Chapter 1 #2
Josephine tried not to smile and failed. She leaned against the island while Avery started unwrapping dishes. For a few moments neither of them said much. The quiet felt comfortable. Outside, a car rolled down the street, and somewhere a dog barked before going silent again.
Avery slid the first plate into a cabinet. “You know, most people are excited when they buy a house. You look like someone sentenced you to community service.”
“I am excited.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I am.”
“You always answer that fast when you’re lying.”
“I’m not lying.”
“You are a little.”
Josephine picked up a wrapped bowl and peeled away the paper. “I’m happy to finally settle down. There. That’s the truth.”
Avery listened carefully. The sentence sounded right. The delivery didn’t.
“Okay.”
“What does okay mean?”
“It means I heard you.”
“No. It means you’re doing that thing.”
Avery smiled innocently. “What thing?”
“Pretending you don’t have an opinion while clearly having one.”
“I have lots of opinions.”
“Exactly.”
Avery laughed and handed her a stack of bowls. “Put those away if you’re going to stand there criticizing me.”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“You didn’t ask a question.”
“I asked what okay meant.”
“It means moving into a house is a big adjustment.”
“That sounds suspiciously reasonable.”
“I’m a married woman now.”
“You’re unbearable now.”
Avery grinned. “Julian says the same thing.”
That softened something in Josephine’s expression — mentioning Julian usually did. Her sister genuinely adored him, even if she’d never admit how relieved she’d been when Avery finally stopped fighting her own happiness.
“How is he?”
“Good. He’s pretending not to worry about you.”
Josephine snorted. “Then he’s doing a terrible job.”
“He asked me to text when I got here.”
“See? Terrible job.”
Avery watched her place a bowl beside the others. The movement looked casual, but Josephine had been rearranging the same stack for nearly thirty seconds.
“You hate this.”
“I do not.”
“You kind of do.”
“I don’t hate the house.”
“I didn’t say you hated the house.”
Josephine looked away first.
The silence stretched while Avery unpacked another stack of dishes. She remembered making similar speeches when things with Julian started getting serious. Different situation, different details, same need to convince everyone she was completely fine.
Eventually Josephine folded her arms against the counter. “It’s weird.”
There it was.
“Of course it’s weird,” Avery said, eyes on the cabinet.
“That’s it?”
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve spent years traveling. Now you’re not. That’d feel weird for anybody.”
Josephine studied her for a moment, then nodded. “Fair.”
Avery opened another box and found glasses wrapped in paper. She started unwrapping them while Josephine wandered toward the sink.
“By the way,” Avery said, too casually, “Julian mentioned that Viktor asked whether you got moved in okay.”
Josephine stopped moving.
“He did?” The question came too fast.
“Yeah.”
She turned around. “Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s suspicious.”
“How?”
“Because Viktor doesn’t ask random questions.”
“Maybe he was just being nice.”
“That’s even more suspicious.”
Avery laughed.
“I’m serious.”
“I know.”
Josephine grabbed a towel and started refolding it, even though it was already folded. “He always has a reason for everything.”
“You sound like you’ve spent a lot of time thinking about him.”
Josephine froze. Avery waited. Slowly, the towel went back down.
“You are so annoying.”
“I haven’t even done anything.”
“You absolutely have.”
Avery crossed her arms. “Do you even like him?”
Josephine stared at her. Avery stared right back. After several seconds, Josephine looked away first.
“That’s not the point.”
“That wasn’t a no.”
Josephine grabbed another glass. “He’s annoying.”
“Okay.”
“He’s always around.”
“Okay.”
“He remembers everything.”
“Okay.”
She slid the glass onto the shelf with more force than necessary. “And he’s entirely too calm.”
“Still not hearing a no.”
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“Terrible sister.”
“Excellent sister.”
Josephine rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth lifted anyway.
Together they kept unpacking. The cabinets filled with plates, bowls, glasses. Empty boxes piled near the back door. The kitchen still had a long way to go, but it looked noticeably less chaotic than an hour earlier.
Avery stepped back. “See? Progress.”
Josephine looked around. The cabinets weren’t empty anymore. The counters were a little clearer. The space looked more lived in than when Avery had arrived.
“I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I said I guess.”
Avery laughed and reached for another unopened box.
“Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes.”
“You are not opening another one.”
“I absolutely am.”
Josephine reached for the tape while Avery picked up the scissors, and neither of them argued about it again — just moved to opposite sides of the island and started on the next box together.
* * *
Viktor Nygaard sat at the head of the conference table while the final minutes of a budget meeting dragged past their usefulness.
A presentation stayed projected on the wall as one of his executives talked through numbers everyone in the room had already reviewed.
Viktor listened without interrupting. His expression stayed neutral, but the steady tap of his pen stopped the moment the speaker finished.
The room went quiet.
“Approve it.” He closed the folder in front of him and pushed it toward the center of the table. “Send the revised numbers to legal this afternoon.”
Chairs scraped back as the meeting broke apart. Within moments the room emptied, leaving only Viktor and the silence he preferred.
He reached for his phone. A new message waited.
Josephine Collins has officially moved in.
He read it once, then locked the screen. None of it was new information — he’d known when the house was purchased, when the closing documents were signed, when the movers were scheduled, when the utility transfers went through. This was just confirmation that the process was finished.
Josephine was home.
A knock sounded against the open door. Lydia stepped in carrying a tablet — she’d worked for him long enough to know when he was focused and when he wasn’t worth interrupting. She set the tablet in front of him.
“The Henderson meeting wants Thursday instead of tomorrow.”
“Move it.”
She made the adjustment.