Full Circle by Mariella Starr

someone is available to monitor me tonight, but I'm supposed to come back in the morning."
    Josie's gray eyes were showing signs of panic and Jack realized it was not for herself. It was for the boy.
    "I'll take you both home and do guard duty. I've had EMT and medic training, so I can monitor you."
    Josie nodded painfully. "Thank you. Dr. Mellon will agree to that. Everything has to be above board, Jack."
    He understood. "We'll figure it out once I get you out of here. I take it Alex checked out okay?"
    "Not a bruise on him," Josie said with a pained but pleased smile. "Kids are more resilient. I guess they bounce better than us old guys."
    When the paperwork was complete, Jack carried Josie out to his Jeep, followed closely by Alex. Once they were at the Raintree house, Josie being Josie tried to renege on what she had promised the doctor. She tried to talk Jack into going home, but he wouldn't have any part of it. He called in for a pizza delivery for dinner and settled down for an evening of helping a kid with his math homework and TV. After some half-hearted arguing, he was able to tuck Josie into one of the comfortable couches with Alex tucked into the other. Jack dragged a narrow mattress off a daybed he found in a sunroom and tossed it on the floor between them. He had slept on worse and that way he could keep his eye on both of them. Josie took one of the pills Dr. Mellon had given her and dropped off to sleep within minutes.
    "Mr. Rawlings?" Alex whispered in the darkened room.
    "You can call me Jack, kid. What?"
    "Is Josie really going to be okay?" The boy's voice quavered.
    "She'll be fine. The doctor will check her out in the morning to make sure. She'll be sore for a couple of days. Most riders get tossed at some point, or another. It's all part of riding, but it still hurts."
    "I'll help her as much as I can," Alex promised.
    "You have school tomorrow and she's not going to want you to skip. As it so happens, I don't have a thing to do, so I'll ride herd over her for the next couple of days."
    "Josie won't like that," Alex warned.
    "She doesn't get a choice," Jack said with a grin.

Chapter 3
    Josie woke up with a jerk and it hurt. Her glance went to the second couch.
    "He's already in school," Jack said, looking up from a magazine he was reading.
    "Oh, but...."
    "I made sure he took a shower, put on clean clothes, ate breakfast, and didn't forget his books or homework. I gave him five bucks for lunch," Jack offered.
    Josie pushed herself up slowly. "He skinned you. Lunch is two and a quarter."
    Jack chuckled. "I guessed that much but figured it wasn't worth an argument. He was determined to stay home with you today."
    "Any excuse is a good excuse for Alex to try to get out of school," she said with a grimace. She squinted at the wall on the opposite side of the room. "Why isn't there a big jagged hole in that wall?
    Jack looked in the direction she was facing, "From what?"
    "From the semi-truck that came through and ran me over," Josie groaned.
    Jack chuckled. "For a second there, I thought you were out of your head. How about a hot shower, some loose sweats and breakfast before I take you over to the clinic."
    "I've been thrown before and have had worse," Josie said, moving her neck slowly. "I'll be okay. I have to call my office and the mayor, and tell them I'm coming in late. It's standard procedure."
    "I know, Alex told me," Jack answered. "I've already called the mayor and the sheriff's office, and told them you wouldn't be in today, probably not tomorrow, and it could be iffy on the third or fourth day. I can't believe that weenie, Aiden Roland, is the mayor of this town."
    "Oh, God," Josie moaned. "Have you forgotten how it is to live in a small town? It will be all over town in fifteen minutes that a man called in for me! They'll be laying bets on whom I'm sleeping with!"
    "Sorry, but that boat has already sailed. I called in over two hours ago, identified myself and explained what happened," Jack said,