Mad About Moon (The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor #5)(3)

She crouched beside Hail and decided not to tell him where they were going, in case she chickened out again. She ran her hand over his shaggy hair and said, “Come on, bean. Mama needs to stop by a friend’s house for a few minutes. You can bring your toys.”

After gathering a few of his toys, they put on their coats and headed out to Josie’s car. Fear and anxiety knotted inside her as she drove, tightening with every mile between Parkvale and Peaceful Harbor.

“Will it still be Christmas when we get back to the shelter?” Hail asked as he played with his toy trucks.

“It sure will.” Josie heard the shakiness in her voice.

Tracey must have heard it, too, because she placed her hand on Josie’s wrist with a thoughtful expression and said, “You okay?”

A shiver ran up Josie’s arm. Sarah used to do the same thing when their father would go off on Scotty, only that touch would quickly turn to Sarah shoving Josie behind her—protecting her when their father turned on them. Sarah and Scotty had always protected her, but in the end they’d left her to fend for herself. The thought settled in her gut like lead.

And now Sarah had two little ones of her own to protect, and she’d seen Sarah’s burgeoning baby bump with her own eyes. I’m an aunt. The thought sparked hope. Maybe Hail would have a chance to get to know his aunt and uncle, his cousins. Could she and Scott and Sarah bridge a decade of hurt feelings, or had they all changed too much to ever repair their damaged relationship?

Her head spun with a million other thoughts and questions, fears and hopes, until it was all too much to think about. She gripped the steering wheel with both hands and realized Tracey was still waiting for an answer. Not trusting her voice, she glanced at Tracey, tried to smile, and nodded as she drove over the bridge that led into Peaceful Harbor.

She navigated the dark streets toward Sarah’s house. The closer they got, the slower she drove, debating turning around. As she turned down a narrow lane toward Sarah’s house, her pulse sped up. She’d never come this far before. She glanced in the rearview mirror at her little boy. His whole life had been turned upside down, and he was finally in a good place. Was she doing the right thing? Or was she bringing more stress into their lives? How could she possibly know?

When she came to the fork in the road that she knew led to the house, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel and followed it toward the left. A few minutes later the road became a long driveway, and a house came into view high up on a hill. She couldn’t breathe, and she hit the brakes.

“Is this where your friend lives, Mama?” Hail asked.

“Uh-huh. I think so,” she said, and Tracey nodded encouragingly. “Do you think this is the right house? It’s so big. How can Scott and Sarah afford this?”

“This is Bones and Sarah’s house. He’s a doctor. Of course they have a nice house,” Tracey said.

“They live together? I thought she lived with Scott.”

“Bones and Sarah moved in together a few weeks ago. He adores Sarah and her kids. They’re really happy.”

Happy tears burned Josie’s eyes. “That’s so good.”

She silently prayed for strength and drove up the driveway. Several vehicles came into view, along with the rest of the gorgeous property. There was a multicar garage, and the house wasn’t immense, but it was big and beautiful, with a deep front porch, a stone front, and an enormous deck overlooking the harbor. Holy cow…

Josie parked behind the other cars. Bright lights twinkled through every window, and she knew she’d made a mistake. “We’re interrupting a party or something. I don’t think I can—”

“You can do this,” Tracey reassured her. “You’ve come this far…”

“Do what, Mama? Talk to your friend?” Hail asked.

Josie’s stomach tensed up even more. She’d inadvertently scared him when she’d run from Sarah in front of the shelter, and there was no way she’d ever scare him like that again. That night had been awful. Bones had sent his burly brother Bullet—the scariest-looking, leather-clad, tattooed, bearded giant she’d ever seen—to find her and Hail and make sure they returned to the shelter, where they would be safe. Her son needed her to be strong and to do the right thing. Whatever the hell that was.

“No, honey,” she said, thinking quickly. “I wasn’t sure if I should turn the car off since it’s so cold out. I’m just going to leave it running for you and Tracey. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?”

Tracey whispered, “You don’t want us to come?”

Josie shook her head. “Not yet. Let me feel things out first.”

“Okay. Go. You’ve got this,” Tracey said with a reassuring pat on Josie’s hand, and then she climbed over the seat and plunked down beside Hail. “I was hoping for some time to play with the backhoe!”

Hail handed her the toy truck, immediately going into a diatribe about what a backhoe could and couldn’t do. Brian had worked in construction, and Hail had hung on his every word. In an effort to fill the gap his daddy had left behind, when she could, Josie scoured the Internet to come up with facts about construction equipment that her little one didn’t already know.

She stepped from the car on shaky legs, pulled the hood of her parka up to ward off the cold, and shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She wrapped her fingers around the pamphlet. She didn’t even know why she’d brought it, but now it felt important, like it was her excuse for showing up unannounced.