His grip tightened. “In the future, we'll both have to give up some things now and then for the other. For example, you're going to have to give up your dignity within your family.”
“Why's that?”
“Because you have a boyfriend who's a butterfly collector.”
She chuckled. “Now I'm angry at you for making me laugh.”
“Your laugh is my favorite sound.”
She straightened the collar of his fleece. “Speaking of our relationship and my family, how do we proceed from here?”
“In their eyes, your relationship with McConnell continues as it has been.”
“For how long?”
“McConnell is an FBI alias in an FBI case. How long they'll want to keep that alias active is up to them. But keeping that alias active shouldn't be too prohibitive. If it's okay with you, we'll do most of our outings in public away from places where we're likely to run into your family members.”
“That's okay with me.”
“If we do run into your family like we did at Pasta Bella, that's not a problem. We'll just say McConnell's here for a visit from New York and I'll interact with them as McConnell like I've done in the past.”
“What's the end game? When the FBI shuts your alias down, we tell them the whole truth?”
“We tell them everything that's not classified. Fine by you?”
Her family was going to go bonkers when they found out his real identity. In a way, it was lovely to have this chance to keep him,them, insulated from her family for a while longer. She and Jude would be free to do what she'd long preferred to do with boyfriends—see where things led away from the scrutiny of her brood. “Fine by me.”
* * *
Jeremiah
What’s going on with Gemma? Are you two a couple?
Jude
I'm happy to report that Gemma is now, officially, my girlfriend.
Max
The clam dig was the ball and Jeremiah and I were the fairy godmothers. You can pay us back by buying us both a new boat.
Jude
Max, you're lucky I didn't pay you back by challenging you to a duel. I'll thank you both never to meddle in my life again.
Jeremiah
Yeah, yeah. I'm still congratulating myself on the fact that Gemma's your girlfriend. I'm too important and busy to be rescuing you from lovesick women at sports bars.
* * *
Gemma did not let the subject of Jude’s FBI suspension go. For the first three days of their romance, she unselfishly pointed out to Jude the wisdom of them parting ways so that he could tell his idiot bosses he was free to go back to work for the idiot FBI. Each time, he kindly let her know that he would never, not under any circumstances, do what she was suggesting he do.
How did she make sense of his willingness to give up his job for her hours after they'd started dating?
Her attempts at martyrdom kept meeting with abject failure. So, at the end of those first three days, she had to resign her quest for martyrdom. At which time, she and Jude became inseparable.
His schedule was open, and she delegated the perfume shop to Aunt Stella as much as possible. He brought Mabel to her house. They hung out at his cabin. They posed for a photo with the Paul Bunyan statue and sawLittle Shop of Horrorsat the Penobscot Theatre Company. They watched numerous old movies and tried to one-up the other with their knowledge of movie trivia. They visited a farmers' market near the coast, where he bought a confusing number of red chilies, and she found a butter churn and a milk-glass serving bowl to add to her collection. They took Mabel for long walks on the Orono Bog boardwalk.
