But the burn from his woman’s eyes took his attention off it as she shot him a scorching look.
He jutted his chin at her teasingly.
He knew his suit “only” cost five thousand.
But the other shit he’d be wearing put it well over six.
“I’m afraid that’s something we’ll never break her from, darling,” Genny replied on a sigh.
He was grinning when he stopped looking around, taking in the space.
He also stopped dead.
“This will be good,” Genny went on to mumble. “Practice for the wedding.”
Vaguely, he thought of that and how Chloe described Genny and Duncan’s wedding as an event that was going to be “subdued, but still sensational.” That meant it was going to be small (ish). It was also going to be happening soon.
Not in LA.
In Prescott.
“See you tonight. Give my love to Chloe,” Genny bid.
“I can hear you, Mom,” Chloe called.
“Right, darling. Bowie and I’ll be there around six. So will your dad. Jamie and Dru are staying closer to you so they might be there earlier. Do not cook! We’ll order when we get there.”
Judge tore his gaze from what he was looking at to catch his woman’s scowl.
What was left unsaid was that Paloma would be here too.
Her father was dating someone.
Chloe detested her.
Tom was coming to the premiere.
And bringing her.
Judge had to admit, he was with Chloe. He couldn’t put his finger on what exactly bugged him about Paloma, but she wasn’t right for Tom.
Or maybe it was that definitely Chloe, but also Judge felt no one would be good enough for him.
Except, sadly, Genny.
“Okay, Mom. See you soon,” Chloe said.
“Yeah, Gen, see you soon,” Judge added.
“Love you both.”
In unison, they replied, “Love you more.”
He hung up and now Chloe was smirking at him, because he’d fallen into that Pierce-Swan-Holloway habit of the “love you more” thing (mostly doing this with Chloe). It wasn’t the first they’d chatted together with her mom on speakerphone, so it wasn’t the first time it happened, and he knew his woman really dug that unison gig.
She opened her mouth, probably to say something smug, but he got there before her.
“What’s this?” he asked, gesturing to a framed picture with his phone.
She walked up to where he stood at the mantel over the fireplace and peered at the photo.
“I think that’s me. And Grandma. With Uncle Corey.”
He knew it was her.
Chloe, as a baby.
The polka-dot bathing suit with a skirt. The curl of dark hair you could just barely see coming out from under her sun hat.
Sasha was blonde.
The photo was black and white, but you could still see.
Judge studied a picture of Szabo and Chloe’s grandma standing out on a beach, her grandma in a dark bathing suit, Szabo in linen pants and shirt, and then he stared at Chloe standing beside him.
And carefully, he asked, “Do you see this picture, baby?”
“Yeah, I think Gramps took it. He had a thing for photography. He was always taking candids of people when they didn’t know he was doing it.”
He turned again to the photo.
Corey Szabo, who was unmistakable, was holding her to his chest like she was his own child.
Treasured.
Precious.
Beloved.
And her grandmother, who was a looker, was smiling at them, smiling at them both, with all three of those things in her face.
He then glanced around.
And after that, he urged, “Chloe, honey, look around.”
She finally gathered his tone, grew attentive, then she gazed around.
She ended on him.
“What do you see?” she asked quietly.
“There are pictures everywhere,” he told her. “A lot of them. All in groupings. But there is only one right here. Only one, pride of place. There’s nothing else on this mantel, not your mother. Not Hale. Nothing. Except you, and your grandmother, and your uncle.”
He saw her body still, but her gaze drifted back to the photo.
“He adored her,” she whispered.
“He adored you,” he whispered back.
Her eyes came to him, and they were bright with wet.
“I hope Hale never sells this house,” Judge said. “I totally get why your uncle took his last breath here. It’s filled with love.”
He barely finished his last word before she walked into his arms.
Judge held her, gaze on that photo.
Thanks, man, he said to the universe.
There was no reply.
Even so, deep down in his soul, Judge knew…
He was heard.
After all, he was granted this moment and this woman in his arms, all she had given him, and all she would.
And he knew one thing for certain about Corey Szabo.
If Judge wasn’t worthy of her, he wouldn’t be there.
* * *
Seven hours later, there were thirteen people in that house.
And it was true.
Corey Szabo’s home was as he’d always wanted it.
Filled with love.
The End
The River Rain Series will continue…
With the story of Rix and Alex.
Post-Script
The Assessment
Rhys
The Next Life Premiere Night…Two Thousand and Seventy-Three Miles away from Los Angeles…in Brownsburg, Indiana…
Rhys sat at the bar.
It was bordering on seedy.
Worn in.
Welcoming to locals.
Not intimidating to out-of-towners.
The sign over the door called it J&J’s Saloon.
Rhys thought it was trouble.
This had a lot to do with the two men that sat at the end of the bar. Both dark-headed, both good-looking, one built like a linebacker, the other just plain built.
They had eyes on Rhys. They did not share that they were happy with his vibe.
And they reeked of cop.
They did this even though Rhys knew who they were.
And that they were both cops.
He sat with his vodka rocks and gave all appearances of ignoring them, but he tracked every move they made.
This didn’t stop him from looking to the door when it opened.
He already knew the man entering was the man he came to see.
Like he knew one of the men at the end of the bar was Alec Colton, one of serial killer Denny Lowe’s first two victims.
Lowe obviously hadn’t killed Colton, but he’d taken something else from him that, from Rhys’s research, was more precious to him than his life.
Fortunately for Colton, he’d gotten it back.
Now, the man walking his way was another story.
Rhys didn’t like it, but he’d come into this bar without his guns or his knife.
They’d know he was armed just looking at him.
He didn’t need that headache.
And the man who walked right up to him and gave him a once-over would know it too.
Anthony Joseph Callahan.
“You Vaughan?” he asked when he stopped at Rhys’s side.
“Yes, and you’re Joe Callahan.”
Callahan jerked up his chin.
He was a big man too.
Big.
Built.
And more dangerous than the two at the end of the bar put together.
And the man with Colton, a man called Tanner Layne, had been government trained, even if that was by proxy, and Rhys didn’t mean military.
Layne knew entirely different kinds of ops.
Specialized.
How this crew converged on this small town in Indiana, Rhys had no clue.
He also did
n’t care.
That was not his directive.
He focused on the man in front of him.
“Got your message, I’m here,” Joe Callahan grunted. “What’s this about?”
“I’d like to talk to you about Susan Shepherd.”
Callahan’s eyes narrowed under menacingly knit brows.
They then flicked across the bar, to Colton.
They came back to Rhys.
And then, assessment concluded, he took the stool next to Rhys’s.
Discussion & Reflection Questions
1. Divorce is now commonly accepted in many societies. As such, was it a surprise to you the differing nuances of the fallout for the children of divorced parents, even if those children are adults, and the split was for the most part amicable and functional when it came to the Pierce-Swans? Or the prolonged fallout when the divorce was not amicable, and the child was young, when it came to the Oakleys?
Further, what were your thoughts around the fact that the parents understood on some level there was fallout but did not actively press assisting their offspring to directly deal with these issues? Do you think they should be treating them as adults and letting them find their own way, as Genny and Tom are doing? Or interceding so they didn’t have to deal at all, like Jamie did? Or should they be more forcefully intervening?
2. What were your thoughts about Chloe’s reaction to Genny’s inability to forgive Tom’s betrayal and preserve their marriage? Did you feel Chloe was being too hard on her mother?
And as Chloe ruminated about some of her parents’ marital history, did you feel there might have been things Genny missed that led to the disintegration of her closeness to her husband—not in the sense she held any responsibility for the ultimate betrayal—but perhaps bore some shared responsibility for the failure of their marriage?
3. Hounded by the media throughout his divorce, Jameson Oakley sought to shield his son from that and eventually made a judgment call on how best to protect him. What did you think about this decision? What were your thoughts as it came back to haunt him? How did you feel about Judge’s acceptance of it?
4. At first glance, Belinda Oakley appears to be an almost villain in this novel. But addiction is an illness, and for Belinda, it not only went untreated, after Jameson felt the need to give up on her once she’d betrayed their marriage to that compulsion, no one in her life, including her parents, made much effort to press her to seek help.
Do you think Belinda would have eventually benefitted from some love and intervention? Do you feel she was lost to the machinations of powerful men and the recriminations of a disapproving father? Do you feel her father’s attitudes, and perhaps Jamie’s ambitions, may have had some effect on how quickly she became unanchored after high school? And do you think it’s a child’s responsibility, when they reach adulthood, to press a parent to recovery?
Or is there a point of no return for a person struggling with addiction who shows no willingness to seek help where those around them must break ties for their own emotional health? Or even, do you feel it is not anyone’s responsibility, but this is solely owned by the person who is struggling?
5. It is distinctly the author’s opinion that we all should be socially responsible, but in this book, she makes clear those of privilege should understand that and consciously work at leveling the playing field. What did you think about Chloe’s Fabulous Foot Forward program? Judge’s determination to make a career in mutual aid? Hale’s crusade to use the wealth and power his father left him for good? Was this believable? Are they doing enough? Is it your opinion they’re focusing on the right things? If not, what should they be focusing on or do you think this is their responsibility at all?
6. Sizeism and ageism are issues. It can be argued that ridiculing and discriminating on the basis of weight and age are still socially acceptable to many. In fact, a large number of people feel it is not objectionable in the slightest to openly share their derogation of people, especially women, who are considered overweight.
How did you feel when you read the description of the clientele Chloe caters to in Velvet and her opinions about why she does? When shopping, have you experienced some of the things that Chloe’s patron mentioned? Or have you never thought of this? No matter your age or size, would you welcome and patronize a store like Velvet?
7. In this novel, the reader learns even more about the complex character of Corey Szabo. Introduced in After the Climb as terminally selfish and deceitful, he also has significant demons.
However, in this book, we discover even more about what makes him tick. What were your thoughts as his relationship with Chloe unfolded? What are your thoughts about his bequeathal of Rhys Vaughan and his clear initiative, even after his death, to continue interfering in the lives of people he cared about, but deceived? Does this make you consider the fact that one act, no matter how dramatic, or the ripples it creates in many lives, does not define a person? Does it give you pause to reflect how those who were supposed to love him also missed how long and how deeply he was struggling?
8. Chloe and Judge are an example of opposites attract. But this is only surface. Were you surprised how they found so much common ground, even if, at first glance, they would not seem to suit?
9. AJ Oakley is the villain in this book, however, he is also an example of a character who was, and sometimes still is, admired and even revered as a traditional model of the esteemed masculine traits of being straight-speaking, aggressive, wealthy, philandering and unapologetic. What are your thoughts on that?
10. Did you think Chloe should so easily forgive Sasha?
11. Did you think it reasonable that Chloe moved to Prescott, rather than Judge moving to Phoenix?
12. What was your favorite outfit of Chloe’s?
13. Do you think, even though they end the novel living together, that Chloe has relinquished custody of Judge’s coat?
14. Both Rix and Tom are set to have their stories story told next. But whose story would you like to see after those?
Sneak Peek
Taking the Leap
River Rain, Book 2
By Kristen Ashley
Coming February 15, 2022
Click here to purchase
Prologue
Someone Like Me
Alex
It was happening.
He was flirting with me.
John “Rix” Hendrix, the coolest guy I’d ever met, the most interesting person I’d ever known, the most handsome man I’d ever seen, was flirting…
With…
Me.
And I was somehow managing to flirt back (kind of).
Okay, I might be relying on something from Moscow to do so (that something being their mules), but it was happening.
And I knew I wasn’t making more of it than I should.
I knew that because Chloe and Judge were with us. We were out having drinks, celebrating the official beginning of our new Trail Blazer program (that day, Judge, Rix and me had signed on to new job titles with new responsibilities and new salaries with the expanded program—I got a promotion and a fifteen percent raise!—definitely worth sitting down to drinks with the man who terrified me most on this earth).
Chloe was giving Rix and me smug looks, but mostly me, and once, she’d even winked at me.
As an aside: Chloe Pierce, my boss Judge’s girlfriend, was the coolest, most interesting, most gorgeous woman I’d ever met.
And even though (fortunately, so far, though maybe not now?) Rix had missed it, but although she hadn’t said anything, I knew Chloe knew I was crushing on Rix…big time.
And I had been.
Crushing on Rix.
Big time.
She was happy for me.
I was happy for me!
Because Rix was flirting with me.
Me!
And the reason why this was crazy was not only because he was cool and interesting and handsome, and as yet, such a man had never shown any interest in me.
It was because I was, well…
Me.
First off, I was shy around cute guys (okay, I was just plain shy, but it got a lot worse around guys, and off-the-charts worse around cute ones).
Not to mention, I knew how to put on mascara, I just wasn’t a big fan of wearing it (so, unless it was a super special occasion, or I was with my family, I didn’t).
I had a little house up in mountains (TBH, it was more like a big shack), but I was rarely in it because there were a lot better places to be (and my house was awesome, I just had a ton of interests and not a lot of them happened in my house).
I knew how to cook in a kitchen, but I cooked way better over a campfire (and in a hot coal pit).
There were Star Trek nerds, I was just a star nerd (that being, lying under them at night in the middle of nowhere and staring at them until I fell asleep).
I would rather snowshoe into a forest in the dead of winter, set up a tent and spend a couple of days in nature, reading by a headlamp at night cozied up in a one-woman sleeping bag in a one-person tent than sit by a fireside during a snowstorm with a mug of hot cocoa (though, that was nice too).
Women didn’t get me.
Men didn’t either, and it was actually more men who didn’t get me than it was women because I wasn’t stereotypically womanly. Most woman got there were lots of different kinds of women. Most men (in my experience) weren’t that broad minded.
No, actually, it was more my family who didn’t get me than anyone else.
My family didn’t get me at all.
“Sexy as fuck,” Rix was saying.
I came out of my musings to focus on his words.
Words he was aiming at me (me!).
Words of which one of them was “sexy.”
A flutter assaulted my belly at hearing his gravelly voice utter that word (at me).
Chasing Serenity Page 45