He wanted to build a life with Angela. To build a family with her.
“Sooner rather than later it is, then,” Jude said with a wink. “Because I love you too.”
Angela’s smile was beaming as she leaned toward him. She brushed her lips across his, but when she went to move back, Jude once again gently cupped the back of her neck.
Jude’s memory of their first kiss was fleeting, so he wanted a solid memory of their second one.
That kiss had been a promise of something more, if he should survive. This one… this one held the promise of life. A life spent together. A future of love.
When the kiss ended, Angela moved back slightly and rested her palm on his cheek. However, any further conversation was prevented by the arrival of the nurse.
Angela got off the edge of the bed, but she kept a grip on his hand, as if anchoring herself to him. Which was fine with Jude, because he wanted to be anchored to her.
~*~
“Where are we going?” Angela asked as Jude navigated the truck through the front gates of the estate.
“We’re going to reclaim a beautiful spot from a terrible memory.”
Angela stared at him. “We’re going back to watch a sunset?”
“Yes. After we pick up some food,” Jude said. “I don’t want to have negative memories anywhere around here. So let’s go back and make new memories at the spot where that chapter of your life ended.”
Angela thought about it for a moment, then said, “It was such a beautiful spot, and I was looking forward to seeing the sunset there with you.”
Jude looked over briefly with a smile. “So we’ll go pick up food and make our way back there.”
Angela wasn’t really sure how she felt about returning to the spot, even though a month had passed since that day. She understood what Jude wanted to do, but all she could see in her mind was Jude slumped behind the wheel, bleeding.
Would returning there help to remove those memories?
“If you’d rather not, I’m not going to force you,” Jude said, his voice gentle as he reached over to cover her hands with his, easily steering the truck with just one hand. “Just say the word, and we’ll go somewhere else.”
She knew that Jude would never do anything to hurt her. If he thought this would help them, she was going to trust him.
“No, let’s go back. You promised me a sunset.”
They picked up the food and drinks that Jude had ordered at the diner, then made the drive up to the lookout spot.
Once there, rather than eat right away, Jude got out and came around the truck to open her door. Angela stepped into the chilly early-spring air, heart fluttering as Jude's hand found hers.
The sky was already beginning to deepen with color, the sun sinking lower toward the snowcapped mountains. Despite the beauty stretching before them, her stomach tightened as memories flickered through her mind—shattered glass, blood, Jim's voice in her ear.
Jude squeezed her hand gently. “You okay?”
She nodded, drawing a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. "Just… processing."
He led her to a small clearing near the edge of the lookout, then gathered her close to his side, his arm around her shoulders.
With her back to the truck and the scene of the attack, Angela was able to fully appreciate the kaleidoscope of pastel shades across the darkening sky. Tucking herself inside the edge of Jude’s jacket, she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest.
She could hear the beat of his heart, strong and steady beneath her ear. It was a beautiful sound she’d never tire of, because it was one she’d nearly lost.
And before her was a beautiful sight. One that had become obscured in the trauma of the attack.
She wanted God to redeem that beauty for her. The beauty of His creation.
Every sunset was a reminder of what she’d nearly lost, and she’d struggled to be able to see one without remembering that awful day.
