34. Jude #2
I shake my head. That happened once in a busy subway carriage when I was fifteen, but he’s never let me forget about it, telling me it could all have been avoided if I’d been more hydrated.
The door rattles again and the manager curses. “This usually works.”
“Move aside,” Slade instructs. “Jude?”
“Yeah?”
“Step back from the door.”
“What are you going to do?” the restaurant manager asks.
“I’m getting her out. You heard her father, she might faint. I’m not leaving her in there alone when she’s in danger.”
I suck in a breath at his rough commanding tone that leaves no room for argument. Because hidden within it is a hint of the panic that was there when he screamed after me for jumping off that cliff.
He’s worried about me being trapped in here.
“I’m fine,” I call through the door.
“You’re trapped!” he hollers back with far more force than I expect.
I clasp a hand over my mouth as realization slams into me.
I’m trapped, like his mother was on the boat when he had to leave her. Before the fire…
“I’m okay,” I call again, the worry for what he must be feeling making my voice come out shaky and emotional.
“She’s not okay in there… Jesus Christ,” I hear him say to the others.
The door shakes in its frame as an almighty crash slams into it, bowing the wood in the center.
“What are you doing? That’s my door!” the manager shouts.
“And that’s my girl in there, so get the hell out of my way!”
The door’s hit with force again.
It flies open, accompanied by the sound of shattered metal hitting the floor.
“Jude!”
Slade gathers me up in his arms in a rush, cradling my head and kissing my hair over and over. “Are you okay?” He leans back and checks me over.
“I’m fine,” I choke, the sight of him so triggered by what’s happened making tears spring to my eyes.
How could he ever think what happened to his mom was his fault? He would have fought even harder to make it back to his mother than he just did to get to me.
My eyes fall to the door that’s been reduced to a splintered pile of destroyed wood. It’s evidence of how hard he fights if he needs to.
“Jude.” His eyes pinch at the corners as he thumbs away my tears, mistaking them for scared ones. “You’re okay, Baby.” He pulls me into another hug. “You’ll never be trapped with me, okay? I’ll break down anything that stands between us. You don’t need to worry.”
“I know,” I sob, struggling to rein my emotions in. “I trust you.”
“You trust me?” he echoes.
“With my life.”
He screws his face up and kisses me. I cling to him, fisting the front of his shirt, and crushing my mouth to his as I kiss him back with all I have, showing him how much he means to me, how grateful I am to him, how I never ever want to be apart again.
He keeps me in his arms as we break our kiss, and I look to the side. Mom’s watching us with a small smile, and my father’s face is pale.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
He hovers, waiting for Slade to let me go before he pulls me into an unexpected hug.
“I am proud of you, Darling. Don’t for one minute think I’m not,” he whispers in my ear before letting me go.
“Let’s get some air,” Mom suggests, taking my hand.
Dad hangs back with Slade to talk to the restaurant manager for a few minutes before following us out.
“They’ll catch up,” Mom says, looking back from where she’s walked me up the street.
“Is Dad all right?”
“He’s fine. It just made him think of that time you fainted on the subway.”
“I was fifteen.”
“And he’s never forgotten how worried you made him.”
I look back at the two men, taking their time to walk to us. They’re talking, both of their scowls having lessened a fraction.
“Your father respects people who stand up to him. And he loves you, Jude. He’s proud of you.”
“Until just now I wouldn’t have believed that,” I murmur.
“You quitting med school opened some old wounds, that’s all. He wasn’t as brave as you were at standing up to his father.”
“What do you mean? Dad always wanted to be a surgeon.”
Mom shakes her head with a wistful look. “A guitarist, actually. He was in a band in high school.”
“What?” I gape at her. “How come I never knew this?”
“Because he doesn’t like to talk about it. He gave up on his dream under the pressure from his dad. He loves what he does now. But it took a while.”
“Wow.” I blow out a breath.
“Yeah, wow,” Mom muses, glancing back at where Slade and my father are deep in conversation.
“Do you think he’ll ever come around to the idea that I’m not getting back with Callum?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“It was your father who asked that Callum be seated further away at the dinner the other evening.”
“But he loves Callum. And he wanted me to marry a surgeon. It’s all he talks about.”
“He did. But I told him it was your decision whether to forgive Callum or not and that we had to step back and let you make it. He was giving you space to do that.”
“I made it the moment I caught him with Kelly, Mom.”
“I know. Your father takes longer to adjust to change, you know that.”
“Did he want us to get back together?”
“At first. Because he didn’t know the full story. I think he needed to hear it from you to understand.”
“Pretty sure he’s heard all of it now, thanks to Woody.”
She laughs softly. “I think he has. Quite the protective man you have there.”
“Yeah.” I smile.
Mom wraps her arm around me. “It’ll be fine. You’re his daughter, and family comes first no matter what.”
My heart aches as I pray the same will be true for Slade when the truth comes out and he speaks to his family again.
Mom follows my gaze to the two men again.
“He’s Slade Beaufort, isn’t he?”
“What?”
“It’s been years, but I remember him.”
“Oh, I see, from the news.”
“From the boat I was staying on. Near Cape Town.”
I stare at her, my mouth going dry. “Y-you were the stranger who helped him?”
She smiles sadly. “We helped each other. But he was in a bad way, I doubt he remembers me. Perhaps it’s better it stays that way.”
Slade catches my eye and looks between Mom and me, and I just know from the way his attention lingers on her that he remembers.
“I’m not sure secrets are a good idea in families, Mom.”
She tightens her arm around me. “No, you’re right. Perhaps when he’s ready, he and I can talk.”