Chapter 1 – Jude
Chapter One
JUDE
Present Day
I’ve been infatuated with Mabel Warren since I was sixteen years old.
Back then my best friend, Mason, had convinced me to pick up a summer job with him at Warren Farm and Apiary. They were looking for order pickers and Mason was looking to get close to the youngest Warren siblings, the twins, who were about a year younger than us.
Unfortunately for Mason, Lola was Mr. Warren’s shadow and even though he was brave, he wasn’t brave enough to hit on nor ask a girl out right in front of her dad.
The other Warren twin, Paul,was more Mason’s type and not attached to a parental figure but anyone with eyes could see he was completely in love with the new girl in town, Anya or something like that.
Incidentally, that was Mason’s first and last year working for Warren Farms and Apiary. I, on the other hand, never left.
I’d been packing honey orders at The Farm for roughly two weeks when Mabel busted into my working area, a megawatt smile painting her features.
Her beauty stunned me stupid.
I had no idea who she was and had done my best to act cool, calm and collected when I grilled Mason relentlessly the following day for information on this siren.
Mason had been overly excited to tease me about my immediate interest. With my family situation, I was not known to be very vocal in any aspect of my life and Mason was frequently the human equivalent of a parrot on my shoulder, speaking for me with inappropriate squawks.
The fact that I was actively showing not only interest but speaking for myself was a miracle to him.
Learning more information about Mabel should have pushed me away, she was the owner’s daughter and six years older than me, but there was nothing I could do to get her out of my head. The infatuation was only further intensified by the fact that Warren Farm was the place I felt most at home.
Of course, because Mabel wasn’t a predator and I didn’t have the giant gonads like Mason, nothing had ever become of it, except a giant set of blue balls throughout the rest of my teenhood.
I’m not some type of weirdo who pined for a woman, and she was all woman, for my whole life. I’ve just always been aware of her and as aware I was of her, I was just as sure she had no idea I existed.
For eight years, that is.
Things seemed to change about two years ago and nowadays it seems like even blinking in her vicinity will piss her off.t I don’t know if maybe I’m subconsciously a masochist or what but I’d never been more taken by someone who looked like they would stab me in the neck without a second thought.
God.
I have to adjust myself, I cannot get hard before I walk into Mama Donna’s house.
During the week, Mama D makes lunch for all employees and dinner for those of us who lived on the Farm.
It was a good thing my job was active and I was a big dude, allowing me to enjoy the opportunity to eat my fill of Mama D’s cooking as often as possible.
I’d never tell Mason, who was still my best friend but now an aspiring chef, but Mama D’s food was the best thing I’d ever put in my mouth.
I could only imagine one thing that would be better but the chances of getting the opportunity to get that sweet cream on my tongue was less likely than me winning the lottery in Utah.
I need to get thoughts like that out of my head right freaking now. I respected the hell out of Mama D and wouldn’t walk into her home with dirty thoughts about her baby girl.
Stepping through the front door of the Big House always felt like coming home. In truth it felt more like home than my actual family home had ever felt.
The sounds of life wash over me as I make my way to the dining area. Voices overlapping, dishes clacking, and Mama D’s sweet voice ringing out insisting someone get seconds.
It was crazy how stark the contrast was compared to my childhood home.
Cold and silence. Those were the strongest memories I had of ‘home”.
You’d think a blended family would be full of ruckus, but not in the Jensen household. Expectations for perfection and reverence above all else with punishment quick to follow if expectations were not met.
At twenty-six years old, I had done everything I could to remove myself from the overwhelming need to meet those expectations. Only seeing my family on birthdays and holidays helped keep the need away, and I did my best to find an excuse to be busy as possible to make those visits even more sparse.
“Judey, baby, where have you been?” Mama D’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts and warmth spreads through my chest with the comfort of being welcome.
Mama D had always been nice to me, basically adopting me as her own years ago. She’s always made sure to include me in big events and recently started to insist I come to family only events as well.
I’m ride or die for the woman.
The employees all jeer and tease me as I make myself a plate. “Oh hush. You’re all just jealous.” I call over my shoulder, scooping an extra helping of pasta salad onto my plate. This stuff was like crack.
The jeers die down, no one denying they wouldn’t bend over backwards for Mama D’s love and affection. She was a mother to all, demanding we call her Mama Donna and refusing to answer to any other name.
Mama D’s sweet laugh fills the room. “Dig in, you’ve all been working too hard today.” She said that every day. That woman was a saint.
Too soon, I’m on my way out of the Big House, heading out to a meeting with Lola when I hear Mama D calling my name.
“I wanted to make sure you’re still coming tomorrow night?
” I try to hold in my scowl. I know Mama D thinks of me as part of the family but it feels like crossing a boundary to actually join the monthly Warren family dinner.
Especially when fifty percent of the Warren children seem to hate my very existence.
I run my fingers through my hair, a shoddy attempt to give myself some time to think of an excuse, before pulling the ball cap out of my back pocket and tugging it on.
“Listen, I don’t kn—” Mama D cuts me off with a pointer finger in my face.
“You can’t say no. You’re gonna deny this old woman and miss out on my special announcement?” Lord.
I really can’t say no to this woman.
I huff out a breath. “Of course, I’ll be there.”
We chat for a minute or two more before I excuse myself, Mama D making me promise again to come to family dinner tomorrow night.