When Jude reappeared, he was pulling on his black coat. She caught a glimpse of a gun in a shoulder harness, a clear reminder of who he was. And probably why he was going with her.
Down in the garage, Jude opened the front passenger door of a large black SUV. After she was settled in the seat, she pulled the seatbelt into place.
Jude slid behind the wheel, his presence filling the interior of the vehicle. He pushed a button to start it, and the dashboard lit up. It was the most luxurious vehicle she’d ever been in.
“I think it’s best if we go to Coeur d’Alene,” Jude said.
“Really?” She wasn’t going to complain about having some extra time with him. Still, she was curious. “Why not Serenity?”
“Annie attends church in Serenity and has friends there, so there’s a good possibility we’ll run into someone who knows her. Since we haven’t revealed anything about you and Annie to the public, it would be a potentially awkward situation if someone thought you were Annie.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Angela pulled her knit cap off and ran her hands through her hair. “Do you think that will become public knowledge soon?”
“I don’t know what Duncan is thinking,” Jude said. “He has kept Annie and Benji out of the public eye for a couple of decades, so I’m sure he’s in no rush to plunge them into the spotlight now.”
“Could we somehow let people know about me without revealing the connection to Duncan?”
Jude glanced over at her. “Why? The longer we can keep your identity under wraps, the better. Especially with Jim and Craig out there.”
“Kiara and I are going to need to get jobs soon,” Angela said. “And since there’s no bus and we can’t drive, we’ll need to move to wherever we can get work. We assumed that could be Serenity, but maybe it will have to be Coeur d’Alene.”
“Wait. Hang on.”
Jude guided the SUV to the side of the road and came to a stop. Shifting in his seat, he frowned at her, making Angela wonder what she’d done to warrant it.
“Has Duncan not spoken to you about the future?” he asked.
“Well, no.” Angela rubbed her hand on her leg. “We just assumed we’d do the same thing we’d done in Briar Hollow.”
“Which was?”
“I mean, get jobs. Find a place to stay.”
“Why wouldn’t you assume that you could stay on the estate and not have to work?”
This time it was her turn to frown. “Jim always told us that we’d have to work to earn our keep. That we weren’t entitled to anything that we didn’t work for.”
Jude gave a humorless laugh as he gazed out the front windshield. “That’s rich coming from him, considering his lifestyle is funded by a stolen ransom.”
“Yeah. I suppose that is a bit hypocritical. But we never knew how he’d gotten his money, so the lecture resonated at the time.”
“Well, I think you’ll find that Duncan hopes that you’ll stay on the estate.”
“I don’t feel right taking advantage of him.”
“You’re not taking advantage if he’s offering it.” Jude put the SUV in gear and pulled out onto the road. “Just don’t make any final plans before you have a conversation with Duncan.”
The idea didn’t thrill Angela. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Duncan. Logically, she knew that he was her dad, and that he was a better dad than Jim had ever been.
But that was part of the problem. She didn’t know how to relate to someone like Duncan. They’d never had a father who cared about them the way Duncan seemed to care about his children. Even Julian, who spent most of his evenings drunk.
So, she didn’t know how to approach Duncan. And apparently he didn’t know how to talk to her either, because aside from the brief discussion they’d had about her mom, they hadn’t had any in-depth conversations.
“Do you know what Duncan really wants?”
Jude was quiet for a moment as he smoothly guided the SUV around the curves of the road that was flanked on either side by snowbanks and towering evergreens.
“I know he wants to get to know you,” Jude finally said. “I know he wants to keep you safe and give you the life you were entitled to but have never had.”
