Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Seven

JOSIE – SIX YEARS OLD

Josie’s heart skipped several beats until she realized it was just her daddy standing in the doorway. She ran to him, but he didn’t scoop her up and spin her around like he normally did. Instead, he placed a hand on top of her head and stared past her toward where her mother lay on the sofa. Josie turned to see a smile curve across her mother’s lips as her eyes fluttered open and closed. “Shit,” her mother said. “I thought you had to work.”

“I do,” he said. “But I wanted to see—” he broke off. His hand moved to Josie’s shoulder, and he pushed her back toward the hallway, his eyes never leaving the sofa. Josie watched her parents stare at one another for a tense moment, and a strange shaky feeling started in her legs. The room felt full of something—something bad, but Josie didn’t know what.

“Go to your room, JoJo,” her daddy said. “Now.”