Chapter 20
A.J. had just picked up a couple of pepperoni pizzas from the local shop when his phone buzzed with an incoming text. He smiled when he saw it was from Josie, but his brow furrowed in concern when he read her short note.
Adam, I need you.
He placed the pizza in the trunk, helped his kids buckle their seatbelts, and then stood outside while he dialed Josie’s number. She picked up on the first ring, and when he heard the tremble in her voice, his spine stiffened.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Could you come and get me?” she asked softly.
“Of course. The kids and I just picked up dinner. I’ll be to you in twenty minutes. Are you safe?”
“Yes.”
“What’s happening right now?”
“Nothing. It’s okay. I’m okay. I just need to talk to you about something. Not on the phone though.”
“I’m on my way,” he said, sliding into his seat and switching the phone over to the car speaker. “I’m going to stay on the line with you while we drive over. Ellie, Adam, say hi to Josie. We’re going to pick her up for pizza night.”
“Yay!” Ellie shouted, bouncing in her booster seat.
“Hi, everyone,” Josie said.
A.J. could hear the smile in her voice despite the tension.
“Josie, the movie was so good,” Ellie said, beginning a nearly one-sided dialogue that lasted until A.J. pulled in front of Josie’s brownstone.
“We’re here,” he said.
The front door opened and Josie rushed down the steps.
He scanned her face, alarmed at how pale and shaken she looked.
She wore a ripped t-shirt and faded yoga pants, and strands of her hair had come loose from her ponytail.
Josie’s appearance was always meticulous, even when she dressed casually.
Under other circumstances, he would have found this slightly less put together version of her charming. Instead, it only alarmed him further.
Once she’d slid into the passenger seat, he put the car in gear and then reached over to grab her hand. She squeezed him back and loosed a long breath.
“I’ve got you,” he said, quietly enough that only she could hear.
“I know,” she answered, and her response hit him in the gut.
Josie was skittish and fiercely independent, so the fact that she trusted him enough to call when she needed him felt like he’d just passed a really important test.
When he pulled into the garage, he grabbed the pizzas from the trunk as the kids tumbled out of the car and ran ahead into the house.
“Why don’t you guys take Fluff out back and play ball for a little while? He’s been cooped up all day,” A.J. said.
Once the kids had gathered up Fluff’s ball and rope toy and headed out back, Adam set the pizza boxes on the counter, then turned to Josie.
“How about a cup of tea and you can tell me what’s going on?” he suggested.
“Maybe a glass of wine instead?”
A.J. lifted an eyebrow, but pulled two glasses from the cupboard and a bottle from the wine rack. Once they were seated at the kitchen island, and Josie had taken a generous sip, he prompted her again.
“Talk to me, Josie.”
She gripped the wine glass with both hands and stared at the contents as if they contained the answer to a complex equation.
“The man I saw in the cemetery, and later across the street, came to my door today,” she said.
A.J.’s pulse spiked, but he stayed silent and allowed Josie to tell her story.
Josie licked her lip and slowly lifted her gaze. “He’s my half-brother.”
Not at all what he expected her to say.
“Apparently, he never knew his father was Lenny Callahan until his mother gave up the name on her deathbed last year.”
“Josie, that’s a lot to take in,” A.J. said, placing his hands on top of hers.
She nodded, but something in her expression still had him on alert, and when her eyes filled with tears, he wanted to hug her.
“Does he want to get to know you?” he prompted gently.
“No, I don’t think so. He was asking about our father’s estate.”
“Well, that sucks,” A.J. said, and Josie let out a small, surprised laugh.
“Right?” she said, shaking her head. “Anyway, my mother came from money, not Lenny.”
“How did he take that piece of information?”
“Kevin, that’s his name, was not pleased, but he left when I asked him to.”
“Do you think you’ve seen the last of him?” A.J. asked.
He already planned to run a full background check on the guy, but he was also interested in Josie’s gut response as to whether or not he posed a threat.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. He has no legal recourse, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try anyway.”
“I’m going to have Jake look into him.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Josie said. “I don’t like asking for a favor like this, but Adam, I really didn’t like him. He was bold and self-centered, and I sensed his anger simmering just beneath the surface.”
Josie’s observations made A.J. sit up and take notice. As a therapist, her instincts were well-honed.
“We’ll get this all sorted out,” he promised.
“Thank you,” Josie said.
Her eyes closed briefly, and the tension in her shoulders seemed to melt.
“It’s a lot to get your head around,” A.J. said.
“At first, when I realized Kevin was my brother, it felt like a gift. No one could replace Charlie, of course, but besides our elderly aunt and uncle, Charlie was my only immediate family. Having someone else…”
Josie’s voice trailed off, and A.J. once again found himself reaching out to touch her.
“Do you remember what Jake said at Charlie’s funeral about family?” he asked.
Josie’s dark, chocolate brown eyes met his. She tilted her head as if trying to call up Jake’s words.
“There’s the family we’re born into, and the family we choose,” he said.
A small smile appeared on her face. “I do remember that.”
“You have family, Josie. Not the one you were born into, and I am so sorry for that, but you have family,” he repeated, squeezing her hand.
Her lower lip trembled and her eyes filled. She opened her mouth as if to reply, but then closed it again and gave him a vigorous nod.
“I got you, honey,” Adam said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
“I love you,” Josie blurted out.
A.J. drew back and searched her eyes. She’d frozen like a deer in the headlights with a pained look on her face, as if the words had escaped without her permission. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and allowed the joy he felt at her accidental admission to infuse his expression.
She raised her eyebrows and bit her bottom lip. “Is it too soon?” she whispered.
“It’s not too soon. I love you too, Josie,” he said.
In the year and a half since his wife had passed, A.J.
often wondered if he would ever utter those words to a woman again.
He’d feared the numbness that had crept into his bones might have become a permanent condition, but with Josie looking at him wide-eyed and vulnerable, his entire body responded.
His feelings for this woman, so unexpected and wonderful, warmed him from the inside out. He loved Josie, even if this love felt new and different. What he felt for her wasn’t the same as what he’d felt for Allie, but it wasn’t better or worse, more or less, just different.
As the truth of loving Josie settled into his chest, it felt absolutely right.
Fluff’s enthusiastic bark interrupted the moment, and both A.J.
and Josie turned to look outside. The oversized golden retriever had hold of the rope toy in his mouth while Ellie gripped the other end, and the two were engaged in a vigorous game of tug of war.
Laughter and howls filled the air, and a feeling of completeness washed over him.
The hole in his heart, the one Allie had left behind when she’d left this earth, ached like scar tissue, but A.J.
realized he could live with the scar tissue.
“Dad!” his son yelled, knocking on the glass door with a baseball and mitt in his hand. “Wanna toss the ball for a few minutes?”
“Be right there,” he answered, then turned to Josie. “Come outside for a few minutes?”
She nodded. “I could use the fresh air.”