The Posse (18 page)

The Cove was a small town, and news
traveled at lightening speed. Jude knew she had a limited time
before the word about Joseph being a dad made the rounds; whispers
about her relationship with Logan wouldn’t be far behind. They had
to act fast to tell their friends and her kids, before they all
heard it from another source.

She was relieved that Emmy
seemed blissfully ignorant of everything when she arrived on Friday
night. The younger woman didn’t seem to notice anything amiss with
Jude’s hurry to leave, either, especially since she had the ready
excuse of the walk-through at the bed and breakfast.

“I can’t wait for it to
open,” Emmy said as Jude gathered her handbag and made a final
check of the kitchen. “I’m already having fun putting together the
pastry selection for the breakfast menu.”

Contracting with Emmy to
supply their pastries and desserts had been an easy decision. Jude
liked keeping everything within her little business family, and
Emmy had proven herself both talented and trustworthy.

She thought about it with
satisfaction as she walked up the street. Logan’s car was already
on the curb in front of the house, and she spied him stepping
around the side, examining something on one of the porch railings.
She saw he had discarded the suit jacket he wore in the office, and
the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled to the elbow. A shot of
pure lust ran down her middle, and she smiled, knowing she could
satisfy that need in just a few hours.

The wide and welcoming porch
was one of Jude’s favorite parts of the old house, and one she had
insisted they keep when re-designing it. Climbing the steps, she
ran one hand over the gleaming white banister and brushed a foot
across the blond oak floor. It was perfect, just as she had
envisioned.

“Hey, beautiful.” Logan had
come up behind her in stealth mode. He put his hands to her hips
and kissed her cheek. She wondered if the same thoughts about
discretion until they shared the news had crossed his mind, or
whether he was just acting in deference to standing on the corner
of what was for all purposes the town’s main street.

“Hi.” Jude reached behind
and gave his hand a quick squeeze. “Sorry I was late. I tried to
get down as soon as I could.”

“I’m early. I wanted a
chance to check some of the little issues that cropped up during
building, make sure they’d been addressed. They had,” he added, in
answer to her questioning look. “Everything looks good
structurally. The landscaping in the back is coming along
nicely.”

They walked inside, and Jude
oohed over the spacious foyer with its brass wall sconces. The
chandelier in the dining room glittered, and the addition of a bay
window in what had been a formal parlor—and would henceforth be a
cozy sitting room—was perfect.

Cooper had made the new
banister that accented the staircase based on Daniel’s ideas and
suggestions. Jude touched it, remembering conversations they’d had
about it. She could almost hear Daniel’s voice, and she smiled.

Logan covered her hand as it
lay on the dark wood.

“You can feel him here,
can’t you?” He looked back down the steps at the rooms below them
and then glanced ahead. “This was his baby. He was so excited about
it. He wouldn’t miss the walk-through.”

Jude smiled and nodded, and
they continued up to the bedrooms. Each room was unique, with
special windows or a certain type of closet. The bathrooms were
small, but they all had been updated with the most modern
amenities.

“Remember what Daniel used
to say? ‘People like to look at old stuff, but not when they’re in
the shower.’” She giggled, thinking about it.

Logan laughed, too. “Nice
thing is, we were able to incorporate some fixtures that look like
antiques, but have modern functionality.” He pointed to a
claw-footed tub that sat within a black and white bathroom. “The
plumber retrofitted that to make it work in here. Old tub, all new
faucets, pipes and trim.”

“It’s beautiful.” They were
safely upstairs, completely alone, and Jude turned to step into
Logan’s arms. “You should be very proud, Logan. You and Daniel had
a vision, and you’ve made it come to life. I can’t wait to see it
filled with people.”

He held her tight and rested
his chin atop her dark head. “First comes furniture, then comes the
people. Abby sent me an update on reservations today. We’re filled
solid for the first month, and there’s a steady stream of bookings
rolling in still.”

Jude turned within his
embrace, resting her back against Logan’s chest, looking into the
fading twilight.

“When does the sign go up?”
They’d ordered a simple white shingle to hang on the porch.

“That’ll be the last thing.
Cooper’s having his guy do the lettering. I wanted to talk to you
about the name. I know we always said we were going to call it the
Holt/Hawthorne House, but I think I’d like to change that.”

“Oh?” Jude swiveled her head
back to look at him.

“I was thinking of making it
just Hawthorne House. In honor of Daniel. And if you’re okay with
it, I’d like to hang his portrait in the sitting room.”

She smiled. “I’m very okay
with that. I like it. And so would he.”

“I think you’re right.”

Jude bit her lip, hesitating
to bring up something that had been on her mind for the last few
days. “We talk about Daniel all the time. But I was thinking the
other day about Tess. You came very close to marrying her, Logan.
Did you love her?”

She felt his arms tighten
around her waist. “Tess was...she was a beautiful person, inside
and out. I needed someone to take my mind off you, off what you and
Daniel had together. She knew, somehow. But she was okay with it.
She told me there were different kinds of love, and she thought the
two of us could make a life together, be happy.”

“I remember how hard it was
when you lost her.”

He nodded. “I decided then,
I think, that I wasn’t going to settle again. It wasn’t fair to the
other person.  I felt a lot of guilt over Tess, and it took a
while to move beyond that.”

Jude touched her lips to
his. “If you need to talk about her, I don’t mind. Like you said,
it’s silly to pretend people we love didn’t exist.”

He held her face with one
hand and kissed her with lazy passion.

They stood soaking it in for
a few moments. Through the window, Jude could see the town. Lights
were coming on in all the businesses on Beach Street; everyone
stayed open later on Friday nights. If she craned her neck, she
could even see the Riptide. People strolled on the sidewalk, kids
hung in groups outside the ice cream parlor and tourists window
shopped.

“Logan?” She shifted a
little, lay her head on his chest.

“Hmm?”

“We need to talk to the
posse. And Meggie and Joseph. People are going to start to talk,
and I don’t want to hurt anyone by letting them hear about us from
anyone
but
us. That is...” She leaned back to see his face.
“That is if there’s something to tell. I don’t want to pressure you
into calling this something it isn’t or make you feel
trapped--”

“Jude!” He held her face and
kissed her, tracing his tongue over her lips before coming up for
air. “I thought I expressed this clearly last night. I love you. If
I didn’t think it would totally freak you out, I would be begging
you for a commitment, to move in together. To plan our life. And
I’m not going to wait long for that, because I don’t want to waste
a minute. So, yes, I agree with you about telling everyone. I
thought maybe we’d have another one of your Sunday dinners, only
this time at my house instead of the Tide. What do you think? I’ll
make some calls tonight, make it happen.”

“I think that sounds like a
great idea. I don’t know about the Meggie and Joseph. I’m more
worried about them than the others, but I think it would be better
to tell them in person.”

“Joseph will be home soon,
once he figures out how to deal with having a kid. And if he brings
that baby up here, you can bet Meggie will be down. Let’s give it
some time.”

“Okay.” She stood on tiptoe
and brushed his lips. “Where are we going to eat? Your place or
mine?”

They ended up at Jude’s
house, where Logan grilled steak and baked a few potatoes. Jude’s
contribution was a green salad and a bottle of wine she opened for
them to share.

They ate on the back porch,
alongside the pool, enjoying the peace and each other.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d want
to come here,” Jude remarked, scooping up a bite of potato with
sour cream. “Before last night, I mean. I thought there might be
too much of Daniel here.”

Logan shook his head. “No,
not at all. Remember last night on the beach, you’re the one who
said we should go the closest house. And that just happened to be
mine.”

“Time was of the essence. I
was...eager.”

“Yes, you were.” Logan
mock-leered and grinned.

“Well, I’m glad you don’t
mind being here.”

“I don’t. But that being
said...” He laid his knife across the edge of the plate. “Have you
given any thought to what you want to do with the house?”

“Do with it? Well, I live
here.”

“Yes, I know. But I’m hoping
that pretty soon, we won’t need two houses. And eventually, we
should talk about which one makes more sense for us.”

Jude toyed with a piece of
lettuce. “I can’t think of that yet. I’m just getting used to the
idea that we’re in love. Thinking about moving in together will
have to wait until next weekend.”

She expected Logan to
protest, but instead, his lips curved into a smile and his eyes
were bright. “So we’re in love?”

She cocked her head. “Didn’t
we have this discussion already?”

“No. I said
I
was in
love with you.
You
said you needed time.”

“I did? Well, that was then.
I took the time I needed. And now I’m telling you that I’m in love
with you, too.” She paused, considering. “I guess there was a more
romantic way to handle that, wasn’t there?”

“Nope. That was totally
Jude. And as long as you’re telling me that
we
are in love,
together, you can say it any way you like.”

***

Logan was nervous.

He hadn’t expected nerves
over this. In his mind, telling Jude how he felt, trying to
convince her that the two of them together was not only a good idea
but meant to be was going to be the hard part. But now they had to
tell the most important people in their lives that they were in
love. Even knowing that it wasn’t going to come as much of a
surprise to the posse didn’t relieve Logan’s anxiety.

And of course, that was
another cause for worry. Logan knew Jude was a reasonable person,
but he didn’t think it was wise to share the posse’s plan to woo
her. Women were funny about those kinds of things.

He spent half of Saturday
working on business he’d let go over the course of the week, making
telephone calls and meeting with Abby, the woman he’d hired to run
the bed and breakfast for them. She was an experienced hotel
manager in her early thirties, pretty with blonde hair and wide
blue eyes. As they chatted, Logan thought about Cooper, the lone
unattached member of the posse now that Matt was dating Sandra and
he was with Jude.

“Hey, are you busy tomorrow
afternoon?” His words were an abrupt change of subject, and the
surprise showed in Abby’s eyes.

“Ah...” She cast her eyes up
and ran a tongue over her lips. “Well, no. I mean, I was thinking
of hitting the beach if the weather holds, but if you need me to do
something, I can absolutely cover it.”

“No, not work. I’m having a
bunch of my friends over to barbecue and hang out. Since you’re new
to the Cove and you’ll be working with some of these people, it
might be a good time for you to meet them.”

Abby shifted in her chair.
“Sure, I can do that.”

“I should probably warn you,
though, that I have an ulterior motive for planning this for
tomorrow.”

Abby looked at him with a
frown, and Logan thought he even detected worry. “Oh, really?
What’s that?”

“Well, can you keep a
secret? At least until tomorrow? Jude and I are...together. And
we’re telling our friends tomorrow.”

Abby leaned back in her
chair, smiling. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations. Jude is a
terrific person. I haven’t gotten to know her real well, but I’ve
been down to eat at The Riptide a few times, and she’s always so
nice.”

Logan felt the stupid grin
that spread across his face, but he couldn’t help it. “She’s great.
This wasn’t anything we planned, you know, and it’s still kind of
new, but...” He spread his hands in front of him. “I’ve never been
happier in my life.”

Abby laughed. “Well, that’s
good to hear. I have to confess, when you started talking about
tomorrow, I was afraid—God, this is going to sound conceited. But I
thought you were about to ask me out.”