Yep. So much like Josiah.
“Audrey, are you responsible for the new Hometown Spotlight section in the paper?” Marlene asked. “Because it’s so charming.”
“Yes, that’s me. I’m glad you like it. My editor was a little stubborn about taking up front page real estate with something that’s not breaking news, but I convinced him to try it for a few weeks at least.”
“I loved it,” she said.
“Thanks. I’m hoping to interview the sheriff soon. I heard he’s originally from Seattle, so I want to know what it’s like to go from big city law enforcement to a small town.”
“Sheriff Cordero is such a good man,” Marlene said. “Hopefully you can pin him down. If not, let me know, I’ll put in a good word with his wife.”
“That would be great, thank you.”
Paul grabbed a towel and wiped off his hands. “I got the tile samples.”
“Let’s take a look,” Josiah said.
He slid a box closer and started taking out square tile samples. “You said neutral, so that’s what they gave me.”
Josiah moved them around, as if putting them in order. Some were in varying shades of beige, others gray. He slid a dark slate gray tile away from the others. I agreed. It was too dark.
He turned to me. “What do you think? Master bathroom floor. They’ll be larger than this, we’re just looking at color.”
That was easy. I pointed to the one I liked, a cream color. “This one. It will brighten everything up in there.”
“Agreed.” Josiah handed it to his dad. “Let’s do this in both upstairs bathrooms.”
“Done and done.” Paul’s eyes moved to me. “Good choice.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“That will be pretty,” Marlene said. “What if we used that in our master bathroom?”
“Are we putting new tile in our bathroom?” Paul asked.
She smiled at him. “It doesn’t have to be right away but it would be nice.”
He leaned over and gave her a light kiss. “Anything for my bride.”
Oh my gosh, they were so adorable, I could have died.
There was a knock at the front door and I realized I was staring at Josiah’s parents, kind of dreamily. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to have noticed.
“That must be Louise,” Marlene said. “She’s picking up a casserole to take to Doris Tilburn. She’s recovering from gallbladder surgery.”
“Oh good,” Josiah said, his voice flat, “you get to meet my aunt Louise.”
I couldn’t tell by his tone if he was actually glad or if he was being sarcastic.
He’d said to assume sarcasm, so I went with that.
Marlene answered the door and an older woman in a bright red velour track suit swept in. Her long gray hair was in a ponytail and her lipstick matched her outfit.
Josiah made a noise that was a cross between a throat clear and a groan.
“Hi, Louise.” Marlene hugged her and they came into the kitchen. “Have you met Audrey?”
She turned to me and smiled. “I haven’t had the pleasure. I’m Louise Haven but you can just call me Aunt Louise.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“You as well. You’re even prettier up close.” Her eyes flicked to Josiah, then back to me. “Here meeting the family? I love that. Welcome. It’s not my house, but welcome.”
She was so effusive, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Thank you.”
“Well done, Josiah. I was hoping you’d snap this one up before someone else got to her.”
“What?” Josiah’s voice sounded uncharacteristically shocked. “You’ve been trying to push your friend’s granddaughter on me.”
Louise waved her hand, as if batting his comment out of the air. “Aida? I wasn’t trying to push her on you.”
He raised his eyebrows, disbelief clear on his face.
“I wouldn’t do that. She’s not good enough for you.”
“You said she was a nice girl.”
Louise shrugged. “I shouldn’t have listened to Florence. You can’t believe a word that woman says, especially about her grandchildren. Makes up stories like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Then why did you drop her off at my remodel so I had to give her a ride home?”
She sighed, as if the answer should be obvious, but she’d explain anyway. “If you must know, I was trying to push you toward Audrey.”