Water Under the Bridge || Evan Buckley [2]

chapter twenty one

friends come and go

"Feels like we haven't seen each other in forever!" Alexis exclaimed dramatically after being embraced in Josephine's arms at the door.

Josephine closed the door behind her and trailed Alexis into the kitchen once inviting her inside. "Our lives are busy mostly with work, especially you. But it's only been a few months since you moved out and we've texted and facetimed almost every week." She humored lightly.

Alexis refrained from rolling her eyes as she slid onto the stool at the countertop. "Yeah, but during the time we lived together we saw each other more often."

"Does that mean you want to move back in?" Josephine teased, offering a glass of smoothie she produced before Alexis' arrival.

"No, I'm good. Living with Will has been great." Alexis admitted about her blossoming relationship. "I just missed my best friend."

A small smile graced upon Josephine's lips. "I missed my best friend too."

"So, tell me why you couldn't give me details about Buck meeting your mom at dinner the other night?"

Josephine shifted in her stance, "The dinner itself went well. My mom liked Buck. It's what she disclosed to me before we left." She pressed her lips together. "She started seeing someone."

Alexis' reaction nearly mirrored Josephine's when her mother told her. "Oh wow, she hasn't dated anyone since your dad passed, right?"

"From my knowledge, she's went on dates but never brought anyone home. Never lasted past the second date at least." Josephine tried to recall. She's overheard conversations from her relatives or Vanessa when they were young. Their mother had no intentions of being with someone else while grieving for their father.

"Did she tell you who she's seeing?"

"An old family friend. A friend of hers to be exact. His name is Richard."

Letting out an intrigued hum, Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Okay. How are you feeling about that?"

"Shocked, but it's her life. She should be happy. That's probably what my dad wanted for her."

"Right. When my parents dated other people before getting back together it was weird. It'll take some time to get used to."

The 118 firehouse and responding officers were dispatched at the court of a neighborhood downtown that morning. Caution tape secured the area preventing wandering neighbors from entering apart from a few news reporters that have touched down on the scene. For this dispatch call to gravitate some attention could likely be the call was a hostage negotiation. The only life at stake was one—the man pacing on a rooftop of another civilian's house with a gun in his hand.