69. Jud
The breathy gasp drew my attention and when I saw Ada standing in the doorway to the library, I had to blink a few times to convince myself I was really seeing her. They’d convinced her to come back with them. I didn’t know what to feel. My heart was beating wildly at seeing her again but I was nervous. She’d come back for Collin and Joe. She left me because of them. They were her focus and I wasn’t sure where I fit in.
Milo ran a truck into my leg, still playing because he hadn’t spotted Ada yet. I looked down to stop him from bruising my leg and when I looked back up, Ada was gone. So were my brothers. Had they already gone off to celebrate? Was Ada not interested in seeing me? I was on my feet before I could think through what I was doing.
“Play with your toys, Milo.” I ruffled his hair and hurried towards the hallway but I stopped when I heard Ada’s angry voice just outside the door.
“You told me he was locked away again! You told me he was lost in his darkness again. You lied to get me back here! I never would’ve come back if you hadn’t tricked me. I came back for him, to make sure he was okay, but he’s fine! He’s not hiding. He’s playing with his son! Why did you do that? You scared me. You made me think Jud was in danger to get what you wanted.”
I hated that she was angry and I wanted to throttle my brothers for using me to trick her but I couldn’t help the smile that stretched my lips. She’d come back for me.
“I told a lie for the greater good, Ada. He does need you. We all do. You belong here with us.” Joe sounded panicked. “Ada, I love you!”
I stepped into the hallway and stared at my older brother. His face was bright red and he looked rough but his eyes were sincere and damp as he stared down at Ada.
“I’m sorry to just shout it at you like that, but I do. I love you and I need you. I don’t want to lose you, Ada. I don’t want to spend another night with you away from us.” He wiped his eyes and winced. “Please, just stay. If you can’t forgive me, I’ll have to understand, but you do belong here. With Jud. With Collin. With our kids.”
Ada took a step closer to him. “You love me?”
Joe let out a rough laugh and nodded. “Fuck, yes, I do. I’m miserable from it. Loving you and knowing I hurt you is killing me. Loving you and not being able to touch you is miserable. I just want to make things right.”
“Loving me makes you miserable?” There was a lightness to Ada’s voice that hadn’t been there before.
“No. I- I’m not doing this right.” Joe tried to say more but Ada closed the distance between them and kissed him.
I glanced over at Collin and saw him shifting from foot to foot. I knew he’d never told a woman he loved her, not even his ex-wife. He’d treated every relationship as a transaction but the way he looked at Ada, I knew he loved her. I just didn’t know if he knew it.
Ada pulled back from Joe and turned into Collin. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. “It’s okay. You can touch me.”
Collin snapped like a rubberband. He scooped her into his arms and lifted her off the floor as he buried his face in her hair. “Fuck, Ada. I just need to hold you for a minute.”
Joe looked at me and took a deep breath. He looked lighter than he had since he’d kicked Ada out. “She came back for you, Jud.”
Collin let Ada go and I watched as she slowly made her way over to me. She stopped a foot away from me and met my gaze. “I did come back for you. I know I hurt you and I’m so sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing but that doesn’t mean it didn’t break me to walk away from you. I love you, Jud. I hope you can forgive me.”
I cupped her face and smiled as she inhaled sharply. My touch did that to her. She loved me. “I love you, sweet girl.”
She searched my face and bit her lip. “I think I still owe you more kisses, considering how much money you paid back then.”
I stroked my thumbs over her cheeks and pulled her closer. “You realize I’m never letting you go again? This is it.”
She nodded and tilted her face up to mine. “I don’t want you to ever let go, Jud.”
I gave her what we both wanted and slanted my mouth over hers. I had to taste her, had to make sure she was real. I stroked my tongue into her mouth and wrapped both arms around her. I ran my hand down her back and cupped her ass, just to have her flinch. Pulling back, I looked down at her and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
Joe tried to hide a laugh with a cough. “Sorry. It’s really not funny.”
Ada made a face and sighed. “And yet, you’re laughing. I tried to run away from Joe and I had a run in with my aunt’s cactus.”
My mouth parted. “You got cactus in your ass?”
She stuck her bottom lip out and nodded. “It was Joe’s fault.”
“Florida was rough on the three of you.” I looked them each over and shook my head.
“Is that our baby I hear?!” Mandy’s voice rang out from upstairs and the sound of her feet on the stone floor was loud as she ran. “My baby! My lying little baby!”
Ada winced. “Who told them I wasn’t here?”
I raised my eyebrows and held her closer. “Well, when they showed up here looking for you, it didn’t take them long to realize that you were missing. Call them observant.”
“My baby!” Mandy charged into the hallway where we were and pulled Ada into her arms. “You little liar! You could’ve been killed! I didn’t know where you were! And to think you were with Maxine! She’s nuts, Ada! Oh, my gosh, honey. Did you forgive these idiots?”
Ken wrapped his arms around both his wife and daughter and kissed the top of Ada’s head. “Life’s too short to stay mad, honey. Forgive them and let’s focus on what happened with your Aunt Maxine. I haven’t seen her since she tried to shave my head and made me carry her around on my shoulders, just because she felt like it. Her words.”
“I love you, Ada.” Collin’s loud proclamation startled everyone and left Collin blushing red. “Jud and Joe both said it and I didn’t want you to think I don’t feel it, too. The timing’s all wrong. Right? It’s just that I’ve never said it to anyone before, not like this, and I’ve already messed up so much. I’m nervous. Is it hot in here?”
Ken pushed Ada towards Collin and she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to whisper something in his ear. It wasn’t hard to imagine what she said by looking at Collin’s face. He was grinning from ear to ear.
“Okay, so my little liar daughter is back and it seems like you’ve all made up. How much longer until I get more grandbabies?”
“Ada!” Alex and Avery came running to hug Ada and Kendall was right behind them.
“A-ya!” Milo ran past my legs to get to Ada. “A-ya home!”
It was a full blown reunion in the hallway by the library, with all the kids proving just how right Ada was for our family. I watched her hold Milo while talking excitedly with Kendall and the twins, while also casting long looks at me, Joe, and Collin. I couldn’t accept that it was all real so fast, but there was Ada, right in the middle of us, anchoring us.
“Do the adults need alone time? Makeup se-”
“Mom!”