.” Josie wasn’t sure who knew about hers and Jed’s past, but she wanted them all to know that what she felt for him was real. “I’m not sure if everyone knows this or not, but Jed and I first met when he was twenty-three, and next to Brian, he was the most forthright, honest, good person I knew.”
“He told me,” Crystal said.
Isabel nodded. “Me too.”
Josie felt good about that. “He did some bad things, like stealing, but he did them to protect Crystal and their mom. I was in awe of him then, and I have to tell you, I still am. He’s been working really hard trying to figure out how to make a mentoring program work for the Dark Knights, and I’ve learned a lot from him about opening up and trusting people. He pours his whole self into everything he does, and I feel really lucky to have reconnected with him and to have him in mine and Hail’s life. I guess I just wanted you to know that there’s a lot more to us than just having a good time.” She felt so much better having said that out loud, but at the same time, everyone was listening so intently, she was a little embarrassed, and said, “Sorry.”
Red put her arm around Josie and said, “Don’t ever be sorry for opening your heart. Jed’s a good man, and we’re all glad you’ve found each other.”
“Thank you,” Josie said, feeling a little embarrassed over how much she’d raved about Jed. “I didn’t mean to gush, but…He’s very gushable.” That earned a few laughs, breaking the serious moment. “Now that that’s out there let’s talk about Sarah’s baby shower. I can’t believe my sister is having her third baby two weeks after Hail’s birthday and I’m only just getting to know her first two.”
“When’s Hail’s birthday?” Gemma asked.
“February fourth,” Josie answered. “You guys are having the shower on the tenth, right?”
“Yes. What are you doing for Hail’s bi
rthday?” Gemma asked. “Can we help you plan it? How many kids are you inviting?”
“We don’t usually have big birthday parties,” Josie said as everyone took a seat around the table. “We have a tradition of staying in our pajamas all day, playing games, watching movies, and eating all the yummy stuff we usually don’t gorge on.”
“That sounds amazing. I’ll be there,” Crystal said.
Gemma sat down across from Josie and said, “Me too. Kennedy and Linc would love that.”
“I’ll make him a special cake if you want,” Finlay offered. “I can make one shaped like a backhoe or a dump truck.”
“Oh.” Josie was surprised by their eagerness. She’d never had friends to share birthdays with. “Okay…”
“Hold on, girls,” Red said. “We can be a little presumptive, honey. This is Hail’s first birthday after reuniting with your family. It’s okay if you’d rather celebrate with just them.”
“Well, I’m kind of family,” Crystal said softly. “She is dating my brother.”
Josie thought of when Gemma and Truman and the kids had gone to the movies with them, and last weekend, when Quincy and Penny had joined them and Sarah’s family for pizza, and the multitude of texts she’d gotten over the past few weeks from Dixie and the others. These were her new friends, and they were Jed’s family.
“You know what?” she said. “I think Hail would love it if you’d come to his pajama party, and, Finlay, any kind of truck cake will surely win you lots of hugs.”
Twenty minutes later they’d made a plan for a construction cake and a pajama party that would include all of the Whiskeys and their big, extended family. Josie couldn’t have been happier.
Penny tapped her glass with a spoon, drawing everyone’s attention. “I left Quincy running my shop today, and that man eats more ice cream than he sells, so we need to get started planning Sarah’s baby shower before I end up too far in the hole.”
Mad About Moon Page 20