Page 8 of A Sudden Response

“Smart-ass.”

CHAPTER 4

Joe whimpered pathetically when her alarm clock went off, letting her know that it was already two p.m. She blindly reached out and started slapping away, knowing that it was only a matter of time before she hit that damn alarm clock. A minute later, pure, beautiful silence surrounded her once again.

Deciding that another hour of sleep was just what she needed, Joe rolled over and closed her eyes. What felt like moments later, her cell phone went off. Muttering a few choice words, she rolled over and answered the phone without opening her eyes.

“Hello?”

“Hi, sweetie. Did I wake you?”Alice Parish, her surrogate mother, asked. Since Eric dragged her home when they were eight years old, Alice had been her mother. Her real mother, Pamela, had adored the situation and had happily relinquished all control and decisions to Alice.

Of course, this wasn’t something that Alice had agreed to. Pamela decided on her own that she no longer had to do anything for Joe because she’d found another sucker to push her responsibilities onto. It didn’t really surprise anyone whenPamela suddenly packed up and left town when Joe turned sixteen. Not that it mattered by then since she’d already been living with Alice and the boys for two years by that point.

“Sorry, Mom, I must have dozed back off again,” Joe said, trying to bite back a yawn. She’d only managed to get a half-hour of sleep with Eric this morning before they got a call, and after that, the calls just kept coming. That was followed by staying an extra three hours over their shift to cover 911 before they could finally go home.

“I’m sorry I woke you, sweetie, but I need a favor,”Alice said.

It made Joe smile, knowing that if she’d been Eric, Alice would have told her to get her lazy ass up. Sometimes, it was nice being the favorite. Everyone in town knew that Alice Parish adored her boys, but Joe was the little girl she’d always wanted. That and Alice was always trying to make up for Pamela abandoning her.

Joe glanced at her much-hated alarm clock and groaned. It was four-thirty. She’d definitely overslept. “What can I do for you, Mom?”

“I was wondering if you could pick up some ice cream to go along with the cake I made for dessert.”

Biting back a groan, Joe sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, wishing she could go back to bed. “Of course, Mom.”

“Dinner’s at six,”she reminded her.

“I’ll be there,” Joe said, trying not to yawn. God, she was really looking forward to getting rocked to sleep on a boat this weekend.

“Thanks, sweetie. I’ll see you later,”Alice said before hanging up.

Somehow, Joe managed to drag herself to the bathroom. After a quick shower, she blow-dried her hair, and applied asmall amount of make-up before yanking on her form fitting low-riding jeans and a blouse that ended just above her belly button. Going to work looking plain was one thing. She was there to work, but any other time she left the house, she liked to dress up a bit. Well, at least she made it more obvious that she was a woman. Anything more than that was just way too much work.

Feeling somewhat refreshed, Joe got into her car and headed towards Clement’s Market. She grabbed the French vanilla ice cream she knew that Alice wanted and a half-gallon of chocolate fudge swirl for Nathan, Alice’s oldest son and the man that Joe considered her brother, and a half-gallon of M&M ice cream for her and Eric. Nathan’s girlfriend and whoever Alice was trying to set Eric up with would have plenty of flavors to choose from.

Ten minutes later, Joe was pulling up to the small, white Victorian house that she still thought of as home. There were three extra cars in the driveway, two of them she recognized. She hated being the last one to arrive. She grabbed the bags and headed inside without knocking. If she tried to knock, Alice would get insulted. Joe was family, and God help her if she didn’t act it.

“We’re in the kitchen, sweetie!” Alice yelled as soon as Joe walked inside and was immediately hit with the mouthwatering aroma of Alice’s pot roast.

“Yeah,sweetie, we’re in the kitchen!” Nathan added mockingly.

Smart-ass.

She walked into the kitchen and found Nathan sitting at the kitchen table, holding hands with a small woman with a warm smile. She found Eric sitting on the counter, looking uncomfortable under the cold gaze of a woman with long wavy red hair, who really looked really pissed for some reason.

She would never understand why Alice took it as her personal mission in life to find a girlfriend for her youngest son. Eric was incredibly good-looking if you liked the bad-boy look, which she did, but that was neither here nor there. He never lacked options. They couldn’t go anywhere without a woman shoving her phone number in his hand. So, why Alice thought he needed her help, Joe would never know.

“About time you got your lazy ass here,” Eric said with a wink.

“Eric Parish!” Alice said, sounding more shocked than she really should at this point.

“Yeah, Eric,” Joe said, sticking her tongue out like a two-year-old.

As she passed him on the way to the fridge, he swatted her on the ass.

Hard.

“Eric!” Alice gasped in outrage.

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