by R. C. Martin
Having left the device on my nightstand, I used my long gait to reach it before the call dropped into my voicemail. Though, when I picked it up and saw Teddy was trying to reach me, I frowned and paused a beat more. She’d been gone for only twenty minutes.
Finally sliding my thumb across the screen, I brought my phone to my ear and answered, “Hello?”
“Hey, Judah—it’s me.”
“Yes, Teddy,” I replied with a half-smile. “I know who you are.”
“Right,” she murmured with a laugh.
Her laugh—it was the clipped sound of it which was my first clue something was wrong.
“Um, I was wondering—god, I’m so sorry about this, I just—you’re the first person that came to mind. Maybe I’ll call Geoff. You’ve got golf and—I’m sorry.”
“Theodora, stop apologizing and tell me what’s wrong.”
“My car—it, it stopped accelerating. I managed to pull off onto the side of the road, but I think I’m stuck.”
“Where are you?” It wasn’t until I asked that I realized my cleats were still in my left hand. Returning to my closet, I waited for her flustered, stuttering reply.
“Um—I’m on highway 34, but I—I’m not sure of the cross street. It’s like, I don’t know—just before it turns into a two-lane road.”
I froze then. Estes Park wasn’t a destination I visited often. Nonetheless, I’d lived in Colorado most of my life. I knew when a highway headed toward a mountain town turned into a two-lane road, it wasn’t a safe place to be parked.
“Teddy, are your hazard lights on?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Do you have roadside assistance?”
I asked the question as a precaution, but my gut told me the answer before she did. She was twenty-three, driving an old, hand-me-down car. Hell, even I didn’t consider roadside assistance until I purchased my Porsche.
“No,” she replied, confirming my suspicions.
“Okay. I need you to remember the last landmark or location that’ll help pinpoint your specific stopping point. I’m going to have your car picked up and taken to my mechanic.”
I drove two luxury cars, each of which were serviced at the dealership—but establishing a relationship with my mechanic was a priority I saw to when I moved to town. A Honda was no Mercedes, but he’d do me this favor. I was sure of it.
“I—I don’t really know. I’m outside of Loveland. But—I’m, like, on the outskirts of town. I’m between places right now.”
“I’m going to call you back,” I told her, headed for my office. “Answer when I do.”
“Of course, I will.”
I disconnected without further prompting and sat at my desk to pull up what information I needed from my laptop. One call to the dealership and I had Mick on the line. Just as I surmised, he was willing to do me a favor—but he was booked for the day and off on Sunday. The soonest he’d be able to squeeze me in was Monday. I accepted his offer and then hung up to make my next call. While I couldn’t give the towing company a concrete location, they assured me they’d find the vehicle. When they told me the wait time, I bit back a curse and returned to my closet.
“Fine. Call me when you’ve got it. It’ll be empty. I’ll pay by card over the phone.”
I hung up, slipping my phone into my pocket as I reached for my brown, leather jacket. I shrugged it on and then walked toward my bookshelf to grab my wallet and keys. It wasn’t until I passed by my clubs that it hit me. I had just dropped everything for a woman.
The realization made me hesitate—my hand poised and ready to open the garage door. I needed a second to figure out what I was doing; to decide if it was actually something I wanted to do. Then I remembered the sound of Teddy’s nervous laugh, and the anxious way she stumbled over her words. I knew Teddy well enough to be sure she was no damsel in distress. She’d saved herself from far more dire situations—but it was me she called. For the second time, she was stranded, and I was her choice.
The gentleman in me couldn’t leave her there. But the man I had obviously become didn’t think twice about getting in my vehicle to go rescue her from hers. With a shake of my head, I bypassed my clubs, stepped into the garage, and climbed into my Mercedes. While I waited for the garage door to open, I extracted my phone from my pocket and sent a quick text to Aunt Eddalyn. Remembering our dinner plans for the next evening, I knew my cancelation would only be a minor inconvenience.
As I backed out of my driveway, I pushed another call through to Teddy. The ringtone sounded in my vehicle as the Bluetooth connection was made. I only had to wait a moment before she answered.
“Hello?”
“You okay?” I inquired, headed for highway 34.
“Yeah.”
“I’m coming to get you.”
“You are?”
Her tone, tinged with surprise and anticipation, didn’t go unnoticed. Neither did the way it made me feel. It beckoned me toward her all the more. There was something about the humble and gracious manner in which she took from me that made me want to shower her with anything she wanted. It seemed as irrational as it was romantic. It was a desire I swore I’d share with no one.
“Yes,” I answered simply. “Stay in your car until I get there.”
“Okay. And—um, what about—”
“Your car will be towed within the next couple of hours. My mechanic has agreed to look at it, but it won’t be until Monday morning.”
“Oh. I should—I guess I should call my parents. Um…” She paused for a long moment. “Jude, what should I tell them?”
I knew, without further explanation, she wasn’t asking about what details she should relay to her parents about her car. In her own shy way, she was asking whether or not she should tell them if she was still coming for a visit.
From the instant she informed me she would be making the trip to see her parents, it was clearly understood her plans didn’t include me. I neither wanted, nor expected an invitation. Being the smart woman she was, I was sure the thought hadn’t crossed her mind, either. At least, not until the circumstances changed.
Teddy didn’t talk about her parents often. When she did, it was obvious she was quite fond of them. Moreover, I was aware of how much she’d been looking forward to spending time with them. While it wasn’t my fault her car was a piece of shit that couldn’t make it up the mountain, I suddenly felt the responsibility to make sure she got there anyway. However, it wasn’t as simple as merely making the trip. I, of course, would then be part of her plans.
“Judah?” she murmured meekly, interrupting my thoughts.
“I’m thinking.”
When my phone vibrated with a text alert, I knew without having to look that it was my Aunt Eddalyn returning my message. I thought about how we would be spending our Sunday evening, and it dawned on me how Teddy would essentially be meeting my second mother for the first time. Furthermore, the aforementioned introduction would surely put into motion the inevitable introduction of my own mother. It was all very overwhelming and obligatory. It seemed to speak of a level of commitment and expectation I’d never experienced before.
But she’s not going anywhere, I reminded myself.
And neither are you, goaded another voice inside of me.
Whatever I was doing with Theodora Fitzpatrick was somehow indefinite. I didn’t believe in forever. I couldn’t envision it, therefore I couldn’t trust it, let alone promise it. Yet, be that as it was, to fight progression felt like self-sabotage. I wouldn’t choose that. I was too selfish.
“Tell them you’re still coming. At least for today,” I finally replied.
“Are you—are you serious?”
“I’m not a man who says yes when I mean no, Teddy. Call them and then call me back. I want you on the phone until I get there.”
“Okay. Yeah. I’ll—I’ll call you back in a minute.”
Expecting her to end the call, I waited for our connection to drop. Instead, after a pause, she spoke again.
“Judah?”
“Yes?”
I waited for her to speak, but she hesitated for another long moment. Finally, she whispered, “I’ll call you back in a minute.”
When she hung up, I wondered what it was she said in the silence; what those hazel-brown eyes had spoken; what her elegant face had shared. My curiosity aroused my impatience, and I let my foot press harder on the gas.
Chapter Ten
When Judah’s matte, black Mercedes SUV approached, Theodora watched from her rearview mirror. He pulled around her vehicle, easing to a stop before he disconnected their call. She looked on as he checked his sideview mirror before he opened his door and stepped out. Her heart leapt at the sight of him. In his leather jacket and fitted pants, he looked as debonair as she knew him to be. As he made his way toward her, she was almost breathless at the reality of him. Not simply his existence—but his presence in the very unexpected circumstance in which she found herself.
She grabbed her purse and then moved to open her own door, but he held up a hand, the only signal she needed to understand she should wait. Judah stood by as a car zoomed around the bend, then beckoned her with a wave. Just as soon as Theodora was out of the car, he took hold of the back of her neck, holding her gently as he pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“Is there anything in here you need to store in my car?”
“No.” She shook her head as she looked up at him. “Just my overnight bag. It’s in the backseat.”
“I’ll get it,” he assured her, releasing his hold of her neck. “I need to make a quick call, and then we’ll be on our way.”
“Judah?” she muttered before he could take more than a step around her. He grunted his response, and she hesitantly curled a couple of her fingers around a couple of his. “Thank you.”
He said nothing in reply. Instead, he dipped his head and planted a solid, chaste kiss against her lips. When he pulled away, he tightened his fingers around hers and insisted, “Go.”
Theodora didn’t need further prompting. Upon hearing another car quickly approaching, she hurried to the far side of the right shoulder, headed for the Mercedes. She climbed into the passenger seat, then twisted in the chair to catch a glimpse of the man who was rescuing her. Again.
She could barely see him from her vantage point, so she righted herself and heaved a sigh. If there was one thing she was certain of when it came to Judah, it was that he was a gentleman. Even when he wasn’t gentle—when he was crude, blunt, or simply entirely honest—he was a gentleman. It was knit into the fiber of his being. Thinking back on the night they met each other’s siblings, she recalled how she referred to him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The truth was, Judah was complicated—but he was somehow noble and chivalrous in the most surprising way.
Theodora was pulled from her thoughts when she heard the back door open. Judah tossed her overnight bag on the seat, then shut it in and took his place behind the wheel. He dropped his tumbler—which she drained long before his arrival—into the cupholder between them.
“You’ll have to be my navigator,” he said, buckling his seatbelt as he started the engine.
“Right. You’ll stay on this road for a while. It’ll be at least a half hour,” she told him as she, too, buckled herself in. When he accelerated up the road, she peeked back at her car, the distance between them and it stretching on. “Jude, how much is the tow going to cost?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said casually. “I’ll take care of it.”
“What? No. No, you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
Theodora anxiously tugged at the end of her braid as she reminded him, “It’s not even your car. I’ve got some money in savings, I—”
“I picked the tow company. Your car is going to my mechanic. It’s my plan, my money.”
“Jude—”
“Sweetheart, it’s done. It’s fine.” He glanced over at her, meeting her eyes for a second before he shifted his attention back onto the road.
Theodora had never had her car towed. She couldn’t even guess what the price tag on such a service would be; however, she knew nothing that had anything to do with a broken vehicle was cheap.
“Are you sure?” she pressed.
“Anything I should know about your parents before I meet them?” Judah asked, not so subtly changing the subject.
It took Theodora a moment to understand their previous conversation was over; then another to decide how to gracefully enter the next. She hadn’t planned on Judah meeting her parents. Granted, the thought crossed her mind that he would meet them someday—but she assumed someday would come after she told him exactly how much he meant to her, and how important it was for him to meet the people who made her. Given that it was happening presently, she wasn’t at all prepared to answer his question.
“Honestly? I don’t know. What do you want to know about them?”
“What do they do for a living?”
It was a simple question. So simple, it made her question why it hadn’t come up before. Though, immediately after the thought crossed her mind, she remembered she didn’t know anything about his parents, either. Studying him, she was suddenly filled with a new hope that the day would open a door she hadn’t been brave enough to knock on, yet. Theodora wanted to know everything about the man she loved—especially where he came from, and what it was about his past that hurt him or shaped him.
“My dad is a police officer. Captain, actually. He’s been wearing the uniform my whole life. And mom, she’s a guidance counselor at the high school. It’s a small town. Just about everybody knows them.”
Judah nodded, as if committing the new information to memory. He then inquired, “What have you told them about me?”
Theodora opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t find her words right away. She knew the answer without having to think about it. However, given the amount of space the man took up in her heart, she wondered if her answer might imply the opposite of how she felt.
“Um—they know you exist. They know your name. And—and they know you helped me celebrate my birthday.”
He nodded once more, but apparently had no further questions.
A beat of silence passed between them before Theodora scrounged up the courage to ask, “Do your parents know anything about me?”
“If they do, I didn’t tell them,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“Oh.”
Theodora reached up to tuck a nonexistent strand of hair behind her ear as she processed his short reply. She saw him glance at her before he reached over the center console and curved his hand around the inside of her left thigh.
“Women aren’t a topic of conversation between my family and me. They haven’t been for a long time. Inevitably, they will find out about you.”
“Because you’ll…tell them?”
“I won’t have to. Between Benjamin and Aunt Eddalyn, it’s only a matter of time before my mother starts asking questions.”
“What will you tell her?”
“That you exist. That your name is Theodora,” he began, a small, knowing smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “And that I helped you celebrate your birthday.”
His smart retort made Theodora laugh, and the tone of their conversation shifted. Soon, they were far enough into town for her to point out places rich with memory along their route. It made the rest of their trip slip by unexpectedly. Theodora was almost startled when she pointed out her parents’ house, and Judah pulled into the driveway. All at once, her belly was swarming with anxious butterflies.
When she stepped out of the SUV, she felt the shape of her phone as it weighed down the front pocket of her sweatshirt. She thought of Harper, and her fingers itched to pull out the device to call her sister. Theodora didn’t feel prepared for what was about to transpire, and a pep-talk from the woman who knew their parents best seemed like a treasure she didn’t have the time to unearth.
Oh, my gosh,
she’s going to freak when she finds out Judah met mom and dad, Theodora thought as she joined the man at the top of the driveway.
She took his hand, and he didn’t refuse her as she led him toward the front door. While they stood on the small porch, she drew in a deep breath and tightened her grip around him. Neither of them said a word before she reached for the door handle and escorted him inside.
Chapter Eleven
“Mom? Dad?” Teddy called out as we entered the residence.
Two voices responded from various parts of the house, but I didn’t bother to figure out what they were saying. Instead, I found myself taking in the details of the space. I could tell, from the outside looking in, it wasn’t a very large home. Standing in the entryway—if one could call it that—was proof my assessment was correct. Directly ahead of us was a flight of stairs, which led to the second level. The coat closet was to my right, and their living room was situated to the left.
The space was packed full of accents and knickknacks—on the coffee table, along the mantle of the fireplace, and in the shelves built into the wall on the far side of the stuffed room. There was a sofa against the wall, beneath the picture window that faced the street; and there were two armchairs which flanked the fireplace. Family pictures adorned the walls, along with seasonal wreaths; and there were blankets and throw pillows everywhere they could be.
In one glance, it was obvious—in spite of the clutter—it was a well-kept home. A place to be lived in. A place that belonged to a family. Looking about, even in just the one room, I could see traces of Teddy; explanations of who she was and why.