Judd wonders if this is life’s way of balancing things out. He has been blessed with Braedon and Mei but haunted by his disconnect with Clay and getting sacked by the city council for no good reason. All is even.
And just as unexplainable as Judd’s relationship with Braedon is his relationship with Mei. They’re an odd couple, he and Mei. She’s Ivy League educated. He has an associate’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s General College. Mei is a medical doctor. Judd’s a retired cop. She grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. He’s lived in the same small Minnesota town his entire life.
But he and Pam were also opposites. That relationship would have lasted—Judd’s sure of it. He hears a truck rumble past on his quiet small-town street. He feels Mei squeeze his hand. And then, without thinking, like it’s an involuntary muscle twitch, Judd says, “I love you.”
Judd hopes to feel another squeeze from Mei’s hand but it doesn’t come. He expects to be washed away by embarrassment and shame, but those feelings don’t come. What he does experience is a wave of relief.Is that weird?thinks Judd. Why does he feel relief? It might have something to do with communicating his truth. It might—
“I love you, too,” says Mei.
Judd lets go of her hand and rolls onto his side to face her. He can feel his stupid smile. “You don’t have to say that just because I did.”
“I didn’t,” says Mei. “I said it because I feel it. It’s actually kind of embarrassing. I think I knew I loved you after our third date. So thank you for saying it first. I was too scared.”
“Are we crazy?” said Judd. “Are we being foolish? After only four months?”
“We’re in our midsixties,” says Mei. “We know who we are. We know what we want. Both of us have been single for a long time… I think we know what we’re doing.” She grabs both of Judd’s hands in hers and adds, “But… are you sure you’re not feeling this way because Teddy’s missing? Is it possible I’m some kind of substitute for your feelings?”
Judd smiles. “I’m one hundred percent sure. Because I wanted to tell you last week up in Rochester but I chickened out. And Teddy wasn’t missing then.”
“Good answer, Judd. Very good answer.” She kisses him.
Judd can’t believe this is happening at sixty-three years old. The love. The sex. That he looks at Mei the same way he looked at Pam forty years ago. He thought that part of him would haveended up on the shelf long ago, and in a way it did. But now it’s off the shelf, shiny and new as ever.
He’s about to cup her cheek in his palm when Judd hears the crash of broken glass.
CHAPTER 16
Judd throws on his T-shirt, underwear, and jeans. He then opens the drawer of his nightstand, removes a pistol, and gets out of bed. He calls out through the open bedroom door, “I’m armed. If you’re in this house I advise you to get out. Now.”
“Judd,” says Mei. “What’s happening?”
Judd doesn’t seem to hear her. He peeks out the bedroom and into the hallway. He stops to listen and hears nothing. Two hands on the pistol, he crouches into the hallway and starts toward the living room. Three steps, then he stops to listen again. The house is dead quiet. Two more steps and then he sees it.
The front door’s sidelight window is shattered. Broken glass litters the small foyer, along with a softball-sized rock that has an envelope taped to it. Judd returns to the bedroom.
“Is everything okay?” says Mei.
“Someone threw a rock through a window. I don’t thinkthere’s anyone in the house, but I’m going to make sure.” He grabs a pair of running shoes from the closet, sits on the bed, and puts them on. “Stay here until I give you the all clear.”
It takes five minutes for Judd to make sure no intruders are in the house, then he calls for Mei to come out with shoes on and lights off. The next thing Judd does is retrieve some cardboard from the garage, which he cuts to size and tapes over the frame of the former window using only the light from the front porch lamp. Turning on an interior light would attract flying insects into the house. When he’s done sealing the window, he gets a broom and dustpan and sweeps up the broken glass. Then he gets a pair of rubber gloves from under the kitchen sink, picks up the rock, and carries it to the kitchen table.
“We might be able to pull fingerprints off the envelope or the tape used to secure it to the rock,” says Judd.
Mei boils water for tea. “Will you be able to read what’s inside?”
“I think so,” says Judd. “Just want to be careful removing the envelope.”
Judd pulls a paring knife from the knife block and uses it to wedge the tape off the rock. He then flips over the envelope, exposing the tape’s sticky side and sticks Post-its to it so the envelope doesn’t stick to anything else. The envelope is also sealed by tape. Judd removes it, careful not to tear it, and sticks that piece onto another Post-it. He then lifts the envelope and peers inside.
“What’s wrong?” says Mei. “Why are you making that face?”
Clay’s cell phone rings on his nightstand. It’s an old habit, leaving his ringer on at night. He started doing so while on the road withhis team when Braedon was home with the nanny. He looks at the screen. It’s 11:57PM, and the caller ID saysJUDD HAWKINS. In Braedon’s phone, Clay is listed as Dad. Clay picks up his phone.
“Hey,” he says.
“Can you come over?”
“Anything new with Teddy?”
