Page 104 of The Geography of Happiness

Judah narrowed his eyes at his husband. “I’malwaysnice.” He turned back to me. “So, you’re Spencer, huh?” He eyed me up and down like a piece of dubiously aged meat and I resisted the urge to squirm. “The country vet.”

I bit back a smile at the wordcountry, figuring it wasn’t meant as a compliment. “Large animal vet, yes.”

Judah’s eyes tightened at the corners and he tapped his lip thoughtfully. “You adopted Miller, right?”

I nodded. “See, there you go. Youdoknow something about me.” Which earned a snort from Morgan because yeah, I was poking the bear, but I wasn’t about to be cowed by the man Terry had once crushed over. A precedent was being set and I wasn’t about to give ground without a fight.

A sentiment not lost on the other man. Judah’s lips twitched in amusement but he didn’t laugh. “So, let me guess.” He folded his arms. “I’ve heard you guys talk all the time because Miller and Gabby are...friends—” Judah made air quotes. “So, you must be here to let them... what? Have a play date?”

I almost laughed. The man was a snarky little fucker just as Terry described, but not totally unlikeable. “Not quite. But I like the way you think. Maybe next time.”

Judah’s brows peaked. “Next time, huh?” His gaze flicked to Terry who rolled his eyes.

“Just ignore him.” Terry glared at his best friend. “Judah, back off.”

Judah opened his mouth to argue but Morgan put a hand on his husband’s arm. “Why don’t we sit down and see howHannahis doing? That’s why we’re here, right, cupcake?”

Judah flushed a bright red and immediately looked to Hannah. “I’m sorry, munchkin. Morgan’s right... as usual.How’re you doing?” He spread the bakery bags across the bed. “The nurses said you could eat whatever you want so I brought all your favourites—cinnamon rolls, donuts, chocolate éclairs, and some of those pizza scrolls you love so much so you can pretend you ate something healthy. If you’re not feeling like anything right now, you can save them for later. Oh, and Morgan got you a hot chocolate.” He waved a hand and Morgan pulled a takeout cup from the carry tray and put it on Hannah’s side table.

“You’re the best.” Hannah grabbed Judah’s hands and kissed them. “Thank you, thank you.” She patted the bed for Mickey to put his front legs up and the shepherd immediately did as she asked, planting his wet nose on her cheek.

“You’re welcome, gorgeous.” Judah’s breath hitched and his eyes misted, and just like that I knew I’d forgive the annoying man every scrap of his pissy attitude and possessiveness.

Judah Madden had protective mamma bear written all over him, and I wouldn’t have wanted anything less for my two favourite people. I also had an inkling the two of us would get on just fine once we got the measure of each other.

Stand your ground and show no fear, right?

Hannah appeared to be enjoying the faceoff. She leaned back on her pillows and nibbled at a donut like she was settling in to watch a show. I shot her a wink and an answering smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, the little minx.

“You want some popcorn with that,” I whispered, and she almost choked on her donut.

As for Mickey, satisfied there was no imminent danger, he found a spot in the corner of the room with a good view of his master and also settled down.

“Earl Grey for you.” Morgan handed another of the takeout cups to Terry who took a sip whilst eyeing Judah nervously over the rim.

“I would’ve brought you something if I’d known.” Morgan shot me an apologetic look. “Any friend of Terry’s is a friend of ours, isn’t that right, Judah?” A clear metaphorical elbow directed at his husband’s ribs.

In response, Judah rolled his eyes. “Of course. I just wasn’t aware that our Spencer here had shifted status fromthe vet I metto afriend who rushes to cuddle me at my daughter’s bedside,which points to another glaring omission in the list of things I thought I knew about mybestfriend.” He eyeballed Terry and I didn’t miss the sting of hurt in his eyes.

Oh boy.“To be fair,no oneknew I was coming.” I stepped in, unwilling to let Terry take the heat for my decisions.

“He’s right,” Hannah piped up, pointing her donut at me and making Morgan chuckle. “Nobody knew. It was a big surprise.”

I shot Hannah a grateful smile. “Yesterday, I was still in Adelaide.”

Judah’s eyebrows popped. “Adelaide?”

“Yes,” Terry answered with a steely look and a fed-up tone that surprised everyone. “Spencer was offered a secondment to the university vet programme and?—”

“A secondment, which I am turning down.” I put a hand on Terry’s arm to let him know I had this.

Terry glanced between Judah and me, sighed, and leaned back against the wall. “Fine. Have at it. But no dead bodies. I’m too tired.”

I shot him a quick smile and turned my attention back to Judah. “I’m turning it down because I came to my senses and realised it wasn’t what I really wanted.”

Judah’s gaze narrowed. “So, whatdoyou really want?”

I shook my head. That was as far as I was willing to go. The rest was Terry’s decision to share or not. “That’s really none of your?—”

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