Page 11 of Too Much Heat

The guys talked so they wouldn’t overhear her.

For some reason, Joe worried about Swanson. Did she have somebody to bring her clean clothes? To check on her concussion. He knew nothing about her personal life.

* * *

Joe lifted up Adam and twirled him around. “Hey, big guy. How ya hangin’?

The three-year-old laughed.

“Joey, come see your mother.” Maria Romano sat in a lawn chair under a tree at his sister’s backyard. The big picnic table was already set and the scent of sausage from the grill made his mouth water.

He crossed to his parents. “Happy 4th, Ma.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful in pink with your gray hair.”

His father Dennis, who was still strong and strapping, stood and took him in a bear hug. “My boy.” His only remaining son. Joe used to love these family get togethers before Jimmy died. Now, they were tinged with sadness.

Before it overtook him, he put an arm around both his sisters, who’d come up to him. “Hey, girls.”

Caroline leaned into him.

Julia kissed his cheek. “Good to see you, Joey.”

“Back at ya, sis.”

Billy rushed over. “Go get your suit on, Uncle Joe.”

He plucked his bathing trunks. “Already in it.”

Billy grabbed his hand. “Then let’s go in.”

Caroline drew her son back. “Not yet, Billy, we want to chat with Uncle Joey.”

Billy hung his head. “Aw.” Then he trudged away.

Joe pulled Caro off to the side. “Is Erin coming?” He dreaded facing the woman.

“No.” Then she whispered, “I didn’t invite her.”

Joe chuckled.

His brother-in-law handed him a beer. “Cheers, buddy.”

“Cheers.” He liked Mark Dawson, Caroline’s husband.

“So, what’s going on with all of you?”

They chatted about Caroline’s new kitchen, about Julia’s upcoming job as a teacher. She’d been a stay-at-home mom until her kids were old enough for school. Now that they were, she was returning to work in the fall. Both Mark and Cameron Parish, his other brother-in-law, were executives, one at Upstate Medical Center and one at Syracuse University.

Billy kept coming around and urging Joe to the water, so he finally took off his shirt and headed to the pool.

“My God, Joey, what happened?” Julia screeched.

Caroline gasped and his mother moaned, “Oh, no.”

The group, even the kids, went silent.

Joe had forgotten he still sported black and blue marks on his back from the basement fire.

He stopped and turned. He had to be careful about this. They worried more about him since Jimmy’s death, which was understandable. “I’m fine, everybody. I just got tossed around a little in a fire two days ago. I had a doc check me out. It looks worse than if feels.” Which wasn’t quite true.

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