Page 119 of Axe Backwards
“I think so. Graham signed up to compete, and you know how much they adore their son-in-law.” She rolled her eyes.
“Then they’ll see all this”—I held out an arm and swept it from one side to the other—“and be blown away. You are a superhero, Vic. I’m incredibly proud of you.”
“Thank you.” She clutched the front of my shirt tight. “And thank you for signing up to do the silly race.”
I raised one eyebrow. “One thing you need to know about the Heberts: we are dangerously competitive. Trust me when I say I can’t wait.”
“I can see that. Gus’s chainsaw art? And Finn with the long saw? You Hebert boys came to play.”
I straightened my shoulders. “Our family legacy might be a bit tarnished, but I’m a fourth-generation lumberjack, baby. Don’t worry about me.”
The day startedwith speed chopping. The large number of competitors meant it had to be broken into heats. The crowd was even bigger the second day, and the line for blueberry pie at Bernice’s booth was dozens of people deep.
Every person here was smiling. The whole town and many people from neighboring areas loved the lumberjack festival. All day, I’d overheard conversations about how this should be a yearly event. My cheeks hurt from all the beaming I’d done. The wordproudcouldn’t possibly encompass the depth of what I felt for Vic. I only wished she’d wake up and see how incredible she was.
Tess, my mom, Adele, and Thor sat with me in the front row while Finn and Jude chopped wood. Fuck, were they good at it. I made a vow then and there to give in to Jude’s assertion that he should teach me. At the very least, it would be a great workout.
Jude was on a roll, his rhythm perfect until, mid-swing, he looked up into the crowd and froze. A strange sense of dread flooded me. Something was wrong. Was he okay? Had he injured his back or something?
He stared, his jaw hanging. It was only for a moment, but in that time, the axe slid out of his grip.
Fuck.
Startled back to the moment, he instinctively grabbed it, trying to regain control.
His hand caught part of the blade.
And then there was blood.
Wordlessly, I shoved Tess into my mom’s arms, then darted onto the stage. I was already grasping his arm when Finn appeared on his other side, his axe no longer in hand.
Jude blinked at me several times, his face pale.
Blood whooshed in my ears. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Willa, who was the official medical volunteer for the competition, jogged up to us and immediately applied pressure to his hand. “Doesn’t look deep. Let’s get the bleeding under control, and we can see if you need stitches.”
She led him to the stairs, and I followed. He lifted a hand to the silent crowd, signaling that he was okay, and they erupted into cheers.
“Jude.” My heart was still beating too quickly.
Willa sat in front of him and cleaned and bandaged the gash. She was right: it stretched all the way across the back of his hand, but it wasn’t deep.
“What happened?”
He stared at me. “Nothing. Sorry. I thought I saw someone. Got distracted.”
I huffed in disbelief. Jude? Distracted? This guy had been chopping wood since he was in diapers. Who the hell would have the power to make him lose his grip on his axe like that?
“You can tell me. It’s okay.”
Mom rushed in then, fussing and asking Willa questions, but I didn’t take my eyes off my twin.
He shook his head, his expression shuttering.
Something was up with him. And my twin spidey senses were tingling.
Hands on my hips, I exhaled deeply. “We can talk later.”
