They’d also watched some movies in the theater room, sometimes joined by Annie, Benji, and Kiara.
No matter what they did, Jude had enjoyed every minute of it because he’d been with Angela. He never would have imaginedthat someone would come into his life who he would want to spend so much time with.
Apart from it being time they used to get to know each other better, Jude just enjoyed being around Angela. She made him smile and even laugh more than he usually did. And it wasn’t that she was super funny or anything like that.
It all came down to the fact that he didn’t feel he had to hold his emotions so closely when he was with Angela. His usually tight emotional control loosened because he felt such a level of peace and contentment when she was around.
He’d come to realize that there was more to life than work… but he only wanted that if Angela was part of it.
Jude poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe in his kitchen, then leaned a hip against the counter as he stared out the window. The snow that had begun the previous day had finally ended that morning, leaving them with bright sparkling snow drifts.
Later that day, he and Angela had plans to go to Coeur d’Alene for dinner and a show at a local theater. He wasn’t really a musical sort of person, but Angela had seemed excited about it. And if she wanted something, he’d do what he could to make it happen.
But that wasn’t going to be until that evening. He needed to do a few things around the house that he’d been putting off. One of Mrs. Stevens' daughters came to clean his place once a week, but he took care of his own laundry, which was what he needed to focus on that morning.
Setting his mug on the counter, he headed for his room and gathered up all the laundry. He got the first load going, then returned to the kitchen.
Being a Saturday morning, he didn’t have to head to the office, though, as usual, he was available for anything that needed his time and attention
When his phone chimed with an incoming video chat, he hoped it would be Angela. A quick glance at the screen, however, showed it was his mom.
He answered the call and set the phone up so that he could make himself breakfast while they chatted. He hadn’t told her about Angela yet, but one of these days he would.
They’d been chatting for a few minutes when a call came in from the security office.
“Mom, I have to go,” he said. “I’m getting a security call.”
She gave a sigh but didn’t argue. Just made him promise to call her again in the next day or two for a longer chat.
“What’s going on?” Jude said when he accepted the call.
“I’m not sure, but Angela is on her way to you, I think,” Dawn said. “She came flying out of the house and ran down the road headed to your place. She’s not wearing a coat.”
Jude frowned. “Okay. I’ll meet her with the UTV.”
The bacon still had twelve minutes until it was done, which would be plenty of time to get her and bring her back.
Worry pricked at Jude as he hurried to the UTV in his garage. He didn’t bother to close the overhead door behind him since he’d be back soon.
Cranking the heat, he drove down the winding road that led from his place to the main house. It was about a ten-minute walk, but driving was only a minute or so.
That meant he spotted Angela almost immediately. Head down, she was trudging through the snow drifts on the road since it hadn’t all been cleared yet.
He pulled to a stop and got out. The minute Angela saw him, she ran toward him and flung herself into his arms.
“What’s wrong, love?” Jude asked, needing to know what he was facing in order to help calm her down.
“He’s going to be so mad.”
She looked up at him, distress clear on her face. Her eyes were puffy and red, and strands of her hair were caught in the dampness of her tear-stained cheeks.
“Who’s going to be mad?”
“Duncan,” she said. “He’s going to be so mad.”
“C’mon.” Jude put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the UTV. “Let’s go back to my place, and you can tell me what’s happened.”
She nodded and allowed him to help her into the UTV. For the ride back to the house, she sat in silence, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
