Page 140 of Can't Get Over You
“That’s the house she bought with her ex,” Boone said. “Why would she want to live there with you and Cody?”
Jude held his brother’s gaze, the whiskey making his nerves jangly. “I get that, but she was crying. She was upset. And I couldn’t help her. She didn’t want me to.”
“I think…” Wyatt stared at the fire. “She’s got to get through this on her own, and you’ve got to trust she’ll come back to you.”
I hope he’s right.
“Can we go inside now?” Boone said. “I can’t feel my nuts.” He grabbed the shovel and dumped snow over the flames.
As Jude got up, he snatched the paper bag off the ground and stuffed the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows inside.
“Can you ever feel your nut sac?” Wyatt asked as they headed into the house.
“Why would you even ask that?” Boone said. “Obviously, no one’s ever licked your balls.”
“I’m talking about in general,” Wyatt said. “Just in daily life. You don’t feel them any more than you feel your toes or fingers.”
“Dude, I feel my balls.” Boone opened the door, and they all filed into the house. “When my jeans ride up, or I run too fast. You never had a dog ram his face into your junk?”
The heat inside the house made his skin burn. Jude sat on the bench in the mudroom and untied his boots, kicking them off. “When she’s sad, she likes sweets. I want to send her some of that Harley and Lu’s fancy ice cream she likes.”
“Or you can give her the space she asked for.” Boone hung his jacket on a hook.
“It’s a tough call.” Wyatt led the way into the kitchen. “You don’t want silence to come across like you don’t care.”
Oh shit.He couldn’t let her think that. Not for a second. “Then I’m going to do it. I’ll send her?—”
The doorbell rang.
Finlay?Yes.He knew it. In his socks, Jude took off, nearly sliding and falling on his ass, but he righted himself in the need to get to her. He threw the door open, shocked to see the sheriff.
It was the apology in the woman’s eyes that gave his stomach a hard twist. She held out an envelope. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s been a motion filed about Cody. You’ll need to appear before Judge Adams to sort it out.”
“What is this?” Jude took the envelope and tore it open.Notice to Appear.
“It’s a hearing to determine guardianship,” the sheriff said. “Because of a material representation to the court.”
“What the fuck?” Boone muttered under his breath.
“Will he take Cody from us?” Wyatt asked.
“It’s possible.” She studied the three of them as if deciding how much to say. “Look, it’s a small town. People talk, and the judge’s wife has lots of friends. Someone told her you and Finlay aren’t really engaged. Whoever it was contacted Family Services.”
“Shit.”Who would do something like that?“He can’t revoke custody. Cody’s happy here. We take good care of him. We’re his home.”
“Tell that to the judge tomorrow morning at nine,” the sheriff said.
“Is there anything I can do?” Jude asked.
“Show him the man you’ve become, not the kid you used to be. And it wouldn’t hurt to get Finlay there.”
Finlay didn’t have space in her childhood bedroom to play with essential oils, but she could still tinker with the formula for her soap. She wanted something super luxurious.
As she set out her new molds on the bathroom counter, her phone rang.Willa.“Hey.”
“Happy New Year!” Her friend had to shout over the party noises in the background.
“Yep. You, too.” Though she was barely hanging on, she tried to rally for her friend.
