Barefoot in the Rain by Roxanne St. Claire Page B

glass down hard enough to splash a little wine on the napkin. “Is the intervention over yet? I’m starving.”
    “Not an intervention.” Lacey sidled up closer and put her arm around Jocelyn. “And, really, we’ve all suspected it was something like this. Honestly, Joss, Will’s keeping your father’s condition pretty quiet. I knew he checked on him once in a while, but he’s been mum on how bad Guy is or, honestly, I’d have told you so you didn’t get blindsided when you arrived.”
    “I wasn’t really blindsided. I saw Will this morning and he told me how me how sick Guy was, so I went down there today and…” Another mirthless, dry laugh. “He doesn’t remember me, he doesn’t remember the past, and he sure as hell doesn’t remember…”
That night
. “Anything he did to his wife or daughter.”
    They all sighed, a collective exhale of dismay and disbelief. All except Zoe, who narrowed her eyes with a question. “Maybe Will didn’t know how bad it was with your dad for you.”
    “He lived next door. He had a front-row seat.”
    Tessa leaned forward. “You know what you need, Joss? You need to work this out. You need to get past this.”
    Jocelyn frowned at her. “I
am
past it. Why do you think I took all those psych classes? Why do you think I’m a life coach?”
    “I don’t think you’re past it,” Tessa said. “Or you could talk about it.”
    “I am freaking talking about it! What do you want, Tess? Pictures? Scars? Details?”
    Tessa dropped to her knees so that only the coffeetable separated them. “I’m sorry, Joss. I don’t want to upset you, really. We just want to help you.”
    “Then change the subject. I’ve never talked about it this much.”
    “Even in therapy?” Tessa asked. “Didn’t you have to go through therapy to get your degree?”
    “Nothing… deep.” She’d been quite adept at avoiding the topics she didn’t want to discuss.
    “Not even to get certified as a life coach?”
    She lifted a brow. “In California? Hang a shingle, baby, and get some bigmouth clients.” She waved her hand to erase any wrong impression that might leave. “I am certified by several organizations.” She reached for some grapes, plucking them from the stems, hating the hot and cold sensations that rolled through her.
    Lacey put her hand on Jocelyn’s leg. “You know we just want to help you and support you.”
    She nodded, taking a bite of a giant green grape. “Then help me find an assisted-living facility for him.”
    Tessa leaned her elbows on the table. “You sure that’s what you want to do?”
    “Yes, I’m sure. I’m not taking care of him.”
    “
Will
is,” Tessa said.
    “Which is… kind.”
    “How did he handle it?” Tessa asked. “I mean, everything that went on with your dad when you were young? Did Will ever try to stop him? He seems like he would have.”
    She shot a look at Tessa, surprised by the little jolt of jealousy that Tessa—and Lacey—had gotten to know Will Palmer when he was so lost to Jocelyn.
    “My dad was the law back then. No, no. He was so far
above
the law it could give you a nosebleed. And Will had a big-time career to worry about.”
    “As if he’d put his career before something like that,” Tessa said.
    “He is loyal to a fault,” Lacey agreed. “Definitely our best and most reliable subcontractor, who just seems to work and live with all his heart.”
    “He was always that way,” she said, feeling an unnatural sense of propriety. After all, she’d known—and loved—Will before they did. “And still is that way because he doesn’t want to put Guy in a home, or at least wants me to think about alternatives.”
    “Would you think about alternatives?” Tessa asked.
    Before she could answer the oven beeped and Lacey stood slowly, waiting to hear Jocelyn’s answer before leaving the room.
    Jocelyn shrugged. “I have a lot of work to do down there first. And he…” She smiled, knowing they’d laugh. “He thinks