He signed and said in his most professional voice, “Thanks for your support, Shari.”
Thank God the girl simply turned and went back to her table. After she was gone, Jude said, “Sorry about that.”
“Hazard of the job, huh?”
“Something like that.” His voice was an apology.
While he was signing the shirt, Juliette had dumped some coins on the table, separating three nickels from the rest of the money. Jude reached into his pocket and pulled out the little bit of change he had. It wasn’t much, but he added five more nickels to the pile. Juliette fed them into the machine and punched in some numbers. The first tune that played was Luke Bryan’s “To The Moon And Back.” He had the CD in his truck.
“If you’re serious about selling, couldn’t you have negotiated the sale through lawyers?” she asked after she’d finished choosing the music.
He blinked at the change of subject, but was relieved that she seemed unfazed by Shari—or at least was willing to move on.
“Yes, but I need to see the property again. My real estate agent said the buyer had some questions. Plus, I need to talk to Ethan face-to-face.”
She nodded. “Probably a good idea. Something tells me he might not take this very well.”
Juliette got it. She still understood his family dynamics. Sometimes she’d gotten it better than he had.
He was just opening his mouth to say as much when the door chime sounded again and his old high school buddy Tony Darcy walked in with two little kids in tow.
“Hey, Tony,” Jude called. “What’s going on, man?”
“Campbell? What the—What are you doing here?”
The two shook hands and exchanged quick man hugs. Tony greeted Juliette.
They made small talk, doing the cursory catch-up. Tony said he’d been following Jude’s journey on the PBR circuit.
“I’m living vicariously through you, bro,” he said.
Tony said he was teaching math at Celebration High School. He’d married his high school sweetheart, Janet Hayes, five years ago. They had two kids and Janet was ready to give birth to their third any day now.
“I’m glad I got to see you because with the baby on the way, Janet and I probably won’t make it to the reunion. That’s why you’re back in town, right? How long are you in town?”
Jude shrugged. “That’s up in the air right now. It just depends on some things that I have brewing.”
“If you do end up staying for a while, would you be willing to come and talk to the high school’s rodeo club? I’m the sponsor and I know they’d all love to hear from a champion. You’re kind of a big deal around here. But don’t get a big head or anything.”
“Sure, I’d love to come and talk to them. Let me see what I have going and I’ll give you a call.”
They exchanged numbers, and by that time Dottie delivered the blueberry pie and coffee and Tony’s to-go order, which he’d phoned in earlier. Tony paid and was out the door, but not before promising that if he didn’t hear from Jude he’d come looking for him.
“Remember that bonfire party we had out by the lake on your property?” Juliette said, her eyes sparkling with humor. “Oh, my gosh, remember when Tony and Isaac Oppenheimer were being jackasses and decided to go skinny-dipping to embarrass all the girls?”
Jude laughed. “And someone went to hide their clothes and ended up dropping them in the fire by mistake.”
Juliette was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. “And we had to make sandwich boards out of the beer boxes and bungee cords so that they didn’t get arrested for indecent exposure. It would’ve served them right if they’d spent the night in jail. That makes me sound old, doesn’t it?” She shook her head. “We had some good times out there, didn’t we?” A faraway smile softened her features as she picked up her coffee cup.
Jude swallowed a bite of pie. “Remember that time my dad was drunk when he was keeping watch out by the barn looking for those coyotes that kept trying to get after the horses? He almost shot me thinking I was an animal when really I was just sneaking in late for curfew.”
“You were an animal.” She laughed again and the sound washed over him like balm. “That’s when I started calling you Wylie,” she said. “Oh, and remember that tree we planted by the cabin? I wonder if it’s still there.”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you come out there with me and we’ll find out?”
Copyright © 2017 by Nancy Robards Thompson
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Marie Ferrarella for her contribution to the Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup series.
ISBN-13: 9781488079115
The Maverick’s Return
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
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