Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (149 page)

I’d never known Jude had this side to him. I’d seen a glimmer of it the day at his grandpa’s, but with each additional day I spent with him a new layer of Jude was exposed. There was far more to Jude than I or anyone else ever knew. I think he wanted people to think he was dumb and nothing but a playboy because that was what was expected of him. In actuality, the man had more of a heart than anyone I knew. He surprised me with his kindness towards the patients he dealt with. Even when he had to deal with someone being fussy he stayed calm and kept a genuine smile on his face. It was obvious to me that he was doing what he loved by taking care of people. I hated to admit it, but I admired that about him.

After talking to Mr. Jenkins for at least twenty minutes, Jude stood and with apology written in his voice he said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Jenkins, but I have to go. I’ll see you again soon, though.”

“Take care,” Mr. Jenkins smiled at me, and then Jude. To Jude he whispered, but loud enough for me to hear him, “Don’t let that one get away.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Jude assured him.

I followed Jude out of the room and cornered him in the hallway. “Are nursing home patients performing some kind of matchmaking service for us or something?”

Jude’s laugh bellowed around the hallway. “Why don’t you just admit that there’s something between us?” He smiled crookedly. “Everyone can see it, so why can’t you?”

“I have twenty/twenty vision,” I replied easily, “clearly everyone else is simply seeing things.”

“You have an answer for everything,” he muttered as he turned down the hallway to visit another patient. 

For the rest of the evening I took notes and asked Jude questions. He always surprised me with his long, thought provoking answers. I wondered if he’d ever stop shocking me.

Later that evening, we were getting into his truck when his cellphone beeped with a text message. Jude smiled at whatever the message said.

“What is it?” I asked curiously. I couldn’t seem to stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. 

“Rowan wants to know if we’d like to come over for dinner,” he shrugged. 

“How does she know we’re together tonight?” I frowned.

“It’s Rowan,” he chuckled, “she knows everything. You want to or not?”

I thought of my mother sitting at home by herself, staring listlessly around at nothing. 

A good daughter would refuse the invitation and go home to take care of her.

But I was tired of being good.

“Sounds like fun,” I replied, buckling my seatbelt.

Jude smiled widely. He hadn’t believed I would agree. Was I really that predictable?

We were quiet on the drive to the townhouse Rowan and Trent shared. A few minutes before we arrived, Jude said, “My grandpa has been asking about you.”

“He has?” I don’t know why that fact made me light up so much. 

“Yeah, he misses you. He still thinks you’re this mysterious Julia person though,” he chuckled.

Even if to his grandpa I was simply a girl named Julia, that may or may not have ever existed, it still warmed my heart that he missed me. No one had missed me for a long time.

“I’d like to see him again sometime,” I told him, my soft voice betraying a shyness I didn’t normally feel.

“Really?” Jude seemed genuinely surprised by my admission.

“Absolutely,” I nodded as we rounded the corner and the row of townhouses came into view.

He didn’t say anything but the way his lips were pursed I knew he was mulling over my reply. 

He parked the truck in front of the house and I hopped out before we could have another heart to heart. 

I jogged up the front steps and rang the doorbell.

Rowan let us inside and led us back through the house towards the kitchen.

I screamed when I saw something furry scurry across the floor. Somehow, I ended up grabbing ahold of Jude’s arm and hiding half-behind him. As soon as I realized what I’d done I released him and stepped away, my cheeks tinged pink.

“That’s just Bartholomew,” Rowan explained. At my continued befuddled appearance she added, “Trent’s ferret.”

“Oh,” I nodded, “the ferret. Of course. I thought it was a mouse,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Rowan continued, “the table’s set, so you guys can sit down with the kids. Trent and I have this covered.” 

She didn’t wait for us to reply, with a swish of her long light brown hair she was gone.

Jude nodded his head towards the table. We didn’t make it very far before we heard, “Hey, Jude!” In a sing-song voice.

“The kid never gets tired of that,” he chuckled.

“At least he has good taste in music for a six year old,” I smiled.

Tristan, Rowan and Trent’s son, appeared at the top of the stairs running down them towards us. Well, not us, but to Jude.

Jude lowered so that the small boy crashed into his waiting arms, giving him a giant bear hug. Standing, Jude spun Tristan around, his high-pitched shrieks of delight echoing through the space.

“Don’t kill my son!” Rowan called from the kitchen.

“Fun sucker,” Jude and Tristan said at the same time. 

I shook my head, looking around for Ivy—Rowan’s nine year old little sister that lived with them. She came down the steps too, although not as enthusiastically as Tristan. Ivy was a sweet girl, but I knew the last year or so had been rough on her emotionally. With her morose expression and overall melancholy appearance I wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug her.

“Hi, Ivy, how are you?” I asked, suppressing a laugh as Jude ran around with Tristan’s arms wrapped around his neck, the boy hanging down his back like a cape.

“I’m good,” she replied softly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. She looked up at me with wide, doll-like, eyes. “How are you?”

Ivy was always so polite, sounding more like someone middle-aged than the young girl she really was.

“I’m doing okay. Your hair looks pretty like that,” I commented, noticing she had two strand pulled back in a braid, secured with an elastic. 

“Thank you,” she smiled, maneuvering around me to get to the table.

I sat down too, while Jude and Tristan continued to play. 

Trent carried out a large dish, the scent of garlic and marinara lingering in the air. My stomach rumbled and I longed to dig in. 

“Be careful with him,” Trenton warned Jude. 

As soon as Trent was gone, Jude looked at me and rolled his eyes. He mouthed, “Overprotective.” 

A few minutes later we were all seated, ready to eat. 

Trent cooked most of their meals because he really enjoyed it. Tonight he’d made homemade lasagna. My mouth watered at the heavenly aroma. Between Jude’s grandpa and now this, I was getting spoiled. 

Jude cut a piece and set it on my plate. I gaped at him and he shrugged, a small smile threatening to tug up his lips. His gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Rowan and she watched us sharply. She didn’t miss anything.

I took a bite and flavors exploded across my tongue. Taking a sip of ice water, I told Trent, “This is delicious. Thanks for having us over.”

Trent set his fork down, looking across at where Jude and I sat. “Wait…” His head swiveled towards Rowan. “Are they together now?”

I snorted, not only at his question, but at how he addressed Rowan instead of us. 

Rowan lifted a single brow, tilting her head towards Jude and I. “Well?”

“No,” I said at the same time Jude replied with, “I wish.”

“Hmm,” she mused, sitting back in her chair. She watched us closely, like we were a map she was trying to decipher.

Clearing my throat, I went back to eating my food. I tried my hardest to ignore the heat infusing my cheeks.

Trent, obviously, didn’t understand that I’d like the subject dropped because the next thing out of his mouth was, “I think you guys would make a great couple.”

Was no one on my side?

I felt like everyone was rooting for Jude and I to end up together, and frankly all I could think about was graduating college and the enormity of life as an adult. The last thing I needed to add into the mix was any sort of relationship, especially one with him.

“I think so too,” Jude smirked, tossing an arm over my shoulders. I shrugged off his touch like he carried some disease I might contract if he got too close. Yeah, I was totally acting like a little kid freaking out at the thought of ‘cooties’ but I didn’t care. Ignoring my gesture, Jude leaned his face towards mine, but looked at Trent and Row. “Don’t we look so hawt together,” he flipped his hand in the air, making his voice sound high and over exaggerating his words, “like we’d have the most adorable babies ever.” Despite myself, I couldn’t help giggling. 

Tristan started to laugh too, and then everyone was laughing. Leave it to Jude to make me feel better by turning it into a joke. 

Once our laughter dulled, Rowan moved the topic to more neutral grounds. “How’s your paper going?”

I shrugged. “Okay, I guess.” I’d only rewritten it like ten times. It was my final paper and I wanted it to not only be perfect, but to mean something. I wanted to make an impact with the story and my words.

“Come on Tater Tot, give us more than that,” Jude chimed in.

“Tater Tot?” Tristan giggled, marinara sauce spread over his cheeks. “That’s a funny nickname.”

I elbowed Jude in the ribs and mumbled, “Stop calling me that.”

“Mommy says hitting isn’t nice,” Tristan’s eyes widened as he witnessed the gesture. “You should say you’re sorry and kiss it to make it better.”

Jude leaned back in the chair so that only two legs rested on the ground. His brown eyes sparkled with barely contained laughter. I was in trouble now. Crap. “Yeah, Tate, kiss it and make it better. It hurts really bad.” He pouted his full lips and proceeded to pull his shirt up so that his side was exposed.

I narrowed my eyes, opening my mouth to retort. Before I could say anything Rowan slapped her palms against the table. “God, you two are worse than children. I wish you’d just do it already to alleviate the tension!”

Ivy giggled and Tristan looked from his mom and dad to us. “What do you want them to do mommy?”

Rowan’s eyes widened and her cheeks colored.

Trent saved her by leaning his elbows on the table and peering at his son. “She wants them to play Scrabble.”

“Scrabble?” Tristan’s nose scrunched with confusion. “What’s that?”

“It’s a board game,” Trent explained. 

“Oh,” Tristan nodded, “I think we have that one. I’ll get it.” He wiped his small hands on a napkin, climbed off the chair, and ran into the living room.

We all swiveled to look at Trenton. “What?” He shrugged, using his hand to cover his smile, “it was all I could think of.”

A moment later Tristan called from the living room, “I can’t find it!”

Rowan started to stand, but Trent urged her to sit. “I’ve got this,” he assured her, gazing at her lovingly. She instantly relaxed as his lips pressed tenderly against her forehead. Sometimes they were too much to handle, but I was truly happy for them. They had the kind of love that comes once in a lifetime and I only hoped I was lucky enough to find that one day.

Trent brought Tristan back into the dining room sans the board game. “Sorry,” Tristan frowned, “we don’t have it.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, reaching for the glass of water. I suddenly felt parched.

We finished eating and the guys were relegated to babysitting duty while Rowan and I cleaned the dishes. I knew the real reason she stuck the guys together. She wanted to talk.

Almost immediately she hissed under her breath, “What the hell is going on with you two?”

“Honestly?” I asked, turning on the sink.

“Of course.”

“Nothing,” I shrugged simply.

“Nothing?” She repeated. “That did not look like nothing in there.”

“Trust me, it is,” I mumbled, adding soap to the water. 

She cocked her hip to the side and stared me down. I squirmed beneath her penetrating gaze, wondering what she saw. Finally, she turned away, taking a dish from me so she could rinse and dry it. “You don’t see it, do you?” She finally asked after a minute or so had past.

“See what?” I replied in confusion.

“The way he looks at you.”

My head shot up to look at her. “See how who looks at me?”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t play dumb with me, Tatum. We both know you’re not stupid.”

“He looks at me in no particular way,” I mumbled, looking back down at the white plate in my hand.

“Did you know that since he started helping you with your paper he hasn’t been with any other girl?” I was shocked by her words but didn’t show it.

“What do you mean by, ‘been with’?” I asked, scrubbing the same plate that already sparkled.

She sighed dramatically and I knew she wanted to smack the back of my head. “If you want me to say it I will.” Before I could reply she said, “Jude hasn’t had sex with anyone since he started helping you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the counter. “I know Jude well and Jude loves to tell me all about his exploits, even though I’d rather he didn’t.” Muttering under her breath she added, “I think he just likes to watch me freak out. Anyway,” she drew out the word, “my point is he’s been strangely quiet towards me. Are you guys…?” She trailed off, waiting for me to fill in the blanks.

“No!” I cried, almost dropping the plate in the sink. Blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes I said, “You know how I feel about him.”

“I do,” she agreed. “But I also know that your reasons for feeling that way are completely idiotic. I know he tends to act like a playboy and sometimes the biggest douche on the planet, but I wouldn’t be friends with him if I didn’t know he was a good guy.”

Feeling angry, I snapped, “Can you leave it alone? Seriously, how I feel about him or anyone is none of your business. I have a right to not like him. I don’t care what you or anyone else says, he is the reason my brother is dead. I’m stuck with him until this paper is done and that’s it. Nothing more is going to happen.”

She appeared hurt by my words but the cloudiness quickly cleared from her eyes. Sighing, she quirked a brow and snapped, “You keep telling yourself that, Tate. One day the sexual tension between you two is going to burst and I’m going to be able to say I told you so.”