Harris took the plate from Wren and bolted toward the table. “You should do a contest! Like the one you and Uncle Noah didbefore. Mom and I can judge. Whoever makes the best dinosaur wins!”
“And no practicing beforehand,” Misty said sternly, looking right at Josie.
Damn her.
“What do we get if we win?” Josie asked.
“If I win, you and Noah try goat yoga with me and Erica.”
“Goats and yoga?” Harris said excitedly. “I want to see goats and yoga.”
“What the hel— heck is that?” said Josie.
“Erica and I saw it at the festival. It’s a yoga class where baby goats climb all over you. It looks fun.”
’Cause having a barnyard animal climb all over you while you tried to stretch sounded super relaxing.
“That sounds smelly,” Misty said.
“I think it would be cool,” Wren replied. “The goats are so cute. The people who are doing it at the festival have a farm nearby so even after the festival is over, we could take classes there.”
“What do you want if you win, Aunt JoJo?” asked Harris.
Josie knew exactly what she would ask for. Wren was an amazing artist. Her sketchbook was practically attached to her body, and she was always drawing in it. At her new school she’d immediately been placed in an advanced art class, which was why Josie suspected her work had been part of the showcase. She still hadn’t looked at the flyer Turner had given her. However, in the seven-plus months Wren had lived with them, she’d never willingly shown them her work. Their friends and family had seen it. Noah had accidentally seen a couple of drawings when she left her sketchbook open on the kitchen table to let Trout into the backyard. Invoking the plain-view doctrine, he’d taken photos of what he found and shared them with Josiebefore deleting them. That’s how they knew Wren was incredibly talented.
Josie wasn’t sure why she wouldn’t share anything with them but hoped that one day she’d feel comfortable doing so. Every day that went by that she didn’t, it felt like they were taking a test they didn’t know how to pass. They weren’t going to get a peek into her sketchbook until they’d earned it. Which was why, as much as Josie wanted to ask to see just one drawing if she won, she couldn’t.
Instead, she said, “If I win, I want Wren to draw me a picture.”
Wren’s eyebrows shot up but it looked more like surprise than anger or irritation.
“What kind of picture?” Harris asked.
Josie shrugged. “Anything she wants.”
“I know, I know!” Harris said. “If you win, she can draw you being yoga’ed by a goat.”
Everyone laughed. Wren stuck her hand out to Josie. “Deal. Next weekend.”
Josie shook, feeling energized and hopeful, two things that were in short supply right now in her professional life. She walked over to the table and pressed another kiss to the top of Harris’s head. “I’m going to talk to Noah before he leaves.”
TWENTY-NINE
Their bedroom door was open. When Josie stepped inside, he was freshly showered, standing at the foot of the bed, securing his holster.
“Hey,” he said. “How’d it go with Turner?”
While she emptied her pockets onto the bed, she recounted their conversation, including the Boo-Hoo owl story. Not because it was part of the investigation but because it had left her feeling raw and Noah was the person she needed when she felt that way. He always knew when to listen and when to comfort.
Today, he listened without comment, which was exactly what she needed. Josie busied herself locking her pistol in the safe inside their closet as she spoke. When she finished, he said, “Where do we go from here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. We don’t have enough probable cause to start digging around in Dustin Emmer’s life, unfortunately. Hopefully, Hummel will have something for us soon in terms of evidence at the scenes. In the meantime, I think it makes sense to start talking to other people who knew both Maxine and Dani. Friends, other family members. Dani’s coworkers.”
“Yeah,” Noah agreed. “Gretchen and I can?—”
His sentence was interrupted by a knock on the doorframe. Wren stood there, looking uncertain, hands twisting together.
“Hey, Wren,” Noah waved her inside. “What’s up?”
