Cal snorted. “Remind me never to let you watch my kids.”
“Hey, I took Izzy to Asheville this summer and didn’t lose her.”
“She’s seventeen. I’m talking about when Bri and I have kids.”
“As long as you don’t put them on a leash, I should be good.”
Cal laughed and then turned at the approach of two vehicles, their headlights illuminating the gravel road.
Josh recognized the cars. “What are Raine and Quinn doing here?”
“I tried to call Izzy after she texted Bri. She’s at a sleepover tonight. When I didn’t hear back from her, I called Raine. And if Iz is ghosting her like she is me, Raine probably figures she’s with the kids going to Seaton House.”
“Ah, okay.” It made sense why Quinn would be here with Raine. He’d raised Izzy for the first five years of her life. They had a great relationship. Actually, Izzy had a great relationship with all her parents, bonus and otherwise. Including with her aunt Em and with him. He was her honorary uncle.
As Raine and Quinn parked their vehicles behind Cal’s, the front door opened. “Josh, what are you still doing out here?” Em asked, leaning halfway out the door.
Josh glanced at the empty leash, wondering if she could see it from there. “Just letting Gus sniff around.” Under his breath, he said to Cal, “Don’t shine your flashlight over here.”
“We shouldn’t be much longer,” Cal said to his sister, covering for Josh like he always did. “Hey, Raine, Quinn. Any word from Izzy?”
“No,” Raine said, looking at Josh with a frown.
He moved to his right, afraid from her vantage point she could see the empty leash. Unlike his best friend, Raine would totally out him. Raine said something to Em as she ushered the couple inside. Em nodded and then leaned against the doorjamb with her arms crossed. “It would serve you both right if I let you keep looking for Gus.”
“What are you talking about? We’re not—” Josh began.
Em patted her thigh, and Gus appeared beside her. She raised an eyebrow. “He was scratching at the back door, trying to get inside.”
“Thanks a lot, buddy,” Josh said as he walked to the door, standing back to let Cal go in before him. “So what’s the real reason you didn’t let us keep looking? I know it wasn’t out of the goodness of your heart.”
She jerked her thumb at the living room. “They’re going to be here for a while. I don’t know what to do with them.”
Josh didn’t tease Em about her social awkwardness. It didn’t matter that they were all friends and had hung out together plenty of times in the past. Em had never invited them here. She wasn’t big on entertaining. And not that anyone else would know it, but she’d had an emotionally draining night.
“What can I get you guys to drink?” he asked as he hung Gus’s leash by the door.
They called out their orders, and he walked to the fridge, grabbing a few beers and a bottle of red wine. “I’ve got it,” Em said. “You go talk to everyone.”
“I will,” he said as he put the bottles on the counter and opened a cupboard.
At the moment, the everyone she referred to was texting on their phones and not paying attention to them. He figured they were trying to reach Izzy.
“Hands off my snacks.” Em raised her hand to close the cupboard door.
“We have guests, Freckles. You have to share.” He snagged a couple bags of cookies.
She looked at the cookies. “As long as you don’t touch my Sour Patch Kids.”
“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said, waiting for her reaction when he opened the freezer and pulled out a carton of Moose Tracks ice cream.
“No, no way.” She tried to take it from him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll share with you.” Ice cream was his one vice, and he knew how much Em loved it, which was the real reason he’d gotten it out of the freezer. It was Em’s go-to emotional soother.
“And me,” Bri said, raising her hand.
“You’d better buy me another carton,” Em grumbled when everyone else placed an order for ice cream.
Ten minutes later, they were settled on the couch with their bowls.
Raine waved her spoon at them. “So, you two are dating now?”
Josh glanced at Em. She looked like she had brain freeze. “Ah, yeah, this is our first date.”
“Their first fake-date,” Cal said, shrugging when Josh and Em swiveled their heads to stare at him. “What? It’s not as if Raine and Quinn will say anything.”
He was probably right. Last year, they’d all kept Cal and Raine’s secret in order to ensure that the hospital expansion went through. Until it had blown up in their faces. But what Josh and Em were doing wasn’t at all the same.
It had been fun when Em and Bri moved into the house on Marigold Lane, all of them hanging out together. It was one of the reasons he’d decided to start dating again. But now that he thought about it, he’d never invited any of the women he’d dated to join him at Cal and Bri’s or at his house when he’d had them over.
“Okay, I get why Em wants to fake-date you, but why do you want to fake-date her?” Raine asked.
“Gee, thanks, Raine,” Em said.
“You know what I mean. You don’t want to date, but Josh loves dating.”
At least Raine hadn’t called him a serial dater or a man ho. “I need to take a break. Revaluate my dating strategy.”
Cal, Bri, and Quinn ducked their heads but not fast enough that they could hide the fact they were laughing at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“The fact that you think you have a dating strategy,” Em said. “Okay, enough dating talk.” Then she looked at Quinn and Raine. “Unless you two have something you want to share.”
“Why would we have anything to share?” Raine asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’re both here. Together,” Em said.
“Raine told me about Izzy’s text and that she wasn’t responding to her. So I decided to tag along.” Quinn held up his phone. “She isn’t responding to my texts either.”
“Did you try contacting the parents of the kid’s house she’s staying at?” Em asked.
“I talked to them,” Cal said. “The girls supposedly went to Kelly’s to watch a movie. She’s not answering her phone either.”
“It’s not like Izzy not to answer her cell or at the very least respond with a quick text,” Bri said.
“They’re probably out of cell range but we know they’re eventually going to show up here, so for now, I wouldn’t worry about it.” Em leaned over and scooped a spoonful of ice cream from Josh’s bowl. “Izzy said they’re going to be at Seaton House at midnight so we have about an hour and a half until showtime. You might as well share with us how you intend to scare the crap out of the kids, Josh.”
Chapter Thirteen
Josh’s ability to read a room hadn’t improved with age, Em thought, noting the expressions on Bri and Raine’s faces. Since he was using both his hands to describe what he’d do to terrify the unsuspecting teenagers, Em picked up his bowl of ice cream.