"Cross My Heart!"

Chapter 4

"We're back!" I yelled. "In the kitchen!" I heard Aunt Lucy yell back. Josh set me down gingerly, and I slowly walked into the kitchen. She looked over at me, a smile on her face. "How wa-" Her smile faded as she noticed the bandages. "What did you do now?" She looked over at Josh and rolled her eyes. "I told you she's clumsy."

"Uh... actually, this was kind of all my fault...." Josh shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels, taking instant fascination with the floor tiles. "Oh?" Aunt Lucy said, eyebrow raised, but without a hint of anger.

"Yeah... I stepped on the back of her shoes on purpose and she went down." He sounded so guilty, and it made me want to smile. He was sorry he hurt me. I mean, sure, I already knew that, but he was really truly sorry! I don't know why that excited me, but it did. Josh looked up to finally meet Lucy's eyes, and the guilt was even more evident in his eyes. Those eyes will be the death of him - he can't hide anything.

"Well, she looks all cleaned up, and I trust that you took care of her."

"I did, of course I did."

"Ruby, you okay?" she asked. I smiled and nodded. "A bit shaky still, but good. He gave me Advil and was super gentle when cleaning me." I paused. "You know how I don't do well with blood? He took care of it all." I looked over at Josh, and while he looked eternally grateful for my kind words, he still seemed ashamed. Don't worry, I mouthed to him. He half-shrugged. "Well, as long as you're good, then I'm good." The smile returned to Aunt Lucy's face. I looked around. "Where's Chris? I thought he was staying in town until Tuesday?"

"He left early. Needed to get back home to family." I sighed. I had been looking forward to the next three days with Chris. Even though we never saw each other, we kept in touch via Facebook. He was the older brother I never had but always wanted. And I didn't even get to say goodbye. I'll see him again soon. I'm here for a full year. I lightened up at that thought. Aunt Lucy's voice shook me.

"The table's set and dinner's ready. Let's eat!"

Aunt Lucy really did go all out. We had steak, french bread, salad, mashed potatoes, and more - it was like Thanksgiving all over again. I mostly listened to the conversation, as most of it was Josh catching Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lucy up on his life. "Yeah, we just got signed to a label in the US, so we're releasing an EP next month. And we're still on tour, about to be back here to perform in Vancouver, actually, and-"

"Wait, if you're not touring in Vancouver now, then why are you here?" Uncle Kenny asked. "Not to sound rude - just curious. I know it's your day off, but you're far from where you're supposed to be."

"Yeah, I know. I just felt this weird need to come home. I needed new shoes, so I decided that that would be my excuse to drive here." He smiled. "And that was a damn good idea. I missed you guys."

"And we missed you," Aunt Lucy added, reaching her hand across the table and giving Josh's a quick squeeze. "It feels like just yesterday that you ran over, telling us you'd written your first song. You were so excited." She chuckled at the memory, and Uncle Kenny smiled. "Yeah... that was an exciting day," Josh agreed. They reminisced a bit more about Sara and Ange, Corlynn and Miles, and family and friends I didn't know.

I didn't make much noise throughout the dinner, aside from the occasional "can you please pass the potatos?" and giggle. I was fascinated with hearing about Josh's childhood. Everybody knew his story from age 17 on - no fan really knew much about him aside from the few stories he'd tell, such as being dragged around the carousel at McDonald's once, and being in choir. So hearing about childhood friends, activities he participated in, ways he got into trouble at school - it was intriguing, and I was honored and grateful to be a part of this conversation.