Chapter 11

Jo’s heart was beating out of her chest as she stepped past her grandmother and walked toward her father. He didn’t move, only stood there with his hands on his hips, his head dipped slightly, as if he were searching for words or struggling with emotions. He looked thinner than he had the last time she saw him, maybe even a little gaunt in the face, like instead of eating once or twice a week like he usually did, he wasn’t eating at all. Had she done that to him? Or was it the weight of everything else?
About two feet in front of him, she stopped, his eyes locking on to hers as she fought to put a sentence together. When her lips parted, she only got the first syllable of “Hello” out before his strong arms were around her, pulling her close and holding her tight like he had when she was a little girl with a scraped knee or a bad dream. Jo stood still, a petrified tree, for a few moments before the surprise wore off enough for her to regain control of her arms, and then she wrapped them around him, too.
The embrace lasted a long time, though not long enough as she felt a loss when he finally released her. As he took a step back, she realized he had tears in his eyes. He brushed them away, and she thought about the only other times she’d seen him cry--always about her missing mother. “How are you, Jo?” Aaron asked, his voice soft, like he hadn’t quite regained his composure yet. “You look good.” He reached up and brushed back that strand of hair that always wound up in her face if her hair wasn’t braided. “You look so much like Mom.”
Normally, that fact was a curse, but a smile fell into place when she saw how happy it made him to be able to see his missing half reflected in one of the children they’d made together. “I’ve been okay,” she said. “Busy.”
Aaron grinned at her, knowing what that meant. “Gotten arrested recently?”
Jo shrugged, and looked down for a few seconds. “I mean… nothing that stuck.”
He chuckled. “You always seem to find your way out of sticky situations. God, it’s so good to see you.”
The shadow of a smile graced her face. She believed he meant that, even though that didn’t mean he wouldn’t want to talk to her about their last conversation. “How long have you been back?”
“Ten days. I ended up in Moscow. Stayed there for a half a week before I headed back here.”
Jo nodded, knowing they’d talk about what he’d discovered in Moscow when everyone else was assembled. “Major Henry stay behind?”
“He had a few more passages he wanted to check out.”
Again, her head rocked back and forth. The fact that another man was obsessed with finding his wife because he had been in love with her for almost thirty years didn’t seem to bother her dad the way it nagged at Jo. But then… he was probably happy to have someone else helping with a search Jo knew was futile.
Footsteps behind them had her head turning as the rest of the traveling party filed in. Elliott bounded around her, and Aaron took his outstretched hand and gave him a half hug. “Hey, bossman. How goes it? I see you’ve been following my recommended cheeseburger and Cheeto diet.”
Aaron snickered as Elliott pounded him on the back a little too hard. “You know it. How was the drive?”
“Boring. Uneventful though, which is something. Cops got a tip off when we were leaving the hotel, though. Got messy, but Jo and her friend here showed up at just the right time.”
Aaron looked past Jo to Zane, and she stepped aside, saying, “Dad, this is my friend. Zane.”
“Nice to meet you.” Aaron offered his hand and Zane shook it firmly.
“It’s an honor, sir.” The compliment was clearly heartfelt, and Aaron shook his head as he let go of Zane’s hand, uncomfortable with the spotlight.
“Why didn’t you tell Dad Zane’s last name, sis?” Cadon asked, bumping into her shoulder as he came by. He stood perpendicular to her, his arms folded, and his face clearly showing his disapproval of Jo’s omission.
“Why are you always sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong?” Jo shot back, shoving him in the bicep, though not hard enough to actually move him.
“And… some things never change,” Aaron said, eyeing his offspring like he was about to send them both to their rooms.
“I’m gonna go get the bikes down and move the SUV away from the road,” Elliott said, clearly wanting out of the room before any more shit hit the fan. “Brandon, a little help?”
“Sure.” Brandon and Cass were both standing behind Jo. When her uncle reached around her for Aaron’s hand, she stepped toward Zane. “Glad to see you,” Brandon said.
“You, too.”
Cass gave Aaron a hug and then followed her husband toward the door mumbling, “I could just float them down, but whatever.”
Jo hoped her brother would also volunteer to go, but he hadn’t moved as he waited for Jo to tell her dad she’d brought the son of his arch-nemesis to their family home. Once again, her mouth fell open with no words.
Again, she didn’t need them. Her dad looked at Zane, and with a friendly tone said, “You’re Clay’s son, aren’t you?”
Eyebrows raised, Jo looked at Zane to see his reaction. He stared at her dad in shock for a second before he said, “Uh, yeah….”
“And Mabel? How are they? Have you had a chance to see them recently?”
“Not since last spring,” Zane said. “They’re hanging in there, though.”
“Good,” Aaron nodded. “Your mom was always a badass with a blade from what I’ve heard. I never had the pleasure of meeting either of them, but I did know your grandma before she met your grandfather, a long time ago. We did a few hunts in Hawaii.”
Zane nodded, still surprised. “I wish I would’ve had the chance to meet her.”
“Yeah, she was something else. It’s great to have you with us.”
Stammering a bit, Zane said, “It’s, uh… great to be here.”
Hiding a smile, Jo turned to look at her brother. His eyes were narrowed, and his shoulders slumped. Now would’ve been a great time to gloat, but she held back her rude comments.
“I’m gonna go get something to eat,” Cadon muttered and stomped off toward the kitchen. Jo waited until he was gone to let out a giggle, but it didn’t last. The satisfaction of seeing her brother disappointed at not getting her in trouble was not nearly at the level it had been when they were younger.
Grandma Liz strolled over and put her hand on Jo’s shoulder. “I was just about to put some cookies in the oven,” she said looking from Jo to Aaron and then letting her eyes fall on Zane. “Would you care to help an old woman reach a cookie sheet?”
“I’d be happy to,” Zane said, knowing Liz’s purpose. Jo wanted to latch on to him and beg him to stay, but then, getting the conversation with her dad over with would also be a relief. Zane squeezed her arm and then followed Liz to the kitchen while she explained her cookie recipe.
Jo was all alone with her dad, and she didn’t know how to feel about that.
“Are you two--”
“No,” she said quickly, dropping her eyes. “We… were. But not now.”
Aaron nodded, and she could feel him reading her emotions. He was an emotional empath and could usually tell how a person was feeling without any effort at all, though Jo had always been more difficult for him, as had her mother. She could tell he hadn’t come to a conclusion when he asked, “You okay with that?”
She found a smile again. “I have to be. It was my decision.” She didn’t even know how she felt about it, so he shouldn’t be too surprised he couldn’t figure it out.
He patted her on the arm as if to say he understood, and it would be all right. “You want to head up to Grandpa’s study and talk for a few minutes before the rest of the team gets here?”
It was the last thing on earth she wanted to do. “Sure.”
With a smile that should’ve told her everything was going to be okay, her dad wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they headed toward the stairs, but no amount of forgiveness from him could erase the horrible things she’d said, and it was evident as they trekked up the staircase toward the study that he was much more capable of forgiving her than she was of forgiving herself.