“I heard from Sloane yesterday.” Jude pulled free a hunk of claw meat.
Max stopped chewing. Every muscle stilled.
Jude flicked a knowing glance at him.
Max forced himself to start chewing again and made an impatient,Tell me moregesture.
“She's moving back to Groomsport this summer to take care of Ivy for four months.”
Max's brain reeled. “Why does she need to take care of Ivy?”
“Ivy's parents took an assignment overseas. Ivy doesn't want to go, so Aunt Sloane is coming to the rescue. With Sloane as her chaperone, Ivy can start her sophomore year with all her friends.”
Max had acquired a long list of enemies. Even though he hadn't talked to Sloane in years, he still viewed her as the person at the top of that list. She was the only one who'd continued as a source of annoyance—like a piece of popcorn stuck in his teeth—long after his communication with her had ended.
Jude was fair and impartial and had kept in touch with Sloane even though Jude washisfriend, a fact that had irritated Max in the past but was serving him well now that he was receiving an insider tip. “When exactly is she arriving in Groomsport?”
“Early July,” Jude answered.
And just like that, Max started scheming.
* * *
The next day, Jude once again spent far too long preparing a simple text to Gemma.
Jude
I've met with Dixon and Shannon. May I come by your place tonight to briefly discuss how to proceed with Cedric?
Gemma
Yep. Time?
Jude
It should be dark by 7:30. Is that okay?
Gemma
See you then.
Technically, he could have relayed how to proceed with Cedric through a text or phone call. But now that Cedric had communicated to Gemma that he'd changed his mind about selling Rhapsodie's secrets, and Jude had begun to absorb that setback, a new worry was emerging. He might never have a reason to see Gemma again.
Night before last, she'd gotten out of his car mad. He couldn't leave that as their last in-person exchange. He needed one last interaction with her, if only for a few minutes.
Tonight, he'd go in with the awareness that this meeting might be their last and he'd make sure it ended on a better note.
* * *
Jude looked inside Gemma's mailbox as soon as he arrived. No letters for him to riffle through and steal this time.
She answered his knock and beckoned him to step from the night into the glow of her house and nearness.
Her T-shirt was printed with the pine tree and blue star of Maine’s historic flag. Socks with stars on them poked out from beneath the hems of her bell-bottomed yoga pants. She'd caught her hair, the color of orange-red autumn leaves at the peak of brightness, in a casual knot at the back of her neck.
There was something more approachable, more vulnerable about her dressed like this, in her after-work clothes.
He wanted to be with her. He wanted her to be with him. Hunger for that lifted in Jude. She broughtlifewith her effortlessly. He needed her companionship and acceptance and sense of humor.
