Page 40 of Someone Just Like You

Jude skimmed the room. “At least you’ll perish in a clean apartment.”

“Her keys are over there,” I said, pointing aimlessly.

Jude chuckled. “Overthere, huh?” He took a few steps to the right.

I craned my still-achy neck to watch his path. “You’re getting warmer. Keep going. Warmer. Hot. There!”

“Over there equals kitchen table. Got it.” He scooped the keys off the Formica surface and rejoined me in the living room. “Now where am I going?”

“One sec.” I blew my nose, making a loud trumpet-like sound, and tossed the dirty tissue on the floor. Ignoring Jude’s shudder, I recited Esther’s address and told him where she kept the cat food. It wasn’t a doorman building, which meant all he needed for entry were the keys. I fiddled with my beanie. “I’m scared. What if I killed her?” My stomach lurched in a way that felt unrelated to whatever ailment I had.

Jude’s eyes softened. “She’ll be fine. Get some sleep.” He turned to leave.

“Thanks, Jude,” I said to his back, hoping my delayed gratitude didn’t go unheard.

He waved without turning around.

When the door closed behind him, I blew my nose again before granting my doorman permission to let Jude back up automatically—in case I perished in his absence. Then I turned on the television toThe Young and the Restless.

Sleep? No way. Not until I knew Poppy was okay.

Chapter Nineteen

Iwoke up to a wet tongue on my toes.

“Stop it, Yogi,” I heard someone say.

I sat up and blinked. “Wha…what’s happening?” Then I remembered. “Poppy!”

Jude stood in the center of my living room holding a plastic bag. “She’s fine. It took me a second to coax her from her hiding spot behind the couch, but she’s hydrated and fed.”

“Thank God!” A wave of relief crashed through me.

“I wasn’t sure when Esther would be back, so I brought the cat to my apartment in case you’re still not okay tomorrow. You’re allergic, right?”

“Y-yes.” I was surprised he remembered. But since he’d just done me a massive favor, I refrained from pointing out the time he strategically left clumps of his childhood cat Gizmo’s hair on my toys in our basement and laughed when my eyes swelled shut.

He gestured to Yogi, who was curled at my feet. “I hope you don’t mind.”

I smiled down at the dog. “Not if you don’t. I’m probably contagious.”

“I don’t think dogs can catch human colds.” He scratched at the layer of stubble on his jaw. “When was the last time you ate?”

Until he asked, I hadn’t noticed the hollow pit in my stomach, both desperate to be filled and repulsed by it. “I don’t remember.”

“I figured as much.” He walked away, leaving me alone with Yogi, who’d jumped onto the couch and promptly fallen asleep.

I followed Yogi’s example until the sound of clanking pots woke me up. “What are you doing?”

Jude returned to the living room carrying two bowls. He placed the dishes on the coffee table.

“What’s this?”

“Matzo ball soup. My nana sent me home with two gallons of it the last time I saw her.”

My breath hitched, which had the unfortunate effect of making me cough…and cough. I covered my mouth until the spell ended and drank from the water Jude had brought me from the kitchen. “That was really kind and…um…unnecessary of you.” Even in my weakened condition, “nice” Jude was unnerving.

“It was nothing.” He blew on a spoonful of soup. “We needed room in the freezer for vodka.”

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