Her Unlikely Family (17 page)

They had? Why hadn't they ever tried to contact her? “I just felt, well, like talking to you. To find out how you're doing.”

“We're doing just fine, baby. Your dad's not here right now.”

“He's working?”

“No. He's playing golf at the club. I'm about to go over there for a charity auction I'm coordinating.”

“What charity?”

“A child advocacy program. We work with children in the foster-care system.”

Her mother was working with children? “That's great, Mom. I'm proud of you.”

They sat through an awkward silence.

“Well, honey, I hate to, but I really should go. I'm running late, and the kids are counting on me.”

Yeah, like I couldn't ever do.

No, that wasn't fair. Josie had been a difficult child. And she'd run off, never giving them a chance.

But there was no way Josie would ever let Lisa down like that. If she ever got the chance, that was.

“It was good talking to you, Mom.”

“I'm glad you called. I hope you'll call back when your dad's home. He'll be sorry he missed you.”

Yeah, right.

Quit whining and do what you planned to do.

“Mom, I'm sorry for the hurt I must've caused when I ran away.”

“I—I'm sorry, too. I failed you somehow.”

She had, but it would be cruel to say so. “No. I just had to find myself.” Josie laughed at how trite that sounded. “I'm fine, now. I'm working toward buying a small diner. And I—I need to be quiet and let you go. I'll call back another time when we can talk.”

“I'm sorry, Josephine. I really
must
run now. I'll look forward to your call.”

“Sure, Mom. Bye.”

The emptiness that had lived inside Josie since running away exploded out of the small corner she had shoved it into and bloomed into a huge, aching thing.

How could she possibly trust Mike with a need so overpowering? If she did, and he failed her, she might just bleed to death.

 

Josie returned with a loaf of bread and a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas.

“What happened at the store that's made you such a grump?” Michael asked.

“It could be the fact that she terrorized me all night,” Lisa said. “She demanded to know the date, my name and the current president.”

He could tell it was more than that. Something had happened. “Did you wreck my car? Is that what's bothering you?”

“So what if I did? Would you shoot me for damaging your
luxury
sedan?”

She said
luxury
with such a sneer that it hit him like a slap in the face. “No, I would simply let insurance take care of it.”

“Or you'd just fork out another seventy grand for a new one. No big deal.”

“I'm outta here,” Lisa said. “You two can work this puppy out by yourselves.”

Josie marched into the kitchen.

Michael followed. She slammed the bread into an antique bread keeper. One of the door hinges snapped at the force, causing it to list to the side.

“No need to tear up your antiques,” he said.

“It's not an antique. It's a piece of junk I bought at an estate sale.”

“Someone loved it enough to keep it all those years.”

She reached for the hinge and tried to work it back in place, but a piece clanked onto the countertop.

Josie's head drooped. Her shoulders shook. “You're right. Someone loved it. And I ruined it.” Tears choked her words.

He turned her around and held her in his arms, letting her cry. “What happened this afternoon?”

“I called home.”

No wonder. “How did it go?”

She sniffed. “Okay. But my mother couldn't talk long. She's spearheading a charity auction for kids and didn't want to be late.”

Ouch. Couldn't the woman have refrained from giving that piece of information so soon? “I'm sure she was relieved to hear from you.”

“She knew where I was all along. They've kept tabs on me through supposed friends.”

“And they never contacted you?”

“Not once.” She pulled away and jerked off a square of paper towel, then proceeded to blow her nose on the stiff, rough paper. “But I never once called them, either.” She tossed the wadded towel into the trash can. “I know I sound like a baby. It shouldn't matter anymore.”

“It always matters when it's your parents.” Which was why he was in such a quandary about what to do with his position at the bank—his position in the family, ultimately, because the bank was their life.

She attempted a pitiful smile. “Well, I did what I set out to do. I apologized for hurting them by running away.” She laughed. “It doesn't look like I did much damage.”

“I'm sure it hurt them. They did what they had to do to move on.”

“Yeah, well…I need a nap.”

“Good idea.”

“Will you stay and watch Lisa while I rest?”

“Sure.” He wanted, somehow, to offer comfort, and reached out to touch her cheek. But she turned her face away. He dropped his hand to his side. “Sleep well.”

 

Michael and Lisa opened the front door to let in the warm afternoon breeze and played a competitive game of Monopoly on the coffee table. It was the perfect distraction from his worry about Josie.

Two hours later, he and Lisa were still battling it out.

“You better pay up on the hotel rental, Uncle Mike.”

Lisa played a
viciously
competitive game. “You have no mercy.”

“I bet you're the same when someone comes in for a loan.”

“Hey, no fair. It's a business.”

“Well, I'm, like, the queen of my hotel business. And I say I won't loan you any more money to pay your rent. You owe me…” She checked her sheet of scrap paper. “Two hundred thirty-three thousand four hundred and six dollars.”

“No interest? You're a poor businesswoman.”

“But she's learning from the best,” a voice—Gary's—said from the front porch.

“Uncle Gary!” Lisa hopped up and ran to him. They hugged, and once again, Michael marveled at Gary's easiness with Lisa. It was a shame that he'd been almost as irresponsible as Patricia until her death. He was just now getting his life together and trying to make his way at the bank. Otherwise, he would have made a good guardian.

“Let's see that cracked noggin,” Gary said to Lisa.

She proudly showed him her bandage. “I can show you the stitches later when we change the gauze.”

“I'd like to see.”

“How'd you get here so fast?” Lisa asked.

“Michael called me from the hospital. When I talked to you on the phone this morning, I was already on the way here. I had to come see you for myself to make sure you're okay.”

“Why didn't Grandmother and Grandfather come?”

“They couldn't come today. But they were so worried they're going to try to come tomorrow.”

Michael wished Gary hadn't mentioned them. He was afraid they wouldn't show now that they knew Lisa was doing well, and that she would feel let down.

“Oh, okay,” Lisa said. “Hey, the ride to the hospital in the ambulance was pretty cool. Except, I guess getting knocked out messed up my brain a little. I don't really remember them putting me in.”

It was the first she'd spoken of the trip to the hospital, and knowing she had been so vulnerable sent the pit of Michael's stomach into a free fall.

Instead of dwelling on it, he got up and shook hands with Gary. “I hope you're staying the night.”

“I wouldn't miss seeing your rental house.”

Gary smiled and Michael realized how much he'd missed his brother. “It's good to see you, Gar.”

“Same here.”

The handshake turned into a quick rough hug and a firm pat on the back. It was probably the most affection they'd ever shown each other.

“So, this is where you've been staying,” Gary said to Lisa.

“Yeah. You'll have to meet Josie. She's sleeping right now.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“She was up with Lisa all night,” Michael felt compelled to add.

“They couldn't let me get into a deep sleep, or I might have died.” The excitement of the horrible episode brightened Lisa's expression. “Josie was scared I'd croak, so she woke me up about a gazillion times. Drove me insane.”

Gary looked at Michael. “Sounds like this Josie's taking real good care of you.”

Is he talking to Lisa or to me?

“Yes, she's a fine nurse,” Michael said.

Lisa snorted a laugh. “She's more than that, Uncle Mike.”

“Uncle Mike?” Gary said.

“Josie calls him Mike. And once he turned out to be kinda fun, I decided he seems more like a Mike.”

“I think I see,” Gary said with a grin. “So tell me more about Josie, Lisa. How is she more than a nurse?”

“Can I tell him, Uncle Mike?”

“Tell him what?”

“About how my prayers have been answered.”

Michael patted her on the shoulder. “Why don't you save that for later?”

Gary took off his sports coat, laid it across the back of a chair, then rubbed his hands together. “I'd love to hear all about it.”

As Gary walked toward the couch, Michael could tell the exact moment he noticed the overloaded walls and the strange sketch. Gary made the slightest movement, almost like recoiling.

Michael had a feeling he was observing what he, himself, had looked like a week earlier. And it wasn't pretty. Lisa had been right about him being a snob.

“Josie's got a nice homey place here,” Michael said. “Lisa has her own room. And the backyard is paradise. You should see the view.”

“I'm sure,” Gary said.

Michael checked his watch. “We're going to order some pizza in a while. Why don't you play a round of Monopoly with us, then hang around for dinner?”

“Sure. So tell me, Lisa, about your answered prayers.”

Lisa smiled timidly at the floor. “I think God's going to make us a family.”

“You and Michael?”

“No, silly. The—”

Josie's bedroom door opened. “I thought I heard voices.” She stepped out and squinted at the bright light, her hair a chaotic mess. Her nose was still red from crying, and her eyes were as puffy as overstuffed pillows.

She was not going to be happy about meeting Gary like this. But what could he do? Send her back to her room?

“Hey, Josie,” Lisa said. “Look who's here.”

J
osie blinked hard and tried to open her swollen eyes wide. Once she focused on the good-looking man standing in her living room, a replica of Mike, her face heated. She ran her hand through her wild mane. “Oh, hi. I'm Josie Miller.” She offered her hand. A bumpy pattern from the bedspread was imprinted on it. Did her whole body and face look as if she'd been in a waffle iron? “You must be Gary. You're Mike with green eyes.”

He shook her hand. “Yes, scary isn't it? Nice to meet you.”

She wished she could say “nice to meet you.” But right now she wanted to crawl back in her bed and hide until Gary left. Plus, he didn't look nearly as friendly as Mike. Of course, Mike hadn't been Mr. Personality in the beginning either. “I, uh, I'm a mess. I'll run and change.”

“Michael told me you were up all night with Lisa. Thanks for taking care of her.” His words were gracious, but forced.

Thank you, Mike, for taking up for me.
It definitely lifted her spirits to know he had.

“I was more than happy to watch Lisa last night. Although, she may not agree.” Josie inched up Lisa's bandage to check her stitches. “Time to put on the ointment and change the dressing.”

“Do you wanna see, Uncle Gary?”

“You bet. But only if Josie says it's okay.”

“Sure. I'll bring the supplies out here.”

While Josie was in the bathroom, she slapped the hairbrush at her tangles as if she were snuffing the life out of living creatures. For some reason, the jeans and T-shirt seemed too tight all of a sudden.

Why was she even worrying? Shouldn't she be good enough for Gary just the way she was? Why should he make her uncomfortable in her own home? Mike never had.

It only proved she was trying to impress Mike's brother.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong, Josie. This is why you left home. You never wanted to have to impress anyone ever again.

She tossed the hairbrush back in a drawer and ignored the call of the sink, begging her to wash her face and to press a cool cloth to the bags under her eyes.

If she and Mike were ever going to be anything together, then Gary would have to take her the way she was. She refused to be someone different around him.

She washed her hands, carried the ointment and bandage to the living room, then proceeded to doctor Lisa.

Once she'd removed the old dressing, she said, “Voila! Thirteen stitches for your viewing pleasure, Gary.”

He gave Lisa a slow, sweet smile. Surprisingly, considering he looked just like Mike, it didn't do a thing for Josie. No three-point-two mile runs of the heart. But as he approached and made eye contact with Josie, his expression chilled. Or had she imagined it?

For Lisa's benefit, he examined the wound and whistled. “Wow. You must've been brave to let them shave your head and sew you up.”

Lisa giggled, making her sound five years younger. “They almost had to tie me down.”

Mike crossed his arms over his chest. “Once I sat on her long enough to prove that they had numbed the area, she calmed down. But that was after everyone in the E.R. had heard her screams.”

“Oh, and what about you, Uncle Mike? Did ya tell 'em you about freaked when they put the needle through my skin?”

Josie pushed away her unease about Gary and had a good laugh at Mike. She couldn't imagine him ever freaking, being so out of control. “What did you do, Mike? Quietly, and ever so authoritatively, keel over?”

Mike jammed his hands on his hips, but his embarrassed smirk said he wasn't really mad. “I'll have you know that I merely broke out in a cold sweat and had to put my head between my knees. I would never be so un-dignified as to pass out—authoritatively or not.”

Josie finished putting the bandage in place. “All done, Lisa.”

“Are you going to eat with us, Uncle Gar?”

“I wouldn't miss it.”

The way he glanced around the room, though, made him look anything but happy about it.

 

After another round of Monopoly, Michael watched Lisa eat three pieces of pizza. She'd had a hearty appetite all day, as if the scene at the hospital had been a turning point. Whatever the reason, he wouldn't take the blessing for granted.

Yet the scene around Josie's dinner table wasn't all he'd hoped. Gary had cooled toward Josie. And as a result, she'd become more reserved. It wasn't enough to affect Lisa, but he could feel the undercurrent. By the time they'd finished eating, the adult conversation had waned, and Lisa began to nod off.

“Off to bed, Lisa,” Josie said. “You need sleep to finish healing.”

“Uninterrupted sleep,” she mumbled with her eyes half-closed.

“I promise I'll leave you alone tonight.”

Lisa hugged Gary, then Josie. “Night.”

For a moment, Michael was afraid she had forgotten him. But she came the long way around to hug him. And to kiss his cheek. “I love you Uncle Mike. Night.”

“I love you, too, pumpkin.” He managed to say the whole sentence before a lump fully wedged in his throat. He coughed to clear it out. “Sleep well.”

After she left the kitchen, Michael caught Gary staring at him. “What?”

“I'm amazed at the transformation,” Gary said. “You've done wonders.”

“Josie's been the one keeping me straight.”

“No, Mike's done all the work,” she said. “I've only given suggestions.”

“And she's called me a few choice names along the way. All well deserved, I might add.”

Josie nodded. “Like
hopeless…
and—”

“I believe Gary gets the picture.”

Gary looked back and forth between the two of them with narrowed eyes. “I believe I do,” he said with a concerned frown.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Michael asked, his nerves on ultra-alert to the undertones of Gary's words.

“It means he probably sees the sparks flying between us,” Josie said, hoping to irritate Gary. She was tired of the attitude he'd copped since he'd arrived and met her. “He's noticed the way you look at me with longing, with love, with total devotion….” She smiled at Gary with the same condescending smile he'd been sporting.

Gary was a true competitor. He came right back with “Josie, you've been exactly what Michael and Lisa needed for this temporary family crisis. Thank you for all you've done.” He slapped his knees and stood. “Now, if you'll give me a key to your house, Michael, I think I'll turn in. I need to leave early tomorrow. Unless you're going to go back to negotiate that contract?”

“What contract?” Josie asked. “You're leaving?” Forget the competition with Gary. She wanted answers.

Mike looked as if he'd been caught with his hand in the till. “Gary's run into a snag with Tom Mason.”

“Why didn't you tell me? You've been talking like you were staying here a while longer no matter what.”

“I hadn't decided what to do about Mason. I wanted to wait and see how Lisa was. Besides, Gary offered to stay while I'm gone.”

Just what she wanted. The cautiously-cool-turned-antagonistic brother hanging around.

Gary stood and held out his hand. “The keys? I'll let you two talk.”

Yeah, sure. Drop your bomb and head out.
Well, she wouldn't stand for it. She hopped up to meet him eye to eye. “Gary, can I ask why you've taken such a dislike to me?”

He flushed, two big splotches of red streaking across his cheeks. “I'm just trying to protect Michael. I know you've done a great deal for Lisa. But my brother has his place back in Charleston. He needs to get back to work as soon as Lisa's ready.”

“That's the plan. So what's bothering you?”

“I see more than that going on.”

“No, there's not.” But she knew better. There was definitely something brewing.

“And that would be between Josie and me if there were,” Mike said.

“Whatever you say,” Gary said as he headed toward the kitchen door and rapid escape. “I'll leave you two to talk about Michael's trip to Charleston.”

He was gone in a flash, the little chicken.

That left her alone with Mike and a syrupy thick silence. “Well. That was enlightening.”

“I don't know what got into him.”

“He thinks I'm not good enough for you.”

“No, Gary's not like that. It's probably all about getting me home quickly, and he fears I'll want to stay.”

“Because he figured out we may have feelings for each other.”

“We do, don't we, Josie? Have feelings for each other?”

Her chest ached. Her throat tightened. She swallowed past the hurt of the evening. “Yes. Even though I don't want us to.”

He placed his warm hands on her cheeks and rubbed his thumbs just below her eyes. She dared tears to fall where he would feel them.

“Could it be more? Love, even?” he asked.

She couldn't speak it. It would make it too real. Too scary. Especially since it was impossible. So she let her forehead fall against his chest and whispered, “I don't know.”

He kissed the top of her head, then set her away from him. “I'm going to go talk to him.”

“What about going to Charleston?”

“I haven't decided. If I don't go, we'll lose the account….” He waited as if wanting her to tell him to go.

She wouldn't make it that easy for him. It could devastate Lisa for him to go. She might interpret it as him backing out on her. As far as Josie knew, Mike hadn't even told Lisa that he wasn't sending her back to boarding school.

For once, Lisa needed Mike to choose her over everything else.

Josie did, too.

 

Michael let himself in the front door of his rental home and found his baby brother slouched on the couch. “Do you mind telling me what that scene was all about?”

“I'm just trying to keep you from getting hurt.”

“I'm a big boy now and can handle it.”

“Not where women are concerned.”

“I think I'm falling in love with her.” He'd stated it simply, when there was nothing at all simple about what he was feeling.

“You don't have to tell me. I can see it.”

“I could really use your support, even though I still can't see my future with Josie. At this point, I can't see her and Mother having lunch at the club.”

“Don't make this mistake, Michael. Mother will eat Josie alive. She'll end up more hurt in the long run. And you might just end up out of a job and booted out of the family circle.”

“Oh, I think I can hold my own. And I know Josie can. But I don't want her to have to.”

Gary chuckled. “She handled me pretty well tonight.”

“You deserved it. You were awful.”

“I don't want you to start this war, big brother. Things at the bank are finally looking up for me—provided you'll hurry home for negotiations.”

“If I go back to Charleston for you, will you promise to be nice to Josie?”

“I can guarantee I'll be nicer than Mother will be tomorrow. She'll want to protect her golden boy from a strange woman who could be after his money.”

No way. Not now. “They're really coming?”

“Yes. They said they'd arrive around five.”

What more could go wrong?

He sat in silence, waiting for the ceiling to fall in.

“If she could fit in better, then she would stand a better chance of surviving a visit with Mother,” Gary said. “Do you think—”

“Don't even think it, Gary. I wouldn't want to change a thing about her.”

“Not change
her.
Just something little like having her dye her hair a color that's found in nature. Maybe buy a more conservative outfit.”

Anger, and embarrassment for Josie, burned inside him. “You know nothing about it. The hair color was something nice she did for your niece.”

Gary slowly unfolded himself from his lounging position on the couch. “I'm sorry. I'm shutting up and going to bed.”

As Gary rattled around his luggage looking for a toothbrush, and Michael's temper settled, some of the ideas he'd had about the future began to take shape.

“What do you think of the idea of me turning over day-to-day bank operations to you?” Michael asked, wanting to test the waters. “I'd remain a stockholder, of course. I could work some from home so I'd be there for Lisa after school. Remaining on the board of directors of a couple of companies in the Southeast or doing consulting work would give me a nice income. And I wouldn't have to travel too much.”