“So now we’re a halfway house, are we?” came a drawling, sarcastic voice from behind her.
She let go of JJ and turned. “So there you are,” she said in amild voice. “I thought maybe you were out looking for another venomous pet to go with Precious. I hear they have Gila monsters somewhere close by... ?” She smiled vacantly.
He lifted a blond eyebrow. “Speaking of reptiles...”
Heather took him by the arm and shook him. “You stop that,” she said firmly.
He grimaced. “Okay.”
“You’re not too big to hit!” she threatened, looking up, way up, into his face under the broad brim of his cream Stetson.
He picked her up by the waist and lifted her up to his eyes. “And when have you ever hit me?” he teased softly, smiling.
“I took your Super Mario game away from you for two whole weeks,” she reminded him.
“Vicious little mama,” he teased, and kissed her nose.
She laughed. “Okay. Put me down. You’re undermining my authority.”
He put her back on her feet. Josie smiled at the interaction. They were a happy family, a sad reminder of how cold her own had been. Watching them, she wondered what it would have been like to be part of a loving household, especially with the holidays coming up. She’d be here for them, hopefully. Despite John’s vicious presence, she was looking forward to the experience. She truly was.
Nine
Heather taught Josie how to make fresh bread. It was an education being around the older woman. She was very much like Josie’s late mother, right down to her soft heart.
“John said you lost your mother,” Heather said gently while they waited, over cups of coffee, for the bread to rise.
“Yes,” she replied, staring into her coffee. “I hadn’t been home much in recent years, so it was mostly holidays when I saw her.”
“Just her? Not your father?” Heather pressed gently.
She made a face. “My father didn’t really like being married, so he pretended that he wasn’t,” she said after a minute, and with a rueful smile. “My mother always just accepted him the way he was. She said you couldn’t make people stay with you if they didn’t want to. Maybe they loved each other at the beginning, but it didn’t last.”
“Life happens,” Heather replied. She studied the younger woman. “I just can’t picture you as a criminal.”
The coffee cup danced slightly in Josie’s hand, but she recovered quickly with a short laugh. “Well, I honestly didn’t start out to be one,” she replied. “I wanted to be like Mom.”
“We all make mistakes in life,” Heather said softly. “We get past them. You’ll get through this.”
“Do you think so?” Josie asked with a sigh. “Life is so darned hard sometimes,” she mused, thinking of what trials lay ahead of her while she tried to get a net on Velasquez and his associates.
“I do,” Heather replied earnestly. “I’ll help you. Any way I can. So will Cole.”
“The two of you get along so well,” she said.
Heather laughed. “I’ve known Cole for a very long time. Our parents knew each other. I started out to have a real career on the stage as a singer. I gave it up when I married Cole.”
“Did you ever regret it?”
Heather smiled and shook her head. “Never. Despite all the years and three children, we almost never had a cross word. He’s still my best friend,” she added on a laugh. “We sit up all hours and talk about politics or the state of the world, or our kids, or the ranch, or new trends in ranching.”
“That must be nice,” Josie said. “I don’t think my parents ever talked to each other at all. They just made polite conversation.”
“Is that why you got in trouble with the law?” Heather asked.
Josie stared at the coffee cup again, thinking fast. “I guess it added to it, once I got away from home,” she said. “They say most people who get involved with gangs do it because they feel outcast, as if they don’t belong anywhere. Maybe their families are overcrowded, or there’s only one parent trying to support a household. Things like that.”
Heather nodded. “I guess so.”
