Joe cut me off. “Look at you.”

I blinked and asked, “What?”

He didn’t repeat himself. He gave me a squeeze and said, “Look at me.”

“Joe, I’m not following.”

“You lost your husband and your brother and you got some ass**le f**kin’ with your head and you keep on keepin’ on. My wife killed my kid and my Dad died and the last thing he knew in this life was that shit went down. It took me awhile but now I’m here. You think Katy and Keirry won’t make it through?”

“But –”

“Susie’s weak because her Daddy was weak. That’s what he demonstrated when he got behind the wheel of a car smashed. That’s what he taught her then and kept teachin’ her. With what I’ve seen of your Dad and Mom, got no idea where you learned yours from but I got mine from Vinnie and Theresa. Bonnie didn’t have a moral compass and didn’t pay attention when I tried to give her one. When Nicky came into this world she should have automatically found one and she still didn’t. Weak.” His arms gave me a squeeze and his face dipped to mine. “Your girls have one, buddy, one they’ll never lose. They aren’t weak, never will be. You got nothin’ to worry about.”

“What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” I whispered the words Feb said to me days ago.

“Yeah,” Joe whispered back, “at least for some of us.”

Suddenly I smiled and I felt something light and golden bubble up in me. Something I used to feel a lot, almost every day. Something I hadn’t felt in nearly two years.

“Shit, Joe,” I was still whispering, “I got in a catfight today on the sidewalk at a strip mall.”

Joe smiled back. “Yeah, honey, you did.” I felt my body start shaking and Joe’s smile got bigger. “In the rain,” he reminded me.

“In the rain,” I repeated on a suppressed giggle.

“In a skirt,” he went on and my giggle erupted. “That might be my favorite part, outside you bein’ wet,” he continued and my giggles took control and I collapsed into him, my cheek to his chest, my arms tight around his waist and I laughed out loud.

When I got control of my mirth and was back to quiet giggles, I moved my head so my forehead was pressed against Joe’s chest but I didn’t release my arms.

“Worth the wait,” Joe muttered and my head tipped back.

“What?”

“Every bit of it. Every day, every week, every year, every f**kin’ second, buddy,” he kept muttering, his eyes intense, his face serious and my breath caught, “this. All of it. Worth the wait.”

“Joe,” I whispered.

His hand moved to my jaw and his thumb stroked my cheekbone. “Love you, Violet. Even when you’re bustin’ some bitch’s lip open.”

I smiled, pressed even deeper into him and whispered, “I love you too, Joe.”

His head dipped, his mouth captured mine and he started to kiss me hard but our lips broke when Keira called, “Yeesh! Get a room!”

Joe’s arms didn’t move from around me but he looked over my shoulder and I did too to see Keira walk into the kitchen and direct to the fridge.

“I’m havin’ more pie. You guys want pie?” she asked.

“No,” I answered.

“Yeah,” Joe said.

“Katy!” Keira shouted, “Joe and me are havin’ pie! You want pie?”

“Yeah!” Kate shouted back.

Keira got out the pie. Joe’s arms gave me a squeeze. I put my cheek to his chest and squeezed him back. Music hit the house then Kate opened the door to her bedroom and it got louder. Keira got the pie cutter. Kate came in and got plates.

I held onto Joe, Joe held onto me, the girls dished out pie and I concentrated on really listening to Kate’s music for the first time ever.

It was great.

Chapter Nineteen

At Peace

Vinnie preceded Cal out to the back deck and as Cal slid the door closed behind him, he looked through the window at Vi, Theresa and Bea in the kitchen vying for maternal supremacy thus control over the pancakes.

Three months ago, even knowing Vi was a strong woman and a great mother but not knowing Bea at all, Cal would have put money down on Theresa.

But after yesterday and the shit he heard coming out of Susie’s mouth when he’d walked up to them way too late, and Vi’s reaction, he knew she was no pushover and she was on her home turf.

And also Bea might be shy but the gentle, loving way she was with all his girls and the soft looks Vi, Kate and Keira aimed at her he figured she had her ways and she wasn’t exactly a dark horse. Not to mention, the woman made one hell of a chocolate cream pie.

Now he wouldn’t even place a bet, just sit back and wait for the results.

His eyes moved to Vi’s Dad Pete, who was bustling around the girls, desperate to make up for lost time. Cal found this annoying and he’d have to have a word with the man. Best way to make up for lost time was to let his granddaughters get to know who he was by acting natural around them, not shoving his nose up their asses.

Finally, his eyes moved to Gary who was sitting at the table comfortably sipping coffee. Gary had sat at that table a lot over the years. He was always welcome there and he knew it. Gary learned yesterday from watching Pete that he could let go the past bad blood. He saw that he’d been reaping the rewards of being a good Dad for seventeen years and Pete had been living the nightmare of being a coward for that same time, if not longer.

“Cal, son, we gotta talk about Hart,” Vinnie called from behind him and Cal turned from the door feeling his mouth get tight.

His eyes hit his uncle and he moved away from the door so even if someone looked out they couldn’t see him.

He rested a hip against the railing and crossed his arms on his chest while he watched his uncle reach a hand out to one of Vi’s pots of flowers that was sitting on the railing. Vinnie dropped his hand before he touched the bright, healthy flowers spilling up, out and down the sides of the pot and his eyes went to Cal.

“Vi’s good with flowers,” Vinnie remarked as his gaze took in the rest of the deck.

“Yeah,” Cal replied and watched Vinnie give him a look before Vinnie turned his head to look into the house.

“Keeps a nice house,” Vinnie went on.

“Uncle Vinnie –” Cal started to cut him off, knowing where this was going but Vinnie’s eyes came to his.

“Great girls she’s raised. Sweet kids. Funny. Smart,” Vinnie continued, not to be stopped.