“Nice.”Jude nodded.
I couldn’t hold back the urge to touch him.I reached across the table, curling my hands around his.Relief slipped through me when he didn’t pull away.“I missed you, and I’m sorry.”
He shook his head.“You don’t need to apologize.I get it.It’s one of the things I love about you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always there for your family.I understand that, because it’s something I try to do for mine.”He squeezed my hands.
I took a shaky breath.“Are we okay?”
He nodded, although it still felt like there was maybe not a wall, but something between us.
“Can I see you tonight?”I hated the hesitation in my voice.
“Of course.I’ll come over to the rescue program this evening to pick you up.”
“Sure,” I said, my voice squeaking just as Asher arrived with Jude’s coffee.
Asher set the coffee cup by Jude’s elbow.“We’ll wait outside.”At that, he departed.
“Are you sure about tonight?”I didn’t know why, but I felt this hesitance and uncertainty emanating from Jude.
“I am.”His eyes met mine.
“I love you, Jude.”
His gaze softened.“You know I love you, Kendall.”
I breathed through the anxiety tightening in my chest and nodded.
“I gotta go.I’ll text you what time, okay?”
“Okay.”
With another squeeze of my hands, he leaned across the table to give me a kiss, quick and fierce enough to send sparks blasting through me like a log tossed into a bonfire already blazing.
ChapterForty-Six
Jude
Later that afternoon
My day was hectic.We were falling into a rhythm at the resort.We’d all grown up here and taken part in helping our parents run it, but it had been so different then.Except for Haven and Bree, the rest of us kids had still been in school at the time.Our version of running the resort back then was similar to Tommy’s now—tagging along when we could, helping on trips that fit around school and life.We’d been so worried about getting this place running and bringing income in.Now, we had more business than we knew what to do with.
That afternoon, Lincoln and I took a group for a snowshoe hike up above Heartfire Falls.A group of photographers had wanted to catch pictures precisely when the sun angled across the falls to create the famed look of fire.It was even more beautiful in the winter.The water kept moving, but strands of it were frozen, glittering under the red and gold of the sunset.
“I don’t even know how you guys did this while I was gone,” Lincoln said, kicking his feet out and leaning his elbows against the bench in the gear storage room.
I let out a snort.“I’m glad you’re back—because Iamglad you’re back—but yeah, we need all the help we can get.”
“What’s the plan for building the extra rooms upstairs?”he asked.
I shifted my shoulders, easing the tension bundled from carrying gear all afternoon.“We’re gonna have to mostly hire out to get them built.While we built this, we were just doing the firefighting trips for extra money while we worked on this.Now that we have guests, there’s no way we can build and run this place at the same time.That’s a conversation to have with Mom and Haven about budgeting and whatnot.”
Lincoln let out a wondering chuckle.“Thank fuck Haven doesn’t mind the paperwork.”
“Oh, I don’t think it’s that hedoesn’tmind it,” I said dryly.
