Chapter 18
18
Rachel
R achel sat across from Hudson in one of the fanciest restaurants she’d been to in a while. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Live music filtered through the whole restaurant. Everything from the tablecloths to the art on the wall reminded her of the more expensive places her parents would take her when she was back home.
Hudson had insisted he didn’t want to be interrupted, although that was almost guaranteed in Copper Creek. He held his menu with one hand and her hand with the other. His thumb trailed along the ridges and valleys of her knuckles, and every so often he looked up at her.
She hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell him everything, but now he knew that she’d been raised by a wealthy family and that she had enough money to purchase the land. But what she hadn’t told him was just how wealthy her family was, nor why she felt determined to keep everyone she knew at arm’s length.
The desire to tell him was there. She could safely say she felt secure with him. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would never do anything to hurt her—not on purpose, anyway. But there was still so much she didn’t know about him.
“Can I ask you something?”
He glanced up at her, then placed his menu on the table.
She squirmed under his scrutiny. “You’re quiet.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “That’s not a question.”
Heat returned to her face, and she looked away. “What I meant to say is that your brothers—your family—they’re all more or less… social.”
“Still not a question.”
Rachel shifted in her seat. “You know what I’m trying to ask. Why do you think you’re a little different?”
“I’m not, really.”
She lifted her gaze to meet his and gave him a pointed look.
Hudson shrugged. “I mean, okay, I’m a little slower to warm up?—”
“A little?” She laughed quietly, then shook her head. “You’ve been the hardest one to crack since I got here. No one can give a cold shoulder like you. Even Daniel, who’s the biggest, most foreboding brother—maybe even the quietest—warms up eventually. And then there’s you…”
“Yeah…” he said. “There’s me.”
She worried her lower lip, rolling it back and forth between her teeth. He’d dropped his attention to the menu, but even she could tell he wasn’t paying attention to the words. His brows pulled together, deepening the crease between them. Then his eyes flitted up to meet hers. “Daniel is shy.”
“Yeah… we covered that.”
He swallowed visibly. “Honestly, we’re all a little hard to get to know, depending on who you ask. The only two I’ve never seen have a problem with meeting new people are Lucas and Liam. Lucas has always been a ladies’ man—until he fell in love with Ella. Liam is the town favorite. No one hates him—not even the fathers of the girls he’s dated and broken up with. He’s like the male version of America’s sweetheart. It’s honestly really annoying.”
She stifled a laugh. “Okay, but I wasn’t asking about your brothers. I was wondering why you fall on the far end of the being-social scale. You don’t seem to like to spend time with people. You hated being at the country club for the engagement party. You’d literally rather stay in a tent on my property than sleep in a comfortable bed.” She lifted a brow and leaned forward with a conspiratorial whisper. “Athena told me how much of a fight you put up when she took the room you wanted.”
Hudson’s scowl was more comical than anything else. “In my defense, I wanted that room so I could be alone.”
“Then that proves my point. You prefer to be alone despite being born into a family with several siblings.”
“I still don’t know what you’re trying to ask.”
She didn’t either. Rachel shrugged. “It’s like you said. You are a private person. Usually, people who are private are that way for a certain reason. I guess I’m wondering what it is about you that makes you that way.”
He lifted a brow. “You think I’m private because something happened to me?” There was a slight edge in his voice, and she thought for sure she’d ruined their night. But then he sighed as his eyes shifted to where he held her hand. “I told you about my parents abandoning us.”
“Yes,” she said.
“It just hit me harder than the others. I don’t know how any of them were able to come to terms with it and have normal relationships. But I also don’t wish that I was any different. It’s safer this way.”
She nodded. “I can totally get that. It’s easier to keep people at a distance when you don’t know if you can trust them. I’m so glad Athena found Henry. He’s been good for her.”
He glanced at her once more. “Honestly, a few months ago I didn’t think they should have ended up together.”
Rachel stiffened, pulling her hand from his. “What? Why?”
The way he fidgeted beneath her stare was enough for her to wonder if he still harbored poor opinions about where she came from. If he didn’t think Athena was good enough for Henry, then what would stop him from thinking she wasn’t good enough. Hudson pressed his lips together firmly. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. If this is about the fact that she was homeless?—”
“What? Of course not,” he interrupted. “She abandoned him.”
Rachel couldn’t move. She didn’t know what to say. This date was not going the way she wanted it to at all.
He dragged a hand down his face. “When she took off, it triggered something. It felt like she was running. When things get hard, that’s what people do. That’s what my parents did. I didn’t think Henry deserved to have to deal with that.”
“But she came back,” she said in a strained voice. “Athena came back because she loved him.”
“You’re right,” he said. “She did come back. And clearly, he makes her happy.” The pain in his eyes remained even though his tone returned to normal. “They’re a good fit. I can see that now. Athena’s great. Henry is lucky he found love.”
Rachel eyed him with uncertainty. “Was that the only reason you didn’t want Athena to date your brother?”
He nodded. “I swear it.”
She couldn’t hold that against him. Hadn’t she done the same thing? The only reason she’d told him about being the real owner of the land was because she’d been targeted. Money wasn’t something she wanted to flaunt. Hudson hadn’t judged her for keeping that secret. Even now, he wasn’t demanding to know why she had kept it from him. The warmth crept back into her face, and she released a sigh. “I’m not any better, I guess.”
“How’s that?”
“I’m private, too—mostly because people only ever want one thing when they figure out who I am. So, I don’t tell them anything—not who I am or where I’m from. I don’t share the details of my social status. But if you were to look me up on the internet, you’d figure out real quick that I have more than most.”
He was silent for an extended moment—longer than she’d expected. She nearly asked him to just say something so she didn’t have to sit there with him watching her. Then he smirked and reached into his pocket to retrieve his phone. “I can’t believe I never thought of that.”
She gasped and lunged over the table, knocking over one of the small tumblers filled with filtered water and garnering the attention of several people nearby. “Hudson, don’t . At least wait until I’m not here.”
Hudson snickered, turning just enough so she couldn’t reach his phone. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he took a closer look. “Is that…?” He shot an incredulous smirk at her. “The alpaca is eating your hair. You want to tell me about that?”
Rachel let out a defeated laugh as she slumped back into her seat and covered her face with her hands. “My parents were part of an event for the local zoo,” she groaned.
He continued grinning as he swiped through his phone, then he stopped, and his expression sobered. Uh-oh. What had he found? She wasn’t aware of anything detrimental online. He might be able to find her net worth based on a Wikipedia page. There were embarrassing photos and the typical shots from the numerous charities. She couldn’t remember, but there might be a family picture out on the internet as well.
She leaned to the side in an attempt to catch a glimpse of what he might be looking at, but then he turned the phone so she got the full view.
It was a picture of her hunched down while speaking to a group of cancer children. She was dressed in a princess gown, and she’d pulled her hair up to make her look like Cinderella. Rachel’s eyes cut to Hudson’s. “That was when I was in high school. We visited a couple different hospitals…” Her words trailed off.
“How old are those kids?”
Rachel took in a deep breath. “Probably only four or five.”
“You look pretty happy.”
A smile touched her lips as she stared at the photograph. “I was.” It was before she’d found out that she had a sister—before she’d become obsessed with finding Athena. “It was one of the best events I got to attend. There’s just something about the innocence of children that…” Once again, she lost her ability to speak as he continued to stare at the picture without saying a word. “Everything okay?” Rachel asked with a small voice.
Hudson nodded and put his phone down. “Of course.” He reached for his menu and flashed her a smile. “Our waitress will probably be back soon. We should pick what we’re going to order so we’re ready.”
She grabbed her menu, her eyes not leaving his face as she lifted it upward. That was weird. The temptation to ask him what had triggered his reaction burned within her. She needed to learn to trust his answers. She didn’t have any reason to believe he was lying to her. Hudson had only ever been honest with her.
While she looked over the menu, she caught Hudson staring at her with a curious sort of expression. He didn’t turn away when she met his gaze. Instead, he smiled. She offered a shy smile in return. There was something that had shifted between them. She didn’t know what it was, but she could feel it—and it wasn’t bad.
Hudson knew more about her. He had looked up her past right in front of her and it didn’t scare him off. She didn’t get the feeling that he was sizing her up for her money, either.
Rachel lowered the menu and stared at him.
“What’s that look for?” he murmured with a grin.
“I don’t really like people knowing my history.”
“Why’s that?”
“Most of the time when people find out about who I am and where I come from, they try to use me...” Even to her, that statement sounded conceited. “…for my money.” Her face flushed deeply.
“Makes sense,” Hudson offered. “People want what they can’t have.”
“And that’s… not you?”
He pushed out his lower lip and tilted his head, then shrugged. “Nope. I’ve lived my life barely getting by. Anything more than what I had as a kid feels like a fortune.”
“Really?” she said in disbelief.
“Really,” he confirmed. “Would I like to have an endless supply of money to do stuff like you’ve been able to do? Sure. Saving a ranch from the hands of developers… helping children who are fighting cancer… you’re like a modern-day superhero.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a hero.”
“But you do stuff to make the world better. I think that’s pretty super. If anyone gets to have that kind of power, I’m glad it’s you.”