“Is that a term of endearment, Darla?” Alex called out.
She planted her hands on her h*ps and smiled. “I feel right at home when I'm shouting for that cat.” She laughed, the sound eerily similar to Josie's cackle. “Dr. Perfect. How’s your head?”
“It’s better.” He touched the healing wound lightly. “What’s going on here?”
“I won a lifetime’s supply of kitty litter. Or, at least, my mama did.”
“You only have two cats, right?” He chuckled, watching the guys haul and re-stack. “Where are you going to store it all?” He imagined Josie would have a mixed reaction, given her apartment’s clean, spare look.
“You got one?” She perked up. “Trevor, give Alex a bag.”
Oof! As if he were lifting a newborn baby, Trevor handed off a twenty-pound bag of litter. Alex’s knees bent at the weight and his hip screamed.
“Thanks,” he said, acting like it was no big deal. The testosterone level in the yard was up to his chin, and something primal in him made him man up. “But I don’t have a cat.”
“How about your mom? Your grandpa? Someone you know? Maybe take a few bags to the hospital and see if people want some?”
He set the bag down carefully. “No thanks, Darla. But it might come in handy this winter on icy walkways.”
“Oooh, good selling point.”
“Who are all these guys?”
“The band. You know Trevor and Joe.” Both grunted a “hello.” “And this is Sam, the drummer,” she said, pointing to the redhead. Deep auburn hair and the kind of skin that tans, rather than burns, with greenish hazel eyes. He was the only guy wearing a shirt, something from a geeky t-shirt store, and the quick eye contact and downcast eyes were more about shyness than anything else.
“Liam’s the guitar player.”
“One of them!” Trevor protested.
“The best one,” Liam crowed, reaching out to shake Alex’s hand. Liam and Trevor could have been brothers, both possessing a natural confidence and blonde surfer-dude look, though Liam was taller, looking down at Alex as they shook hands.
“So, this is the entire band?” Josie’s texts this past week had explained who Trevor and Joe were, and Darla’s relationship with them, as well as the Random Acts of Crazy band. Alex hadn’t heard of them, but then again, he lived in his own hospital-filled bubble.
Liam nodded. “We’re all here, moving kitty litter for Trevor and Joe’s puss—”
“HEY!” shouted the two guys, Joe throwing his shirt at Liam. It caught him on the side of his grinning face.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” Darla said, going right up to Liam and smiling. This was all good-natured, Alex could see.
“Where’s Josie?” Alex asked.
Darla just stared at him. No anger, no consternation, just an open look of evaluation. He wondered how different their fathers must have been, for Darla had untamed blonde waves and ocean-green eyes, with a fuller figure, while Josie’s features were dark, her body petite and slim. How interesting genetics could be. If he and Josie had a baby, it would have dark hair and dark eyes.
Even as he held Darla’s look, he paused internally. The thought of having a baby, of growing a family, with Josie filled him with a sense of protection and love.
Hope, too.
Waving him toward the door, Darla said, “Let’s go inside and talk. You want something to drink?” The guys were about halfway through their labor; Alex could see, now, just how much kitty litter you could pack into an entire pallet.
“You can call the local humane society, too, and donate some.”
Darla clapped excitedly as she entered the kitchen. “Great idea. Lemonade?”
Alex was itching to see Josie. “No, thanks. So…is something wrong with her?”
Blinking rapidly, Darla seemed torn. “She’s…not okay, but it’s not that there’s anything bad. It’s just that Josie, well, she’s—”
“Complicated,” they said simultaneously.
“You really are Dr. Perfect, aren’t you?”
He laughed. “I wish. If I’d let Josie see Dr. Imperfect a bit more, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“What are you in with her? She says you’re ‘somethinging.’”
“She’s something,” he said, grinning. They exchanged a knowing look, one that pleased him. How did two women come out of what Josie described as tragic circumstances only to be so fascinating, so down to earth and funny and intelligent? Darla was rough around the edges, and he knew Josie worried about her, but she’d be fine. Josie was fine. It made him wonder about her father, the librarian. What kind of man was he? His influence came through in Josie's intelligence.
Whatever made Josie think she wasn’t an exceptional person made his heart ache. He wanted to banish the roadblocks that got in her way, even as he knew that the only person who could really do that was her. Being supportive, walking down the road with her, standing on the sidelines while she navigated her way—that he could do.
If she let him.
But the hard work? If he tried to do it for her, he’d be cheating her out of an inner journey that made her who she was, made up the pieces of her that he loved.
Yes. Loved.
Last night’s fitful sleep faded to a subtle, then sharp, clarity as the first light peeked through his curtains. Everything with Josie was hard because he was experiencing something new.
True love.
Book learning wouldn’t cut it. He couldn’t watch an instructor and imitate. This very awkward, very flustered feeling was something he needed to get through and forge ahead to understand.
With her.
“You know,” Darla said quietly, “she’s the reason I’m okay. After our daddies died.”
Unsure what to say Alex just nodded sympathetically. “How?”
“I guess it’s more mutual than that. My mama lost her foot in the accident and couldn’t get around. We lived with the assistant librarian for about six weeks after the crash—Josie’s dad was the librarian. And when Mama came home, Josie moved in with us ’cause her mom was still in the hospital with a brain injury. I was only four, so the early years are hazy. I just remember my mama crying constantly and Josie taking me out to play. A lot.”
She sighed. Alex’s chest tightened. “Aunt Marlene wasn’t the same, from what Mama told me. I don’t know a different Marlene, so…” She shrugged. “But the one I do know is hard. The kind of woman you don’t want to get in a catfight with. And she hates Josie. Hates her.”