Say No To Joe?

by Lori Foster

  Austin turned to Joe. “Rodent is a good insult, too, huh?”

  “Sure, according to how you use it. Your sister says it to you with affection, but if you say it to some bully, then it’d sound hateful enough.”

  Austin chewed that over. “Okay.” His brow scrunched up with suspicion. “But I don’t think Willow meant it nice, either.”

  “No, I didn’t.” She reached for her brother’s arm and gave him a shake. “Those boys are all too big for you to mess with.”

  Austin’s small chin jutted forward. “I kicked his ass …” He glanced at Joe. “I mean butt.”

  “You kicked and then ran. But not fast enough.” Willow tapped a finger against his bruised cheekbone beneath his eye, making him flinch.

  Joe gently separated sister and brother. “How old are these boys?”

  Willow retreated back into her seat. “Sixteen.”

  Luna watched Joe go on the alert, then saw outrage stiffen his spine. “The hell you say!” He was out of his seat in a heartbeat.

  Austin raised his brows. “You’re bein’ disrespectful.”

  “What?”

  With great accusation, Austin explained, “You said hell.”

  “Oh.” Joe ran a hand through his dark hair, his expression sheepish. “Right. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t mind.” In fact, Austin looked faintly approving.

  Joe looked to the ceiling for inspiration, but got no help there. “Where can I meet these young men?”

  Willow eyed him, came to some silent decision, and rolled one shoulder in a show of unconcern. “They usually show up here not long after I get home. They always complain to my Aunt Patricia about Austin fighting with them, and she always grounds him.”

  It was Luna’s turn to go rigid. “She does what?”

  “Doesn’t do her any good.” Austin puffed up with pride. “I just sneak out anyways. I’m good at sneakin’ out.”

  “God help us.” Joe scowled, then pulled Austin out of his seat to face him. He kept his hands on the boy’s bony shoulders, and while his tone was grave, it wasn’t mean. “Here are some new rules, okay? First, your sister won’t be walking into town anymore. Luna or I will drive her.” He glanced up at Luna. “Right?”

  “Absolutely.” It made her stomach dip to think of Willow alone that way, with or without Austin trailing her. Luna had been on her own long enough to understand the perils that could fall on a young beautiful girl. She swallowed down her worry and addressed Austin. “If you ride along, fine, but you won’t be making the trip alone either.”

  “How come?”

  How come? Luna wondered if the children had had any supervision at all since their mother’s death. “It isn’t safe.”

  “I’m not afraid of those ass … uh, bullies.”

  “We know you’re not.” Joe squeezed his shoulders. “But there are other dangers, and neither Luna nor I could bear to see either of you hurt.”

  Willow’s expression was carefully masked, her voice hollow, almost cold. “You don’t even know us.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Luna rushed out. “Adults are meant to protect children, and that’s what we intend to do.”

  Willow turned away. Without saying a word, she made her skepticism clear.

  Luna wished there were magic words she could say to ease the pain. She wished she really were a psychic so she could know Willow’s thoughts. She reached for the girl’s shoulder. “Willow, we do know you a little now, and we like you both.”

  “Right.”

  Luna’s heart twisted at the sarcastic comment. “I’ll have you know, I’m very good at reading people.”

  “That’s a fact.”

  Joe’s quick agreement made her smile. “We already know that your brother is honorable enough to want to defend and protect you, even against guys older and bigger than him. And we know you’re mature enough to want to make sure he doesn’t get hurt while he’s doing that. You’re both very brave and considerate and loyal. Those are exceptional qualities, especially in someone so young. I know an awful lot of adults who don’t possess them.”

  “Like Aunt Patricia.”

  Luna wanted to agree with Willow, but she wasn’t sure if that’d be the right thing to do or not. Reaffirming to a child that her relative hadn’t cared enough about her seemed counterproductive. “I don’t think Patricia is cut out to be a guardian. We are what we are. I’m sure she did her best.”

  Austin peered at Luna. He looked hopeful and a touch scared. “Are you cut out to be a guardian?”

  Luna’s heart expanded. “I’ve never been responsible for anyone but myself. But I’m the type of stubborn person who refuses to fail at things. If I decide to do it, then by God, I do my very best. But I’m not perfect, Austin. When I make mistakes, I expect you and Willow to tell me, and we’ll discuss them and see if we can’t find a solution that pleases everyone. Okay?”

  Joe nodded. “Same with me.”

  Luna blinked at him. What the heck was he promising? He wouldn’t be around that long.

  But Joe didn’t seem concerned with that fact. “If anyone insults your sister in any way, or does anything to insult you, I want to know about it.”

  “Why?”

  Luna hadn’t realized that kids asked so many questions. Every time she or Joe said something, they questioned it three ways to Sunday. She waited to see what Joe would say.

  Unlike Luna, he didn’t seem the least unsure of his response. “Because I’m good at handling this sort of thing.”

  Willow fretted with the edge of her shorts. “How would you handle it?”

  Luna was rather curious about that herself. If the offenders were grown men, Luna knew Joe would have no trouble dealing with them. But Joe couldn’t physically intimidate a bunch of minors. As he’d just said, adults protected children. Sixteen-year-olds were on the verge of adulthood, but also young enough to be forgiven many faults. So what could Joe do?

  “I’ll have a long talk with the boys first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll take it up with their fathers.”

  Ah, Luna thought, bypass the minors by going to the adults. That made sense. After all, it was the fathers’ duty to see that their sons behaved. “Joe can be very intimidating.” Which was why she’d brought him along.

  Deflated by Joe’s answer, Austin stared down at his feet and rubbed his dirty toes across the floor. “Their parents don’t care none. They don’t like us either.”

  Joe tipped Austin’s chin back up. “And why is that?”

  Austin shrugged. “Don’t know.”

  “Liar.” Looking far too old for her age, Willow sighed. “Austin’s had a few scrapes here and there.”

  “Yeah? What kind of scrapes?”

  Willow counted off the transgressions on her fingers. “He put dog doo-doo in the principal’s chair, broke the librarian’s car window with a rock, trampled the grocer’s prized rose bushes …”

  Luna stared at Austin in disbelief. Good God, how could a child who looked so sweet and innocent get into so much mischief?

  Ready to defend himself, Austin propped his tight little fists on his hips and spoke to each person in turn. “I threw a rock at the car because the librarian’s son spit on me when he drove past. I thought it was his car, not his mom’s.” And in a mumble, “I was hopin’ it might make him come back so I could kick his ass … er, butt. But he just kept driving away, the big chicken.”

  Joe’s eyebrows shot up. “He spit on you?”

  Pleased with Joe’s reaction, Austin gave a firm nod. “That’s right. A big ol’ glob. Hit me right in the side of the head. He needed his butt kicked, huh?”

  Joe looked to Luna for guidance, but she only shrugged. If someone had spit on her, she would have done more than throw a rock. Seeing she’d be no help, Joe asked, “Did you tell Patricia?”

  “She don’t care. She’d have grounded me. That’s what she did when I accidentally stepped on the stupid flowers.”

  “Accidentally
?”

  “Yeah. I was just tryin’ to see in the window.”

  Luna almost hated to ask. “Why did you want to look in the window?”

  When Austin didn’t reply, Willow took his hand. She’d called him a liar moments before, but now she gave him her support. “They were having a party. All the kids were invited, except Austin.”

  “I didn’t want to go to their stupid party anyway!”

  The venomous words couldn’t hide the hurt in his eyes. Dear God, this was getting worse and worse. Poor Austin. That must have crushed his feelings, but she couldn’t condone his actions. This was exactly the type of situation she dreaded, because it made her feel helpless and ignorant. She finally decided the best thing to do was to get everything out in the open and decide how to handle it later. “And the stuff you put in the principal’s chair?”

  Trying to hide his wicked grin, Austin rubbed his nose, his ear. “He sat in it. It squished all the way through his pants to his underdrawers.” A snicker escaped his pursed mouth. “You shoulda heard him howlin’. And the stink … It stuck to him all day.”

  Joe smirked, but quieted when Luna glared at him. She didn’t know a lot about kids, but she did know that if Austin realized they were amused by his antics, there’d be no stopping him. “Let’s hear it, Austin. Why did you do it?”

  Both Austin and Willow pinched their mouths shut.

  Julie stepped back into the room, dusting her hands off, indicating that they’d gotten rid of Patricia. “I can answer that.” She came forward as if invited and reseated herself. “I’ve only been in town a few weeks. I teach throughout the school year at a rather prestigious, private school an hour east, but when I saw they needed summer school teachers here, I signed up.”

  “That’s very generous of you.”

  She scoffed at Joe’s comment, surprising Luna. “No, it’s just that this is why I became a teacher, to relate to children, not to baby-sit the rich.” She folded her hands together on the tabletop. “Besides, I needed some time away from my fiancé.”

  At that artless disclosure, Joe and Luna looked at each other in helpless confusion. Julie Rose, engaged ? She’d sort of struck Luna as the spinsterish type. Perhaps Julie had hidden depths.

  “I’m sorry if you’re having problems …”

  Julie waved away Luna’s concern. “My fiancé is a real stick in the mud, but never mind that. My point is that it took me less than three days to find out that Clay Owen is a very misguided young man. In his own fashion, he works rather hard at getting Willow’s attention.”

  “He called her a whore! He said nasty things about her.”

  Julie tilted her head at Austin, not the least put off by his language. “Yes, I know, Austin, and that’s inexcusable, of course. But, unfortunately he hasn’t been taught any better. If he misbehaves, his stepfather just covers it up and makes excuses for him.”

  “So he’s the same young man who gave you the black eye?” Luna asked.

  “He’s a creep,” Austin claimed. “He used to be Willow’s friend. They played together all the time when Mom was still here. But now he makes her cry.”

  Willow gasped. “Shut up, Austin!”

  Joe folded his arms over his chest. “He won’t make excuses to me.”

  Julie seemed less than impressed with Joe’s confidence. “Men,” she said with disdain. “If you want to get along in this town, Mr. Winston, you’ll need to get along with Quincy Owen.”

  “And why is that?”

  “He’s clearly the town leader, very respected by most everyone in the area.”

  “Most?”

  She sniffed. “I’m not overly convinced of his respectability yet, so I’m withholding judgment.”

  Willow was still disgruntled with her brother because of his disclosure, but she finally quit glaring. “Clay’s stepdad runs fund-raisers for the fire department, and he’s on the town council and the school board. He sponsors the high school football team and gives college scholarships. Everyone in town goes to him when they want something. Well, except us. He doesn’t like us.”

  “He kisses all the babies and flirts with all the old women,” Austin added in disgust.

  “Quincy controls much of the town,” Julie added. “He has a small mall that houses several shops, and he owns the factory, which means he employs most of the people living here in one way or another. They depend on him. Because of that, his stepson is given a lot of leeway.”

  “And so,” Joe surmised, “the principal lets Clay slide when he does things he shouldn’t do, like calling Willow names.”

  Julie shrugged with philosophical disregard. “Quincy Owen is not without influence.”

  The baring of Joe’s teeth only faintly resembled a smile. “I have my own store of influence, trust me.” Joe’s cell phone rang just then, removing some of the impact from his statement. He fished it out of his pocket, flipped it open and said, “Winston.”

  Luna waited, breath held. Had the police discovered the man who’d been spying on them? She hoped so. It’d be nice to have one less worry now.

  “Yeah?” Joe’s jaw locked, and he growled. “You’re sure they were fictitious plates? A stolen car?” And then, with barely contained frustration, “Shit.”

  Austin narrowed his eyes, saying to Luna and Julie, “He sure is disrespectful, huh?”

  Rubbing his head, Joe paced away from the table, then back again. “Yeah, okay. Thanks anyway.” He closed the phone and tucked it back into his pocket. “Sorry, ladies. That was disappointing news.”

  “Did someone steal your car?” Austin wanted to know, and damned if he didn’t sound hopeful.

  “Not quite.” Joe’s pale blue gaze locked on Luna. “The plates were stolen, so they can’t help us. What’s really odd is that the car fit a description of one that had been jacked, too, and because I called it in, my friend had a patrol car run by the area. They found a car matching that description in the area but with the original plates on it.” Joe rubbed his chin. “I’m thinking the guy in the brown sedan is the same one I saw this morning. He just switched vehicles on us.”

  Julie sat in silent incomprehension. Austin and Willow were frozen in awe. Luna didn’t want everyone to know just how lethal Joe could be. She brightened her tone and forced a false smile. “Well, we can talk about that later.” She saw no reason to cause the others alarm. She was supposed to be an authority figure, not additional trouble. “Right now I’d rather figure out a schedule.”

  “What kind of schedule?”

  It amazed Luna that one small boy could continually look so suspicious. “I want to make sure that your sister can fit her piano lessons in with summer school.”

  Willow leaned forward with carefully banked excitement in her eyes. “Summer school? Really?”

  Displaying the opposite reaction, Austin groaned and staggered back a step. “Summer school?”

  Luna chuckled at his antics. The way he tottered on his feet, it looked as if he’d been shot.

  “I’d like you both to attend,” Julie said. “You’re a little behind in your regular classes, but that’s not your fault. I looked over your scores, test grades and assignments. It’s my conclusion that you weren’t challenged as you should have been.”

  Austin clutched his heart. “I don’t wanna be challenged! It just means more work.”

  “No. More work is just more work. You’re ingenious enough to see through that ploy right off.” She glanced to Luna. “They’re both exceptionally bright.”

  Luna beamed, proud in spite of the fact she’d only just met them.

  Very matter-of-fact, Julie continued. “Austin, did you know you have a natural affinity for math? In many ways, you’re two grade levels ahead of other kids your age. You simply don’t test well, but testing has never been my favored method of measuring success. There have been noted geniuses who perform poorly when tested. I believe with just a little direction, you’ll find ways around that problem.”

  Austin stopped staggerin
g and straightened with interest. “Really?”

  “Absolutely. And I can show you how to use your math skills to conquer other subjects. Math is a very versatile subject that applies in general concepts to our everyday lives.”

  “Then I can be ahead of the other guys in all ways.” It was apparent that idea appealed to him more than anything else.

  Julie nodded. “With hard work, it’s quite possible. And I can see you’re not averse to hard work.”

  Austin said, “Huh?”

  Joe leaned down. “She’s saying you’re not a wimp.”

  “Oh. Yeah.” He grinned. “I’m not.”

  “And, Willow, your vocabulary and grammar skills are astounding. I’ve been teaching for several years now, and it takes a lot to impress me, but I was most impressed with your essay on social standards. Very insightful and thought provoking. You managed to teach me several things with that paper because you convey your thoughts so well. With only a little instruction you could easily be high honors.”

  At first Willow flushed with pleasure and excitement, but seconds later, she lowered her head to stare down at her feet. Her fair blond hair hung like a curtain around her face, hiding her expression, but her tone was laden with unmistakable despair. “The principal doesn’t like us. He called me a troublemaker, and he said Austin was a hoodlum. He even told Patricia that she should send us to a private, very strict school.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, so don’t worry about that.” Luna curled her lips. “And as to those insults, why, I think I’ll have a little talk with the principal.”

  Joe groaned at that prospect.

  “Leave the principal to me.” Julie put her hands on her knees and spoke with firm and reassuring conviction. “I can handle him.”

  Luna knew she could handle him, too, but Joe looked so relieved that she wouldn’t have to, she smiled. “Thanks, Julie. We appreciate it.”

  “So that’s decided. I’ll tutor you both, and Austin, before you let out another dying-cow sound, I can promise it won’t be like regular school. I’ll even wager that you’ll enjoy it. I have a knack for making school fun.”

  Luna watched both kids, knowing they found that hard to believe. After all, Julie did seem rather straight-laced and prim. But as Luna had said, she was good at reading people, and Julie Rose was a fighter. She’d keep the kids enthralled because she honestly loved children and her work. “I think it sounds wonderful.”