Page 50 of Kiss and Tell

“Oh,” Lucy said excitedly. “I want to change my answer to that.”

Joey laughed. “Too late.”

Lucy grabbed his phone, pointing it at him. “And what are you looking forward to, Joey?”

Joey didn’t hesitate for a second as he gave them his honest answer. “Spending time with my two favorite people.”

Lucy smiled and said, “Aww.”

Miles smirked, shaking his head. “Ass-kisser,” he muttered.

Even though they were finished eating, none of them made a move to clean up so they could get back on the road.

“So you grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore?” Lucy asked Joey.

“I did. But Philadelphia is the only city I call home.” There must have been something in his tone that gave away his feelings for Baltimore.

“Not a fan of Baltimore?” Miles asked, clearly surprised. The two of them had spent a good bit of time there, usually visiting Layla and her partners, always taking the time to stop at Pat’s Pub for a pint and a chat with the Collins clan. It made sense that to Miles, all of that looked like Joey enjoying time in his old stomping grounds. But the truth was, he went back for the people, not the place.

“Baltimore is fine. The only reason we ended up there was because Dad was offered a really good job when I was eleven. It was one of those too-good-to-pass-up deals. Believe me, that was the only reason he would uproot us and leave his beloved Philadelphia.”

“Never met a bigger Philly fan,” Miles admitted. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the guy dressed in a shirt that wasn’t emblazoned with the name of one of his Philly sports teams.”

Joey chuckled. “Tell me about it. I had to take the old guy shopping for a dress shirt to wear to my cousin Elio’s wedding to Gianna. He bitched the entire time and bought the thing under duress, insisting Elio wouldn’t mind if he wore his Flyers jersey.”

Miles frowned. “Elio played for the Baltimore Stingrays.”

“He sure did, but Dad insisted that Elio’s allegiance to ‘that other team,’” Joey air-quoted, “ended the second Elio retired and moved home.”

“It’s a fair point. I’m sure Elio wouldn’t have minded the jersey,” Miles added. “He only had eyes for his bride that day. Never seen a guy so in love, with his wifeandhis daughter.”

“That’s because Sofia is so stinking adorable,” Joey added, grinning when he thought about Elio and Gianna’s one-year-old daughter. “And while Elio wouldn’t have cared, Nonna would have had Dad’s head if he’d shown up in a jersey. I was trying to save Dad from one of her long-winded lectures about proper attire.”

“How long did your family live in Baltimore?” Lucy asked.

“Five years.” Joey was delighted that she was interested in learning more about them.

“And what made your dad decide to come home?”

Joey sighed. “My mom died.”

“Oh, Joey.” Lucy leaned closer, reaching out to touch his knee. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Cancer,” he said. “I think that’s probably why I’m not fond of Baltimore. Too many bad memories in that city.”

Lucy squeezed his knee. “I’m sure there are.”

“I spent most of my last year there at Johns Hopkins. After she passed, my dad was struggling to deal with five grieving kids on his own. Nonno and Nonna told him to come home, and he did. That was the summer right before my junior year of high school.”

“That’s a hard time to move,” Lucy observed.

Joey shook his head. “It wasn’t that bad. I reconnected with friends from elementary school, and I was back home with my cousins. I’d missed the hell out of them. And best of all, after we came back, Dad and my uncle Renzo opened Moretti Brothers Restorations. Which set me up for,” Joey waved his arms around, gesturing at the RV, “this sweet life.”

“Guess we have something in common. We both lost our moms when we were young,” Lucy pointed out.

“Miles told me about the car accident,” Joey said. “About Nora.”

Lucy took a sip of water. “It was a bad time for our family.”

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