Stepping into the Sky: Jump When Ready, Book 3 by David Pandolfe Page A

tomorrow, Henry,” Nikki said. “I’m
sure it’s in the box upstairs.”
    Rose focused on the two of them. She forced herself to
smile. “No, please. I want you to. What’s a house without good music, right?”
    “That’s really nice of you,” Nikki said. “You know, Henry
has some—”
    “Well, hello.”
    Joseph stood in the doorway. Rose’s pulse quickened and
her face grew warm. She’d forgotten to call him again. Suddenly, it also
occurred to her that she’d stopped thinking about the wedding. For just a short
time, she’d forgotten all about it.
    Joseph looked into Rose’s eyes. “Didn’t we have plans?”
    Rose stared back at him.
    “We were going to the florist,” he said.
    Rose’s face continued to heat up but then she remembered.
So, it wasn’t just her. Joseph was losing track of the details too. She felt
like laughing. Weren’t men always rolling their eyes at women and their wedding
plans? Always acting as if the whole thing took care of itself?
    “We did that yesterday,” Rose said. “Remember?”
    Joseph kept his eyes on hers. “Yesterday.”
    “Yesterday, remember? Just after I almost drove Henry and
Nikki off the road.” She turned to face her guests again. “I still can’t
believe I did that.”
    Nikki laughed. “We’re fine. Don’t worry about it.”
    Henry turned to Joseph. “Weddings are insane. God, it
felt like it took weeks for us just to sign all the invitations. How long have
you guys been planning yours?”
    Rose watched Joseph regard Henry, his eyes narrowing. He’d
reacted the same way yesterday, his guard going up for no reason she could
imagine. “I invited Nikki and Henry for lunch,” she said. She wasn’t about to
admit she’d then nearly forgotten and wandered off to the cemetery, never mind
acknowledge that she’d also forgotten to inform Joseph. She’d heard enough
about her being distracted lately. “I thought it would be nice to go out. We
could stop for sandwiches and take them down to the beach. We haven’t done that
in a while.”
    Joseph shoved his hands into his pockets. He thought for
a moment, then nodded. “That sounds good. We should do that.”
    Rose’s heart lifted at the thought of the four of them becoming
friends. She felt sure Joseph would warm up once he got to know them. For just
a moment, she thought about calling Linda. It seemed wrong, somehow, not to
include her best friend in this new relationship. At the same time, might Linda
feel like a third wheel around the two couples? Maybe it would be better to
leave things as they were for now.
    Rose jumped up from the sofa. “Come on, you guys. Let’s
go.”
    Nikki and Henry got up to follow. As they entered the
hall, Nikki turned to her. “This sounds like fun. We haven’t had a chance to
get to the beach yet.”
    “We did catch a nice view of the water from the road
leading up here,” Henry said. “That’s quite the drop-off too.”
    “That really is a sharp turn,” Nikki said. “It looked
like the guardrail has been repaired recently. Has anything bad ever happened
there?”
    Rose stopped walking. For some reason, she suddenly
imagined a car crashing through that rail and launching into the sky. Not just
any car, Joseph’s car. She recalled those images from yesterday, images she’d
thankfully forgotten until now. Was she having some sort of premonition? No,
that was nonsense. No one truly had premonitions. People probably just imagined
things that way later, when they looked back.
    “Rose?” Joseph stood watching her, his eyes meeting hers
with concern. “Everything okay?”
    Nikki and Henry stood waiting too. She’d gotten so lost
in thought that they’d all come to a halt, waiting for her to start walking
again.
    Rose glanced back toward the family room, trying to think
of a way to explain her actions. “I forgot my keys. I’ll be right back.”
    “You don’t need them,” Joseph said. “We’re taking my
car.”
    Rose wanted to tell him she didn’t