Page 7 of It Runs in the Family

“Seein’ you hold that baby…” Her eyes turned cloudy. “I don’t want you to throw your life away.”

“I’m not,” I insisted, but I couldn’t help thinking she was right. I’d worked at the Stop-n-Go for three years. Did I want to work there for the rest of my life? But every time I tried to imagine myself doing something else, my future seemed blank and empty.

Good Lord, was it because I was going to be murdered?

JJ let out a burp that would make a grown man proud, but I continued patting his back in case more air was trapped in there. “Rita says Selena moved out. Do you know who she happens to be with?”

“How would I know?” she asked in irritation, probably because I was ignoring her suggestion but also because Selena annoyed the shit out of her.

“She hasn’t come by for money lately?”

Her brow jerked up, and she jutted her head backward, giving herself multiple chins. “She knows better than to come back beggin’ for money after last time.”

I hadn’t witnessed their argument, but both women had reported the same thing. Granny had run her out of the house, to her car, and down the short road off the property, chasing after her with a broom.

“What did you see in this vision with Selena?” Granny asked, her eagle eyes pinned on me.

JJ let out another burp, so I turned him around and sat him face outward on my lap. “I had it of a customer at the store. In my vision, she was with him, and there was something bad goin’ down. I heard gunshots.” And saw myself dead, but she’d only worry more if she knew that part.

She shook her head, her lips pressed into a tight line. “I’m not surprised. She has a type.”

“I tried calling her, but her phone’s turned off.”

She wagged a finger at me. “Leave that girl be. She’s made her bed, and you need to let her lie in it.”

My eyes stung. “I can’t do that, Granny.”

Her face softened. “I know you have a soft spot for her, but this is the life she wants. You need to leave her to it.”

She was right, and Selena had stopped listening to me years ago, but if she was with someone who could kill me so easily, I had to warn her.

Chapter Three

I stayed at my grandmother’s for a couple more hours. JJ fell asleep after a diaper change, so I made a video call to Granny’s phone and left my phone propped up on a dresser in the guest room, facing the sleeping baby surrounded by pillows on the full-sized bed. Then I went outside and helped her in her vegetable garden. She always planted a massive one—she had plenty of mouths to feed—but it was too much for her to maintain on her own, even if she refused to admit it.

It may have been March, but I sweated more than I would have liked. I’d pulled my long brunette hair into a messy bun, putting a headband on to keep stray hairs from tickling my face, but my forehead was more than a little damp after we finished transplanting all the lettuce and onion seedlings she’d started back in January.

When we wrapped up, I went into the bathroom and washed my face and armpits. I was nearly finished when JJ began to wail.

“I’ve done my fair share of baby-raisin’,” Granny called through the bathroom door. “I’m not havin’ any part of this one.”

I dried off with a hand towel, tossed it in the laundry basket, and then got JJ. After I changed his diaper and fed him again, it was after five, which meant Garrett should be home. I told Granny a fib, saying I was taking the baby home, and we headed out.

Garrett’s car was in the single-lane driveway of the two-bedroom bungalow he’d recently bought, and unlike Rita’s house, his place was well-maintained. I carried JJ in his car seat up to the front porch. When Garrett opened the door, he saw the car seat and did a double take.

He’d been home long enough to change out of his deputy sheriff’s uniform and into a pair of jeans and a Rangers T-shirt. His dark blond hair was damp from a shower, and his face was clean-shaven.

“Irie,” he said, using the nickname he’d always called me. His gaze dropped to the baby in confusion. “Who’s this?”

“Rita’s baby, JJ. Don’t you recognize your own second cousin?” I squinted. “Or is it first cousin once removed?”

He made a face and ushered me in. “Hell, if I know. All babies look the same.”

“Not really,” I said, setting the car seat on the coffee table. I unhooked the straps and lifted JJ out and turned him to face Garrett. “Look how handsome this little devil is. Despite the fact his father is John Jacob Johnson.”

Garrett made a retching sound, then said, “And they made the poor kid a junior. He doesn’t stand a chance. Want a beer?”

Usually, I would have readily taken one, but it didn’t feel right since I was driving with a baby. Not that it would have stopped Rita. Hell, for all I knew, she was drinking her standard two to three beers a day while still part-time breastfeeding. Our mothers sure had. “Nah. I had some lemonade at Granny’s.”