Hurricane Reese

by R. L. Merrill

  “We’ll be fine. You have the baby to take care of.” He knew she wanted to help, but he needed to do it on his own. She’d already helped him out so he could take over coaching the kids’ color guard team at school.

  They spoke for a few more minutes, and then he told her he needed to get inside—but he was lying through his teeth to his favorite tita. When she drove off in her late-model Volkswagen Jetta, Jude started up the Pathfinder and decided to go to the all-night laundromat so he would have clean clothes. He really wanted a shower. He wanted a bed. He wanted peace and order back in his life. Instead he powered up his laptop and tried to concentrate on the week’s classwork while he watched his clothes tumble around in the dryer. All the same color, spinning round and round, getting nowhere.

  When his laundry was finished and folded neatly, he stored it in the back seat. Then he drove across town to park outside his tito’s house so he could catch a couple hours of sleep. He couldn’t exactly blame Reese for falling asleep on the job if he did the same.

  Jude knew how tough his tito Rommel was on his brother and sister. He was even stricter than their father, and his father had made Jude’s high school years tough. Academics, color guard, and church were his life then. There was no time to socialize. Perhaps it had prepared him well for his current life.

  He curled up in the cargo area of his truck and tried to calm his mind. Just a few hours of sleep and he’d return to the Mathesons’. He had to keep it together. He absolutely could not dwell on the image of Reese wet and naked in the shower.

  Chapter Eight

  REESE WOKE with a start the next morning, petrified that he’d overslept again and hadn’t heard Grandpa wake up. He sat up too quickly, and the pain in his face reminded him of his embarrassment the night before.

  “Fuck,” he groaned as he sat on the side of the bed. Where had Jude gone? He almost hoped he’d come back last night, but they hadn’t discussed it. And that conversation with Jada still unsettled him. Reese found himself wondering why she had it in her mind that he was attracted to Jude. Had he said something?

  There was that one night they were over for Grandpa’s birthday, and he sang with the old man. Reese had a lot to drink and he remembered Grandpa egging him on to sing the old songs. Reese asked Jude to make a request, and it had kind of turned into a serenade. He’d been messing around, got down on one knee in front of Jude. Oh, yeah. That might have given off an impression.

  And so what? Jada was not the right partner for him. He wanted more than just arm candy hell-bent on stardom. He wanted… family.

  He was thirty-two years old and had been an orphan for the past eight years. Perhaps all of his relentless touring had truly been an escape from his loneliness. His parents had been dead for a long time, a fact he thought he’d come to terms with, but being back with his grandfather really drove the point home. He was soon to be the sole surviving Matheson. He didn’t even have any cousins. He was it.

  And watching how well Jude took care of his grandfather made him realize he’d been missing that in his life as well.

  Reese wandered into the kitchen and found a pot of glorious coffee. The smell energized him, and his mind started to spin with all the things he could accomplish now that Jude was there to help out. He could get out Grandpa’s trunk of sheet music—music he’d written during the years he worked for Frank Sinatra and the boys. Reese had a story idea, and he was ready to work on it.

  A crash from the living room sent Reese running. He heard his grandfather shout as he rounded the corner. Jude was bent over picking up broken dishes.

  “Everyone okay?” Reese asked. Jude looked up at him, and Reese blanched. He looked exhausted. Where once his brown skin was the picture of health, his face looked pale. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his usually full dark lips were cracked and lacked color.

  “I must have slipped as I was lifting the tray off your grandfather. I’m so sorry,” he said softly.

  “I’m just glad that coffee had cooled. You coulda boiled my balls.”

  “Jesus, old man. Enough with the ball cracks.”

  “Well, I’m serious. At least I don’t need to use the boys for anything anymore, but they hang down so low in my chair, they woulda been scalded for sure.”

  Reese groaned as he stepped around Jude and tried to help.

  “I’ve got it,” Jude grumbled. Reese fought the laugh that almost slipped out. The unshakable Jude De La Torre was in a foul mood. Reese was entertained, but he was also worried.

  “No, I’ve got it. Why don’t you just sit down, Jude? You look like you’re about to drop. Are you not feeling well?”

  Jude stood slowly and brought his hand to his lower back. He moved to the couch and plopped down in an uncharacteristically awkward way. Reese continued to clean up the mess, but he could see Grandpa trying to get up.

  “Just wait, old man. I’ll get you cleaned up. Just let me get these shards picked up. I don’t want you to cut yourself.”

  The old man grumbled, and Jude stared off into the distance. Reese stood, piled the broken dishes on the tray, took them to the garbage, and dumped them. Then he hurried back to his grandfather, helped him down the hall to the bathroom, and chanced a glance back at Jude. Jude’s eyes met his and his heart clenched at the sight. Jude was seriously a wreck. Seemed Reese needed to care for him today.

  “Let’s get you into the shower.” Reese helped him get undressed and left Grandpa to get his own drawers off.

  “I wash my own balls, son. Remember that.”

  “Lord. Enough with the balls.”

  Grandpa chuckled his way through his shower and only paused a couple of times to hold on to the handrails. Reese should have remembered to grab them when he slipped last night. Reese stood next to the open stall door, at the ready in case Grandpa lost his balance. He needed to get a chair to put in there.

  When Grandpa finished, Reese handed him a towel and grabbed his bathrobe. Reese helped him into it and then stood beside him as he combed his hair and put on his aftershave. Grandpa shuffled into his room next, and Reese glanced down the hall to see Jude had moved from the couch. He frowned but continued into the bedroom with Grandpa… and stopped cold.

  Jude had cleaned his grandfather’s room—top to bottom. There wasn’t a speck of dust on anything. All of the clothes were put away. There was nothing on the floor, and the bed had been freshly made. No wonder the guy was exhausted. That would have taken Reese a week, not a couple of hours. What the hell time had he shown up that morning?

  Grandpa hummed to himself as he went about his dressing routine, and Reese beamed. He loved it when Grandpa sang. The times were few and far between these days, but he relished them.

  “Hey, Grandpa? How about I take you out back. I’ll play for you, and you can sing. What do you say? I want to pull out some of your sheet music.”

  “My grandson wants to write a play about me, did ya know that?”

  Reese frowned, but Grandpa continued.

  “My grandson is a great musician. Taught him just about everything he knows. Well, the guitar he picked up on his own. I love that boy. He should be back soon from his tour. Did you want to meet him?”

  He looked at Reese expectantly, but he didn’t even recognize the man he’d just been heaping praise on.

  “Yeah,” Reese said, choking back tears. “I’d like to meet him.”

  “Mr. Matheson, Judge Judy is on. Would you like to come back to your chair? I’ve cleaned it up for you.”

  Reese turned to find Jude had composed himself. Jude stepped forward and took Grandpa by the elbow and led him out the door. He raised an eyebrow at Reese, but the look wasn’t one of reproach. He genuinely looked sorry for him.

  Reese couldn’t get his feet moving. There’d been a couple of times when his grandfather briefly hadn’t recognized him, but he snapped out of it. Today he’d carried on as though Reese weren’t there in front of him.

  Were they really out of time? The thought broke his
heart. He knew once he placed him in a care facility, their time would be up. He’d read that many of the places discouraged visits from family members as it just disturbed and agitated the Alzheimer’s patients. Reese’s chest felt heavy just thinking about it. He sank to his knees—a fitting metaphor for his situation. He was all alone.

  His parents had been traveling in South America when the car they rented went over the side of a cliff in rainy weather. Reese had just graduated from college and was touring across the US with his band when he got the call. It hurt, sure. But they’d been traveling since he was a kid, sometimes for six or eight months at a time because his father’s film-production company worked all over the planet. Reese spent so much time with his grandparents that their house felt more like home than any house he’d lived in with his parents. Losing his grandmother four years ago was more difficult—for him and for Grandpa. Reese wished that tough woman were still here to guide him.

  A gentle hand on his shoulder stirred him from the painful memories. Reese looked up into Jude’s comforting gaze. His dark eyes held compassion—something Reese hadn’t felt from anyone in a long time.

  “He’s resting in his chair. He sleeps more during the day now.”

  Reese couldn’t fight the tears any longer. He rubbed at his eyes and bumped his nose.

  “Fuck, that hurts.” He wiped gingerly with the hem of his shirt just as Jude held a tissue out to him.

  “Thanks,” Reese said. He hadn’t cried when his parents died, evidence enough that his present situation hurt on a much deeper level.

  “You have a little more time, Reese, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  Reese blew out a breath and tried to get his breathing under control, but his chin wouldn’t stop quivering as he spoke.

  “He talked about me. To me. As if I weren’t me standing there. Jude, he didn’t recognize me at all.”

  JUDE KNELT before Reese and wrapped his arms around him to offer solace. Reese seemed so lost. Jude didn’t know how to help him come to grips with the fact that he could very well lose his grandfather sooner rather than later. How could he? Jude didn’t know what that meant. Even without his parents and grandparents, he had a large extended family. Reese had his grandfather. Period.

  Reese clung to him as he let his feelings out quietly. Jude felt the shudders going through Reese’s much larger frame. When it seemed like he was getting himself under control, Jude tried to lean back, but Reese held on.

  “We’ll care for him together,” Jude said softly against Reese’s hair. They held each other a few moments longer until it was obvious that things were moving from the realm of comfort toward something more like a caress. Their eyes held as they separated, and neither was able to look away.

  “Thank you,” Reese finally said, his bright smile returning although he looked a little ridiculous with the bandage on his nose. His eyes hadn’t blackened, but they still might.

  “You’re very welcome,” Jude said, his cheeks flushed. The full force of Reese’s charisma hit him like a tractor beam and threatened to pull him back in. He didn’t want to fight that pull any longer.

  “It’s nice to know we’re in this together.” Reese’s smile was intoxicating.

  “You called Jada last night,” Jude blurted out, unable to stand the tension between them. Reese’s eyes widened in surprise, and he barked out a laugh.

  “I did. My songwriting partner is out of town. She was the only other person I could think of who had nothing better to do.” He chuckled at his own statement, but Jude needed the wake-up call. He had absolutely no business on his knees in front of Reese Matheson, especially in his grandfather’s room. He scrambled rather ungracefully to his feet and backed up to the door.

  “Well, I’m certain she was glad to help. Excuse me.”

  He turned to run, or at least flee to the kitchen, the porch, the closet—anything to be away from Reese at that moment. A knock on the door almost saved him. He turned back meaning to say “That must be the nurse,” only to find Reese standing inches away.

  “She told me she knew I was attracted to you,” Reese said, blushing.

  Jude was dumbfounded. “Why would she say that?” he asked rather lamely.

  Reese reached up a large hand and ran his thumb over Jude’s lip. “Because it’s true,” he whispered. He sucked in a breath and blew it out as he pushed past Jude’s unmoving and confused form and walked toward the living room, probably to open the door for whoever was knocking so insistently. Jude caught himself against the doorjamb.

  “Sleep deprivation,” he mumbled and shook his head. “That has to be the explanation. Why else would I be feeling light-headed?”

  Lack of food could have been the culprit as well, but Jude had been going without sleep for a week. Since the nurse was there, he could leave for a while, maybe go catch a shower at Tita Germaine’s. She’d be home with the baby, but she wouldn’t mind. He’d just explain that he wanted to freshen up before he headed over to the kids’ school for color guard practice.

  Not only was Jude trying to finish up his degree, one course at a time, he’d taken on the color guard choreographer position to ensure that his brother and sister were able to experience a championship season. He’d missed the dancing anyway, and it was a great outlet for his frustration. Now that he’d determined the best course of action to get him away from Reese and all the temptation he personified, Jude had the gumption to put one foot in front of the other and join them in the living room.

  “Well, hello Jude. It’s so nice to see you back.”

  He kissed cheeks with Kyla, a friend of his from high school. She’d been a year ahead of him and had completed her nursing degree in the past year. She’d taken a job with the home-care service Mr. Matheson’s insurance contracted with and came three to four times a week to check his vitals and follow up on his medications. She’d been upset when Reese let Jude go, but being the professional she was, she didn’t outright yell at him. She just snuck in little digs while Jude was still around that made it clear who she sided with.

  “You too, girl. Hey, I might need to ask you for a reference, if you don’t mind. I’m looking into—”

  “Of course,” she said as she gave Reese a scolding look. “You’re probably looking for work, huh. I’d be happy to write you a letter. Where should I send it? Are you staying at your uncle’s?”

  Jude’s eyes darted between Reese’s very attentive ones and Kyla’s expectant ones.

  “Uh, no. I’m staying with my, umm, cousin. Adrian. He lives not too far from here. It’s quicker than going to Tito’s. Would you excuse me? I need to get ready for class.”

  Feeling incredibly nervous, agitated, hungry, and exhausted, he hurried into the kitchen to grab his bag and then made quick work of saying goodbye.

  “When will I see you next?” Reese asked, his hands on his incredible hips. OhJesusLordGod.

  “When do you want me?” Jude answered. God, did he sound pathetic. Reese’s smile looked salacious. Thank goodness Kyla was tending to Mr. Matheson and wasn’t paying attention. Reese followed Jude out front.

  “I think I made that very clear,” Reese murmured behind Jude as he followed Jude out the door.

  Jude turned on him, and his anger got the better of him. “Don’t play with me,” Jude snapped. “I have no interest in coming between you and Jada.”

  Reese’s eyes narrowed as he stepped forward and closed the door behind him. “There is no between me and Jada. This isn’t about her. This is about you. And me. And the fact that every second I spend around you is driving me crazy. I can’t stand watching you float across the room, picking things up with your graceful hands, or speaking to me in that infuriating tone of yours.”

  Jude stepped back at the emotion in Reese’s voice.

  “I—I’m sorry, Reese. I—”

  “I can’t stand it because I want you in front of me. I want your hands on me, and I want you saying my name over and over in anything but that damn tone. I want
you, Jude. God help me, but I want you.”

  “Oh,” Jude gasped and stumbled on the top step as he backed away. “Oh. Well, I….” What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He felt himself smiling. Stupid. “You never said when you want me back here,” Jude said as his ears got hot. He backed two more steps down from the porch, but couldn’t seem to break away from Reese’s gaze.

  “I never said I wanted you to leave,” Reese joked. But that was all it took to cool Jude’s mood.

  “Yeah. You did. I’ll be back after class tonight to check in. And please leave his bedroom the way you found it this morning.”

  Jude turned on his heel and walked with purpose toward his car, confident Reese was watching him the entire way. He tried to remain composed, at least until he was out of Reese’s sight. Then he could fall apart.

  Chapter Nine

  OF ALL the insensitive, idiotic things Reese could have said in that moment.

  Yes, he had asked Jude to leave, but only so he could be with his grandfather and care for him. Jude hadn’t put up a fuss. Surely he had a place to stay, didn’t he?

  But then he’d stumbled over his words in front of his nurse friend. Shit. What if he didn’t have a place to stay? What if he was out there…?

  He’d find out that night, for sure. When Jude came back, he’d make him talk—about a lot of things.

  Kyla was just about done with Grandpa’s check-in when Reese returned, and she offered to sit with him if Reese had anything he needed to do.

  “Actually if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to be out in the garage for a bit? I just need to pull down some boxes. Me and the old man got some music to make, ain’t that right?”

  Grandpa just grunted. “Been waiting on you. Nothing to do but fiddle with my balls while you’re out prancing around on stage.”

  Kyla laughed and turned to Reese. “We’ll be fine. You do what you need to do. I can stay until four.”