“I vote yes as well, but there are some rules you need to be aware of before we make this official.” A smirk curved Fitz’s lips.
“Hit me with them,” Greeley urged.
“No calling me Dad on duty.”
Greeley snickered. “You got it,Fitz.What else?”
“Make a fresh pot of coffee if you finish one,” Jude added.
“Rookie buys lunch every Friday,” Ronan said.
“That’s fine with me. Hope you all like grilled cheese sandwiches.” Greeley laughed.
“We’re having a ‘Welcome Home’ party tonight. Pizza, salad, all the usual sides. Aurora doesn’t know Greeley’s home to stay, so it’s going to be a surprise party for her. Jace is trying to keep her away from the upstairs so she doesn’t see that her dolls are about to be evicted from the spare bedroom.” Fitz wore a nervous look, not that Ronan could blame him. He’d seen Hurricane Aurora at her absolute worst and wasn’t in a hurry to see her that upset again.
“I’ve got a plan to combat any bad feelings with Aurora.” Greeley waggled his eyebrows. “We’ll catch you guys later.”
“Text if you want to add anything to the food order.” Fitz grabbed his coat and followed Greeley out the door.
“I’m glad they’re gone,” Jude said. “There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Fuck, Ronan hoped Jude didn’t have any concerns about Greeley joining cold case. “What’s up?”
“It’s Cope,” Jude said, sounding reluctant to talk.
Ronan let out a sigh of relief. “Is he sick?”
“No.” Jude shook his head. “But there is something wrong with him. He’s different. On edge. Jumpy. Have you noticed?”
“I haven’t, but to be honest, when I’m here, I’m too busy worrying about you to pay much attention to Cope.” Ronan hated to say that about Cope, but it was the truth. All that had mattered over the last month was helping Jude back to health. Cope could have been on fire and Ronan wouldn’t have noticed until Jude caught alight too. “Have you asked him what’s wrong?”
“Several times. Cope says he’s tired and struggling with PTSD from my accident. He still blames himself for what happenedto me and for freezing when he heard me fall.” Jude buried his head in his hands.
“We’ve talked about this, Jude. Wolf told me it was only a matter of seconds between your fall, Cope rushing into the basement and Wolf calling me. We both know that when traumatic things happen, time seems to freeze, like a slow-motion replay of a touchdown.”
“I know. I know.” Jude shook his head. “I think Cope still has a lot of guilt over what happened.”
“Do you think whatever is wrong with Cope has to do with your fall? Or is it something else?” Ronan could think of a hundred other things that could be preying on Cope’s mind aside from Jude’s accident and ongoing recovery. The kids and work were at the top of Ronan’s list.
“I think it’s something else.” Jude paused. “You know the best thing that’s come out of my accident?”
Ronan shook his head. His mind flashed back to seeing Jude sprawled on the basement floor in a puddle of his own blood. “What’s the best thing?”
“Because of my brain feeling scrambled, I had to slow down and listen more. I can’t tell you how much better I’ve gotten to know Cope as a result of listening to him.” Jude wore a proud look.
Ronan snorted. “If that’s the case, I could do with a head wound of my own, for Tennyson’s sake.”
“Just say the word, pal, and I’d be happy to help!” Jude barked a quick laugh. “But back to Cope. He was fine after I came home. We settled into our new normal. You guys cooking dinner and helping with the kids has done a world of good for Cope. Hedoesn’t feel like everything is on his shoulders. Whatever it is that’s upsetting him started over the last two or three days.”
“What can I do to help?” Ronan asked, feeling like an idiot for not noticing Cope was in trouble.
“Can you ask Ten if he knows anything or if he’s gotten a vibe from Cope? I don’t want him to betray any confidences, but if there’s something he can tell you that will help Cope…” Jude sighed. “I just feel so helpless.Again.”
“I’ll speak to him before we come over to Fitz’s tonight and let you know.”
“Sounds good.” Jude agreed and relaxed back into the sofa. “Now that I’ve kicked Greeley’s ass. It’s your turn.” He held out the second video game controller.
“You’re going down!” Ronan grabbed the controller and prepared to defeat his best friend. This was what he’d missed the most while Jude had been recovering. Time together hanging out and just being friends.
