Chapter 47 Arden
ARDEN
JUDE: I need you to come pick up something from the bar
ARDEN: I’ll be there in ten
Checking my phone as I get out of my car, I smile to find no new messages, just the one from Jude asking me to meet him here. Seriously, I’ve been pregnant for months and the man still doesn’t trust me to eat.
The door to the bar swings open, a guy in a red shirt and navy shorts smiling as he holds the door for me. I thank him and push my sunglasses onto my head as I step inside, my eyes taking a second to adjust before locking not on Jude but the two people sitting in the back.
My parents.
There’s no way—no freaking way.
Rounding the bar, Jude takes my elbow and pulls me out of earshot as I ask, “What the hell is this?”
“You have the upper hand here. They won’t make a scene and it’ll give you a chance to talk.”
“I’m going to make a scene,” I hiss, my heart taking off like a racehorse in my chest. “I don’t like this, Jude. I don’t want to do this.”
“Talk to them. I’m right here and if things get to be too much then it’s full stop.”
“Fine,” I snap, turning on my heel and marching over toward their table, my feelings hurt as anger simmers inside me.
I didn’t want this.
And I definitely didn’t want this under false pretenses.
Like lunch.
“Arden, hi. Thank you so much for coming,” my father says, standing and hugging me awkwardly.
“I was lured here,” I tell them, sitting down across the table and noting that my mother did not even attempt to get up.
“I thought a lot about what you said,” my mother states, her eyes tired. “And I started talking to someone, a therapist, trying to work through what I’ve been feeling.”
“That’s great,” I tell her honestly, a bit surprised as a glimmer of hope starts to shine.
“It is. Evan has come a few times with me.” He smiles at her, and I have the strangest feeling that he’s holding her hand under the table. “Breaking up wasn’t the answer, but there was no way to navigate our relationship without help.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“I need to apologize, Arden,” my mother says. “I handled everything wrong, right from the start. I clouded your future with my past and I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve it, any of it.”
“I didn’t and neither did Jude,” I tell her even though I’m still angry with him. “He’s worked so hard to fill every void in my life—the holes you both left. It wasn’t fair to him but not once has he complained.”
“We never wanted to hurt you with our relationship,” my father says quietly as guilt settles into my gut.
“You should be allowed to date whoever you want, and if that’s each other then that’s great. I got caught up in the potential fallout of having to choose one of you over the other, and I just can’t do that. I don’t want to do it.”
“I hate how much I hurt you and all the things I’ve missed,”—Mom’s voice wavers—“but you’ve done so beautifully and I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope that when you’re ready, you’ll be willing to share this with me and I can get to know you and Jude and the baby.” She looks at my father. “That we can get to know all of you.”
“I’d like that,”—I pause, trying to find the words—“but I need this to go slow. You’ve both infused so much doubt into my psyche, and it’s been daunting trying to unravel it. Speaking of daunting, I’m exhausted and I think I need to go lie down for a while.”
My mother’s lip quivers as I slide out of the booth. “Am I allowed to say you can call me if you need anything?”
“Sure.” Rubbing the spot between my eyebrows, I release a weary exhale. “We’ll be okay.”
And we will. I just can’t handle any more of that today.
Excusing myself, I walk back over toward where Jude is standing and brace myself for what’s next.
JUDE
I watched as Arden talked with her parents, her body language guarded but still open as they sat there. I know today isn’t going to fix everything, but it’s definitely a start and hopefully a good one.
“How’d it go?” I ask when she approaches.
“You had no right to do that to me—blindside me like that.”
“You needed the push and things worked out. That’s supposed to be a good thing.”
“It can be a good thing and I can still be pissed,” she practically yells. “You set this up—set me up—and I hate it. I hate that I’m mad but I can’t just brush it off because you didn’t trust me with this. You said we were a team and that we’d figure this out together.”
“I did this for you—”
“Yup.” She pops the p and blinks back tears. “You sure did.”
“Arden.”
“No. Work your shift. I need some time. Alone.”
Fuck.