Without Compromise by Becky Riker

love with a patient. He didn’t ever act on it, but he had to ask my dad to take over her case.”
    “Your dad’s a shrink?”
    “Yep. You know how the cobbler’s kids go without shoes? Well, Molly and I are both nuts.”
    He laughed then, “Copy that.”
    She stood up, “Since you clearly have nothing better to do than sit around and feel sorry for yourself, you should come help us.”
    “With what?”
    “We’re making appetizers,” she knocked on Molly’s door.
    He stood as well, “I can’t cook.”
    Molly opened the door, “I was wondering when you would get here.”
    Josie walked past her sister, “I was drumming up extra help.”
    Molly cocked her head in question.
    Josie turned and looked at Tag, “C’mon.”
    Molly laughed, “You don’t mean him, do you?”
    “See,” Tag folded his arms over his chest, “she doesn’t want me.”
    For a moment, Josie thought she saw a small crack of insecurity in the armor of cockiness seen the past two encounters.
    “Well, I do,” she grabbed his sleeve. “Molly’s no fun while we’re doing this. She’s so serious.”
    “So I’m comedic relief?”
    Josie washed her hands, “No. You’re grunt labor just like me.”
    He bumped her with a hip so he could wash his hands.
    Molly set them to making asparagus wraps.
    “These look good,” Tag said as he wrapped the stuffing into a tortilla, “Do we get to sample them?”
    “No,” Molly glared at him.
    He raised his eyebrows at Josie, “I see what you mean.”
    “Yeah,” she leaned toward him, “so if you taste anything, make sure her back is turned.”
    Molly pointed a spatula at her sister, “Do not contaminate my food.”
    Tag kept rolling the food, “Wouldn’t think of it, ma’am.”
    She turned back to the sauce she was making on the stove.
    Josie picked up a piece of asparagus and held it up to Tag’s mouth. He smiled as he bit into it.
    She neatly popped the rest of it into her own mouth.
    Molly spun around at the same time that they looked down at the task at hand.
    “Are you eating the food?”
    “Hmm?” Josie questioned her sister in the most innocent tone possible.
    “Josephine Hope,” Molly put her hands on her hips.
    “Josephine?” Tag nearly choked on the bite he was trying to swallow.
    “Don’t even consider mocking the name,” she warned. “I might start to call you – ”
    “Fine!” he interrupted her. “No Josephine.”
    “I don’t mind being called Josephine,” that woman assured him. “It was my grandmother’s name. I don’t think Tha. . .” she glanced at her sister’s back, “Why don’t you like your name?”
    He stopped working and faced her, “Can you imagine the teasing? My older brother nicknamed me Tag when we were about five and three.”
    “Why?”
    He lifted one shoulder in a lazy shrug, “I think it was his favorite game, and he could never make the T-H sound anyway.”
    “Now I’m curious,” Molly turned around. “What is your name?”
    He sighed and shook his head, “Can we change the subject?”
    “Yes,” Molly’s eyes met Josie’s in a question. Josie was afraid of what that might be. “Let’s talk about something else. Like why you aren’t at work today, Jo.”
    “The harness for my fall snapped yesterday, so they had to get a new one.”
    “How did it break?” Molly interjected.
    Josie didn’t bother responding to that, knowing her sister would not care for the answer.
    “They couldn’t get a replacement until this afternoon, so they decided to wait for that scene tomorrow. We’re almost done with the action scenes anyway.”
    “Then what will you do?” Tag put the last roll on the tray and reached for a second tray.
    “I have a commercial lined up, and then there is a possibility of a television show.”
    “T.V?”
    “It isn’t set in stone yet.”
    “What show?”
    She shook her head, “I would tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
    He snorted.
    Molly turned back to glare at him, “Are you blowing