Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136743 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 684(@200wpm)___ 547(@250wpm)___ 456(@300wpm)
I think he pretends not to see the tears at the corners of my eyes. It’s a kindness because he likely assumes I’m at a breaking point. He would be wrong. I’m not crying because I might break. I’m crying because I’m healing, and I’m just so damn grateful for the journey I’ve chosen. I need to see it through, but will I lose Judah while finding myself?
He squeezes my shoulder and runs a finger down the bridge of my nose, which I’m sure is red by now.
“Also, should I be concerned at how casually you said ‘my machete’?” he asks, the question lifting the somber tone of the conversation.
“No need to worry.” I slant him a teasing look. “I don’t think I’ll ever need to use my machete because of your bad behavior.”
He captures my chin between his fingers, holds my eyes, the humor fading into sincerity. “I promise you won’t.”
It’s a pledge that lands like a balm on my injured memories, and I know I can trust him. I can’t even bend my mind to imagine Judah doing the things Edward did, treating me the way Edward did.
“I know,” I tell him, covering his hand where it rests on my face.
“Good,” he says, grabbing my Wild card. “So what do you think? One last hand?”
I find a chuckle hiding somewhere and roll a look down his barely clothed body.
“You know you’ll lose and end up completely naked, right?”
Bending his head, he kisses the curve of my neck and takes my earlobe between his teeth, whispering, “I thought that was the point.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
JUDAH
Tell me again how I ended up being the parent explaining what I do to Adam’s class?” I ask Tremaine.
She laughs, writing her name on the guest badge at Harrington’s front desk. “They already had three lawyers come this week. Nobody had an accountant, so short straw goes to you, buddy.”
“And they’ll be so excited to hear about me crunching numbers all day,” I tell her dryly, affixing the guest badge to my sweater. “What made you want to come too?”
Her smile dwindles, and a frown takes its place. “I wanna see this new teacher of Adam’s in action. There’s some aspects of his IEP I want to make sure are being executed. This feels like a good excuse.”
“There won’t be any instruction happening,” I remind her. “Just me talking about how titillating a career in accounting can be. So how will that give you a sense of what’s going on?”
“I’ll know, Judah.” Tremaine watches me from under sleek, dark brows. “Do you doubt my detection abilities?”
Once Tremaine, based on gut alone, withdrew the boys from a school for autistic kids that later landed on the news for neglect and borderline abuse. My specialty is research and data, gathering all the facts, but I’ll defer to that famous gut instinct of hers every time when it comes to Aaron and Adam.
“Do you know where you’re going?” asks the woman at the front desk, studying us over the thin wire rims of her glasses.
I’m a lot less familiar with this campus than Tremaine, so I trust her when she reassures the receptionist we’ll be fine.
“Shit!”
The soft-voiced curse from behind us prompts Tremaine and me to turn and look at the office entrance. Soledad stands at the door, dwarfed by a covered rolling cart. She looks up, horror stamped on her flushed face.
“Sorry, Diane!” She addresses the apology to the woman at the front desk. “For the cussing, I mean. This wobbly wheel is giving me the business, and I…”
Soledad’s words die when her eyes meet mine. “Judah. Oh, hi. I didn’t know you were… Hi.”
“Hi.” I feel the laser beams of Tremaine’s eyes burning a curious hole in the side of my face. “You need some help?”
“No, I’m less of a mess than I seem to be,” she laughs. “Promise.”
She isn’t a mess at all. Today her hair is tamed into a single braid, but those defiant curls sprout at her hairline. Her black denim jumpsuit nips in at the bust, revealing her exaggerated curves from the waist down. In the fashionable jumpsuit and New Balance sneakers with green and black accents she’s pretty and pulled together, the classic suburban housewife. I can’t shake the image, though, of all that hair unbound, pushed over one shoulder so I could kiss her neck while she rode me reverse cowgirl in her she shed on my lunch break a few days ago. Finding time to see each other has been hard, and we haven’t been together nearly enough over the three weeks since I delivered that weighted blanket, signaling a new phase of whatever this is we’re doing.
“Ahem.” Tremaine clears her throat pointedly, bouncing a glance between Soledad and me. “Want to introduce us, Judah?”
“Oh, sure.” I try to keep my face neutral, but I want to grin like a kid introducing one of the important women in my life to another important woman in my life. “Tremaine, this is Soledad. Soledad, Tremaine.”