Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
HUDSON
D inner was going well. My brothers were behaving—mostly. All of them loved to tease each other, and Shep was the worst offender. But they were open with Elena, and she was genuinely interested in getting to know everyone.
Working with the community wasn't something that the business required. It was just something that each brother had found they enjoyed. I think it had something to do with the fact that we were all single and didn't have much to fill our free time, unless it was hanging out with friends.
There was no need to vacation when you lived on a tourist destination where the weather was almost always warm and the beach within walking distance.
"Tell me, do you all live in beautiful homes since you're contractors?" Elena asked as she finally bit into her taco.
"Have you seen Hudson's place? His is the most renovated," Brady asked.
"I have."
Shep raised his brow at me. "I hope you've been behaving around the journalist."
"Elena came over to interview me about mentoring. We sat on the porch and talked."
"Right," Shep said, but I ignored his comment. He didn't mean anything by it. He just liked to stir up trouble. "Brady and Dalton live together in a rental, and I have our grandmother's old house."
"Oh, where did she live?" Elena asked.
"She had a place on Captiva. It's too big for me, but it's fine."
Elena looked around the table. "Oh, I would have thought you all lived on Sanibel."
Shep winked at her. "I like my space."
"Shep spent a lot of time with my mom. And when she passed, she gave him the house," Mom said by way of explanation.
"That's sweet," Elena said.
"I'm anything but sweet," Shep said flirtatiously.
"I'd tell you to behave, but it's a losing cause at this point," I grumbled.
"Let the girl eat," Mom agreed.
"Luna said she needs one of you to check out a house for her soon," Dad said.
"She wants to flip a new one?" I asked.
"Sounds like it." Then to Elena, Dad explained, "Luna flips houses on the island, and takes on interior design jobs."
"That must keep her busy."
"I don't like that she lives off-island a good portion of the year, but she really seems to have found herself. She knows what she wants, and she created a successful business for herself," Mom said.
Dad's expression was serious. "That was my fault for not encouraging her ideas when she came to me. But interior design was outside my wheelhouse. We still refer customers to her, and she can work some of the jobs remotely."
"That's nice," Elena said between bites.
"It allows her to have the freedom to live wherever she wants," I agreed.
"And that's why you should get on this flip, so she'll come home for a few months," Mom said pointedly.
"I'm on it," I said.
Talk turned to other things going on around the island: a craft fair at the community center that Elena might enjoy and a new musical playing at the theater.
When dinner was done and cleaned up, we walked to the beach. A few of us carried chairs and a cooler with drinks. Shep threw a football to Coop. I drew a line in the sand with my foot for the end zones.
We set up a few beach chairs for whoever needed a break and lit the tiki torches we kept on the beach for evenings like this. Then we started a pickup game. Elena sat on one of the chairs next to Mom, and I wondered what they were talking about.
I wanted them to get along. It shouldn't matter though. Elena wasn't my girlfriend.
The ball flew by my head.
"Get your head in the game," Shep called to me.
I refocused on the game, and we got into a nice rhythm, moving the ball up and down the beach.
"You looked like you were having fun out there," Elena said.
"Yeah, we play around whenever we're all home," I said to her.
"You're lucky you had so many siblings to play sports. That doesn't work with just one," Elena said.
I didn't remember her brother, but then again, he was older than us, and I didn't remember much about Elena either. Back then, I probably should have been more present in the moment, not so worried about my future.
"None of you are dating anyone seriously?" Elena asked as we stood around.
"That's where you come in. If you publish that article, saying we're the most eligible bachelors on the island, we'll be flooded with offers from women," Shep said.
"That's not the point of the article," I reminded him.
He held his hands up. "We won't be hurting for attention. That's all I'm saying."
"Is there a shortage of dateable women on the island?" Elena asked.
"There're plenty of tourists." Shep said, and Cooper punched him in the arm.
"You know you sound like a jerk when you talk," Dalton said to him.
Shep grinned at Elena. "It's been ingrained in me for so long; it's too hard to change."
Elena gave him a dubious look. If she was looking for something deeper in Shep, I wasn't sure she'd find it. He did his job and had an active social life.
Finally, Mom said, "I'm heading inside. It's getting late."
We all packed up, extinguished the torches, and headed to the front of the house. We said our goodbyes and got into our trucks.
Inside the cab, Elena said, "Your family is interesting."
"Did you learn everything you needed to know?" I asked as I backed out.
"I think it raised more questions than it answered. An angle for the story is coming to me."
I didn't want to influence her story, so I didn't ask what that could be. "I hope it's not Shep's cavalier attitude about women. I honestly think he's all bluster."
"Shep's a good guy."
"That's what you got from tonight?" I thought he was goading her, deliberately acting like a bad boy so she'd write that into her story. I didn't understand him.
"It's what I could see beneath the surface."
I whistled. "I always thought Shep was more surface level."
Her face scrunched. "That's definitely not true. You're probably too close to the situation to see him clearly. Your family's great. I'm really impressed with how close you are, being such a big family. With the exception of Luna, you all live on the island."
"I enjoy living here, but I'm not sure all my brothers do. I keep waiting for one of them to say they want to try something else and move to the mainland."
"Do you need all your brothers working the business?"
"Probably not. But I'd hate not to work with them.”
"What about Marshall?"
I scrubbed over the piercing pain in my chest. "We're hoping he comes back at some point. But for now, he's happy."
"You don't like that he left though."
"We're the oldest. I thought I'd always have him by my side. When he decided to go into the military after college, I was surprised. Everything I thought about our future was suddenly different."
"That would be tough."
"Growing up, we kept our siblings in line. I wasn't sure I could do it alone. But I have with varying degrees of success."
"You miss him."
"Of course." I parked in her driveway and turned off the headlights. I didn't want to wake Grams if she was sleeping.
I got out and walked around to her door, helping her out.
"Thank you for a nice night. Your family is wonderful."
"Are you going to continue shadowing me this next week?" I asked, barely breathing while I waited for her to answer.
She glanced over at me as we headed up the walk. "I was hoping I could continue to work with you. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"
"I wasn't sure if you were done with your research now that you've met everyone, and you've had some time to get to know us."
Elena paused on the porch, her expression thoughtful. "I'm not done yet, but I probably need to start on the outlining process. Once I do, I'll have a better idea of where I'm going with it and what to focus on."
"If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."
The light on the porch illuminated her face. "You've already done so much."
"The more accommodating I am, the quicker you can write your story," I said, regretting my words almost as soon as they left my mouth.
She winced, then turned away to unlock her door. "Good night. Hudson."
Then she was gone, and I felt like a jerk for insinuating that I couldn't wait to have her out of my life.
I stood on the porch, wondering if I should knock softly so I could apologize. I could text her, but that didn't seem right either. I should talk to her in person. It was one of those mistakes that I had a feeling would take on a life of its own. I couldn't retract the words, and I couldn't slow their power.
There was no good way to repair the situation. Apologizing wasn't enough. I ran a hand through my hair and jogged down the steps.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I wished that we'd had plans for the evening. I would have enjoyed spending the evening watching the rain come down with Elena.
It was possible I felt a little vulnerable when she was asking about Marshall because that was a tough situation for me. I was close to him, and I hadn't even known that he was planning to leave.
It hurt and made me feel like I couldn't trust my judgment. I was so wrong about him; how could I be right about anything else?
On the way home, the rain landed on the windshield. By the time I parked the car in my driveway, it was pouring. I ran to the door and pushed it open.
Where was Elena now? Was she curled up on her round chair, looking out the window? Was she sitting on her porch in the rain?
I moved outside onto the deck and videotaped the rain coming down, then sent it to her. The water made a soothing sound as it struck the roof of the house.
Almost immediately, she responded to my video message.
Elena: Are you outside in the rain?
I was soaked, but I felt closer to her, enjoying something that she did too.
Hudson: I am. Where are you?
Elena: I'm curled up on my chair, watching through the window.
Hudson: I'm on the deck.
Elena: Are you soaking wet?
Hudson: I am.
Elena: I wish I could see that.
I should invite her to come over, but I was enjoying our banter over text message. Instead, I snapped a picture of me standing in the rain, then sent it to her with a caption: How's this?
Elena: I love it!
A few seconds later, a picture came through of Elena standing in the rain with her face tipped up, the water cascading over her face. Her eyes were closed, and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
A thrill shot through me that we were sharing something that she felt so viscerally. Suddenly, I wanted to be with her. I wanted to kiss her in the rain. But she lived with her grandmother, and I couldn't show up at her place. I just hoped I'd get the chance one day to make a move.
If I hadn't screwed everything up by what I'd said earlier.
Hudson: Beautiful.
Elena: The rain?
Hudson: You enjoying the rain.
She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.
Hudson: I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It didn't come out right.
Elena: No worries.
Her flippant words didn't alleviate my guilt.
That apology wasn't enough. The guilt weighed heavily on me. Especially when I looked at her picture. She was the kind of woman that only came around once in a lifetime. I was an idiot for not seeing it sooner.
I just hoped I hadn't messed up my chance with her with my careless words.