Trinity hugged her. “I’m going to go find Drake.”
Josie watched her go, skating up behind Drake on the floor, and grabbing his hand. He grinned at her. The disco music was bumping now, and people flew around the skate floor, kicking up a breeze that caressed Josie’s face. It was hard not to smile at the whole thing. Which was exactly the point, Josie guessed.
Lisette for the win.
Two days after bringing Rory in, Josie had met with Lisette’s attorney. Her will was unremarkable. She’d been living in Rockview for years and had no assets left, only a handful of personal items which she divided between Josie and Sawyer. Her funeral instructions, however, were another matter. Sawyer had watched as Josie opened the envelope, took out a single piece of paper, and smoothed out its deep creases. It had been in there for some time. It was dated the year Lisette had moved into Rockview.
“She changed her will last year,” the attorney explained. “But left that. She said she didn’t need to change it.”
The page held two instructions: one was to cremate her, and two was to call Bob at the number below.
“Who the hell is Bob?” Josie had blurted.
As it turned out, Bob McCallum was the owner of Denton’s oldest roller-skating rink. Josie hadn’t even realized that skating rinks had survived into the twenty-first century, but Bob’s Big Party was alive and well, just as it had been several years ago when Lisette had cooked up a crazy idea for her “funeral” and made Bob sign off on it.
“Your grandmother used to work at the jewelry store over on Campbell Street,” Bob told Josie and Sawyer when they went to see him. “Remember?”
“Yes,” Josie said.
“She sold me the engagement ring that I used to propose to my wife. Been married forty-seven years now. Best thing I ever did. I’d do anything for your Gram.”
“That’s obvious,” Sawyer had said, but Bob completely missed his sarcasm, instead handing them another envelope, this one with detailed instructions in Lisette’s handwriting about the party she wanted to throw to celebrate her life.
A few days after that, Bob’s was full of people who had come to pay their respects to Lisette. Josie had expected resistance. Shannon suggested a compromise: a small service at a funeral home in the morning and then in the afternoon, the party at the rink. It had worked out well, and nearly everyone who had come to the funeral home was now at the rink, skating, enjoying food, or just dancing to the music.
Josie watched the crowd, finding Misty and Harris skating hand-in-hand. Shannon skated forward and back, weaving in and out of people while Christian held onto the wall that surrounded the floor. Josie’s younger brother, Patrick, was there with his girlfriend. Mettner and Amber held hands as they moved in perfect harmony, swaying to the beat of the music. Gretchen turned out to be a wall-clinger, too, but she still looked like she was having the time of her life. Her adult daughter, Paula, had moved in with her that week, and Gretchen had brought her along. Paula’s skating prowess was far better than her mother’s, and Josie could see she was getting a giggle out of watching Gretchen find her skating legs. Even Chitwood had shown up, although he hadn’t yet spoken to Josie, and he wasn’t skating. He stayed in the food area with the Rockview crowd. Even Dr. Feist and several members of the ERT were out on the floor. Only Sawyer cut a solitary figure. He still hadn’t apologized for anything he’d said the night Lisette was shot, but they were maintaining a truce and that was enough for Josie.
Josie couldn’t help but think of Emily. She would probably love this, but she was with Pax now, and his aunt Karin. They were going to sell Reed’s farm and move to Georgia for a fresh start. In the week since Adam Long’s death, all the evidence had come back to corroborate his confession. His prints were the last unidentified set in the house. His blood type was O positive—matching the blood found on the truck. Lorelei’s cell phone records showed that she had called him the morning of the murders. The case was closed. Josie only hoped that both Pax and Emily could find some peace in the coming months and years. Just like her, they had a lot of grieving ahead of them.
Arms wrapped around her waist. Josie looked down to see Noah lace his fingers over her stomach, his wedding band winking beneath the disco lights. He kissed her neck. “Are you fine?”
It was an inside joke. No matter how much of a mess she was on the inside, Josie always answered the question “Are you okay?” with “I’m fine.” It never stopped Noah from asking.
“I don’t know,” Josie admitted.
He breathed into her hair. “I don’t remember you promising to be honest in your vows. Is this like a bonus thing, or what?”
She laughed. I have to start feeling all my feelings, she thought, but didn’t say it because the music faded, and Bob’s voice came over the PA system. “Where are my newlyweds?” he called. “Someone told me we’ve got newlyweds in the house! Can I get Josie and Noah on the floor, please? Josie and Noah?”
Josie turned in Noah’s arms. “My grandmother couldn’t have planned this.”
“No,” he said. “I did.”
To cheers, they skated onto the floor.
Bob announced, “Can I have everyone to the side, everyone to the side, please. Clear the floor for these newlyweds. This is their first skate as a married couple.”
Noah caught her hand and she smiled at him “This is…”
She heard the first notes of their wedding song fill the air. ‘Bless the Broken Road’ by Rascal Flatts.
“Exactly as Lisette would have wanted it?” Noah finished for her.
Josie nodded and let him pull her in for a kiss.
