The wry, narrow-eyed look she gave him said,I have you pegged.
ChapterFour
Once Jude left, Gemma had time to do the thing she’d been dying to do through most of dinner—more research on him. She curled up on her sofa under a throw blanket and read article after article about the Camden family. They were one of Maine’s premier families. Their Irish ancestor, Finbar Camden, had migrated here after arriving on American shores in the 1800s. He'd begun with one modest bank. Then grown that into a mighty dynasty of banks that the Camdens still owned. His sons built on their father's endeavors, taking the empire across the nation. It had been on to bigger and better things for them ever since.
The Camdens had produced their first elite athlete in Jude's father, Felix. Twice, he'd quarterbacked teams to Super Bowl victories before becoming a commentator.
Like many New Englanders, Gemma was a Patriots fan. Not the rabid type. The type who enjoyed getting together with friends at a bar while the game played on TV. But even her type of fan saw Felix on TV now and then, wearing luxury suits and giving his opinions during halftime presentations.
Felix was in his sixties now. Still remarkably good looking, eloquent, smart, charismatic. It seemed he hadn’t married again since his divorce from Jude’s mother. A lot of people held his sins against him, but based on her internet surfing just now, an even larger number of people had either overlooked his sins or viewed his sins as awe-inspiring.
Now that she knew Jude was Felix’s son, as she studied close-ups of Felix, she could see the similarities between father and son. Both men were tall and athletic with dark blond hair. Both had angular faces and those rare, noteworthy, pale green eyes.
She'd compared Jude to Jeremiah's pictures, too. The brothers looked a lot alike, though in photos Jeremiah communicated an I’m-gorgeous-and-I-know-it boldness. Jude's demeanor was cautious, impassive.
Her rabbit hole informed her of the tragedy that had befallen Jeremiah when his wife died young and suddenly—falling from a cliff. Up until that point, Jeremiah's life had appeared charmed. After that point, she couldn’t imagine the hardship and grief he'd suffered.
Upon concluding her research, she squirted her own Luxury and Cream scented bubble bath into her tub and submerged herself neck deep. She loved her home state. That said, winter was not her favorite season. She was the type who bloomed beneath sunlight and skies the color of robin's-egg blue. In order to survive this time of year, she treated herself to a warm-up courtesy of a bath almost every night.
She swished her toe through a hill of glossy bubbles. She'd had a few hours now to absorb the revelation that her assigned FBI agent was Felix Camden's son. Yet she was stillamazed. Still struggling to believe that a Camden son had entered into her ordinary life here in Bayview.
The things she'd noticed about Jude at the start, his refinement and expensive looks, now made sense. This was not a cop turned FBI agent. This was not a military guy turned FBI agent. This was a man from a privileged family turned attorney turned FBI agent.
How fascinating that he hadn't followed the Camden blueprint. He wasn’t running meetings in a skyscraper's board room or charging a zillion dollars an hour via his private practice.
He was camera-shy. A media recluse. For a person of his pedigree, working as a special agent was humble work.
He'd said he'd chosen his profession because he wanted to make sure the good guys won. He almost certainly viewed her father as a bad guy. But Gemma had learned that life was often more complicated than good and bad. Had her father broken laws? Yes. Was he good? Yes. Her dad had read hundreds of books to her, cheered from the sidelines of her soccer games, and pumped his fist every time he'd beat her or her brothers at Chinese checkers. His dinnertime stories had kept them all laughing. He was a loving husband to her mom.
Her phone pinged from the floor next to the tub. She peeked over the lip and saw an incoming text from her boyfriend, Chaz.
Chaz
Hope you’re having an ABSolutely great day.
He'd attached a shirtless picture of himself at the gym that prominently displayed his abs. He was giving the camera a comical Flynn Rider expression.
Gemma smiled. Chaz frequently sent her shirtless pictures with puns. She enjoyed this form of communication not so much because she found it sexy. More because she found it amusing.
Gemma
Shirtless at the gym? Isn't that against the rules?
Chaz
Only if your abs don't look as good as mine.
Gemma
Well, that explains that.
Chaz
Thinking of you, babe. Miss you.
Gemma
Ditto.
