Page 36 of The Couple's Secret
Hollis threw his hands up, palms out. “I don’t have anything that needs a skeleton key if that’s where you’re headed with this.”
“I know this has been a long day.” Josie addressed Zane. “We’re very sorry for your loss. I appreciate your taking the time to speak with us. We can talk again another time. Just one last question. Do you know of anyone who would have wanted your dad and Cora dead?”
Zane used the tissue to dab at a rogue tear sliding down his cheek. “Other than Riley’s dad? No.”
Nineteen
Noah’s hand drifted down Josie’s spine. His lips pressed against the top of her head. With a sigh, she nestled her cheek against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat, sure and steady, made her drowsy. They were sprawled across their couch, Josie on top of him. Normally, Trout would be sitting on the floor nearby, whining about them not leaving him any room to lie with them. But after dinner, Wren had retreated to her room, and he’d gone with her. It was a rare night when all three of them were home for more than fifteen minutes. There was a movie that Josie and Noah had wanted to watch. They’d tried to entice Wren to join them, but she had politely refused. They put it on anyway, but it hadn’t held their attention.
Cuddling was way better.
“I got a call today from the vow renewal venue,” Noah said. “They need the final deposit. I thought you were going to take care of that.”
Josie buried her face in his chest, muffling her words. “I’m not sure we should do it.”
“What? Why?”
Lifting her head, she grimaced at the fleeting look of hurt in his eyes. “We should be prioritizing Wren, not our vow renewal.”
“We can do both, you know.” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “We already postponed it once. I thought you wanted this.”
There was a note of disappointment—no, defeat—in his voice which made her feel terrible. It had been his idea. She hadn’t realized how important it was to him until this moment. She thought he’d mainly suggested it to make her happy.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I did want it. I do. But I wonder if this is the right time for it. I’m worried about how it will impact Wren. After talking with her the other day, I think she doesn’t really feel secure with us. Not yet. I’m worried that she thinks we’ll decide caring for her is too difficult and kick her out. We should be focused on making her feel like she really has a home with us. I want her to know that we’re not going anywhere, no matter what. I want her to feel like a priority.”
He nodded along with her words, a pensive expression on his face. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Josie snuggled deeper into his arms. “We have a few days before we lose our deposit. Just think about it.”
They fell silent, neither of them bothering to watch the movie playing on the television. Josie’s limbs relaxed in a way that they hardly ever did. This was as close to inner peace as she ever got. Noah holding her. His warm body beneath her. His strong, steady heartbeat against her cheek. Easy silence.
She dozed off and when she opened her eyes again, the credits were rolling on the television screen.
“We should get up,” Noah murmured. “You have to pack.”
Josie groaned. “I don’t want to go.”
The news was out that Tobias Lachlan and Cora Stevens had finally been found. The moment Riley started calling funeral homes in Brighton Springs, Denton PD was flooded with calls from reporters. Josie had hosted a press conference earlier that day confirming that they’d been located in the Susquehanna River in Denton and that their deaths had been ruled homicides. After she and Gretchen met with the Chief and their press liaison, they chose to leave it at that for the time being. Josie knew this was only the beginning of the furor.
Dalton Stevens had hung up on her three times, but she had managed to get in touch with John Fanning. He lived in Florida now, but he was flying in for the funerals which were being held in Brighton Springs two days from now. Josie and Gretchen planned to attend as well. Sometimes it was instructive to see who came to the funerals of murder victims. They’d meet with Fanning, track down Dalton Stevens, and trace the path Tobias and Cora had taken the night they were killed. Plus, Zane had offered to speak to them again at his home and Josie really wanted a look inside. She wasn’t even sure why since they had confirmed that Riley had taken all of Cora’s personal things.
Josie had insisted they could squeeze everything into one day but Chief Chitwood, Gretchen and Noah had told her she was crazy.
“Wait,” Noah said. “You’re telling me that you—Josie Quinn—don’t want to do something work-related?”
He was mocking her. She swatted his bicep and then got distracted by how hard the muscle felt under her touch. “It’s not just because of Wren. You and I haven’t been apart since… you know.”
“I’ll miss you, too,” he said, reaching up to stroke her hair. “We can have phone sex.”
Josie lifted her upper body so she could look into his hazel eyes. “Be serious.”
“I am serious.” He grinned. “We’ve never had phone sex.”
“Noah.”
“Josie.”
She tried to disentangle herself, but he didn’t let her. Apparently, they’d entered an alternate dimension. Some realm where everything was reversed because now she was the one who wanted to talk about their feelings while he wanted to pretend they didn’t exist. If this was what personal growth felt like, she’d rather have a root canal. Still, she pressed on because this was important.
