Page 83 of Steadfast
Oh, man.Busted. “It’s Sophie2010.”
She looked up, a question in her eyes.
“The year I first kissed you. I’m a sap, I know.”
“I like saps.”
“Good thing.” I squeezed her a little tighter.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sophie
Internal DJ set to: “Auld Lang Syne,” the Barenaked Ladies version
Jude napped for a little while, and I lay there, just happy to be with him. Maybe he was still too sick and achy to see it, but things were about to turn around for us. After a while I heard May in the kitchen, so I got up and went to talk to her.
“How’s he doing?” she asked, stirring a pot of beef stew on the stove.
“Okay I guess. He doesn’t complain to me, though.”
“That’s good?” May guessed, peeking at me from beneath her bangs.
“Yes and no. I think he’s worried, but he won’t admit it. He’llneveradmit it.” Even as the words left my mouth, I knew how much they bothered me. “Before, he preferred to get high than to tell me he was afraid.”
“Men, right? They don’t think they can speak their feelings.”
“Right. Although in Jude’s case, he grew up without anyone to tell them to. His mother split when he was young, and his father drank his feelings away.”
May winced. “Hello, role models.”
“Yeah.”
“Stay for dinner?” May asked. “The rest of my family has obviously abandoned us. I think they said something about going out for pizza.”
“Sure, thanks! What can I do to help you?”
“Not a thing. Audrey made this stew yesterday, so it’s incredible. Do you want to wake up Jude? We could get him to sit at the table like a human.”
“Good plan.”
“The rolls I’m warming in the oven will take ten minutes, though. So no rush.”
I went back into the TV room and perched on the edge of the couch. When I put a hand on Jude’s chest, he raised his good hand to cover mine without opening his eyes. “Hi,” he said, and the sound of his husky voice strummed right through me like a guitar chord. I missed him. Icravedhim.
“May heated up some stew for dinner. If you get up in ten minutes you can dine in a vertical position.”
He opened his eyes and smiled at me. “Sounds exciting.”
“I know, right?”
His fingers stroked mine. “So what have I missed in the past few days while I did my Rip Van Winkle imitation?”
“Ah, well…” I had no idea how Jude would react to the questions I was about to ask him. “I’ve been doing some digging.”
“What for?”
Clasping his hand in mine, I confessed. “I’ve been reading the police file from your accident three years ago.”
