Lisa Jordan - Lakeside Family

Nick gave her a pointed look. “She’s my daughter, too. Remember? I need to know what’s going on with her.”

She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the kitchen. “I haven’t had time to tell Hannah about you. You can’t just show up as some random guy. And I’m not going to introduce you in the doctor’s office. You’re bound to be a shock to her.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Josie made sense. He remembered last night’s stunned feeling when he learned he had a daughter. How would the kid feel once she learned dear old dad finally showed up? “All right, then. How about if the three of us go to dinner?”

“Can’t.” Josie picked up a rag and wiped crumbs off the counter.

Nick crossed his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “You want me to get tested, but you don’t want me to be a part of her life?”

With her back to him, she rinsed the dishcloth in the sink. “No, it’s not that at all. My family is coming to dinner tonight. Hannah can’t be around a lot of people right now with her immune system being so weak. I risked her health by bringing her into the shop this morning, but I had no choice.”

“What happened?”

She turned around. “I overslept. My grandfather had an appointment today and won’t be home until dinner. My stepsister is coming to pick up Hannah. Because of the water leak, I don’t want her in the kitchen.” She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “It’s been one disaster after another.”

“Sounds like you need a vacation.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen.” Her eyes filled with a sadness that tugged at his heart.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but touching her was the last thing she wanted. Plus, he didn’t believe in giving false hope or meaningless platitudes because he didn’t know if everything was going to work out. From his past experience he knew how life had a way of dishing out trash no one deserved.

Chapter Four

If Josie had a quarter for every “if only” that popped into her brain, she’d be able to pay off the rest of Hannah’s medical bills and head south to their dream beach house on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

She stared through the gaping hole in the bathroom floor in the upstairs apartment down to her shop. Like the one in her pocket.

Was this how Alice felt when she peered down the rabbit hole?

Okay, maybe not quite, but Josie had the sensation of falling into a very deep well—one not lined with Ben Franklins.

Footprints had been tracked through the plaster dust and muddied the water-stained brown tile in the storeroom. The same dust coated the metal storage racks and plastic totes. Swollen ceiling tiles lay tossed on the floor.

All because of a tiny...what did Harv call that little doohickey thing? She tried, she really did, to listen as her contractor explained the plumbing problem in lingo she could understand. He was the expert, after all. But her thoughts kept returning to the cost to fix the mess. Not to mention the stench pickled her brain.

If only she hadn’t forgotten to call Harv to fix that leaky toilet when her previous tenant had mentioned it. But once Hannah’s leukemia returned, everything else dropped on her priority list. If only... No, she wasn’t going there. She didn’t have time for pity parties. Especially when Hannah had it so much worse.

“Josie, did you hear what I said?”

Josie swung her gaze to Harv, who stood next to Ian James, her insurance man. Both men wore grim expressions that did little to soothe the ache in her stomach. “I’m sorry, Harv. I disappeared down a rabbit hole.”

“Climb back out, Alice. We have some figures to discuss.” The creases around his eyes deepened as he winked at her. He tugged his John Deere baseball hat out of his back pocket and plopped it on top of his balding head.

Josie jerked her head toward the door. “Let’s go downstairs. I’ll get you guys some coffee.”

Ian held the door for them. “Say, Josie. Is Agnes working?”

As Josie passed by him, she took in his black suit, white creaseless shirt, shiny shoes and trimmed hair. “Yes, Ian, but roll up your tongue. She doesn’t need another man in her life right now.”

“When did you become her mother?” he muttered, following her down the stairs.

“After I cleaned up the train wreck of her marriage. You saw what that jerk did to her.” Josie opened the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. A late-winter breeze whisked across her cheeks.

“Josie, chill. I’m not going to cheat on her. I just want to take her to dinner.”

Entering the coffee shop, Josie sniffed the scent of freshly baked blueberry cobbler. Her stomach growled. “Everyone’s charming on the first date, aren’t they?”

“When did you become so cynical?” He smoothed a hand over his hair.

Josie opened her mouth and then shut it. No need to yank those skeletons from her closet. Shelby Lake was her fresh start.

She gentled her voice and placed a hand on his arm. “Listen, Ian, you’re a great guy, but take it slow, okay? Agnes looks like she has it all together, but her heart is pieced together with Scotch Tape.”

Ian pocketed his Clark Kent glasses and stared over her shoulder a minute. Then he pulled his gaze back to meet hers. He touched the tip of her nose. “Are you sure you’re still talking about Agnes?”

“Positive. Find a table. I need to pull cobbler out of the oven.” Before he had a chance to protest, Josie whirled away from him.

Crazy talk.

Her heart was just fine, thank you very much.

Besides, she and Agnes looked out for each other. That’s what friends did.

She pushed through the kitchen door and knocked heads with Agnes. So much for looking out for her.

“Sugar Pie, where’s the fire?” Agnes rubbed the right side of her forehead.

Josie sniffed back sudden tears as she scrunched her throbbing eye closed. “Sorry, Aggie. I didn’t see you.”

Agnes primped her curls. “And here, I thought I made my hair extra high this morning. Figured you could’ve seen it through the window.”

“Yeah, if I was looking for Texas-size hair.”

“How’d it go upstairs?”

“Ugh.” Josie gloved her hands with pink pig oven mitts and pulled open the oven door. Heat pressed against her face and neck. She pulled out a bubbling blueberry cobbler and set it on top of the stove.

“That good, huh?”

Josie slapped the mitts next to the dessert, crossed her arms and leaned one hip against the counter. “Am I a terrible person who deserves all of this grief? Doesn’t seem fair.”

“Life doesn’t play fair, Sugar Pie. This ain’t about you, so don’t go taking this on yourself. You’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got.”

“If I had the toilet fixed when Beatrice mentioned it, we wouldn’t be in this mess. A lousy two-dollar part would’ve saved me thousands. What sort of responsible business owner am I?”

Agnes grabbed Josie’s arms and squeezed gently. “The kind who is trying to do everything and be everything to everyone. Cut yourself some slack.”

“If only—”

“No ‘if onlys’ about it. You could waste forever on shoulda woulda coulda. Yesterday is all gone, thank you. Instead, focus on what you’re going to do now to fix it. That’s what matters. None of us expected this to happen.”

Ian poked in his head in the kitchen. “Josie, Harv had a call and left. He said he’ll stop back in later, but he left an estimate. And I need to head back to the office.”

“I’m coming now.” With Agnes on her heels, Josie followed him to the dining room table where Ian had his computer tablet and a yellow legal pad spread out.

Ian handed her an invoice. “This is Harv’s estimate. He’ll go over it with you later.”