“Are you really here because you’re guarding me and Violet? Did something happen to my mom? I’m not dumb, you know, I can tell when someone is watching me and that Snake guy isn’t very sneaky. He stares out the window even more than my friend Rachel’s cat when she’s watching birds.”
Violet opens her mouth for an explanation, but I silence her by putting my hand over hers and giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Josie, have you ever read The Princess Bride?”
“I’ve seen the movie. It’s OK.”
Violet and I trade a surprised look.
“Just OK?” Violet says.
“It’s better than OK, kid, but I’ll excuse your lack of taste because of your age. Anyway, what’s happened is your mom’s gotten herself in a little bit of a mess, like that Princess Buttercup.”
Josie’s eyes go wide. “She’s been kidnapped?”
I reach across the table and put a hand on Josie’s arm. She’s trembling. I lower my voice a bit, make it warmer; I don’t want her to be scared. But I know she’s too smart to lie to her, either.
“Something like that. The guy who’s bothering her is like Prince Humperdink, except he’s uglier and dumber than Vizzini.”
“Wait, wasn’t Vizzini the smart one?” She says.
“No way. He was overconfident and dumb enough to get himself killed with that stupid poison trick. He’s a total moron.”
“OK. So, are you the man in black? That Wesley guy?”
I shake my head. “No, if I’m anyone, I’m Inigo Montoya. Except my dad is still alive — he’s in Florida, and he spends most of his days with his butt in a golf cart. The thing I’ve lost is different.”
“What did you lose?”
My heart, I think, as I feel the twinge of pain that comes anytime I poke the raw wounds that I still carry from ending things with Rosa, the woman who meant so much to me for so many years. Then I look up at Violet, who is looking at me with a warmth that I feel warm me to the deepest parts of my heart. Maybe I could find happiness again.
“Just something else,” I say.
“Then who is the man in black? Because he’s the one who has to beat that stupid Humperdink guy.”
“Your Aunt Vi is the man in black. Except for you — and sorry, kid, but you’re not the man in black — no one else cares about your mom as much as she does. And I’ve seen her swing a baseball bat; anyone who is on the other side of Vi’s bat is as good as done for.”
Josie looks up at Violet, her mouth open in awe. “Aunt Vi, did you really smash someone with a bat?”
“She did,” I say, speaking up over the wordless protestations of Violet. There’s an embarrassed flush to her cheeks and chest that has my heart running in overdrive.
“Oh, that is so cool.”
“It is. She knows how to swing,” I say, delighting in hearing Violet still try to come up with some protest, as if it wasn’t hot as hell seeing her dish out some punishment in a fight.
Violet leans down, her quiet whisper tickles my ear and sends shivers up my spine. “You are in big trouble,” she says. “Keep it up and you’re going to get punished.”
There’s more than a hint of something sinful in her voice, something that burns away any resistance I have and quiets that logical part of my brain that says I should focus on business and on getting out of here as quick as possible; all I’m left with is the base burning desire to see just how far the sultry heat of Violet’s promise will go.
Turning, I look up at her.
“How long until you have to open the bar?” I growl.
A toothy grin lights up her face. “This is my bar. I set my own hours. One advantage of being the boss.”
“Good for us,” I say. Then I call out to Snake on the other side of the bar. “Brother, why don’t you take my bike and take Josie for a little ride?”
Before Snake can answer, Violet pipes up.
“No,” she says. “She’s too young for a motorcycle. Take my truck. And Josie, if you finish all your homework, you and Snake can watch that movie you were talking about.”
Josie sits up straight and grins like she just won the lottery. “Really? I can watch Dead Snow?”
“Really? We can?” Snake calls out. He sounds even more excited than Josie.
Violet raises one commanding finger and fetches the keys to her truck from the pocket of her jeans, dangling them temptingly. “Yes, but only if she finishes her homework first. And you can order pizza, too.”
Snake and Josie are both out of their seats as fast as lightning, and he’s over to our table to snatch the keys from her before I can even blink. In seconds, he and Josie are racing to the door, heads huddled together like two kids plotting some serious mischief.
I’ll have to keep an eye on them, I think. Though who is going to corrupt who is a big question. Josie is just as devious as Snake, and she’s got her youthful
