Say No To Joe?

by Lori Foster

  His breath held a moment, then he shrugged. “S’no problem.”

  He still sounded winded, making Luna chuckle. “The kids adore you, and they’re so impressed by you.”

  The limp arm around her tightened in a slight hug. “I feel the same about them. They’re incredible and smart and so damn cute.” He shook his head and got his eyes open to look at her. “And you.” He kissed her forehead. “For a free spirit, you’ve got the best maternal instincts I think I’ve ever seen. The kids might like me, but they trust in you. In such a short time, you’ve reassured them enough to make a huge difference.”

  Luna sighed and rested back against him. “We could make so much more progress if we didn’t have all this stupid harassment going on. Every time I think it might be over, something else happens.”

  Joe shook his head. “I can’t understand how anyone could mistreat those two. And to think that their father walked out … on them …” Joe sat up and stared at Luna.

  “What?” She, too, sat up. “What is it?”

  “Do you have any idea who their father might be?”

  “No.” Luna saw the wheels churning and knew Joe was busy working something out in his head. “No one seems to know. From what I understand, he’s never been a part of their lives.”

  Joe swung his legs over the bed and stood. “I want to check something.”

  As he left the room, Luna trotted after him. He went to the kitchen and picked up the stack of papers he kept atop the microwave. They were records of the lake and the business that Chloe used to run before her death. He’d been going over everything nightly while figuring out all they’d need to do to make it profitable again.

  Joe shuffled through the papers until he found the original records. Being he was naked, he didn’t have his glasses on him, so he held the paper back at arm’s length and squinted. “Well, what about that.”

  “What?” Luna tried to see over his shoulder, but he was too tall.

  He glanced down at her, his expression thoughtful. “Did you know that your cousin got the lake and all this property fourteen years ago?”

  If there was significance in that, Luna didn’t understand it. “So?”

  “So that’s when Willow was born. How would a single, pregnant woman afford all this? Even minimizing property values because of the area, it’s still one hell of a set-up. The house alone is worth a bundle, and it’s not exactly small. Why would a single woman with only one baby even want it?”

  Luna shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

  “I think Willow’s father gave it to her. I think the son of a bitch knew she was pregnant, that maybe he bought her off with the house.”

  “But why? Lots of men get women pregnant and don’t marry them. This is a new age—single mothers are everywhere. And how do you account for Austin? Because, Joe, they were born five years apart, yet they look exactly alike.”

  “Like Chloe?”

  “I suppose. Austin said Willow looked just like their mom, and he looks like a smaller, masculine version of her with the big dark eyes and fair hair. That’s not a real common combination. Usually someone so blond has blue eyes, or someone with eyes so dark has dark hair also.”

  “True. They have very striking looks.”

  “But wouldn’t different fathers have some influence on appearance? And if they have the same father, why would the guy buy Chloe off, then still come around enough to get her pregnant a second time?”

  Joe lifted one brawny shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe he was already married, so paying child support would’ve given him away. This would be easier, support but without anyone knowing. He could enjoy Chloe’s company, keep her happy with the property, and still keep everything secretive. It’d be a lot easier to hide one land purchase than to cover up weekly payments.”

  “Maybe Chloe loved him too much to deny him, even though he wouldn’t marry her.”

  “Maybe. I think I’ll find out where Chloe used to work. Maybe that’ll give us a clue as to who she—” A knock sounded on the kitchen door behind them, startling them both. Joe’s gaze shot up, and he cursed. Luna ducked behind him, trying to hide.

  A woman they didn’t recognize stood there. She started to put her face to the door window to look in, and with a horrified yelp, Luna dashed into Joe’s bedroom with him hot on her heels.

  They stood on the other side of the door, staring at each other wide-eyed. Joe started to laugh. “Busted.”

  Luna punched him in the shoulder. “It’s not funny. Who is she?”

  “How the hell should I know?” He peeked out the door, saw the woman peeking in, and jerked back. “Damn, I think she saw me.”

  Luna groaned. “Put on some pants. You can answer the door, and I’ll slip out behind you to go upstairs and get dressed.”

  “Whatever you say, darling.” Joe stepped around her to the rickety dresser and pulled open a drawer. He shook out a pair of jeans and stepped into them. “Quit looking so guilty. We’re both adults. We’re allowed to have a nooner if we want.”

  Luna held her head. “She saw us, I just know it.”

  Joe tipped up her chin. “So what? If she didn’t want an eyeful, then she shouldn’t go around peeking in door windows.” He kissed her forehead, then turned her with a swat on her naked derriere. “Ready?”

  Rubbing the stinging spot on her cheek, Luna groused, “Paybacks are hell, Joe Winston.”

  Not in the least threatened, he opened the door, blocking her from view with his body, and Luna made her escape. She raced out of the kitchen to the sound of Joe’s chuckles, then hurried up the stairs.

  As she dressed, her thoughts were more on how Chloe had gotten the property than on their impromptu visitor. She assumed the woman to be a neighbor, or perhaps someone ready to complain about Austin. Not that she’d let anyone insult him because she knew for a fact he’d been on his best behavior. Unlike Patricia, she didn’t let the kids out of her sight except at school, and she trusted Julie to watch them closely while they were there. The rest of the time they stayed close at hand, so she knew they hadn’t done a single thing out of line.

  But when Luna reentered the room, freshly dressed in a long cotton summer dress of iridescent blue and aqua with silver sandals, she got the shock of her life.

  Joe was at the counter, his chest and feet bare, making coffee. He cast one quick look her way, then said with great sobriety, “Luna, this is Ms. Grady—with CPS.”

  While Luna went mute, her rushed entrance now comically frozen in the doorway, the woman stood. Her demeanor was pleasant enough given the circumstances. She held out a hand.

  “I did knock on the front door first, but no one answered, so I ventured around back just to see if you were in the yard.”

  “Oh. We were …” Luna swallowed and let her voice trail off. They were upstairs making love and she’d been so involved in Joe’s body, nothing else had intruded. But she couldn’t tell Ms. Grady that.

  The woman nodded, amused, as if she quite understood without Luna’s explanations. “As required by Children’s Protective Services, this is a routine surprise visit to see the family situation.” She laughed a little, still holding Luna’s hand as her gaze slued toward Joe. “And it does appear that I’ve taken you by surprise.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Joe handed Ms. Grady a cup of coffee, then seated himself. “The kids aren’t here right now.”

  “Oh?” Ms. Grady swept a long, skinny gray braid over her shoulder and sipped at her coffee. “Delicious. And where did you say the children are?”

  Luna fumbled with her own cup. “They’re at summer school. Julie Rose, their teacher, tells me they’re really bright, but unfortunately a bit behind, so we all agreed that it’d be best if they—”

  Hating to see her babble in nervousness, Joe interrupted. “We’re due to pick them up in about half an hour.”

  “Well, I won’t keep you, then.” Her kind brown eyes surveyed first Luna, then Joe. She fo
ught a crooked smile, cleared her throat, and said in all seriousness, “We got an anonymous call that the two of you had an illicit arrangement that could be detrimental to impressionable children.”

  Joe set his back teeth, refusing to appear embarrassed by looking away from Ms. Grady, and refusing to acknowledge Luna’s groan of despair. “Whoever called you is misinformed.”

  She again sipped her coffee. “What is your arrangement here?”

  Luna’s mouth opened, but Joe beat her to it. “Luna is a wonderful guardian. The kids adore her and she adores them.”

  “And you, Mr. Winston?”

  “Joe is—”

  “What’s not to adore?” Joe asked. “As I said, they’re terrific kids.”

  Because he’d again interrupted her, Luna glared at him.

  Ms. Grady laughed. “So do you intend to stay on here?”

  Joe set his cup down hard and stood, which prompted Luna to surge to her feet also. She looked panicked and said his name in warning. Joe shook his head. “Ms. Grady, I don’t know who called you, but—”

  “Funny, we don’t know who called either. But she seemed to think the fact that you two aren’t married would cause quite a stir.”

  Joe stiffened. This wasn’t quite how he’d planned things, but he’d be damned before he let Luna be second-guessed. “Are you saying we need to be married for Luna to keep the kids?”

  Luna’s eyes rounded and she fell back into her chair. “Married?”

  Disliking the appalled way Luna sputtered that, Joe leaned on the table, facing Ms. Grady. “Because if that’s the case, then I’ll—”

  Ms. Grady cut short Joe’s grand sacrificial offering by chuckling again. “Obviously you two have no understanding of how we work. As to that, your anonymous caller doesn’t either or she wouldn’t have wasted her time. Please, sit down and compose yourselves. There’s no reason for all these theatrics.” She turned to Luna. “I don’t suppose you have a cookie or something to go with this coffee?”

  Luna’s behind had just touched the chair seat, but with the woman’s request, she shot back to her feet again. “Yes. Oatmeal and raisin. Willow and I made them yesterday. Austin tossed in the raisins. That is, he tossed in the ones he hadn’t eaten …”

  “Wonderful. I’ll take two.”

  Joe had never seen Luna so flustered. She’d thrown food at him and raised hell with him when most people wouldn’t dare. She’d faced off with Dinah and Patricia without blinking an eye. She’d taken on two emotionally troubled kids and treated the feat as if it were the most right thing in the world to do. But now she was stammering and blushing. He didn’t like it.

  He said, “Excuse me,” and went into his room to get a shirt. He’d face this inquisition properly dressed, if nothing else. Part of Luna’s discomfort was no doubt because of him. He didn’t qualify as anyone’s idea of the proper male guardian, not by a long shot. He knew he was too rough edged, and the damn earring didn’t help.

  Thank God Mrs. Grady hadn’t seen the tattoo on his ass. That would have clinched his inappropriateness.

  When he came back out, his upper body now covered, Ms. Grady smiled. “So you sleep down here, do you?”

  The woman seemed awfully calm for an interrogator. “That’s right. And Luna sleeps upstairs.” Joe felt his left eye twitch. He was too damn old to be explaining himself. “We’re very discreet in front of the kids.”

  “It’s really none of my business, you realize, but with the caller … Well, I did think it might be a propitious time to stop by. Not because the two of you have a relationship. These days, we see just about every type of family situation you can imagine. And believe me, from my perspective, the most important thing is that the children are well cared for.”

  “They are,” Joe assured her. “Not that everything is perfect, but we’re working on it.”

  “Yes, I heard there’s been some trouble? That information came from the anonymous caller as well.”

  With an unfortunate clatter, Luna set a plate of cookies in the middle of the table and joined in. “Willow and Austin are still dealing with the loss of their mother. That’s natural, I’m sure. They haven’t had uninterrupted time to grieve, not with so many guardian switches and the problems with some neighbors.”

  Ms. Grady chose a cookie, then asked, “Neighbors?”

  Joe sat back and let Luna explain. She was calmer now, concise, impressive. She detailed the scrapes Austin had gotten into, all the while defending him and singing his praises. She went on and on about how mature Willow was, then shared her concern that she hadn’t had time to just be a young girl.

  She also told of their plans to reopen the lake, and eventually do repairs to the house. She wanted the kids to understand that they planned for the future because the arrangement was permanent. She hoped that with that emotional security, they could quit fretting about things that no child should have to worry about.

  Joe was so proud of her. His loony Luna understood the kids better than even she realized, and the second he looked at Ms. Grady, he knew she saw it, too. His little moon goddess had made quite an impression on the social worker by just being herself.

  When it was time for them to leave for the school, Ms. Grady stood. “I’m sorry I missed the children, but I feel very reassured that things are going well.” She laced her hands together over her middle and looked at Joe and Luna in turn. “Only one thing concerns me.”

  “The trouble in town?” Joe ventured.

  “That’s right. We don’t take any negative feedback lightly. The fact that someone called us anonymously in the hopes of putting you in a bad light is more alarming than what they had to say. The action suggests that one of you has made an enemy here already, and that could affect Willow or Austin or both.”

  “I’m working on that,” Joe told her. “Deputy Scott Royal is aware of the problems. Also, I’ve put in a security camera to catch anyone who tries to sneak onto the property, and we have new alarms and locks. We keep the kids under pretty close watch, and soon, I’ll be able to figure out exactly who’s been behind the vandalism.”

  Ms. Grady allowed Joe to lead her to the door. “I want to be kept aware of what goes on.” She handed Luna her card. “If things worsen, if I feel the children are in danger here, it may be necessary to move them to a safer place until the problems can be worked out.”

  Luna went pale. “I’d do that myself if I thought it necessary. But I’d be going with them.”

  Her obvious upset infuriated Joe. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll take care of it.”

  They stopped at Ms. Grady’s car. She tipped her head and smiled. “I do believe you will, Mr. Winston.” She shook both their hands, then got into her car. After starting the engine, she said, “Oh, one more thing.”

  Luna said, “Yes?”

  “I didn’t see the housekeeper, Dinah Belle.”

  “Dinah’s not here anymore.” Hoping to remove that stricken look from Luna’s face, Joe took her hand and gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. “We fired her.”

  “I see.” Mrs. Grady’s smile spread until she started to laugh. “A wise decision, as far as I’m concerned. I never did care for her manner. But it does give rise to speculation, now doesn’t it?”

  Luna raised both brows.

  “The anonymous caller was a woman.” She nodded. “Perhaps you already know who your enemy is.”

  Luna stood mute for fifteen seconds after Ms. Grady’s car disappeared from sight. Joe knew just what she was thinking, and it annoyed him.

  “Damn it, Luna, it wasn’t Dinah that I tangled with the night of the fire.”

  Though she didn’t say so, Joe knew she was unconvinced. She gave him one long, telling look, stepped around him, and headed for the house.

  Joe stomped after her. “It was not a woman. Why in hell you keep wanting to think it is, I have no idea. But if a woman can outrun me and outwrestle me, then just shoot my ass now because I’m giving up.”

  Luna stoppe
d on the porch to spare him a pitying glance. “A tattoo and a gunshot wound? Your poor behind.”

  His teeth locked. “I’m telling you, I know the difference between a man and a woman.”

  A slow smile appeared. Luna looked him over with bold sexual interest, then murmured, “Yes, you do.” She crossed her arms and met his outraged gaze. “But you refuse to see that a woman could very well be involved.”

  “All right, peripherally maybe.” He waved a hand. “In the planning, maybe, just maybe. But that was not a woman in my apartment. The punch I landed on that guy would have knocked a woman out.”

  Frowning, Luna agreed. “You’re probably right.” “And,” he stated, now that she was ready to see reason, “that was not a woman who started the fire. I had my hands on him a couple of times, and bone structure alone told me it wasn’t a woman.” He drew a breath and looked at her squarely. “Know who I think is doing the vandalism here?”

  Her expression arrested, her lips barely moving, Luna asked, “Who?”

  “Willow and Austin’s father.”

  Luna’s mouth fell open. “Their father?”

  Joe’s cell phone rang before he could expound on his theories. Unfortunately, he’d left it inside in her bedroom. Fearing it might be the kids, that something might be wrong, they both went still.

  Luna unglued her feet first. She dashed inside and up the stairs at top speed. She heard Joe thundering up the steps behind her. The phone was on the fourth ring when she snatched it up and pushed the button. “Hello?”

  There was a pause, then a feminine voice inquired, “Is this Luna?”

  “Yes.” Practically panting, Luna demanded, “Who’s calling?”

  “Alyx, Joe’s sister. But hey, you sound … winded. Am I interrupting anything?”

  Luna collapsed to the side of the mussed bed. Joe stared at her, concern bringing his brows low. She shook her head at him. “Hello, Alyx. No, you’re not interrupting. We were downstairs, but Joe left his phone upstairs, and so I ran …”