Page 172 of When Love Takes Root

But he helped Skye butter a roll when the knife was too big for her hand. He complimented Zuri’s beads. He told Maya he’d check every outlet in her room before he left. He told JJ to email him if he wanted a list of certifications worth considering before graduation.

He left me no villain.

After dinner, Josiah checked Maya’s room with the door wide open, JJ posted in the hallway like a witness, and me standing near the dresser, trying to keep my face from saying too much. Maya’s room smelled like vanilla lotion, colored pencils, and the strawberry body spray she swore wasn’t too strong. Sketches covered the wall above her desk in a messy little gallery of faces, flowers, wings, and women with crowns tilted like they’d survived something.

Josiah tested both outlets, removed the plate from one, and went still.

That stillness scared me.

I stepped closer. “What?”

He angled his body so Maya couldn’t see too much. “The outlet needs replacing, and this room needs a proper check. I’m glad Zuri said something.”

JJ looked from the outlet to Maya. His face softened, but his jaw stayed tight.

Maya hugged herself. “Is it bad?”

Josiah put the cover back with careful hands. “It’s fixable. Tonight, don’t plug anything in over here. I’ll come back tomorrow with what I need, and I’ll check the whole room.”

My throat pulled tight again. “Tomorrow?”

He looked at me. “Tomorrow.”

I nodded because speech felt dangerous.

From the hallway, Kayden’s voice cut through the doorway. “Guess you got a reason to come back now.”

JJ jolted around so fast his shoulder brushed the doorframe.

Josiah looked toward the hall, then back at the outlet.

I closed my eyes.

I called to him, my voice thin from holding too much. “Kayden. Go downstairs.”

He lingered another second, then his footsteps retreated.

JJ stayed frozen in the hallway, one hand pressed flat against the wall, his head bowed. His shoulders rose and fell once, twice, three times, like he was counting himself down from something ugly.

Josiah finished securing the plate and stood. “Maya, don’t worry about this tonight. You told the truth. That’s all I need from you.”

Maya nodded, eyes glossy.

I touched her cheek. “Go sit with your sisters, baby.”

She slipped past JJ and disappeared down the hall.

I thanked Josiah in a voice barely holding its shape.

By the time the plates were cleared, the kitchen wiped down, and the girls settled in the living room with cake, I felt wrung out from the inside. Kayden didn’t come back to the table. His absence sat in the house longer than his body had.

JJ helped me load the dishwasher while Josiah rinsed serving spoons at the sink. JJ moved through the kitchen with fury trapped beneath his skin. He stacked plates too neatly. Wiped the same spot twice. Opened the dishwasher, then stood there with one hand gripping the rack until his knuckles paled. When Kayden’s floor creaked overhead, JJ’s eyes snapped to the ceiling.

Josiah noticed.

JJ noticed him noticing and looked away.

I dried my hands on a towel already damp from my own nervous twisting. The kitchen had been wiped down, the plates stacked, the girls settled in the living room with cake, and still, my body moved like the house had smoke in it. JJ’s footsteps shifted near the dishwasher. Kayden’s floor creaked overhead. Josiah stood at the sink, rinsing a spoon he’d already cleaned.