Stand In The Rain

Twenty

Though Sandy Jareau was quite surprised to see JJ and Emily, she stepped aside to let them in to the front foyer so they could get out of the cold January air, but she had to be careful when she shut the door behind them because she had an eight-month-old baby on her hip, who just so happened to be the youngest  child of her late nephew. The baby's name was Annalyn, and JJ had only ever seen pictures of her.

"Mom, is that Annalynn?" JJ asked. "She's beautiful!"

Sandy pressed a kiss to Annalynn's cheek, prompting the baby to giggle and cuddle up to her.

"Yep. This is Annalynn Ruby Foxworth." she confirmed, adjusting Annalynn on her hip. "Jenny, are you and Emily in town about Tinsley?"

JJ nodded. "I'm afraid so. We all just flew in less than an hour ago."

Sandy turned to Emily. "But if you're at Foxworth Hall, that means that Tinsley's death is connected to those other poor souls who turned up dead this month? I found newspaper articles about them."

"Yes." Emily said. "Is Tinsley's wife here? JJ said she probably would be, and we need to talk to her."

"All I can say to that is to suit yourself."

JJ winced. "How bad is it?"

"DeLilah is here, but she's a mess, Jenny. Grandpa and nana have been taking care of her, and they're all upstairs."

JJ looked around. "You've got Annalyn, but where are Hattie Bell and Talley Kay at?"

Hattie Bell and Talley Kay were Annalyn's big sisters, and they were three and two.

"The maids are looking after Hattie and Talley, but your brother should be around here somewhere..."

JJ felt like her brain was melting. "What the hell?"

"Language, Jennifer!" Sandy hissed, briefly blocking Annalynn's ears. "The baby is unbelievably smart and according to DeLilah, she's already absorbing things faster than her sisters did at this age!"

"Sorry, mom." JJ apologized before moving onto the next part in her list of questions. "What is Archer doing here? He lives way up in the north!"

An unfamiliar, masculine voice answered from the stairs behind them. "I was nearby for a business trip."

Emily, who had already been observing the current part of the conversation with a shade of amusement, was the first one to spot who the voice belonged to: JJ's brother. Archer certainly looked the part.

Her thoughts were confirmed when Archer hit the bottom stair and JJ rushed forward to hug him; she knew for a fact that even though the two had never been exceedingly close like JJ had been with Rosaline, they were still buddies, and hadn't seen each other since before JJ had gotten mixed up with Baylor.

"Jenny,"  Archer said to his little  sister as she held him at arm's length after they hugged. "Something looks different about you. What is it?"

JJ blushed spectacularly because she knew that Emily was watching, and that she also had to keep her cool, somewhat. "I promise I will tell you, Archie, but we need to go talk to DeLilah."

"And by 'we,' you mean you and Emily, over there?"

"How did you know...?"

JJ started to ask her brother how he knew who Emily was, but then let out a dejected sigh when she connected the dots.