Compromise Me: Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

“Josie?”

Josie trotted up the front steps of her house and ran into her father’s waiting arms.  “Hi, Daddy.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, holding her close.  “We were going to come help you pack up this weekend.”

“I know, but I finished early because Professor Mikovich got sick, and I wanted surprise you,” she said, not completely telling a lie.  It was all true...leaving out the little side trips she took getting back home.

“Please don’t tell me you drove from New York...by yourself?” he said.

“Okay...I won’t tell you that,” she said.

“Josie,” he began, but she quickly said, “I’m fine, Daddy.  Stop worrying.”

“Never,” he said and sighed heavily.

She stepped back out of his arms, gazing fondly up at him.  Her father had always been a tall man, handsome in his own way, she guessed, and in the last twelve years, happier than he’d ever been.  All thanks to meeting Hannah.

Oh, Josie remembered with her dad and Hannah did not get along very well at all, but that was back when Justin Kirkland hated all women because of how Josie’s real mother had acted through the first ten years of her life.  Josie also despised her mother, Beth...and she had good reason.  Beth had been evil and mean, and she told Josie to her face that she never wanted her.  Josie hadn’t spoken to her since the day Beth slapped her and Hannah tried to kill her for it.  Okay, well, kill was a strong word, but Hannah had definitely been pissed that day.  And that day happened to be the one which her dad proposed to Hannah, and they’d all been one happy family ever since...adding a few additions along the way.

Two of which poured out of the house behind Justin.  “Josie!” her eleven-year-old twin sisters squealed in unison, right before Josie was knocked back by their exuberant hugs.

“There’s my lovelies,” Josie said, hugging them back.

Both of her half-sisters, Rose and Violet, were the splitting images of Hannah, right down to the mischievous little smiles.  Their brother, Jak, was a year older than the twins, and the mirror of their father.  It was crazy to Josie to see her parents in miniature, like that, but she’d gotten used to it over the years.  They were adorable siblings, full of life and happiness, and the main reason Josie cried her eyes out the day she left for college.  It had been difficult getting used to living in a dorm with seven hundred other girls of the same age, when she’d been the oldest in her family for so long, taking care of her brother and sisters when her parents were working or out on their numerous dates.  Josie tended to take on the mothering role with her roommates at Berkeley, and she drove them nuts.  But, hey...they all had clean laundry on Sundays.

“You’re home!” Violet screamed in Josie’s ear, along with Rose’s identical yelp of pleasure.  Josie laughed and hugged them tighter.  

“I’m home,” she said, closing her eyes for a moment.

“But we were going to take an airplane to go see you!” Violet complained, mimicked by Rose, who tended to follow her twin’s lead.  "Mommy said we'd get to go back to the Statue of Liberty while we're in New York!  We were going to stay four whole days!"

“I’m sorry,” Josie said, not sorry.  Airplanes were the creations of the devil, and sightseeing New York had lost its appeal after her first year there.  She looked at her father.  “I am sorry about that.  I forgot you already got plane tickets for everyone.”

Her dad waved it off.  “They’re exchangeable.  Maybe we can all fly to Hawaii this summer instead...since, you know, you drove home all by yourself.

"Hawaii?" Violet shrieked, very happy about that.  And Rose was too.

Josie decided to ignore her father’s last comment and said to her sisters, “Well...that sounds like fun.  Too bad I won’t be with you.”

“Why not?” asked Violet, and Rose said, “Yeah, why not?”

“I’m starting my new job next month,” she told them.  “I can’t take off work to vacation in Hawaii, not when I just begin it.  It wouldn’t be responsible.”

Her father looked at her weird.  Violet said, “Ugh...responsible.  My teachers keep using that word.”

“Well, it’s a good word,” Josie told her, while her dad looked at her like she was sick...or sprouting extra heads.  “Responsibility is a good way to know how to stay out of trouble.”

Justin Kirkland asked, “Who are you, and what have you done with Josie?”

Josie laughed.  “Josie grew up, Daddy.  Now, where’s Hannah and Jak?”

“Still at the store,” her father said, referring to Hannah’s farm and garden store she co-owned and managed with her biological father, Mark.  That was a story, to be sure!  Hannah had grown up, almost exactly like Josie, living with just her father when her mother deserted them, but it wasn’t until much later she learned that her real father was the man who had been a dear friend of the family for years.  Josie still had trouble understanding how that happened...not the real father bit -- because a man sired a child only one way -- but that the whole secret that had been kept from Hannah for almost thirty years.  She was okay with it all now...though Josie had to wonder if it wasn’t awkward for Hannah sometimes.

“But they should be home soon,” Justin said.  "I'll give them a call--"

"No, I want to surprise them," Josie said as she pried herself loose from her sisters and entered the house.  She smiled at the familiar surroundings.  Home.  She could still remember when home had been a cold, unloved condo in Georgia, with only her father and a housekeeper to make up her family.  But ever since Hannah…

Everything wonderful in her life now was because of Hannah, and Josie never stopped feeling thankful for that woman.  If it weren’t for her…

Well, Josie didn’t want to think about what she might have become...how she might have grown through her teen years.  Responsible would not have been a word she liked either.  She was thankful for her father, too, for finding the courage to fall in love again, after what Beth put him through.  And because of both Justin and Hannah, Josie finally knew the real meaning of love.  

Love was a home and warm hugs and forgiving after a fight, and it was attraction and stubbornness and a sweet smile to make all the world’s worries go away.  Love was wonderful.  It was persistent.  Love was her loving Travis.

Responsibility just meant she had to love him as a woman and not a little girl.  I can do that, she told herself.

Josie never had the courage to explain to her father and stepmother about Travis, how she felt about him, since she knew how protective Justin had always been about his children.  All of them.  Not just Josie, though there were times when Josie felt his smothering was only focused on her.  And Josie knew exactly how her dad felt about Travis.  He thought the sound tech was trouble, not stable, not responsible, not good enough for his little girl.  Josie would love to argue about that, but it would be pointless.  Arguing with her dad was always pointless...though a lot of fun!  Josie usually knew who would win any dispute between them before she ever started the fight, but she still loved to make her opinions and feelings known, despite whether she was in the right or not.

The time will come when she had to face her father about Travis...but not today.  Today was about coming home and feeling complete with her family around her.

Later that night, Josie and the rest of her family sat around her grandparents’ table for a coming-home dinner, catching up on what everyone had been doing since the last time they all saw each other.  “Josie, dear, tell us about your new job,” her grandmother, Mary Alice Kirkland asked excitedly.  

Justin said, “She’s Olivia Williams assistant.”  He said assistant like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong with being an assistant,” Josie told him defensively.

“An assistant is an errand boy,” her dad said, and added, “You’re better than that.  You should be executive producer.”

“Daddy, I’m twenty-five.  No one starts out as an executive producer...unless they start their own company.”

“So?  Start your own company,” he argued.  “I’ll give you the start-up cash.”

“I need to know the business before I do anything more,” she said, tirelessly.

“You know the business,” he said.  “I paid six years of your college for you to know the business.  It was almost a quarter of a million dollars of business knowledge.  I hope you know the business by now.”

Josie dropped her fork on her plate.  “Do you want the money back?  Is that it?”

He stared at her, and Hannah said, “Justin, stop it.  No, Josie, we don’t want anything from you.  We want you to be happy.  Don’t we, Jack?”

Jack referred to her dad, not Jak, her brother, and Hannah only called her husband Jack when he was being...well, a jackass.  No one else called him that, not and live through it, but Josie remembered many times the name was used in the house by Hannah.  Hannah got away with a lot of things when it came to Justin Kirkland.

Josie, not so much.

“Yeah,” her dad said, smiling to appease his wife.  “We want you to be happy, Josie.”

“Thank you,” Josie said.

“But you could still do better.”

Hannah and Josie sighed in unison.

Mary Alice gave her son a sour look and turned back to smile at Josie.  “So...were you seeing anyone lately?  Leave a broken heart behind?”

Justin gently put down his fork, and said, “No...she didn’t.”

Daddy”  Josie said sweetly.  “I can answer questions myself.”  She leaned across the table to her grandmother and smiled.  “I did date a very nice guy for a while--”

Justin growled.

“--but we parted as friends,” Josie finished, shooting her father a sour look of her own.

Violet cooed, “You had a boyfriend?”  Her eyes widened as she looked over at their daddy.  “You won’t let me have a boyfriend!”

“You’re eleven!” he said, appalled.  “And your sister didn’t have a boyfriend.  She just said they were only friends.”

“Friends don’t date each other,” Violet said stubbornly.  Rose nodded.  “Girlfriends and boyfriends date each other.  I’m old enough to have a boyfriend!”

“You’re ELEVEN!”

“So?  Brianna has a boyfriend--”

“Brianna doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Justin said angrily.  “Eleven year olds do not have boyfriends!”

“But Daddy!”

“No boyfriends!”

Jak stuffed his mouth with mashed potatoes.  “I have a girlfriend,” he said, muffled with food.

Everyone stopped and stared at Jak.

Jak grinned mashed potatoes.  “Just kidding,” he said and went back to eating...his third helpings.  Josie shook her head at her brother.  For as long as she could remember, that boy ate...all the time!  It was a wonder he was still skin and bones.  Oh, to have that metabolism!

Josie turned to her sisters, seeing Violet’s stubborn pout on her mouth and Rose’s darting glances at her twin as she tried to mimic the expression.  “Daddy is right,” she told them.  “You’re too young for a boyfriend.  He wouldn’t even let me date until I was sixteen--”

“Not by my choice,” Justin muttered, and Hannah winked at Josie and the girls.

Josie went on, loud enough so that everyone, Daddy and sisters included, could hear her, “And I have no plans to get one now.  I’m focused on my career right now--”

“Assistant,” Justin snorted, and Hannah popped him on the ear.

Josie shot her father a glare, “And I want to be independent before I even think more about finding a boyfriend.”

Mary Alice nodded.  “That’s smart, dear, but don’t get too deep in your work.  You’ll be thirty-five before you know it, and you shouldn’t be alone at thirty-five.”

“I have no problem with that,” Justin said, and Josie said, “Daddy...cut it out, or I’ll have to hook up with Kevin Sprat while I’m home.”

Her dad choked on his ice water.  “Who is Kevin Sprat?!”

“Old boyfriend from high school,” Josie reminded him with a grin.  “We went to the Senior Prom together, and according to his online profile, he’s still single...and still cute.”

Justin glared at her.  “I didn’t like him,” he said, and Josie said, “What a surprise,” and Hannah asked, “Does he have a brother?”

Josie was confused.  “Um...no, I don’t think so.”

Hannah nodded, smiling softly.  “Good...because stalking old boyfriends can lead you to marrying his brother.”  She turned that smile to Justin, who blinked for a moment, and then smiled back, and they leaned over and kissed each other.

Jak said, “Gross,” and kept eating.  The twins sighed dreamily, and Josie rolled her eyes.  Okay, so it was cute that they still loved each other like teenagers, not that they fell in love while in the teenage years, but yes, it was cute and kind of gross, too.  And thanks to Hannah’s little trip down their memory lane, the conversation moved away from Josie and boyfriends.

She didn’t tell them about Travis, of course, but they continued to talk about Aunt Livie’s job, forgetting that Travis worked there, too and though her dad wasn’t happy about her working as an "assistant” with Short and Pushy -- his nickname for Livie -- he was obviously thrilled that she didn’t take any of the offers in California or New York.  Memphis, Tennessee, he could handle.  With her living only a few hundred miles away, they would still see each other regularly, but all the way out in Cali?  He’d drive Josie nuts within the first two weeks, if she went to California.  He’d call everyday, or probably make a point to have some business out that way, just to drop in and make sure she had everything she needed, lived in a good part of town, didn’t wander into the drug scene, stayed off the freeway, ate her vegetables...those kinds of things.  As it was, Josie expected her parents to be making more frequent trips up to Memphis now that she would be living there.

She figured they’d hover for a few months, probably through the rest of the summer, when not vacationing in Hawaii, and then back off when they saw she was a fairly solid young lady, with her head on her shoulders, paying her bills, eating her vegetables, and not out in the clouds somewhere.  Kind of like they did when she moved away for college that first year.  Well, the second year, too, but by the third, they gave her some space.  And Josie didn’t really mind.  She loved that her family loved her this way.  She just knew that she’d have to keep her attraction to Travis at a minimum when they were around...or as best as she could, since every time she so much as thought about that man, she got gooey-eyed.

I’ve gotta work on that…Travis wants to keep his balls intact...

*****

Through the whole evening, Josie’s grandfather remained silent.  She glanced at him a few times, knowing that he had always been the silent type, but tonight, she worried for him.  He and Grandma were getting up there in age, and Grandad looked paler than usual...quieter than usual, and Josie made a mental note to ask about that later.

She knew he'd been having problems with his heart, but the thought of her solid, sturdy grandfather as weak and none so sturdy anymore...well, it scared her.  She could see the same worry in the eyes of her dad and Hannah and Grandma, but none of them acted like there was any concern.  Josie figured that was because Grandpa always helped himself, helped others, stood solid and sturdy, the rock of the Kirkland family...the quiet rock, but strong and...solid.  What would happen to all of them if that rock weathered away?

She didn't want to think about it...but she had to know.

"Daddy...how has Grandpa been feeling?" she asked later that night when they returned home and the younger ones went on up to bed.

Justin's face hardened, as Hannah's softened.  "He had a stent placed in his heart a few months ago."

Josie swallowed.  "You didn't tell me that."

Hannah put her hand on Josie's arm.  "You were in the middle of quarter finals," Hannah said.  "We didn't want to worry you, and he got better after that, and we thought it would be needless to worry you over something that was working, but..."

"But he's getting worse again, isn't he?'

"We've noticed a change, but you know your grandfather...he'll never say anything," Hannah finished, darting a glance at Justin who stood just as quiet and solid and sturdy as Grandad had once been.

"You should have told me," Josie said, balling her fists.  That old, petulant anger returned, but she breathed through it, focused, present, calming her body through the slow steady breaths of years of regular yoga practice.

"Yes, we should have," Hannah agreed, squeezing her arm gently.  "I'm sorry, honey."

"I'm still a part if this family, even though I've been gone."  So much for focused and calm.

Her dad turned to her.  He scrubbed his hands through his thinning hair.  "Yes, baby, you are.  I'm sorry for not telling you.  It was my decision to wait -- Hannah didn't want to keep it from you -- but then..."

"I know," Josie said, breathing calm again.  "Everything looked good, and I'm sure it just wasn't so important anymore."

Her dad nodded and sat down in his chair by the fireplace.  "But you should have known."  He stared into the dark fireplace.  "The doctors think that if he takes it easy and keeps up with his aspirin regimen, then he should be okay, but..." He trailed off, grunting and clearing his throat, the closest to crying Justin Kirkland normally got.

Josie knelt beside him, taking his hand between her palms.  Hannah said, "Grandpa said he has a farm to run.  He was never one for asking for help."

Josie looked into her father's face.  "What does Grandma say?"

Her dad's mouth creased into a tired smile.  "Oddly enough...nothing.  She's supporting Dad's decision to let him work his butt off everyday."

Josie frowned, appalled by that, and glanced at Hannah.  Hannah nodded sadly.  

"Oh, Daddy," Josie said, tears gathering in her eyes.  "I'm sorry...I don't...I can't...I don't know what to say."

He smiled at her, his eyes glassy.  "I think you and Grandma are in the same boat with that one.  Speechlessness is not something you two have in spades."

"This isn't something to joke about," she cried.

His smile wavered.  "It's the best I've got right now, baby.  It's what's keeping me together."

Josie let her tears trickle down her cheek as she raised up and hugged

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