Smolder (17 page)

“Baby,
stop it. Nothing is your fault at all. We knew this wasn’t going to go well no
matter when or how we told everyone.”

“We
have to fix this, Jude. I can’t let this happen…I can’t lose my family,” she
cried.

I
wiped her tears away and answered, “Ssh, calm down. We’ll figure this out,
okay? I’m going to make this right. I promised Danni I would and now I’m
promising you. I guess this whole thing has been a blow to her and Beau as well
because she’s taken our side in this and they’ve been fighting. I can’t let
this come between them like it’s come between me and my best friends.”

Sadie
continued to cry and I handed her a tissue from the box at her bedside. “I need
my cell phone. I have to call my brother.”

“No,
you need this time to calm yourself down. Danni said he was on his way here
along with everyone else.”

“Well
when he gets here, I need to talk to him alone.”

“I
don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“Jude,
he’s my brother and he wouldn’t hurt me. I knew how bad this would hurt him and
I kept it from him anyway so I need to have some time alone with him to make it
right. Please trust me?”

“I
do, Sadie. I just want you to know that even though he’s your brother and
despite all that happened I still love the guy like family, but I’ll put his
ass through the wall if he upsets you in any way.”

Sadie
sighed and lightly chuckled. “I know, and I love you for that.”

We
sat in silence for a few moments before I kissed both of her hands and said,
“You have no idea how happy I am that you’re awake. I really thought I was
going to lose you for a minute and it had me thinking some pretty dark thoughts.”

“Oh
Jude, I could never leave you. I’ve loved you too long and fought too hard to
let us go now. Besides, you should know I wasn’t going to just give up that
easily. Rumor has it I’m kind of stubborn.”

I
stood from my chair and leaned into kiss her lips. I chuckled and replied,
“That stubbornness is one thing I love most about you.”

She
grinned at me weakly. “Good. So,” she said, pausing for a moment, “I see you’re
wearing your wedding band.”

I
looked down at my left hand and toyed with the platinum band on my ring finger
and smiled. “Well now that everyone knows it seemed stupid to not wear it.
Besides, while you were out wearing it kind of helped me feel closer to you. I
know that probably seems stupid, but-”

“It’s
not stupid at all, Jude. I actually feel better right now, knowing you decided
to finally put it on. Which reminds me…”

I
grinned and reached into my pocket, pulling out the little silk bag she kept
her wedding rings in. “Thought you might need these when you opened your eyes.”

Sadie
smiled and asked, “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to look inside a
woman’s purse?”

“The
only thing my mother ever taught me was that I was a constant annoyance and
that men were more important to her than being a parent,” I replied, shaking my
head. I looked up at Sadie and grinned at her. “So are you ready to wear
these?”

She
held out her left hand, palm side down, “Definitely.”

I
opened the tiny bag and let the rings fall into my palm. I fit them together
and took her hand in mine. As I slid them onto her delicate finger, I felt as
happy as the night we were married. It didn’t matter that we were in a hospital
and Sadie was lying in the bed next to me. All that mattered was that the lies
and secrets were finally over and we could both celebrate the fact that we were
married and happy and didn’t have to hide it anymore.

“I
think that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen you wear,” I said to her
and she looked at them and smiled.

“Feels
good to finally have them on. I love you Jude.”

I
leaned in and kissed her again, whispering, “I love you too, princess. So
much.” I pulled back from her and was about to sit down when I heard her
stomach start growling. Smiling, I said, “Sounds like there’s a monster in
there trying to get out.”

Chuckling,
she replied, “I guess I didn’t realize how hungry I was. I had a lot going on
when I woke up.”

“I
know, baby. Why don’t I get you something to eat? Whatever you want, it’s
yours.”

“Well
what time is it?”

“It’s
late,” I replied, “but if the cafeteria is closed I will go out and buy you
something. Name it and it’s yours, even if I have to drag someone out of bed to
open the place and cook you something.”

She
giggled before she thought for a moment and answered, “I think there’s an all
night burger joint close to here.”

Knowing
what she would want before she even had to tell me, I smiled at her and said,
“Coming up.”

“Hurry
back, big guy,” she said.

Just
as I was grabbing my jacket there was a knock on the door and Danni peeked her
head inside.

“Hey
you two, is it okay to come in?” she asked and when I turned toward the door I
could see Beau looking weary, disheveled, and worse for the wear.

“Uh,
yeah, come in,” Sadie replied weakly. As soon as her eyes met Beau’s she
started to tear up.

“Hey
Sadie,” he choked out.

I
was nervous to leave her but she was hungry and needed to eat. Besides, she’d
already told me she needed to do this alone and I loved my wife enough to
respect her wishes.

“Listen,
I was about to head to that diner up the street and get Sadie something to
eat,” I stated, jerking my head toward the door. “Danni, do you want to come
with me?”

She
nodded at me and said, “Sure, that sounds good. Do you want me to bring you
anything, Beau?”

He
cupped her cheek and roughly whispered, “No thanks, sweetheart. I’m fine.”

“Okay,
well, we won’t be gone long,” she said, looking pointedly at both of them.

I
leaned in and kissed Sadie again before saying, “If you need anything at all,
you call me okay?”

“I
will, I promise,” she replied.

“I
won’t be gone long. Love you,” I whispered.

“Love
you too, big guy,” she replied, kissing me once more before reaching up and
ruffling up my Mohawk.

My
eyes met Beau’s for a split second as I walked out of my wife’s hospital room
and as much as what he’d said to me had hurt, I had to put that aside for
Sadie’s sake so she could make things right with him. I made a promise to her
and Danni that I would do what I could to fix the rift with him and that’s what
I was going to do, but I would just have to wait it out and let Sadie heal her
relationship with him first. I just hoped that at the end of it all there was
still something to save.

Sadie

I
was feeling every kind of nervous that a person could possibly be feeling as I
laid in my hospital bed with countless wires attached to me, staring at my
brother and waiting for him to start wailing on me. He looked devastated and he
had every reason to be. In one night he almost lost his sister and found out
she’d been secretly married for a few weeks to the one guy he asked not to
touch her. As unfair as his concern seemed to be, I had to see it from his side
too and if the shoe was on the other foot I’d feel hurt.

I
was twirling my blanket in my fingers and trying to think of what to say to
break the uncomfortable silence when he crossed the room in a few long strides
and sat in the chair at my bedside. Taking my hand in his, he bowed his head
and I could feel his tears hit the back of my hand as he silently cried,
“Sadie…I’m so glad you’re okay.”

I
started to cry harder seeing my big brother, my protector, crumbling in front
of me. I placed my hand on his head in an embrace and said, “Beau, I’m so
sorry.”

“I
should’ve been there to protect you. I should have known what was going on with
Jagger from the start and I didn’t. I was so wrapped up in myself and my
happiness that I was completely blind to what was happening. I should’ve known
something was wrong,” he said weakly.

“If
it had been bad before this you would have known, Beau, but you’re happiness
mattered to me too so I was handling it myself. Besides, you have a wife and a
daughter and they should mean more to you than anything in the world,
especially your twenty-three year old sister who can take care of herself.”

“My
wife and daughter do mean the world to me but kid, you’re lying in a hospital
bed with a pretty big gash in your head so forgive me if I’m having a hard time
thinking you can take care of yourself,” he said, rubbing his eyes before
looking up at me.

“Listen
to me. What happened to me was an accident, pure and simple. I know Jagger has
been coming on a little strong but I don’t think he meant for me to get hurt,
just like Jude didn’t. You need to realize that I am a grown woman and that you
need to let me start living my life and handling things on my own. I’m not a
baby anymore and if there is a time that I can’t take care of myself, I have a
man who loves me very much that will.”

“I
know,” he said as he squared his jaw and clenched his teeth together before
continuing, “but this is really hard for me to accept. I love you both but…he’s
my best friend, Sadie. We’ve traveled the world together and done a lot of shit
and I know the kind of guy he is.”

“I
do too, and he’s loving, giving, fiercely protective of those he cares about,
and one of the greatest guys alive. You know this,” I replied.

“I
do know that, but I have also been there for all of the bad stuff too. Everyone
knows that he had a serious addiction to women before you two moved in and I
know he quit out of respect for you…”

“Which
I never asked him to do…”

“…but
I still can’t erase those images of him in threesomes and sometimes foursomes
with women almost every single night since we were teenagers. They just keep
flashing in my mind, Sadie. How can someone who would treat women like that be
good enough for my sister?”

“Kind
of like how you treated women before you met Danni?” I snapped, narrowing my
eyes at him. “You went through women the exact same way so I’m wondering if
you’d like to be the pot or the kettle, big brother.”

Beau
opened his mouth to argue but he sighed in defeat. “Ouch, Sadie.”

“Well
I’m your sister and you should know that I have no problem telling the truth no
matter how harsh it is. I’m not saying that you slept with as many women as
Jude has, but what I am saying is that you’re both two sides of the same coin. It’s
not fair to think he’d be that way with me or that I’d put up with it if he
did.”

“I
just want the best for you, Sadie. When we got signed and you were left alone
with Sharon…it was so hard to walk away knowing you were unprotected,” Beau
said and I felt a lump in my throat. “I know this is ridiculous, but I still
worry about you just like I did then. I know you’re a grown woman and mature
now and…married,” he said with a sigh, “but you’ll always be my baby sister.”

“Aw
Beau,” I said, tears falling down my cheeks again, “you’ll always be my big
brother. I love you.”

Beau
stood up and leaned into me, pulling me into a gentle hug. “I love you too,
kid.”

“So,”
I said as he let go and sat back down, “when are you going to talk to him?”

“I
don’t know,” he replied honestly.

“He’s
my husband, Beau, and you’re going to have to be okay with this. I love him and
he’s not going anywhere.”

“I
know, I know,” he said, running his hand through his hair, “but…this is still
so much to take in. I found out that you two were not only together but also
married all in the same night. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and
I’m wondering how I didn’t pick up on it.”

“Because
we both agreed that we wouldn’t tell anyone about us until we knew if there was
even an ‘us’ to talk about.”

“Well,
Danni, Jess, and Ev didn’t seem too surprised to find out you two were
together,” he stated frustratingly.

“They
thought we were hooking up, not that we were married. The only ones that knew
about that were Jake and Olivia because they were our witnesses. Don’t be upset
with Danni, please Beau, this isn’t on her. I’m sorry that it’s hurt everyone
and if it caused a rift between you and Danni, but we needed to find love
ourselves without any outside interference and we did. I love him more than I
can ever say, Beau, and he loves me too.”

“I
really hope so,” Beau said. He sighed deeply before saying, “And I’ll talk to
him, Sadie, but for now I just need time.”

“Well
you don’t have much because he’ll be back soon,” I said.

“I
can’t do this tonight, kid. I still need a minute to process it all.”

“Well
from what I hear you’ve had two days to process it,” I replied, staring
pointedly at him.

“I
know and I’ll get there, I promise. For you,” he said, “but for tonight I need
to work on getting back into Danni’s good graces. She’s been cold and barely
spoken to me since this all happened.”

“Probably
because she knows what a jack ass you’ve been,” I answered and he grinned. “I
agree, you and Danni need to work things out first, but I expect all of this to
be smoothed over soon. Got it, big brother?”

“Got
it,” he answered, lifting the corner of his mouth into a smile. “So…tell me
about the wedding.”

“Oh
come on, we don’t have to talk about that right now,” I said, reaching up and
tucking my hair behind my ear.

Beau
snorted out a laugh and stated, “Hey, I wasn’t there to see you get married so
the least you can do is tell me how it happened. Judging by the size of the
rock on your finger it must have been pretty nice.”

I
smiled as I held my hand out to stare at the exquisite ring resting on my
finger and answered, “Oh, yeah, we didn’t have time to get rings for the
ceremony so he bought this for me the next day.”

“He’s
got good taste, I’ll give him that.”

“Hell
yeah he does because he married me,” I said, and Beau smiled. Just there was a
knock on my door and I answered, “Come in.”

Ryder
and Everleigh came into the room and I smiled at them. “Hey you guys.”

“Sadie,
thank God,” Everleigh exclaimed, coming toward me and rounding the bed to hug
me. “You scared us to death.”

“I’m
okay, Ev, I promise. Thanks for coming. Sorry it’s so late.”

“Are
you kidding? There’s nowhere in the world we’d rather be, squirt,” Ryder said,
standing at the end of my bed and giving my foot a light squeeze. “Glad you’re
okay.”

“Thanks
bro,” I replied.

“Where’s
Jude?” Ryder asked, cocking his head to the side and looking pointedly at me.
“Or I guess I should ask, where’s your husband?”

I
sighed and said, “Oh yeah. That. Listen,” I began but he held up his hand.

“Don’t
say anything Sadie. This took us all by surprise but honestly, I’m happy for
you both.”

“Huh?”
I asked him. “You’re happy? I know you probably weren’t as pissed off as Beau
was but you’ve made no secret of telling Jude that you didn’t think us getting
together was a good idea.”

“I
know I did and I’m sorry for that. We all know what a whore Jude used to be,
but once I thought about it I realized what he’s done for you even before you
two hooked up. He’s always been there for you but when you moved into his
place, he gave up sex completely without anyone telling him that he should. He
did it out of respect for you, because he didn’t want to disappoint you.
Looking back, I think he loved you long before he realized it,” Ryder stated
and I grinned brightly.

“Besides,
we’ve all noticed a change in him ever since this past summer and it’s because
of you, Sadie. How can anyone be upset if you both make each other happy?”
Everleigh added, eyeing Beau. They exchanged a glance and he threw her a guilty
look. “What’s done is done and I’m sure you both didn’t jump into this blindly.
Even if you did something that seemed impulsive or crazy to the rest of us, you
always stood by your decisions and knew what was right for you. If Jude is who
makes you happy, and we all know he does, then I couldn’t be happier for you.”

I
smiled and held my arms out to Everleigh, who leaned into me and hugged me
again.

“I
love you, Ev.”

“Love
you too, Sadie. Don’t ever scare me like this again.”

“Believe
me, I don’t plan to. Just for the record, falling and cracking your head
sucks,” I answered and everyone chuckled.

Just
then, there was another knock at my door and Kris and Jessie came in. My
conversation with them was much like the one I’d had with Ryder and Everleigh,
complete with unnecessary apologies and congratulatory hugs. Everyone was
surprised by our marriage but my worry had been for nothing because they all
seemed genuinely happy for Jude and me (even though Beau still seemed to be
struggling to keep that fake smile on his face.) I was happy to finally have
this out in the open and be able to celebrate the fact that I was married to
the love of my life.

Just
as I was wondering where my husband was with my food, the door opened and he
came in carrying two take out bags followed by Danni.

“I
really hope you’re hungry-whoa,” he said, stopping short when he saw my room
was filled with way more people than when he left. “Hey. When did you all get
here?”

“A
little bit ago,” Jessie answered. “We were just chatting with your lovely
wife,” she replied as she winked at him.

He
nervously ran his hand through his Mohawk and said, “Uh, yeah.” I looked at
Beau, who had walked over to Danni and whispered something in her ear before he
kissed her cheek and walked quickly out of the room. Danni looked sad but
forced a smile and winked at me. Jude looked at me apprehensively and despite
being disappointed that my brother left, I smiled and held out my hand to him,
motioning him to me.

“It’s
okay Jude, everything’s fine,” I told him as he crossed the room and took my
hand in his.

“It
really is,” Jessie said, walking to him and throwing her arms around his neck.
“Congratulations, I’m so happy for you.”

I
squeezed his hand before he let go and hugged her back. “Thanks, pretty girl,”
he replied, and I could practically feel the weight lift off of his shoulders.
“I’m glad you don’t hate me.”

“I
could never hate you. You’re my brother and I love you. All I’ve ever wanted
for you is to be happy,” she said, sounding emotional.

“Aw
Jess, you’re not pregnant again, are you?” he asked her, smiling as she pulled
back to smile at him.

“Ha,
no I’m not. Besides, can’t I be happy for you and get all weepy without you
thinking I’m pregnant?”

“You
can, I was just teasing,” Jude replied. “So, you’re really okay? Everyone’s
okay?”

Ryder
smiled at him as he moved closer and pulled him into a back pounding hug.

“Of
course we’re okay,” he said. “But there is one thing I need to do and I think I
can speak for all of us when I do this.”

“What’s
that?” Jude asked.

Ryder
stepped back, cocked his head to the side, and smiled before he punched Jude in
the arm, knocking him back in surprise.

“What
the hell, bro?”

“That’s
for not letting us all be there to see the last man in the world we’d ever
thought would settle down get shackled,” Ryder stated as Kris chuckled.

“Yeah,
sorry about that. We really didn’t mean to hurt anyone, it’s just that…” Jude
trailed off for a moment before sighing and moving back to my bed. Taking my
hand again, he laced our fingers together and said, “I love her.”