Page 46 of Justice for JoElla

“Planning to have more?”

“I have no idea. I’d like to have a slightly bigger house, but if I got pregnant again, we’d just deal with it. I have a sweet little family here, and one more precious face wouldn’t bother me a bit. Landon feels the same way.”

JoElla sat there and wondered what it would take for her to ever feel that way. She found the idea of having someone dependent on her absolutely terrifying. Watching the young mother and her baby, she felt a little sad that she’d never experience any of that, but taking care of a child was something she was totally unequipped for. She had enough trouble finding emotions to deal with adults. Doing the same with children would be impossible.

A sound echoed down the hallway and JoElla’s head pivoted to take it in. “Oh, shit. That’s not good,” Jerrica whispered.

“What’s?”

A door down the hallway opened and Landon appeared, pulling on a shirt, his jeans and shoes already on. “Gotta go. They’re calling everybody in.”

To JoElla’s surprise, Jerrica didn’t seem the least bit ruffled. “What’s going on?”

“That horse farm near ElkCreek. Three alarm, so it’s pretty big. I’ll be back as soon as I can get back. Love you, babe,” he said as he jetted past her and kissed her on the top of the head as he went.

“Oh, no sir. You come back here and give me a proper kiss goodbye,” she spouted out in a very no-nonsense tone.

“Yes, ma’am!” Landon ran back across the room, gave the baby a peck on the forehead, then took Jerrica’s face in his hands, kissed her lips, and smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Be careful and let me know what’s going on.”

“I will. Bye, JoElla.”

“Bye.” She wasn’t entirely sure he heard her. He was already out the door and gone by the time she’d spoken. “He just gets called out?”

“Yeah. I mean, not often. Only when the crews on shift are covered up, and then they all get called in. His captain is really good about remembering which guys have pulled a lot of extra work time and trying to call the others, but the department isn’t real big, so if it’s a big fire, everybody has to go. And he’s a lieutenant, so he’s on the hook when other guys aren’t.”

“Yeah. With privilege comes responsibility.”

Jerrica snorted. “Yeah, well, so far I haven’t seen any privilege that’s come with that responsibility except a small pay raise, but he likes the title, so it’s fine. And he very rarely does things with the guys. Might have a beer after an especially hard job, but most of the time when he’s not at work, he’s right here with us. He says he’d rather spend time with Sim and me than anything else in the world, and I believe him. He doesn’t just say it; he shows me every day how much he loves me. I feel lucky and blessed to be his wife.”

“What’s going on?” A hoarse Brandon stood at the entrance to the hallway, rubbing his eyes.

Jerrica pressed the baby to her shoulder and patted his back. “Landon got called out.”

“JoElla, you coming back to bed?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. Jerrica, you want us to watch him so you can get a little more sleep?”

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Not at all. Go on. We’ll take him. You need some rest.” JoElla reached for the baby and when she had him securely in her arms, she threw her head toward the hallway. “Go. Don’t give it another thought.”

“Okay! Well, thanks. I really appreciate it. Come wake me up if you need me.”

“We’ll be fine,” JoElla assured her and watched as she disappeared down the hallway. Then she turned to Brandon. “Have a seat.”

“Okay. I…” Before he could finish, JoElla deposited the baby in his arms. “What the…”

“I don’t know anything about babies. You take him.”

“Hey, wait! You were the one who?”

“She’s letting you live here. You owe her. I’m going to make some coffee. Want some?”

“Hell, yeah. If I’m not going to sleep, I definitely want coffee.” JoElla watched as Brandon shifted the baby around in his arms until they both were comfortable and she smiled. It was just past six and she was wide awake.

As she worked in the kitchen, she thought about Josie. The woman had to be terrified?if she was even still alive. Everyone was looking for them and so far, there’d been no new sightings. She’d heard nothing from the weekend crew, which wasn’t in the least surprising. Maybe once Quint got there, he would see something they’d missed.

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