The Posse (11 page)

Cooper sighed. “That didn’t
happen. If I had kept kissing her, if things had, you know, heated
up, that would have been fine. But things didn’t heat up, and that
was fine, too.”

“What did Jude think? What
did she say?” Mark, feeling it was safe, moved away from Logan and
took a seat. “She said there was no spark?”

“Yeah. And when I told her
that was all right, the spark might come later, but I was okay with
comfortable for now, she told me she wasn’t. She said she wants the
magic.” Cooper turned his eyes to Logan. “She said something about
dancing with someone. And I could be way off-base, totally wrong,
but to me, it sounded like she was talking about something recent.
I don’t think she meant Daniel.”

“So you think she’s already
seeing someone?” Eric’s voice was incredulous.

“No.” Cooper shook his head.
“I think she would have told me. She joked about all of us taking
her out, she mentioned Matt and me, and she started to say
something about Logan, but then she stopped.”

“Logan?” Mark used his best
no-nonsense classroom voice. “Do you have something to share with
us?”

Slumping back on the stool,
Logan shrugged. “No. I mean, I’ve been seeing her in the mornings,
when she opens, but just to make sure she’s okay. And I saw her the
other night. I helped her at the Tide when she was cleaning the
kitchen.”

“You want to explain why you
almost took off my head when I was kidding around before about
seducing Jude?” Cooper kept his eyes level on Logan’s face. “You
didn’t exactly seem casual.”

Logan held his gaze. “Nope.
Just sounded like you weren’t taking it seriously.”

“It was more than that.”
Matt cocked his head. “You have something to say, Logan? Say
it.”

Cooper broke the stretching
silence. “After Jude left the other night, I got to thinking about
you, Logan. There was something in her voice when she mentioned
your name. Different than when she talks about the rest of us.”

Matt tossed his empty beer
bottle into the barrel. It hit the others with a jarring rattle.
“When I talked to you the night I took Jude to dinner, something
was off with you. I got a vibe. What gives?”

It fell to Mark as the older
brother to ask the question. “Do you
like
Jude, Logan?”

That broke them, and the
tension vanished. The laughter went beyond the humor of Mark’s
question and was tinged with relief. Spats within the group were
rare, and uncomfortable for all of them. And they’d never yet
fought over a woman.

Matt slapped a hand on
Logan’s back. “Spill it, brother. No secrets here. Remember when
you liked Karen Martin? Did we tell anyone?”

Logan snorted. “Matt, that
was fifth grade.”

“Right, and we never said
anything in all these years. We’re trustworthy.”

Logan shook his head.
“Cooper, pour me a shot, would you? If I’m going to spill my guts,
I need some Jack.”

“Shots all around, Coop,”
suggested Eric.

They downed them without
speaking. Logan closed his eyes, savoring the burn. He could feel
all eyes on him as he spoke.

“Okay. Yes. I
like
Jude.”

“When did this happen?”
There was no condemnation in Mark’s voice.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t
like I just woke up one day feeling that way.” He heaved out a
breath. In for a penny, in for a pound, he decided.

 “I always kind of
liked Jude. But I never would do anything to get between her and
Daniel. They were—well, you guys saw it. They were Jude and
Daniel.”

They nodded. Everyone knew
exactly what he meant.

“And it’s not like I hung
around waiting for something to happen. You know how I felt about
Daniel.”

Eric punched his arm. “Never
any doubt, bro. We all know that.”

“But why didn’t you say
something when we made this agreement?” Matt wasn’t condemning,
just confused. “If you had told us, Cooper and I could have saved
ourselves a lot of trouble. I mean, I asked Karl for dating advice.
Karl, who works for me? I sank that low.”

“Yeah, man, and I kissed
her,” Cooper put in.

Logan pinned him with a
glare. “Don’t remind me. I still kind of want to hit you.”

Cooper put up his hands. “No
spark, remember? I’m not your competition, dude. And if you’d told
us upfront, I never would have kissed her.”

“I didn’t want to sound—you
know, we’d just spread Daniel’s ashes. Saying I thought I was in
love with his widow seemed a little like jumping the gun.”

“You’re in love with her?”
Eric’s mouth dropped.

Logan put his head into his
hands, leaning on the bar. “I don’t know. I think so. And sometimes
I think maybe she might--” He shook his head. “I don’t want to
scare her off. I don’t want to lose her friendship.”

Cooper slung an arm around
his friend’s shoulder. “I have a feeling that’s not going to be a
problem. She had a look on her face. And there was her voice, too.
You might have to man up and go for it.”

There were more nods around
the room before Matt shot to his feet.

“What the hell’s the matter
with us? Sitting around here talking about feelings and love and
shit? When did we become a bunch of old ladies?”

Grunts of approval followed
his proclamation.

“Another round of shots!”
Cooper slapped his hand on the bar. “And then...we shoot pool.
Crank up that music, Mark. The men are back.”

***

“Cooper
kissed
you?” Samantha
nearly shrieked the words, and they echoed through the empty
restaurant. It was slow, even for a cloudy off-season Wednesday,
and against their strong objections, Jude had sent Sadie and Mack
home a few hours early. She didn’t often get the chance to talk to
her sister-in-law in person without kids, men and customers milling
around.

“You want to say that a
little louder, Sam? I don’t think Meggie caught it up in
Savannah.”

Samantha clapped her hand
over her mouth. “Sorry. But oh my God, Jude.
Cooper
? What
did you do?”

Jude shrugged. “At first, I
kissed him back. I thought, why not?”

“But then...?” Samantha
leaned forward. Her curly brown hair fell over one shoulder, and
she flicked it back impatiently.

“But then, there was
nothing. All I could think about was what I was going to say after
he stopped. And how his hand was pushing my bra hook into my spine.
I’m sorry, if you’re lost in a kiss, you’re not thinking about that
stuff.”

“Not if it’s a good
kiss.”

“Right. So I stopped him,
and we talked a little. And then we laughed. A lot. Until we
cried.”

Sam shook her head. “That’s
crazy. What was he thinking?”

Jude wiped off the counter
and dropped her rag into the sink. “I guess that we were both
single, so maybe we should be single together.” She frowned and
shook her head. “Or not. I don’t know. I’m not sure Cooper really
knew why he did it. But it’s over, no hard feelings.”

“The only one who hasn’t
made his move yet is Logan.” Sam played with the wrapper of her
straw and glanced up slyly. She raised one eyebrow when her
sister-in-law flushed.

“Or did he? C’mon, what are
you not telling me?”

“Geez, Sam, are we in high
school again? Calm down.”

Samantha rolled her eyes.
“When you live in small town, you never really leave high school.
And I’m living vicariously through you. I love your brother, don’t
get me wrong. He’s my one and only. But you gotta admit Logan is
hot. Always has been. I couldn’t understand why he never got
married.”

Jude bit her lip. “Remember
Tess? I think when she died, he just shut down that part of his
life. It was so sad.”

“I’d forgotten. Mark and I
were still living up in Jacksonville then. It was over twenty years
ago. They were engaged, right?”

Jude nodded. “Yes. She died
three months before the wedding. It was sudden, a bacterial
infection. She was fine, then she was really sick, and then she was
gone. It all happened in about a week.”

“That’s horrible.” Sam was
silent for a beat. “But from the blush on your face, I’m guessing
Logan is ready to move on. What happened?”

“Nothing, really. I’m
probably making more out of it than it means.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.
Tell me all.”

“I was here by myself, and
you know I like to dance while I’m cleaning. Logan came in, and he
danced with me. And then the music got slow, and he danced with me
some more, but slower...and I thought he was going to kiss me. Just
for minute, he looked at me... but then he pulled back.” She lifted
one shoulder. “And that was it.”

“But do you think he’s--” A
beeping sound interrupted Samantha, and she glanced at her phone.
“Shit! I have a meeting at Gavin’s school. They’re trying to rope
me into being class mom again. I’m going to stand my ground this
year and say no.”

Jude grinned. “You say that
every time. And this is Gavin’s last year in elementary school. You
know you’re going to do it.”

Sam sighed and climbed down
from the stool. “Yeah, I am. You were the smart one, you know,
having your kids young. I don’t know what I was thinking when Mark
and I decided to wait. And then to have four! I’m too old for
this.”

She circled the bar to hug
Jude before grabbing her handbag and heading for the door.

“We’ll talk again soon. I
need to hear more about your hot love life!”

Jude shook her head,
smiling. Growing up with only a brother, she hadn’t realized how
much she missed having a sister until she had one in Samantha. Now
she didn’t know what she would do without this crazy lady who had
become her best friend.

She began gathering all the
towels and rags, tossing them into a basket. Doing a load of
laundry now would save her time after closing. If things didn’t
pick up soon, she was going to close early and go home for a nap,
she decided.

“Mom.”

Bent over to pick up a pile
of towels, Jude hadn’t heard the door open, and she jerked upright.
Joseph was standing just on the other side of the bar, looking for
her.

“Joseph!” She dropped the
basket and rounded the bar. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?
Why didn’t you tell me you were coming down?”

She hugged her son, who
towered over her by a full head, and then pulled back to look at
his face. What she saw there took her breath away.

Joseph’s eyes were red and
bleak. His mouth was tight and his jaw clenched. Jude was reminded
of the days immediately after Daniel had died, when she would come
upon her son holed up by himself, not wanting his mother or sister
to see him cry.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” She
began to pull him toward a table and then stopped. “Meggie? Is
Meggie okay?”

Joseph nodded and spoke for
the first time since he’d said her name. “I guess so. I mean, I
haven’t talked to her in a while, but she texted me yesterday.”

Jude blew out a sigh.
Something was tearing him up, but as long as both of her babies
were alive and whole, she could handle anything.

“Sit down.” She pointed to
the chair and sat across from him. “Do you want something to drink?
Are you hungry?”

“No, thanks. Mom, I need to
talk to you.” His lip almost quivered, but he clamped down again
and scowled. “It’s important.”

“Okay. So talk.” When he
opened his mouth and closed it again, Jude reached across the table
to cover his hand. “It’s all right, baby. Nothing is so bad we
can’t fix it, between us.” She swallowed. “You’re not sick, are
you?”

He shook his head. “No, Mom.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I didn’t even
think that you would assume—no. I’m okay.” He gripped her hand and
took a deep breath.

“Remember Lindsay, Mom?”

Jude frowned. “The girl you
were dating last year? Yes, of course. Pretty, smart—she was going
to school to be a vet, right?”

Joseph nodded. “Yeah, she
was.” He set his jaw again, and Jude thought she could hear his
teeth grinding.

“Last year, remember when I
went back to school? We thought Dad was going to be okay for a
little while longer, and he told me to go back. He said I
should.”

“Yes, I remember.” That
whole time was a blur. Joseph had announced midway through the
summer that he was taking a break from school so he could help Jude
with Daniel, who had been declining quickly. When he seemed to
rally for a few weeks, he insisted that his son should return to
college, saying that his mother would need him more later. Three
weeks after Joseph went back, Jude had had to call him home. He and
Meggie had just made it to the house before Daniel passed.

“I was so messed up, Mom. I
was scared about Dad, and I was partying too much.” Tears began to
run down his face, and he no longer tried to hide them.