Chapter 4
JOSH
“Ellie, I need some advice.”
“Anytime anything, darling,” Ellie Landry tells me as she leans on the top of the scarred wooden bar in her bar and restaurant that, as far as I know, is just called Ellie’s.
There’s no sign outside with that name, or any other, on it, though, and everything inside is plain, from the napkins and coasters to the menus, which are printed on plain paper and replaced only when they are ripped or stained to the point where the offerings are no longer readable.
That all drives her marketing specialist granddaughter, Charlie, absolutely crazy. But Charlie has yet to convince her grandmother that spending the extra money on things that tell people where they’re eating is worth it.
Ellie always says, 'If they’re already inside eating, why the hell do they need a napkin to tell them where they are?'
The plain napkins and coasters really match the general aesthetic, though, and I think even Charlie would agree if pressed.
The place is full of mismatched chairs and tables.
Even the barstools are an eclectic mix of sizes, colors, and styles.
The drinkware, too. It’s pretty clear that Ellie buys sets of glasses, but when things break, she replaces them with whatever she finds or likes at the moment.
The walls are “decorated” with a collection of photos of people and events Ellie loves, posters of bands and sports teams she likes (which get removed if she gets pissed at them for any reason), and, more recently, landscapes of the Louisiana bayou and wildlife photos.
Again, the photos or pieces of art are added simply because they strike her fancy.
There is absolutely no unifying theme, color scheme, or anything other than “Ellie”.
Which makes calling the place “Ellie’s” the most obvious thing.
Ellie is the matriarch of the family that adopted me two years ago when I ended up in Autre, Louisiana, the tiny Bayou town that needed a full-time firefighter after I finished my training in New Orleans.
I have to admit that landing in this little town is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Yes, I followed a woman from Omaha, Nebraska, to New Orleans, but the fact that none of the fire stations had a full-time opening at the time I was applying turned out to be fantastic for me.
Autre is a fraction of the size of the city where I grew up, but a guy thousands of miles away from home, without friends or family, still quickly found both in this quirky little town.
It’s not just the rest of the firefighters—almost all volunteers—at the station or my fire chief, Michael LeClaire.
It’s literally almost the entire town. And I’m certainly an honorary member of the Landry family.
Ellie and her husband, Leo, stepped in where I had missed having my grandparents around, and all of her kids have turned into fill-in parents, aunts, and uncles. Her grandkids are definitely like siblings.
For better or worse.
“I’m not gonna be here for dinner tonight. Or for Christmas,” I tell Ellie in a hushed tone. I have to let someone know. Someone being Ellie, because I’d rather not get into it with the whole crowd.
I’ve already told Michael about everything and arranged for coverage, of course.
We have fantastic volunteers in town and Autre, and the area will be well taken care of.
Michael was a little too happy that I’ve got plans that involved a woman.
I’m not going to analyze that. He’s a good friend.
He wants me to be happy. I know he’ll want details later, but for now, he just said, “No problem. We’ve got you. ”
Ellie’s eyebrows arch. “You planning to set something on fire to get out of Christmas? Because I have a request.”
I chuckle. “You have a request for a building you want set on fire?”
“A couple of ‘em.”
I shake my head with a grin. “I am not setting anything on fire, and don’t tell me, because if and when those buildings go up in flames, I don’t want to have to include in the report that you had it out for them.”
She winks. “Got it. So, what’re you doin’ instead of eatin’ my bread pudding and pecan pie?”
I groan softly. I do love her pecan pie. “I got another invitation.”
Ellie immediately gives me a knowing look. “Is she pretty?”
I grin. “Of course.”
“Do I know her?” Then she waves the towel she’s holding in one hand. “Of course I do.”
“Actually, I’m not sure you do. She’s not from here.”
Ellie looks mildly offended. “Do you think the only people I know are from here?”
I should’ve known better. Ellie is… actually, I’m not sure how old she is.
Old enough to be a grandmother to people in their late twenties and early thirties, and to have several great-grandchildren now.
But she’s younger at heart than some people my age.
And I’m guessing no one is brave enough to actually ask the woman her age. I’m certainly not.
“Fair enough. She’s from over in Rebel. Do you know anybody over there?”
She laughs. “You’re hilarious.”
“I don’t know what that means. No, you don’t, or yes, you do? Y’all have a big rivalry with them or something?”
She looks at me with surprise. “You really don’t know.”
“Actually, a lot of things fall under that heading. What about this specific situation do I not know?”
She laughs, and I feel a stab of pride in my chest. It’s always a good day when you can amuse Ellie Landry. And an even better day when you can tell her something that impresses her or that she didn’t already know.
Those are very rare days.
“Honey, I grew up in Rebel. That’s my hometown.”
Okay, now I’m actually surprised. “You’re not from here?”
“Nope. I’m here because I fell in love with an Autre boy, which is a very hard thing to avoid doing, by the way. But I know pretty much everybody over in Rebel. Who did you meet?”
“Violet Chabert,” I say.
Ellie swats me with her towel. “She’s my great niece. But honey, she was just in a car accident.”
I lean in, shushing her slightly. “I know. I was the one who found her in the car. But she’s your great niece?” I ask, going back to that point.
“Her grandpa is my brother.”
Wow. That’s definitely a strange coincidence.
“You found her in her car?” Ellie asks. “She’s been unconscious since then. You’ve developed a crush on an unconscious girl?”
“Shhh,” I say again, casting a glance around.
Her grandkids are all gathered around the family tables at the back of the bar, and I’m fortunate that they are a boisterous group. There’s no way they would hear our conversation over their own unless they were standing right near us.
“I met her before the accident. And we set up a little date over the weekend. When her family found out, they invited me to Christmas dinner anyway.”
“Oh.” Her eyes narrow thoughtfully. “Yes, they’ll be wonderful for you.”
My eyebrows arch. “Well, thank you.”
“No, really. You’ll love them. And they’ll love you. You should definitely go.”
“Wow, don’t let the door hit my ass on the way out.”
She chuckles. “I know you’ve been feeling a little bit left out around here. Everybody’s coupled up and everything. And everything that went down with Sierra bruised that big heart of yours. I think it’s great you’re going to have some fun in Rebel.”
I watch her for a moment and ask, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Are you doing things a little out of order with the family before you get to know the girl? Sure. But I’m hardly one to advocate falling in love in a normal way. Where's the fun in that?”
I laugh. “Well, I think falling in love might be jumping ahead a little bit.”
She gives me a wink. “I give it three days. Tops.”
I have to remind myself that the Landry family is very into love. And falling fast doesn’t faze a single one of them.
“Well, thank you for the confidence. But…”
I feel the need to confess the whole story to someone and have them tell me not to go to Rebel.
Or that it’s okay.
Ellie is my choice.
Even before I knew this was her family in Rebel. Now she’s even more qualified to tell me if what I’m going to do is crazy.
“But what, darlin’?” Ellie asks.
“Before her accident, when we set up the date, it was for me to pretend to be her boyfriend,” I blurt out. “She had another guy who had agreed to do it, but he backed out. She wants a boyfriend for the holidays because her ex will be in town.”
Ellie nods. “Ah.”
“And I agreed because it sounded fun and harmless. But now she’s unconscious, and her family thinks I’m this new guy in her life and… I don’t know if I should go ahead with this.”
“Of course you should.”
I blink. She didn’t even think about it. “Yeah?”
“Yes. My brother called to tell me about the accident. They were so scared.”
“She’s going to be okay,” I say.
“I know. They know. But it was still hard to see her like that. And she’s been having a tough time since the break-up. She and Sam were together for a long time. Everyone expected them to get married. The break-up was a shock. So, this is giving them some hope and happiness.”
“But…it’s not real.”
She gives me a soft smile. “You’re very real.”
“But Violet and I aren’t together.”
“Listen, you didn’t make this up on your own. You and Violet agreed to do this. Just play along. Especially while she can’t be part of deciding to change it.”
“But they seem great,” I say. “I don’t want to lie to them.”
“So don’t lie,” she says simply. “Let them get to know the real you.”
Yeah, they don’t know Chad. He and Violet were not ‘dating’ for long. I can just play this as myself. And hope that Violet is cool with that when she wakes up.
“They’re going to love you,” Ellie says. “You’re going to make this holiday really wonderful for that family. I appreciate that. I love them a lot.”
I smile. Ellie is a firecracker, but underneath that crispy outer layer, she’s mushy and sweet. Like a toasted marshmallow. “Thanks, Ellie.”
She waves that away. “I have something for you to take with you.” She disappears through the swinging doors that lead into the kitchen.
“JD!” someone from the Landry family table calls out to me.
I turn in the general direction. I’m JD to everyone in Autre because there was already a Josh in the family, and they decided it was too confusing to have two.
They’d suggested Hot Shot, Hot Stuff, Not The Chief, which they were going to shorten to NTC, and Chief Junior, which we all know they would have shortened to Junior.
I vetoed all of them. Of course, that didn’t matter, but thankfully, some of the women had been on my side.
Finally, Ellie asked for my middle name, and just like that, Joshua Daniel turned into JD when I’m in the city limits of Autre.
“Get over here, we’re saving you a seat.”
And they are indeed. The family is so large that they have their gatherings— pretty much dinner every night—at Ellie’s bar.
And yes, they always save me a seat. Right in the midst of them.
Which is awesome. I always feel included and cared for.
But I’ll be honest, I’m kind of excited about having something else to do tonight.
“Actually, I can’t.”
“You sick?” Zeke Landry asks.
“Not sick. I have other plans.”
The table goes quiet, and they all look at one another as if they don’t understand the words I just said.
“Is everything okay?”
This comes from Michael, the one I probably know the best. He grew up as a friend of the family and was a Landry by default even before he married one of Ellie’s granddaughters. You can’t spend more than ten minutes with this family and not feel like one of them.
“Everything is great, actually,” I’m happy to report.
“Well, what are you gonna be doing?” Zeke asks as if he cannot fathom anything better than hanging out with the rest of them.
And I’ll be honest, there are probably only a handful of things that I would put on the list ahead of spending time with this group.
“How about I go do it, see how it goes, then come back and tell you about it?” I say.
Zeke sits back in his chair and slides his arm along the back of his wife’s chair. “It’s a girl,” he announces to the table.
His twin brother, Zander, rolls his eyes. “Well, no shit.”
They all start talking amongst themselves about me spending time with a girl that they don’t know about, which means I can bow out. With the Landrys, even if you are the subject of a conversation, you don’t actually have to participate for the conversation to go on.
Ellie returns from the kitchen with a pie in hand.
“You can take this.”
“One of your pecan pies?” I ask.
“Yes. And by the way, I’m certain they’ll have pie. Bruce is a hell of a baker.”
“Then why am I bringing pie?”
“Because my pie is better. And you are not only encouraged, but are required to tell him that when you hand it to him.” She holds it out to me, then pulls it back. “Promise me you’ll say that.”
I chuckle. “You’re gonna get me in trouble with this family from the very first minute, aren’t you?”
She grins and hands the pie over. “You’re going to be fine. You’ve been hanging out with us for two years.”
“So, they’re definitely not crazier than you all?” I ask affectionately.
“Oh, I didn’t say that,” she tells me. “But we’ve been good practice for what’s in store for you.”