Chapter 54
fifty-four
GREER
It’s just another Saturday when Jude asks me to get a late breakfast with him.
An omelet for myself, grits, bacon, and eggs for my guy.
He’s acting weird throughout the meal. His phone is constantly going off, but he ignores it and keeps the screen facing down.
Despite the seeming urgency in the messages, he doesn’t hurry to answer them.
Is it about Allie?
No, he’ll answer anything about her immediately.
It must be a group chat. Besides, things seem to be alright with Allie, for now at least. As promised, she showed up to dinner with our extended family, Flinch in tow.
She conveniently forgot to mention that she’s not been at school the whole semester, lying about her classes without skipping a beat.
Our family was too focused on Flinch and Jude’s presence to pay much thought to school anyway.
Most of the family think Flinch is a rebound, but they don’t know bikers.
I’m still keeping an eye out, calling the flip phone I left with Allie daily, since I can’t trust texts with Flinch around.
We got to spend the evening together at Odin and Darcy’s big white wedding…
with a prospect glued to her side at all times.
It won’t be for much longer, though. Allie and Flinch are moving into the house next door to the prospects residence this week.
Which means it’ll be glaringly obvious to anyone who lives in town that Allie's not at school.
Which also means her parents are going to find out. No idea how Allie and Flinch plan on dealing with that, but my plan is to stay the hell out of it all.
It’s best she comes clean to her parents now that the whole mess with P.J.
is over. It’s been two weeks since I told Jude about the oil rigs, and two days since he had an ‘’overnight work trip” with Folgers, Couyon and Flinch.
They might not have been able to get on a rig, but they can find out where the personnel helicopter lands to bring the employees back to shore.
P.J. would have been a sitting duck and not even known.
I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. I know what they did, and I’m glad. It isn’t enough for P.J. to just leave Allie alone. He’d just start abusing another woman. While I don’t regret it, I’m not exactly proud of mentioning the oil rig to Jude either.
I don’t like to think about it too much. That side of me isn’t who I normally am. Besides, the day is beautiful, a fresh breeze cooling my skin. I’d kill to be on the bike right now, but Jude it’s too much risk while I’m pregnant. I’m going to miss it, though.
We’re just buckling up when Jude smoothly suggests, “Let's go run an errand together.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, hoping for a trip to Thibodeaux.
“My family’s land is out this way. A neighbor called Willa to complain about a fence. I told her I’d come check it out.”
“How is Willa doing?”
“She wants to buy me out of Bayou Blue. She says she wants to stand on her own two feet.”
“Have you discussed particulars?”
“Some,” he says vaguely. “It’s still a work in progress.”
While the new widow seems anxious at times, she’s not constantly crying either. Braxton and Aiden are often with us so she can rest. I love having the kids around, even when we have more low key time together.
Twenty minutes outside of town, Jude pulls down a dirt road that’s seen better days. The property is flourishing in the owners' abandonment. Louisiana iris grows tall as a toddler, its flowers open for a fall bloom. “My sister had an idea, and I wanted to run it by you,” he starts.
“Oh?”
“I’ve always been partial to the land, and she hates how far out it is from town. I don’t like running Bayou Blue, but she loves it. We both own half, so we’re discussing selling to one another.”
“Doesn’t your dad own the Clairmont land?”
“No, his older brother did. He didn’t have children, so it was passed on to us when he died.”
“So you’d have the land, and she’d have the business?”
“Yeah. Although she discussed me taking the house boat to make things a more even split. The land makes money on its own, though. We lease some of it to hunters and the back acreage to our neighbors for grazing. This plot, though, is where the Clairmont family home has always been.”
Skimming the area, I notice a wooden structure in the distance. There’s one wall that looks to be wooden, and a stack of bricks that might have been a fireplace. “Did it burn down?”
“A hurricane collapsed the roof ten years ago.”
He opens the console and palms something, unbuckles my seatbelt, then asks, “Come for a walk with me?”
My hands are shaky as he helps me out of the car and rests his palm on my back.
He’s planning something. I can see this strange peacefulness in his eyes.
He leads me through the fragrant flowers toward a Live Oak draped in moss.
The tree is impressive, likely hundreds of years old.
You can tell by the heavy branches. They’re thicker than a can of paint and curve so that part of their length rests on the ground.
Jude clears his throat. “I had a thought. What if, when we’re ready, we build a house out here? We can do it on whatever timeline you want.”
My steps falter for a second. Not upset, just surprise.
I love my apartment, but at some point, we’re going to need a family home.
It kills me to admit it, but Dad is right about living in a second story walk up with an infant.
Carrying Hank up and down is bad enough.
I’m not sure how I’m going to manage it with an infant and him.
It’s more than that, though. It’s the lifestyle I want our little one to experience.
I want our baby to be able to run amok without worrying about traffic or disturbing the neighbors.
I can have chickens for fresh eggs. Braxton and Aiden can even have a permanent bedroom here.
This feels like a new dream coming to fruition, one to work towards together.
“I think it’s a great idea.”
“You can design the house however you want,” he says.
“You don’t have to convince me. It’s beautiful here.”
“It doesn’t have to be in this particular spot,” he continues trying to sell me.
I laugh low in my throat. “You can stop now. I’ve already said yes.”
He smiles wide, then, surrounded by purple blossoms and under the shadow of the Live Oak, Jude drops to one knee and pulls a ring out of his cut. “Let's get married.”
“That’s not a question,” I chide, examining the diamond. It’s a beautiful emerald cut with a platinum band. Stunning, but not something Jude would pick.
His smirk is unapologetic. “That’s because I’m not asking. The marriage license is at the apartment, and I made an appointment at the courthouse.”
“So you brought me out here and got on one knee to tell me we’re getting married?”
His eyes go all dreamy in a way that makes my heart beat at an unnatural rate. “Wear my mother’s ring. I’ll ask you that much. Live with me here until our great-grandchildren bury us in the old graveyard.”
My chin wobbles as Jude takes my hand and slips his mother’s ring on my left hand.
Jude moves to stand, and he tilts my chin up to meet his eyes. The look he gives me is everything. It’s possession and pride, adoration, lust, love. “Yes, Jude Clairmont, I’ll do all of those things.”
He swoops me into him with both arms and gives me the tenderest of kisses. Someone lets out a loud whoop, then I hear…Allie?
I break apart, searching for the source.
From the one remaining wall of the old house, the people we love most emerge from hiding.
Allie is being helped over a stump by Flinch.
Darcy and Odinn are approaching with Owen in his arms. Jude’s father, Jeremiah, is with Willa, Braxton and Aiden.
Folgers is guiding Maw Maw, as if she’s ever been unsteady on her feet.
Normally, she’d slap away anybody trying to do that.
Not the hot biker, though. Dirty old lady.
My parents come last, with Aunt Marcel and Uncle Cooper, taking unsteady steps to dodge the knees from the tree roots. “How did my parents know?”
“Your parents were determined to be here,” Jude informs me.
“Did you call Dad for permission to marry me?” I ask, shocked.
He scoffs, “Fuck no. I told the colonel that if they could accept our decision to let me know, otherwise don’t come. Your father spoke to your mother then called me back to ask for details. It was hard for your father to get leave, but he did it.”
Maybe there’s some hope there after all.
“How long have you had this planned?”
“About a month. I got lucky the flowers decided to bloom.”
Allie hugs me first, tight, while Flinch shakes Jude’s hand. “I got pictures,” Allie exclaims excitedly. “They're going to be gorgeous with all the purple flowers as a backdrop.”
She moves away as Mom approaches. If she’s come to visit, she knows what was likely happening and wants to be here. Her hug is a promise of healed wounds. She’s been crying. After letting me go, finally, she wipes the tears from her eyes again. “I love you,” she says.
“I love you too.” We’ve texted, but it’s the only words we’ve spoken to one another since the incident.
“Your father and I will help pay for a ceremony…” she offers.
“I need to talk about all of that with Jude,” I placate, already certain Jude’s dragging me to the courthouse as scheduled.
Mom looks anxious, her lips wobbly, hands shaky. “Well, we’ll talk about all that later.”
After that, we’re bombarded with a flurry of hugs and handshakes. Maw Maw is grinning like the cat that got into the cream when she embraces me. “You’ve made my granddaughter a happy woman,” she says to Jude with a twinkle in her blue eyes.
“Very much so,” I answer.
After a hug, she leans in to whisper to me, “I put a honey jar with your names on it in my closet to sweeten things and a hefty dose of cinnamon for passion.” With an unapologetic wink, she goes to hug Jude.
I’m almost jealous of their relationship.
They met two weeks ago and are already as thick as thieves.
Club business brings Jude near the assisted living facility, so he pops in to check on her.
It’s weird to see my parents mingling with the Bayou Dogs.
Mom looks dazed, Dad is taking everything in to dissect later.
Odin greets my father with a handshake, the Prez’s hand completely covering my father’s.
“We’re having an impromptu get together for these two at my house tonight,” he invites.
Dad looks at me, uncertain. His answer is lost over the chatter of the others, but I see him nod his head in agreement.
I’m in too much of a happy daze to notice people drifting to their cars then down the old road. I wonder where they parked. Willa and her sons are last. “So we have a deal then?” she asks Jude. Her eyes are brighter than I’ve ever seen on her before, voice confident.
“Yep. We’ll go get the papers drawn up as soon as we can, though,” Jude answers.
“Right. Of course.” She pulls in a relieved breath. “I’m so excited about everything.”
“You’ve run the company by yourself all this time. Now you can do it without anybody else sticking their nose in,” Jude offers.
“You were helping,” she admits. “When I said I’m excited, I meant about everything, though. Our babies will be born months apart. The kids adore Greer. Now you’re going to be moving out here so the land gets some love again.”
“I’m excited too. The babies will have someone to play with,” Jude offers.
We trade goodbye hugs and “See you at the party tonight,” before she disappears down the road with the boys.
Willa’s worked at Bayou Blue Charters her entire life and ran it for twelve years.
Her husband constantly interfered, wanting to take control of the money.
Then Jude, in turn, was interfering as well, trying to protect himself, Willa, and the company from Rob.
The family legacy is now hers to do what she wants, how she wants to do it.
She’s free from an unhappy marriage without losing partial custody of her kids in a divorce, has control of the company, and financial independence.
Even with three small kids, she’s going to thrive.
Eventually, Jude and I are left alone under the Live Oak. “I want to build the house so I can see the tree, ” he says excitedly.
He brings me over to where a cement foundation is partially hidden by the earth. “If we build here and put the kitchen in the back, there’ll be good morning sun.”
“Won’t it be too hot to cook though?”
“We can add a sunroom off the kitchen if you want. We can use it as a playroom….”
For the next few hours, Jude and I get lost in our new shared dream, planning forever together.