Forced to Change Ch. 30

Chapter 30

"Ms. Katie, pleasure to see you again," Joe said as I stepped off the ladder.

"What are you doing here, Joe?" I couldn't see Jared, although I could hear him in the kitchen.

"Nice footwear." Joe grinned at me. I looked down at my feet and giggled. I was almost to him before I realized he hadn't answered my question, so I stopped. Yes, I knew Joe, but did I really? Why else would he be here? Then again, he was here, drinking beers, sitting back calm and relaxed. He must be someone Jared trusted. My paranoia was only rearing its annoying head.

"You're part of the Creepy Stalker package, aren't you?"

Joe raised an eyebrow at me, hiding a smile behind his bottle as he looked toward Jared.

"Is your name really Joe?"

Joe spit out his sip of beer, almost choking on it as he burst out laughing.

"She's quick," he wiped his mouth with his hand.

"Yes," Jared said. He walked out of the kitchen area and smiled down at me. "Seems I should make an introduction. Kathryn Rollins, I'd like you to meet Joseph Peedict, my father."

I was pretty sure my mouth was on the ground. Father? I had no words for that bomb. Question after question exploded in my head even though my lips remained sealed. I stared at Joe, seeing him for what felt like the first ever. I saw the family resemblance in their similar builds and height. As I looked back and forth between them I couldn't believe I'd never noticed how much they looked alike.

"So you'd be able to tell me things about your son? Like where he learned to cook?" I asked.

Jared swept me off my feet into a bear hug while Joe laughed. He turned me in his arms so that my back was to Joe, then he let me slide down the front of his body, setting me on my feet. I went from shocked to warm in low places in my body in less than a nanosecond. Smiling up at Jared, I turned in his arms to face Joe.

"Very quick," Jared murmured into my hair as he nuzzled my neck.

Joe's face sobered slightly as he watched us. Then he smiled and took a drink from his beer. "Some information may get me shot, honey. But I'll let you know what I can." He winked at me.

"He wouldn't shoot you for telling me stuff?" I made it a question. I turned back to Jared so he could kiss me, only I lied and told myself it was so I could see his reaction. "Would you?"

He kissed me quickly on the lips, and then he sighed. "Depends on what you ask him." His shoulders tensed and his smile was tight.

I rolled my eyes, pulled away to take a seat on the stool next to Joe.

"Want something to drink, Katie?" Jared asked as he returned to the kitchen.

"I'll just have some coffee. Cream and sugar, if you've got it," I said. I watched as Jared crossed the kitchen, my thoughts momentarily lost in what had started before Joe's interruption, until my entire body flushed.

"I know," Jared replied softly, pulling a cup from the cabinet. I let the comment go. Obviously he knew how I took my coffee; it had been perfect with my breakfast/dinner. A shy smile played on my lips.

"So where did Jared learn to cook?" I asked in an attempt to distract me from Jared's body.

"Why do you call him Jared?" Joe asked.

I saw Jared's shoulders tense. I knew immediately that I shouldn't push the question, but I had to know. "That's not his name? I didn't think so. So what is it?" I realized Joe had avoided my original question with the promise of better information. Yes, I'm that easy.

"Drew," Joe said as he barely held back his laughter.

"Joe." Jared, er, Drew turned, staring daggers at Joe. Maybe he would kill him for telling me stuff.

"What's wrong with Drew? It's a nice name." I mused aloud for a moment, "So, Drew Peedi..." My voice trailed off as it hit me. "Drew Peedict? You named your bossy, lethal killer of a son, Droopy Dick? And you're still alive to tell this to people?"

Both men howled at my statement.

"She's quick." They said in unison as I joined them in their laughter.

I wiped a lone tear from my eye after giggling so hard. "Seriously, how are you even alive?" Jared walked around the breakfast bar and set my coffee on the counter in front of me, then pulled my body against his chest. I considered six different puns to tease him with in the immediate future.

"Probably not that much longer, depending on what you ask next. I guess I've always been lucky." Joe shrugged and gulped his beer, setting the empty bottle on the counter.

"Luck runs out eventually," Jared, uh, Drew said. I decided to stick with Jared from that moment forward. It was his name to me, whether it was his name or not.

"Don't blame me, blame your mama, kid." Joe said, still smiling for a second before his face fell. The room temperature cooled significantly as Jared's arms tensed around me.

Was Jared's mother a touchy subject? I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Are you an assassin, too, Joe?"

Joe's eyes got hard as he played with the empty beer bottle. "Yes," he answered icily. The fun and games were clearly over.

"Time to go, Joe," Jared said, his voice wintery.

"Yeah, guess so, kid."

I turned pleading eyes to Jared. "But he's been drinking." I pouted a little.

Jared was unaffected. "He'll be fine."

Joe stood up and smiled, although it was a bit sad. He was steady on his feet as he touched my cheek. "It was nice to see you really smile, Ms. Katie."

Before I could stop, I pulled free from Jared and jumped into Joe's arms. He hugged me tightly for a moment, then he pulled back while still holding me by the shoulders.

"Don't go," I whispered, looking up at him. Joe met Jared's eyes over my head.

"I think you're the lucky ones," Joe said after a brief silence. His eyes went from mine to Jared to me again, then he released me. I was standing between the two men without a clue as to why Joe was leaving. I'd said something wrong. I'd brought up Jared's mother, Joe's wife. The one Joe had told me had died years ago. Jared was the son he was estranged from, if all the information he'd told me before was true.

Joe walked to the door without another word. Jared followed him out to the porch, pulling the door softly closed behind him. I hugged myself, suddenly chilled, confused, and concerned about the man I knew as Jared.