Page 9 of Average Joe

I snorted, unable to contain my grin. I’d poked around all right. Poked for hours. I was jonesing for more poking.

Frank’s right brow arched. “What’s funny? Something going on with your neighbor?”

Before I could rustle up a lie, Con turned, tightening the thermos lid. “Ready?”

“Hell yes.” Ready to get my life back on track. Eager to fall into a routine that didn’t include guns, drugs, or dodging bullets. I was primed to get back to normal, whatever normal entailed, starting with my two best friends. “Let’s catch some fish.”

* * *

Mom of the Century? Donna Ruiz. The second she’d heard I was headed home, she’d hit up Amazon, Costco, and several men’s clothing stores. On my second day back in Seattle, the deliveries had arrived.She’d thought of everything down to my favorite cinnamon-flavored floss.

That wasn’t what made her phenomenal, though. What I’d found hard to comprehend, what had eaten at me every day while I was away, was that my mother never once believed I’d committed the crimes for which I’d served time. The lies I’d told.God, the lies.Yet she knew the truth, hard as I had denied her the facts. She knew and had accepted what transpired. She’d never judged, never chastised. Never once questioned or complained when I made her promise never to visit. She’d trusted me completely. For that, I owed her everything.

“Your hair is growing fast,” she said, eyes watering as she stared at me through the screen.

“Yeah.” I scrubbed a hand over my scalp. “I’ll get it cut this week.”

Her once blonde hair was now a gorgeous silver-white, and she wore it long. Her skin was still youthful, and her smile still made me feel like a goofy kid.

I missed my mom.

“Catch a big one this morning?”

“Nah.” I chuckled. “Wasn’t about the fish, though,” I confessed. “Guys and I spent most of our time catching up.”

“You’ve got the best friends, Joseph.”

I nodded in agreement. “I appreciate the deposit you made in my bank account.”

Though I didn’t need her gift, I knew better than to offer to give one cent back. But fuck, I hated being in that position, a grown man accepting money from his mother. Lower than low, in my opinion.

“What will you do for work? Do you need me to call Sean and see if he has any openings?”

My mother’s cousin, Sean, ran a successful logistics company based in Seattle.

“No. I’m good. Promise. Got everything lined up.” Mom had no clue what I’d done to earn a living the past six years. The truth would kill her. Better to let her believe I’d served my full sentence, rather than only two years.

And since I’d lived rent-free, my savings was hefty.

“What a blessing that Alice left you the house, honey. Real estate is outrageous in Seattle. Are you going to keep the property or sell?”

I choked down the ball of emotion in my throat. “Think I’ll stay for a while.”

I’d inherited the house, along with everything Alice had owned. But I’d trade the two-story craftsman in a heartbeat for one more day with the woman who’d made the best of dire circumstances and managed to keep a mischievous adolescent in check while his mom worked two jobs to keep a roof over his head. Though Alice was my aunt by marriage, she’d treated Mom and me as her own flesh and blood.

Before my arrest eight years ago, my career goal had been respectable and obtainable. After? Options were limited. I could follow in my father’s footsteps and continue the family legacy, but that was the easy way out. I’d fought too damn hard not to fall into that cycle.

Connor’s sister, Bridget, had offered me a job at Misled. Though I knew the ins and outs of running a club thanks to my six years under Dad’s employ, pride kept me from accepting.

Option number three? Frank’s old man was about to retire from a career in waste management. He’d put in a good word for me at the local facility. The job was a done deal. Not the high octane, do good, save the world fantasy I’d had as a kid, but real life was an uphill battle, and a man had to learn to roll with the punches.

So, most likely, a sanitation worker I would be.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to the States for the funeral,” Mom said, sniffing. “I loved that woman dearly.”

“She loved you, too.” I sighed, taking in the room. The kitchen was small and cozy, but without Alice, the space seemed vast and empty. “The house doesn’t feel right, ya know?”

“Oh, Joseph, this has to be hard for you. She was one of the good ones.”

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