The Girl With No Name

Chapter Seventy-One

Misty was two floors up from Luke. Josie knocked softly on the door before stepping inside. “You came back,” Misty said, smiling. One side of her face still drooped. With her free hand, Misty reached up and touched her cheek. “Temporary paralysis,” she explained. “They said it should come back. It will take a lot of therapy, but they think I’ll get full function back.”

Josie took a step closer. “That’s good.”

“Never thought I’d be happy to see you,” Misty commented.

Josie nodded. “Same here.” She looked around the room. “Where’s the baby?”

“Oh, he’s home with Brittney. She’s going to bring him back in a few hours. My neighbor, God bless her, is going to watch him while Brittney gets some sleep.”

“That’s great,” Josie said.

“I know we haven’t always been… the best of friends,” Misty said. “But thank you for what you did.”

“It’s my job,” Josie replied.

Misty laughed. A thin stream of drool leaked from the drooping side of her mouth. “That’s what Ray always used to say. ‘It’s just my job.’”

“You miss him,” Josie said. Her own heart ached for him nearly every day, and she was still furious with him. She wondered if those feelings would ever go away, or at least quiet.

“Yeah,” Misty said. “Like crazy. Listen… about Victor.”

“I know,” Josie said. “He’s Ray’s son.”

“Luke told you?”

“No. I found out while I was trying to find him. Listen, Misty, it’s okay. I’m okay with it, all right?”

“Are you just saying that because I look… like this?” she laughed again, and more drool spilled from the corner of her mouth. Josie plucked a tissue from the box on her night table and handed it to her. Misty dabbed at her face.

“No,” Josie said. A war still waged inside her—the sense of unreality she had at having been the love of Ray’s life yet not being the one to bear his child, set against the instant feeling of connection she had had with the baby from the moment she held him in her arms. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Ray would want me to be okay with it. You understand?”

“Thank you.”

Josie nodded, feeling awkward. “Luke said there was something else you wanted to talk to me about, but he said he would let you tell me.”

Misty squeezed the tissue in her hand, squeezing and releasing over and over again. “Please don’t take this the wrong way,” she said, and Josie felt a groan rise up inside her. She kept silent though. Misty continued, “The thing is I used up all my savings on the in vitro. I know that Ray had life insurance. I was wondering if there was anything left or if there was anything left from his estate to help with… Victor. I hate to ask, but… well, I definitely can’t go back to dancing after this.”

A small ember of anger flared inside Josie, but she reminded herself that, for whatever reason, Ray had fallen in love with this woman. His dying wish was that Josie respect that—and her—however much Josie detested her. “Ray did have a small life insurance policy,” Josie said. “I used some of it to pay for his funeral after his mother made the arrangements and the rest I gave to her. That’s what Ray would have wanted. As far as the estate goes, there was no estate. We were still married, so everything automatically went to me. When I say everything, I basically mean our house. That was all we had, and it was heavily mortgaged. I didn’t get much from the sale of it.”

“Oh,” Misty said, slumping against her pillows.

Josie felt acid rise in her throat. A voice in her head told her to turn around and leave the room and never come back. This was not her problem. But she could hear Ray, as clearly as if he were standing beside her. Come on, Jo.

Josie squeezed her eyes closed, counted to five, and opened them again. “But listen,” she said, the words uncomfortable in her mouth. “I’ll help however I can, okay? On two conditions.”

Misty’s eyes brightened with hope. “What are they?”

“You have to tell Ray’s mom. She’s had a hard life, okay? That’s her grandson. She deserves to know him—and she’ll help you. I know she will. Let her be a part of this.”

Misty nodded. “Okay. I promise. What’s the other condition?”

“You can’t name that baby Victor.”

“What?”

“Victor. You named him after Ray’s dad, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Josie took a deep breath. “Ray’s dad used to beat Mrs. Quinn. Badly. He wasn’t all that nice to Ray either. I can tell you one hundred percent that Ray would not want his son named after his dad.”

Misty’s good hand flew to her chest. “Oh my God. Oh no. I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I—”

Josie reached out and touched Misty’s arm. “It’s fine. You didn’t know. Not a big deal. But you haven’t filled out his birth certificate yet, right?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then you’ll choose another name.”

Misty was silent for a long moment. “How about Harris?” she asked finally. “After the chief? Harris Raymond Derossi.”

Josie smiled. “Or Harris Raymond Quinn.”

“Really?”

Josie gave a half shrug. “He’s Ray’s son.”

“Thank you,” Misty said.

Josie patted her arm again before leaving and said words she never thought she would say to Misty Derossi. “Keep in touch.”