Josie
Eleven
The light hangs low over the hills when Sera turns onto my younger sister Addie and her husband Luc’s street for family dinner night. Their house sits halfway down the block, the porch light already glowing, though the sky hasn’t quite given up the day.
She pulls to the curb and kills the engine.
“Hopefully we made it before the baby’s bedtime meltdown,” she says, reaching into the backseat for a canvas bag.
“That feels optimistic,” I reply, climbing out.
We shut the doors and head up the front walk together. Before we reach the door, though, we hear it—a sharp baby cry. Jacob’s awake. He’s nine weeks old and the reason we’re all descending on their house. We thought Addie and Luc would prefer to stay home for the baby’s sake.
Sera smiles and pushes the door open. They know we’re coming, so they left it open. They have no time right now for extra tasks like answering the door.
As we step inside, a cupboard door closes in the kitchen and Luc’s voice drifts down the hall. “Did you get the—no, the other—Addie, where did you put—”
Another baby cry cuts him off.
“Coming,” Addie calls, her voice tired.
She appears in the hallway a moment later with Jacob balanced against her shoulder.
She’s patting his back in slow, practiced motions.
His small face is flushed, his fist tangled in the neckline of her shirt.
Her hair is pulled into a loose knot that’s sliding apart, and there are shadows under her eyes.
“You made it,” she says, shifting Jacob when he squirms.
“Yes,” Sera says. “Though we barely got out of the vineyard before dark.”
“I wouldn’t miss dinner.” I kiss her cheek. “Though it seems like you’ve already got your hands full.”
“You have no idea.” She adjusts Jacob again, bouncing him until the fussing softens. “Luc ordered Chinese, because if I have to cook, we’re all going hungry.”
From the kitchen Luc calls, “I heard that. I’m just trying to help.”
Addie ignores him.
Sera pulls a plate of cheese and crackers from her canvas bag, and I add it to the plate of blondies I’ve brought and carry them to the kitchen. We always try to bring something since we rarely host our monthly family dinner. The cottages are too tight for as many people as we’ve become.
When I return, Jacob’s head tilts against his mother’s neck as his tiny body relaxes. “He’s getting big.”
“That’s because he eats every forty-five minutes.” Addie pries his fingers from her hair. “I swear, I’m going to shave my head,” she mutters.
“You’ll regret it.” I hang my jacket on the hook by the door. When I turn back, Addie is watching me with a look that immediately makes me suspicious.
We migrate to the kitchen where plates are stacked and the table is set.
Luc smiles when he sees me. “Josie. Good. You can help me convince your sister she’s allowed to sit down while someone else holds the baby.”
“I don’t need any convincing,” Addie says.
Before I can answer, the door opens again, and Liz and our older brother, Ric, step inside with a rush of evening air.
“Please tell me the food is here,” Liz says. “If I have to wait, I might eat the table.”
“It should be here any minute,” Luc says.
“I brought cheese and crackers,” Sera offers, “if you want to nosh now.”
Liz’s attention immediately shifts to Jacob. “Oh, give him to me.”
Addie transfers him without hesitation, and Liz melts the second his tiny fingers curl against her shirt.
“Well, hello, handsome,” Liz coos. “You’re going to have so many cousins your age.”
My sister Ginny is due in July, and Liz is due in September. I’m excited for them, but I’m not drinking the water. I’ll love being an aunt, but that’s entirely adequate for now.
Ric watches his wife with the baby a moment before his gaze shifts toward me. “Evening, Josie.”
“Hi.”
A few minutes later, Ginny and Ryker arrive.
Ryker hands Luc a bottle of wine and a bottle of Italian soda, which looks like my favorite, lemon.
“Something for everyone,” I note.
“The delivery guy is on his way to the door,” Ryker says, gesturing outside. “I hope we got extra noodles.”
“You’re a pediatrician,” Sera replies. “Shouldn’t you be promoting vegetables?”
Ryker shrugs. “I promote happiness.”
Ginny laughs and leans over Liz’s shoulder to look at Jacob. “He’s cuter every time I see him.”
Addie looks at me with her brow raised.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” she says lightly. “Just wondering if you were going to show up with Dr. Alex Spencer on your arm.”
I blink. “What?”
She grins, tired but entertained. “The rumor mill is alive and well at the hospital. Apparently the two of you are dating.”
“We’re not dating,” I reply too quickly.
Jacob starts to fuss, and Addie reaches for him and tucks him close.
“That’s not what people in town are saying.” Liz pops a few cheese cubes in her mouth. “You had dinner with him the week before last, and last week you went to the outdoor music fest together.”
I hate living in a small town. “People in town say a lot of things.”
Jacob squirms, and Addie adjusts him again, but her attention stays on me. “So you’re not seeing him?”
“We’ve done a few things together,” I say. “He has a lot going on with Eloise.”
Her eyebrows lift.
“But?” Ginny asks.
“There isn’t a but.” I shrug. “He has a daughter. She’s his priority.”
Everything in his life moves around that small orbit, and it should. I’m not about to step into the middle of that like I belong there.
Addie nods. “Fair enough.”
Luc appears in the doorway carrying two white takeout bags, the scent of ginger and garlic drifting into the hall.
“Did someone say fair?” he asks. “Because this takeout definitely wasn’t cheap.”
Soon the room springs into action in the way that always happens when we’re together. Someone pours drinks. Someone finds napkins. Jacob moves back to Liz, then to Ginny, and briefly to me before deciding he prefers someone who smells like milk.
I’m sliding into a chair when Ric lowers himself beside me.
“I heard something interesting this week,” he says.
“Oh?”
“Alex Spencer was a topic in my cancer support group.” He reaches for a glass of water. “Turns out he’s the doctor to several of the members.”
I keep my expression neutral. That’s not surprising given the size of Paradise.
“Apparently he’s very patient,” Ric continues. “Spends extra time explaining if there’s something that has been worrying them.”
I trace the edge of a folded napkin with my finger.
“For what it’s worth,” Ric adds, “he sounds like a good doctor.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Everyone’s focus is on me.
Though my siblings are now intrigued by what’s going on, it occurs to me that Evie hasn’t had much to say about Alex.
Between the investigation and everything happening at the vineyard, she’s left Sera and me alone on all fronts lately.
At least, that’s how it seems. But that doesn’t mean she’s not biding her time in the background. That sends a spike of worry through me.
But then Luc sets the last container on the table, and the conversation shifts to food. Fried rice, noodles, ginger beef, and dumplings are already disappearing before everyone even finds a seat.
Addie finds the chair at the end of the table with Jacob tucked against her chest. Almost as soon as she’s relaxed, he starts fussing again.
“Sorry,” she says automatically as she adjusts her shirt.
No one looks up. Liz reaches for the dumplings while Luc digs through a takeout bag for something he insists is missing.
Jacob quiets as he nurses, his small hand pressing against Addie’s skin.
Luc stands behind her chair watching them with the helpless focus of someone who wants to be useful and isn’t sure how.
“He’s been doing this every hour today,” Addie says.
Ryker glances over. “He’s growing.”
She snorts softly.
Ryker sets his chopsticks down. “You could give him a bottle at night.”
Luc looks up immediately.
Addie’s head lifts. “I know that.”
“I’m not saying switch completely,” Ryker adds. “Just one bottle before bed. It’ll help him sleep longer, and Luc can take a shift.”
Luc straightens. “I would absolutely take a shift.”
Addie looks between them, her hand resting lightly on Jacob’s back. For a moment she looks ready to argue. Instead her shoulders loosen. “Maybe.”
Across from me, Liz rests a hand against the curve of her stomach. Ginny does the same a moment later as she reaches for the noodles.
No one comments, but I notice. Within the space of a year we’re welcoming three Dempseys. Evie is over the moon. Or she was the last time I had a conversation with her.
Jacob finishes nursing a few minutes later. Addie lifts him to her shoulder and pats his back until a small burp escapes.
“Who wants him?” she asks as she wipes his mouth.
Ginny takes him first, swaying automatically as she rests him against her shoulder. “He’s so spoiled,” she says.
“Agreed,” Luc replies.
After a few minutes, she passes him across the table to me.
Jacob’s cheek rests against my arm as his breathing slows. His eyes are closed.
I have never pictured myself with children. The idea always seemed to belong to a different kind of life than the one I’ve built. Holding Jacob, though, the concept doesn’t feel impossible. Just unfamiliar.
The conversation shifts while I’m still watching the slow rise and fall of his chest.
Ric glances toward Ginny and Ryker. “Have you heard anything from the Paradise side about the trial?”
Ginny looks up. “Like what?”
“Whether they plan to show up in court.”
“I know Tarryn, Trace, and most likely, Max will testify,” she says evenly. “But I don’t think anyone is planning to attend in the gallery.”
Ric nods. “I spoke with Evie’s lawyer today.”
We all look up and wait to hear the latest news.
“He thinks the trial will run six weeks—although the court has eight scheduled. And he’d like someone from the family to be there every day.”
Ryker reaches for the dumplings. “It’s going to be a long process.”
Sera speaks without looking up from her plate. “Spring’s already busy enough. Six weeks of going to court is going to be a mess.”
Luc slides a container toward the center of the table. “We’ll figure it out.”
Ric leans back slightly. “That’s why I brought it up.” He reaches into his jacket and pulls out a folded paper and a small calendar, spreading them across the table.
“I can’t,” Addie says immediately, adjusting Jacob’s blanket. “Not right now.”
No one argues. We get it.
“Of course,” Ric says.
Ginny shifts in her chair. “Ryker and I were there when they caught Zach,” she says. “The Crown Prosecutor doesn’t want us in the courtroom.”
Ryker stays quiet beside her, his expression unchanged.
“That makes sense,” Ric says.
“Spring is packed at the winery,” Sera says. “We’re short on people most days as it is.”
Ric sighs and taps the calendar. “We don’t all have to be there at the same time. Court is scheduled for the morning because the judge has a different case in the afternoon. I’m only asking for one morning a week.”
Sera studies the empty grid and looks at me. “I’ll take Mondays.” She turns the calendar toward us. “Since the field workers are light on Mondays.”
The remaining empty squares stretch across six weeks. Bud break, the tasting room, shipments, the endless work that fills every day. Mornings in a courtroom will make the days longer than they already are.
“I guess I can do Tuesdays,” I say. “What are you able to do, Ric?”
“Like all of you, we have a busy life, but we’ll find a way to make it work.” He looks down at his schedule. “I can take Wednesdays and Fridays.” He fills that in across the first week.
“Evie would probably like to see Dylan and Scott at her trial.” Sera picks up her phone. “I’ll text them.”
The conversation drifts, but the calendar stays in the middle of the table, several squares now marked with small notes.
Sera’s phone pings, and her brow furrows as she types back. “I’m just reminding them how important this is to Evie.” After a moment, she smiles. “Dylan and Scott will take Thursdays.”
Six weeks of court layered over everything else. I shake my head, and Alex slips into my thoughts. Dinner at Gather. Last Friday wandering the boardwalk. The easy way our conversations move. The steadiness he carries into every space.
I think about trying to fit in time with him in the next two months. It doesn’t quite work.
Then someone does something ridiculous at the end of the table and my attention returns to my family and what’s happening in this room.
This needs to be my focus right now. Dinner is always fun with my brother and sisters, and adding Liz, Luc, and Ryker to the mix has been good.
These are so different than the dinners we had at Evie’s table growing up.
All good things must come to an end, though, and when Addie starts yawning, I use that as an excuse for Sera and me to head home.
Everyone follows as we go to grab our jackets. I volunteer to order dinner next month. Hopefully by then the weather will be good and we can sit out on the patio.
I pause beside Sera’s car and look back at the warm light spilling from Addie and Luc’s windows.
When I arrived tonight, this thing with Alex felt simple, pretty light. Now he seems like one more thing I’m not sure I’ll have space for.