Everything changed when she left us.

Dad always said that she was taken from us, maybe that was a better way to look at it, but I could never see it that way. She was always so strong and such a fighter, how could anyone have taken her from us? Dad just shrugged and said cancer didn’t always care how hard you fought or how tough you were.

Cancer sucked.

“I don’t like soup.” I sounded like a little complaining that I didn’t want all my food mixed up in broth…but I didn’t want all my food mixed up in broth.

“That’s good to know?” Dante frowned at the takeout container I was holding like he was expecting it to jump out of my hands. “I know that’s probably related to something I should understand, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He really needed to pay more attention to everything else not related to Professor Winslow, his new little and partner.

“Did you need to work tonight?” Micha’s words were casual but there was a hint of don’t bullshit me in his tone.

Fuck.

“Um, no.” Clearly, pretending to have to work late on nights it was supposed to be my turn to pick hadn’t been as subtle as I’d hoped. “I’m done for the weekend.”

“I don’t give a fuck what they told you. I’m not driving down that goddamned mountain in this weather! This is my time and you know it.” His eyes flashed with dark emotions as he stalked toward the porch.

If I thought he was sexy when he was angry, I was smart enough not to show it.

My standing stupidly in the doorway didn’t seem to help his emotional instability. But in my defense, I had no idea what he was talking about and it was incredible to see little Joe all grown up. I shouldn’t have found him hot considering I’d known him since he was five.

But the man standing in front of me only vaguely resembled the little boy he’d once been.

Especially the anger part.

Little Joe had been sweet and almost painfully shy. I could still picture him peeking around the wall by the staircase whenever I would visit his parents’ house. Even as he’d gotten older, he would smile hesitantly before quietly escaping any dinner party his family dragged him to.

“I—”

I didn’t get much out before he cut me off, but it seemed to only make his anger worse. “I’m a part-fucking-owner and this is my week. The goddamned lawyers I had to hire to make sure I got use it cost me a fucking fortune! The rest of the assholes that raised me might have money lying around like toilet paper, but some of us have to work for a goddamned living.”

They were back.

How those crazy old ladies always knew when the store was empty was beyond me. I’d honestly started wondering if they had the shop under surveillance. It was a stupid thought but it was the only somewhat logical option I could come up with. There were only so many times it could happen before it wasn’t an accident.

“Hello.” Their overly cheerful voices grated on my nerves as they called out in unison, but that was mostly because I knew how devious they were…and how nosy.

Last week they’d started asking my parents about my hobbies.

God.

That was the last thing I needed.

Luckily, my father thought they were all senile. Every time they came in, he’d just start muttering under his breath as he wandered off and left someone else to deal with them. It was rude but they hadn’t helped their case any when one of them asked him why he was so stodgy and judgmental.

He’d taken it better than I’d expected until she’d questioned his sanity and seemed to indicate his penis must be small because he wasn’t a happy person. The logic in that argument had stumped me and I was still trying to take apart the insult, but it’d been the last straw, so now I was relegated to crazy old lady duty.

“I think Gordon is trying to hint that he wants kids.” I was serious, but Dean laughed so hard he nearly fell off his couch. “I’m not kidding.”

He kept shaking his head as he tried to catch his breath. “Then you must be drunk.”

I held up the single beer I’d been playing with for the last hour. “Nope.”

We’d been binge-watching the old Star Wars movies all afternoon and I might have had a buzz at one point, but it hadn’t lasted.

“Don’t get me wrong. He seems to be a great boyfriend, but you’ve both always been adamant about not wanting kids.” Dean cocked his head. “You guys didn’t even want a dog when Kathy’s beagle had puppies.”

I wanted to be the attention-whore in the relationship, and Gordon seemed to agree with our respective roles. “I know. That’s one of the things I loved about him from day one.”