Judging Joey (12 page)

Chapter 11

Joey said goodbye to Alex and took the empty pizza box and a bag of garbage with him as he left the kitchen of her townhouse. He had decided instead of eating at his parents’ or sister’s, or his usual take-out meal, he would help out a friend. Alex needed his support. He had even brought the dinner.

“You’re the best bud a girl could have,” Alex said as she led him downstairs, giving him a playful punch in the arm. “Thanks for dinner and helping me move my living room furniture back. The couch goes great with the new paint color. And for hanging the pictures.” She ran her hand over a framed picture of herself in uniform at her graduation that hung on the wall midway down the stairs. “I had hoped to make this a gallery of my life together with George. Looks like I’ll have lots of pictures of myself to display.”

Not knowing what to say, but having dealt with enough women to realize some words were expected, Joey gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll work out. Besides, the guy’s a jerk.”

He waved off and left his partner standing at her front door. He grimaced and under his breath wished George a painful demise. Alex had put on a brave face, and even if sometimes he was oblivious to what they were thinking, he knew one thing about women—when they were about to release the floodgates.

As he went around the back of her townhouse to throw the garbage and box in the appropriate Dumpsters, he knew his partner was now up in her room bawling her eyes out.

He lifted the heavy door of one of the Dumpsters. The putrid smell assaulted his nostrils, something he would love to do to George. He continued on that train of thought as he strolled back to his car. He hopped in, then checked the time on his cell phone. Seven-thirty. His nephew was probably still up. Joey punched the speed dial to Caitlin’s house.

“Hey, is it too late to come over and see Christopher’s new game? I feel guilty I missed dinner with him.”

“I’m so glad you called.” His sister sounded upset. “Something happened at school today, and I can’t get him settled down.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Joey hung up, kicked over the engine, and made it to Caitlin’s in under ten.

Caitlin stood wringing her hands together at the door. Then Joey followed her down the long length of the main hallway, looked in on Kylie, sound asleep in her crib, and followed Caitlin to his nephew’s room.

Christopher, tucked under Spiderman decorated covers, wore similarly decorated pajamas. His hair, still damp from a bath, matched the wetness that streamed down his face. Caitlin yanked a tissue from the box on the night table and blew her son’s nose.

“Hey, little man, what’s wrong?” Joey sank down on the edge of the twin bed. He ruffled his nephew’s hair and left with a greasy palm.

Surprised, he grabbed a tissue to wipe it off.

“It’s gel. You know, prod . . . uct.” Christopher sniffed, fighting off the tears.

“Have to look good for the ladies, right, Tiger?”

“Huh?” Christopher wrinkled his nose and looked at his mom.

Joey flicked a glance at Caitlin, who rewarded him by rolling her eyes.

“Never mind, honey, your uncle’s being silly.” She shot him a tired look. “As usual. Can you tell Uncle Joey what happened today?”

Christopher nodded and then ran the back of his hand across his nose. “Derrick stole my game. My
new
game.”

Joey sat up straight and looked at his sister who nodded, her arms crossed in a tight bond. “What happened when you told Miss White?” he said.

“He didn’t,” Caitlin said. “It happened at recess. Christopher was afraid to tell any of the teachers because they’re not allowed to have toys in school. And Christopher knows that. So does Derrick.”

Joey cracked his knuckles, a habit he was never able to fully outgrow, but it was better than frowning. He didn’t want his nephew to see how upset he was. “You know, I was going to talk about stuff like this at the assembly on Wednesday, but this can’t wait.” He patted down his nephew’s hair to get it to look like it did before he messed it up. “Don’t worry, Shrimp. I’ll speak to your teacher tomorrow. Now how about I read you a story and then you promise to go to sleep?”

His nephew smiled then hopped out of bed in search of his favorite Spiderman comic book.

Caitlin mouthed a thank you to him then turned to her son. “Honey, I need to talk to Uncle Joey for a minute. Grownup stuff. We’ll be right back.” She directed Joey into the hallway and closed her son’s door.

Caitlin leaned in and whispered, “I called Vanessa earlier, and she denied her son would do such a thing. I said it was probably unintentional and would she mind looking through his backpack. You know, boys will be boys, and all that.” She rolled her eyes. “How many times did I hear that growing up having five brothers?”

“So what did she say?”

“She hung up on me,” Caitlin hissed. “Kevin thinks I should drop it, but I’m going to call Madeline tomorrow to see what she can do. I know you said you would talk to her, too, but it’s not necessary. He’s my son, I’ll take care of it.”

He had to give his sister credit. It would be so easy to buy her son another game. After all, she could afford it. But rules were rules and by bringing a toy to school, Christopher had broken his school’s rules.

A hard lesson for a six-year-old to learn.

He nodded, pretending to be optimistic that his sister’s chat with Maddie would clear everything up. He knew Maddie would get the boy to do the right thing and return what he took. He had watched her interact with her students and could tell she had a connection with each one of them. Her kindness to those kids was another thing he noticed he liked about her.

“No worries,” he said. Joey glanced at his sister’s determined face. His instincts trumped her hopefulness and he was just as determined to fix his family’s difficulties. He hated to see his nephew upset. He would take care of this problem tonight. “Okay, sis, talk to you tomorrow.”

While Madeline was in the midst of reading a riveting article about kleptomania on her laptop, the doorbell rang. Rusty started to bark. Madeline pushed away from the desk and ran down the stairs.

Her uncle had been asleep in his chair in front of the TV. “Maddie?” he asked, after getting startled awake.

“I got it, Uncle Mark.”

She swung open the door. Her heart slammed into her chest. “Joey?” If she had already gone to bed, she would have thought she was dreaming.

“Sorry to come by without calling first.” He shifted his weight onto the heels of his sneakers, back to the balls of his feet, and shoved his hands into his pockets.

Although her pulse raced from the instant shock of Joey actually standing on her doorstep, she wasn’t the only one with a case of nerves. He appeared anxious. Vulnerable.

Her uncle came up behind her. “It’s a little late for a social call, but invite the young man in.”

Joey nodded. “I saw the lights on and heard the TV.”

Madeline let him in and introduced the two men while Rusty sniffed at Joey’s legs.

“I’ll put on a pot of decaf tea. We have some apple pie left from dinner,” her uncle offered.

“Oh, nothing for me, sir. Don’t go to any trouble.”

“Nonsense. You two sit in front of the fire and talk.” He went into the kitchen.

“What’s wrong?” She ran her hand over her unkempt hair, painfully aware she had no makeup on either.

Joey filled her in on Christopher’s stolen game. “Can you speak to Derrick? I know you can get through to him to do the right thing.”

“Now? I wouldn’t dare call Vanessa’s house at this time of night.”

“He’s probably already in bed like my nephew. No. Tomorrow? First thing? Christopher is crushed.”

“You could have called me. How’d you know where I live anyway?”

He raised an eyebrow.

Of course, he’s a cop.
She pointed to the couch and they sat and stared at the fire.

“I could have called.” He turned to focus on her. “I wanted to see you.”

“Why?”

“I’ve seen the way those kids behave around you. They love you. It takes a special person to handle those little rascals. I’ve never met a girl like you. You’ve got a gift, Maddie.”

She could feel herself blush at his compliment. “Handling little rascals is part of the job description.”

“No. Not all teachers have your talent. I believe you can work a miracle with Derrick.”

Her heart, which had never recovered, now galloped. As he sat on the edge of her couch, his intense dark eyes focused on only her, and she realized here was the Joey she innocently became infatuated with in high school. Back when he had given her quotes for the newspaper at a football game, he had been genuine and in his element. Tonight, his sincerity plucked at her heartstrings again. Family meant as much to him as football. And family meant the world to her too. His commitment to his family was one of the main reasons she was drawn to him when they had first met.

“I’ll talk to Derrick,” she said.

He moved closer so their knees touched. “I knew I could count on you.”

His acknowledgment sealed her fascination. Once again, she could easily slip into being that enchanted Little Orphan Annie. The heat from the fireplace and his words warmed her and for the first time in a long time she felt hopeful about her future. Maybe she
could
rely on him.

“Would you mind if I make myself more comfortable on this couch?”

When she shook her head, they both sat back side by side and faced the flickering flames.

“You have a gift too,” she admitted. “You somehow find the positive in a bad situation. At least that’s how you make others around you feel.”

He leaned in against her. “You’re being sweet.”

The heat from his body competed with the fire. She enjoyed sitting close to him. “No, I’m serious. When people learned you were going to be at the carnival pie booth, they came out to have fun with
you
. The PTA is still raving about the money they made.”

She felt his eyes on her and met his gaze.

“My nephew’s not the only reason I came here tonight. You’re not like the self-absorbed girls I’ve been dating. I want to get to know you better. And I don’t mean us being friends.”

Inside, her spirits lifted and to hear him say those words made her melt. But she couldn’t answer him. She wasn’t sure what to say.

He reached for her hand. “I know you’re not certain about me and I don’t want to scare you away. Think about it.”

“Tea’s ready,” her uncle called from the kitchen.

She swallowed, wondering if her expression revealed her shock. “Be right there,” she yelled. “Joey?” She caressed his hand.

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you didn’t call.”

Madeline sat in the audience with the rest of the teachers and students as Joey gave his talk at the Safety Assembly. He began with school rules and why everyone needed to respect other people’s and the school’s property. Madeline had to admit, he really knew how to speak to children on a level that they would understand. He made them feel special like he made her feel yesterday. Another gift he had.

Someone tugged on her arm.

“Miss White, I gotta go to the bathroom,” Harold, one of her students, said. His blond hair had been spiked up in an extreme style and stabbed at the air as he bobbed and held his legs together.

Normally Madeline would send the student with a partner, but since Harold was one of those students who misbehaved as soon as he was out from under supervision, she knew she had to take him.

She leaned forward and whispered to Sabrina, who sat in the row in front of her, “Keep an eye on my class. I’ll be right back.”

Madeline took Harold’s hand and led him out of the auditorium and down the hall to the nearest boys’ room. “Go ahead, honey, I’ll be right outside.” She smiled down at him as he went in.

Having a moment of quiet to herself, her smile soon disappeared as she remembered Caitlin’s disturbing phone call about the video game. Caitlin didn’t seem happy that Madeline had already known from Joey. The whole situation was disappointing, but not surprising at all to find out that Derrick took Christopher’s video game. Allegedly. But in her gut, Madeline knew he probably did even though she couldn’t get him to fess up. Especially knowing what she did about Vanessa.

Uncle Mark would always say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” But then he would always wink at her and say, “Sometimes one does get away and roll down the hill,” referring to her and her mother. She was nothing like her mother, or her father. Madeline knew she was one of the exceptions that rolled down the hill.

She called into the boys’ room. “You okay in there?” She heard Harold’s muffled “yes.” “Don’t forget to wash your hands,” she added.

She leaned against the wall, wishing she wasn’t missing the assembly. Joey
was
an eloquent speaker. Must have picked that up surrounded by all the lawyers in his family. Apple tree theory again. She hoped that whatever he said to the students sunk in and maybe Derrick would feel some meager pang of guilt and return the game.

When she had asked Derrick about it, he denied having seen it, let alone taking it. There wasn’t much more she could do, except talk to his mother. She dreaded that. Vanessa would deny it, for sure.