4
Josh pulledup to his grandma’s house and parked his truck out front. He looked out the windshield and saw Matt and Amy Kellan with their twins Peyton and Paige building a snowman in their front yard while their Great Dane Scooby Doo, ran around in circles barking and trying to bite the snowman’s head.
It was like watching a scene right out of a movie. One that he’d never have.
His half-sister Claire, who he shared a father with, had twins as well. Bridgette and Bethany were turning five this summer. She also had a one-year-old son named Braydon. Being a kickass uncle was the closest he’d come to having kids of his own. Fatherhood was not in his future. Even if he hadn’t got in a dirt bike accident at fifteen that caused him to be sterile, he didn’t think it was responsible of him to reproduce considering the shitty genes he had.
His mom Lori had serious mental health issues. She’d been in and out of his life since he was a baby. He hadn’t seen her in a few years, but that was nothing new. His entire life it had been the same pattern. She’d show up on their doorstep out of the blue after being gone for months, sometimes years, promising that she had changed, and things would be different this time around. His dad would always welcome her back into their home and their lives. She would stick around for a while, and then disappear without any warning. No note. No explanation. No promise of when or if she was going to return.
It used to stress him out when he was a kid and even a teenager. But now that he was in his mid-thirties, he no longer allowed himself to give a shit about it.
So as far as his maternal gene pool, it was safe to say he was swimming in murky water. And his dad was not that much better. Angelo Bianchi was a drunk that cared a hell of a lot more for the bottle than he ever had about having a kid. His dad ended up dying from liver failure due to his alcoholism. Not exactly prime genetic material.
Growing up wasn’t all bad, though. The one constant in his life had been the woman he was going to see now. Nonna. She’d raised him. She’d been the one who was home after school. She’d been the one who showed up to his parent teacher conferences. She’d been to every baseball and football game. Every dirt bike race. She was always in the bleachers cheering him on.
He stepped out of the truck and waved at Matt, Amy and the twins before heading in through the back door, which was unlocked. He’d tried to convince Nonna that she needed to start locking her doors, but she just ignored him. Which was another reason he wanted her to move into Golden Years. Her safety. Nonna was old school and hadn’t ever locked her doors in the sixty plus years she’d lived in Hope Falls. She said that she didn’t see any reason to start now. But things were different now. Especially with the influx of tourism.
Thankfully, Matt and Amy were right next door, and they kept an eye on her. They came over and checked on her when Josh couldn’t get a hold of her which usually ended up being because her hearing aid wasn’t turned on so she couldn’t hear her phone. And she went next door when there were any emergencies, like when her pipe burst at three in the morning. As much as he appreciated Matt and Amy’s help, he didn’t like that responsibility falling on their shoulders.
“Nonna, you need to lock your door.” Josh knew that he was wasting his breath, but he still had to try.
Nonna completely ignored his comment as she stood at the stove stirring the sauce. “Did you see Audrey today?”
Josh checked his watch. “Wow.”
“Wow?” Nonna’s brow furrowed. “What is wow?”
“That’s a record for you.”
“What record for me?”
“It took you less than three seconds to bring up Audrey.”
Nonna loved Audrey and was convinced that she and Josh would end up together. It was her favorite topic of discussion. That and which Kardashian she liked best on any given day; the top spot changed on what felt like a weekly basis. The last he’d heard it was Kim. Nonna was impressed by the fact that she was working on prison reform and pursuing her law degree.
He had to admit, he was too.
“Well?!” Nonna’s skinny arms flew in the air. “Did you see her?”
“No, I didn’t.” Josh bent down and kissed Nonna’s cheek.
That wasn’t completely true. Josh had seen her this afternoon when she’d arrived at Brewed Awakenings, but he hadn’t talked to her. He’d almost gone in for an afternoon coffee, but he did his best to limit exposure to her. The more time he spent with her, the harder it was not to do something stupid. Something that he couldn’t take back. Something that might ruin the most important relationship he had in his life, besides Nonna.
Audrey Wells was one of his closest friends. He wasn’t sure exactly how it had happened. When he’d gotten medically discharged from the Army and came back to Hope Falls, he’d been in a dark place. A very dark place. And the death of his father hadn’t helped. Then, within six months of moving home, Audrey had moved to town with her sister and opened Brewed Awakenings.
He would never forget the first day he saw her, she was standing in front of the empty storefront that would end up being Brewed Awakenings with Lauren Harrison, who was his friend Caleb’s cousin and was a realtor in Hope Falls. He remembered he was in excruciating pain that day from his injuries, and he’d just untangled the financials of the business and realized just how badly his father had run Pine Auto Shop into the ground. He was in crippling debt and in crippling pain physically, emotionally, and mentally.
He’d been having some pretty dark thoughts when he’d walked out of the garage and saw her. Her long silky dark hair was shining in the sun and her full ruby red lips drew him like a moth to a flame. He’d stood there completely awe-struck by her beauty. He forgot where he was or what he was doing. Nothing else existed in that moment but the dark-haired goddess standing on the corner. Obviously, he’d been attracted to women before, but he’d never had such a primal, visceral reaction to one like he had that day.
When Lauren left, he watched as the brown-haired beauty lifted her hand over her eyes to shield the sun as she turned her head in his direction. He’d never forget the moment their eyes met. There’d been a spark of recognition in her gaze and then it happened. Those full, ruby red lips of hers pulled up into a wide smile and his entire world shifted on its axis. But instead of it being off balance, her smile made everything feel right. For one glorious moment, he didn’t feel the searing pain of his back. The world wasn’t closing in on him in crushing anxiety. He felt light. He felt free. He felt safe.
His first thought was that she must be an angel. A heavenly being. He’d grown up in church and he’d heard of people seeing celestial creatures.
He never expected the angel to walk toward him and say, “It’s Josh, right. Do you remember me?”
He was sure she must have mistaken him for someone else, because he would never have forgotten the stunningly beautiful woman who was standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
But then she continued, “I’m Audrey Wells. I used to vacation here with my three sisters and mom. You fixed my mom’s flat tire the last summer we were here. But that was like fifteen years ago.”