Then it all came back to him. He remembered Audrey and her sisters Grace, Ava, and Viv and their mom Mrs. Wells. But would never have expected the cute little girl in pigtails that had followed him around like a puppy to end up being this goddess with pinup worthy curves and a smile that caused his heart to expand in his chest to twice its size.
He’d spent months recovering from his injuries and battling a fairly serious depression. He’d suffered from a lot of flashbacks, especially at night. Night terrors his therapist called them. Then his dad died, and he inherited a business he’d never wanted in the first place, and to add insult to injury it was in a dire financial place. He’d felt like he’d been living his own personal hell. Seeing Audrey that day was the first ray of sunshine he’d seen. She was like his own personal angel and still was.
Once they got reacquainted, he’d found out that she truly was an angel. She was the sweetest, kindest, most honest and caring person he knew. And she was his friend. He didn’t have very many of those.
The last thing he would ever do was jeopardize that relationship by doing something stupid like telling her how he felt about her. That he couldn’t go one day, one hour, even one minute most of the time without thinking of her. That she was the light in his darkness. That she’d saved him when he thought that there was nothing left to save.
“That girl isn’t going to wait around for you forever.” Nonna wagged her finger up at him.
Josh grinned and turned on the charm in a way that never failed to make Nonna smile. “Why do I need a girl when I have you, Nonna?”
“Pssh.” She waved him away, fighting the smile he saw was pulling on her lips. “I’m not going to live forever, you know.”
He hated when she talked like that, even if he knew it was true.
Josh walked over to the pantry and checked Nonna’s pill box to make sure that she’d been taking her medication. He refilled it every Sunday for the week ahead but if he stopped by midweek, he liked to double check that she hadn’t missed any days.
She’d called him over tonight because she said that her internet wasn’t working so she couldn’t watch her shows. “I’m going to reset your router.”
“You need to ask that girl on a date.” Nonna ignored what he’d said and returned to her original topic. Audrey.
Josh wasn’t blind and he wasn’t an idiot. He knew that Audrey had a crush on him. And as much as he’d love to do something about that, he couldn’t. Not only because he was scared to risk their friendship, but also because she deserved better than him. She deserved someone who didn’t have the demons he had. She deserved someone who could give her the world. A man who could give her a family, like Matt and Amy had.
He wasn’t that man.
And more than anything, he wanted Audrey to be happy. Even if it killed him to see her with someone else. Which he thought there was a pretty good chance it would.
For the past eight years, he’d waited for that shoe to drop. But as far as he’d known, she hadn’t dated anyone since she’d lived in Hope Falls. She’d told him about a boyfriend she’d had in high school named Chris, but other than that, she didn’t really talk about guys with him.
This damn singles week was probably going to mean an influx of men. Men who would be an idiot not to see how amazing Audrey was. He knew that she wasn’t going to stay single forever, but he was going to cherish the time he had with her until she did find her prince charming.
After making sure Nonna was up and running again, he walked back into the kitchen.
“Okay, you should be all good to watch your shows.”
Nonna had become obsessed with reality television over the past few years. Her favorites were The Bachelor, the Housewives franchise, and the Kardashians. He had no clue what she found entertaining about the reality shows, but she loved them. She always had them on at the shop and thanks to streaming services she had them playing on a constant loop at her house.
It reminded him of when he was growing up and she watched soap operas: Days of our Lives, General Hospital, The Young and the Restless’ and TheBold and the Beautiful. All of them. She used to record the episodes on VHS tapes so she could re-watch them later. He guessed the reality shows were just updated soap operas.
“Sit. Sit.” She waved her hand towel at him. “I feed you.”
Josh’s back was killing him and since Nonna refused to let him upgrade her dining set, the wooden chairs absolutely wrecked his back. She didn’t know that, of course. If she did, she’d probably let him buy her a new dining set.
Knowing that he couldn’t refuse his grandmother’s cooking, Josh sucked it up and sat down. What was excruciating pain in comparison to a good home-cooked meal with his number one lady? It was definitely a fair trade off.