Chapter Three
Josie
“Mom? Dad?” I kicked the front door shut behind me and dropped my keys onto the table in the entry way. “Anybody home?”
Silence.
Guess not,I thought. Their cars were in the driveway, but maybe they’d gone out on a walk or something.
It was my second day living with my parents. Fatima and I said our tearful goodbyes yesterday before she got in her car and drove home to Portland, and I stuffed the last of my belongings into my beat-up SUV, took a last look at my empty apartment, and left.
And the first night was—nice, actually. My dad made dinner and the three of us drank wine and talked before I spread out on the dining room table and studied until my eyelids sagged and my mom laid a gentle hand on my back as she told me to go to bed.
I could get used to being back home, I decided. The easy companionship and someone to tell me to take care of myself when I pushed myself too hard.
It was only five in the afternoon—I was done with class and work for the day, with plenty of time to grab some food and spend my evening on advanced organic chemistry. If I was lucky, maybe I’d even have time to curl up with a romance novel at bedtime.
Reading for fun, I thought ruefully. What a novelty.
I slipped off my flats and wandered barefoot into the kitchen. I was just reaching for the refrigerator door when a rustling noise from the family room caught my attention.
Icy panic flooded my system—Mom and Dad weren’t home and we didn’t have any pets. Either some kind of pest was in the house—although it sounded pretty big for a mouse—or there was someone here.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself, and took a deep breath as I tiptoed toward the doorway into the family room. If it was a wild animal, I would run like hell. If it was a person—well, I would still run like hell, but then I would dial 911 and keep running.
I kept my body out of sight and slowly, carefully, poked my head into the family room, just as another noise—a soft gasp—rose from one of the overstuffed couches.
It wasn’t a wild animal, and luckily for me, I supposed, it wasn’t an intruder, either. But in that moment, I wondered if maybe I would have preferred facing off with an angry raccoon or a jumpy burglar instead of the real source of the noises.
Because it was my parents—Sadie and Henry Walsh, both only partially dressed as they furiously made out on the couch, totally oblivious to my presence. Until I gasped in surprise, anyway.
“Uh…I’m…sorry,” I stammered as their heads snapped toward me and their hands and legs stilled. “Didn’t know you guys were…uh, using this room.”
I turned and fled, through the kitchen and up the stairs, past my old bedroom, now crammed full of boxes, and into the bedroom I now occupied. I slammed the door shut behind me before I flopped down on the bed and fumbled for my phone. Patrick answered on the first ring.
“At home for once?” I asked.
“Just finished a long shift,” he said, and yawned. “What’s up?”
“I just walked in on Mom and Dad getting it on in the family room,” I replied. “What was that you said? We would barely notice each other?”
Patrick snorted. “They’re allowed to have sex, Josie.”
I rolled onto my back and flung an arm over my face. “Sure, just—maybe not on the couch at five in the afternoon when their daughter could be home any second.” I clapped a hand over my mouth as understanding hit me like a bolt from the blue. “Oh my God, they moved me into John and Ryan’s old room so I wouldn’t overhear them doing it.”
My big brother laughed. “That’s considerate, at least. You’ve gotta hand it to them, though—thirty-some years of marriage and still getting down on the couch? That’s what I want when I get married.”
“When you put it that way, it’s at least a little cute,” I grudgingly admitted. “Even if I still want to claw my eyes out after seeing Dad’s naked ass while he kissed Mom’s—"
Patrick shuddered. “I get the picture. Just a few more months, okay? I really doubt that you’ll catch them in the act again.”
“Probably not,” I agreed. “I swear to God, I could see Dad’s soul leave his body when he looked up from Mom’s—well, when he looked up and saw me. I don’t know who was more embarrassed.”
“Cut them some slack,” he said, amusement still threading through his voice. “Who knows when they’ll walk in on you with a guy.”
I slid off the bed and headed over to the little desk in the corner, piled high with books and study materials. “That’s pretty unlikely,” I said as I opened my laptop and lowered myself into the desk chair. “Between advanced organic chem and getting ready for the MCAT, I’m unlikely to date anytime between now and…I don’t know, residency?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you study too much.” Patrick’s tone rang with—well, not disapproval, exactly, but concern. “Medicine is hard enough. You don’t need to burn yourself out before you even get into medical school. It’s really important to make some time for yourself outside of school, even when you’re slammed.”