Free Full Circle by Mariella Starr Page A

of them. She made assignments for reports and paperwork, dividing the work between the three current deputies and decided that was the way to go—delegate.
    She yelled at Georgina for screwing up three dispatch calls. Later, she apologized to her good friend. She threatened to put eighty-six-year-old Mr. Farley in jail for riding his lawn mower on the town streets when she knew the state had revoked his driver's license since he could not pass the vision test. Feeling guilty, she later made a trip out to the old gentleman's place and apologized to him. She also called on Mr. Casswell, a retired factory worker, who lived down the street from Mr. Farley. She arranged for him to stop by once a week and take Mr. Farley into town for his grocery and pharmacy shopping. She offered to reimburse Mr. Casswell for his time and gas, but the man was a bit insulted. He scolded Josie, telling her all she had to do was ask. Doing a favor for a neighbor was not a hardship.
    She met with Mr. Shorey, Alex's new caseworker, to discuss Alex's case file. She tamped down her temper because she wanted to scream at the civil servant that Alex was a boy—not a file folder filled with forms. She knew she was in a bad mood and by the end of the week, she knew she needed to face up to the cause of it. As soon as Alex left for school, Josie called Georgina and told her she'd only be available by cell phone when she picked up her messages and only for an emergency.
    Josie parked directly behind Jack's Jeep, stepped out and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. The place looked different; there was a huge metal shed covering a good portion of the side yard, and bits and pieces of millwork were neatly stacked on the porch. She looked through the screen door and yoo-hooed, but there wasn't an answer. She could hear the buzz and whine of a power tool somewhere inside. She stepped inside, saw more millwork trim and a pedestal sink and followed the sound of the power tool. Jack was on top of a ladder trying to pry a piece of fancy millwork from over a doorway.
    When he saw Josie, he stepped down and went to her, lifting her chin to inspect her bruises and the scrape on her chin.
    "I'm sorry to interrupt," Josie said.
    "Are you feeling better?" Jack asked.
    Josie nodded. "I'm mostly healed up now; the bruises are fading, and the scabs are ugly. You decided not to renovate."
    Jack shook his head. "I didn't have a choice. It's too far gone structurally to attempt it, according to the structural inspector I hired. The house should have been condemned years ago. I'm salvaging what I can for people like you who have the time, patience and love of old places, and the need to find original pieces."
    Josie looked around. "That's a good idea, but if the place is unstable, should you be working in here alone?"
    Jack was watching her body language. She was nervous and unsure of herself. Not at all the person he was used to dealing with since his return to Rawlings. "Is something up that I should know about?"
    "Yes. No," Josie gulped. "Can we talk?"
    Jack waved her toward the window seat. She sat down, shot back up, pulled out her cell phone and set it aside. "The last thing I need is to accidently butt call someone."
    He raised an eyebrow.
    "First, I want to apologize for being a bitch when all you were doing was trying to help me."
    Jack shrugged that off. "My feelings don't get hurt that easily. If I had wanted to settle you down, I would have. I took into account that you were feeling lousy."
    "I know, that's why this is so hard," Josie said.
    "Spit it out, Hellion."
    Josie bit her lip, and her face infused with color. "It's this thing we have going on, Jack. You and me, it scares me silly."
    "Why? I'm a man. You're a woman. Times are changing, but that's still the most common configuration."
    "You're a dominant man," Josie said.
    "Yes, I am, that shouldn't be news to you," Jack said impatiently.
    "It isn't. I figured that out a long time ago," Josie snapped. "How far