The Posse (24 page)

Jude closed her eyes, relief
overpowering her. “Yeah, you kind of did, honey. But you know what?
We all do that, at one time or another. The important part is how
you make it up.”

Meghan nodded. “I know.
Uncle Logan talked to me this morning. I didn’t want to listen, I
didn’t want him to be right, but I did and he was. So I talked to
Joseph for a long time. And I apologized to Lindsay, too. I even
offered to babysit tonight, so they can go out by themselves.” She
shrugged. “I figured it was the least I could do.”

Jude rose and knelt by her
daughter, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m proud of you, Meggie.
And thank you.” She drew back, looked up into the eyes that were so
like her own.

“Meggie, about Uncle Logan.
I want you to hear it from me. He proposed this morning. And I said
yes.”

To Jude’s shock, Meghan
began to laugh.

“That’s funny?”

She shook her head. “It’s
just that I was so rude, Mom. I was really a bitch.  And let’s
face it, our family is kind of screwed up right now. If Uncle Logan
chose this minute to ask you to marry him, he must really love
you.”

Jude grinned. “You’ve got a
point.”

Dinner that night was an
entirely different occasion. Logan had snagged a bottle of
champagne from the Tide. Joseph grilled chicken, and Lindsay and
Meghan chased Jude out of the kitchen while they cooked.

“Here.” Lindsay plunked the
baby on his grandmother’s lap. “You two stay out of trouble. Let us
take care of you for once.”

They ate around the patio
table, passing the baby from lap to lap to give Lindsay and Joseph
a break. As the meal wound down, Joseph stood, lifting his
glass.

“I want to make a toast.” He
cleared his throat, and looking around the table, blinked back
tears.

“To my mom and dad, who made
this family, crazy as it is. Dad, we know you’re always with us.
Mom, you’ve kept us together and been strong for long. We all love
you.” He shifted his eyes to Logan.

“And to Uncle Logan, who is
insane enough to take us on. Thanks for seeing beyond the crazy. We
love you, too.”  Joseph raised his glass and drank.

“Here, here.” The rest of
the family followed suit, and even baby DJ gurgled in
agreement.

***

“I have a question.”

Jude raised her head to look
at Logan. They were lying in his bed, drowsing in the aftermath of
what he had called proposal sex.

After dinner was cleaned up,
Meggie had insisted that everyone needed to go out. She was
babysitting, and she wanted DJ all to herself. Joseph and Lindsay
decided to see a movie in Elson. Logan and Jude didn’t tell anyone
where they planned to go or what they planned to do.

“I already answered your
question.” Jude’s lips curved into a smile. “I said yes. Actually I
think I said it quite a few times tonight.”

“Smart ass.” He chucked her
under the chin. “No, this is another question. Or maybe more like
an idea.”

“I’m listening.” Jude
snuggled into his side as his arm tightened around her. He picked
up her hand as it lay on his chest and toyed with her fingers.

“You’re still wearing
Daniel’s ring.”

“Yes.” Jude was silent for a
moment as they both looked at the band of gold. “I thought about
that today. I was glad you didn’t have an engagement ring for me
yet, because I hadn’t taken this one off. It would have been
awkward.”

“But it doesn’t have to be.”
Logan rolled a little so he could see Jude’s face clearly. He
propped his head in his hand, elbow on the bed.

“Here’s my idea. Why don’t
you give Joseph your engagement ring from Daniel, let him give that
to Lindsay? It’ll mean a lot to both of them. But keep your wedding
ring.”

She raised her eyebrows.
“Keep it?”

“Yes, keep wearing it. And
when we get married—which is going to be soon—I’ll give you my
wedding ring, and you can add it on your finger. The way I look at
it is Daniel will always be with us. He’s part of us. Why try to
pretend he isn’t? Let’s acknowledge it.”

Tears brimmed in Jude’s
eyes, and she wriggled closer to Logan, lifted her lips to his.

“That is the most beautiful
thing I’ve ever heard. You may have just won yourself another round
of proposal sex?”

“Really?” Logan’s eyes
gleamed. “Well, hold on then, because I’ve got something else.” He
rolled away from her, opened his nightstand drawer and drew out a
black velvet box. Without saying a word, he placed it in her
hand.

“What’s this?” She looked up
at him in confusion. “I thought you didn’t have a ring yet.”

“No,” Logan corrected. “I
said I didn’t have the ring with me this morning. I bought this the
morning after the limoncello.”

Jude rolled her eyes. “Is
that what we’re always going to call the first night we made love?
The limoncello night?”

“Works for me. I owe that
yellow stuff a lot. Remind me to send your uncle John a big thank
you note.” He motioned to the box. “Are you going to open it?”

Jude flipped the lid up and
drew in a deep breath. “Oh, Logan. It’s gorgeous.”

The ring was an emerald, a
gleaming perfect round green stone set in the midst of clustered
diamonds on a platinum band.

“I figured you’d already had
a diamond once, and emeralds always make me think of your eyes.” He
smiled and took the ring from the box. “May I?”

Jude nodded wordlessly. With
great care, Logan eased off the simple diamond solitaire that had
been on her finger for over twenty years and placed in the
now-empty ring box. He slid the emerald ring into its place.

They lay together, admiring
it on her hand. Logan held her hand to his mouth and kissed each
finger.

“For the rest of ever,” he
whispered before he rolled over to cover her body again.

Meghan headed back to school early on
Monday morning, after extracting a promise from her brother that
he, Lindsay and DJ would visit Savannah soon.

“And you’re coming back for
the weddings, right?” Lindsay asked. “I know Clearwater is a long
drive, but my parents really want us to get married down there.”
Joseph had wasted no time; Jude’s diamond solitaire now glistened
on Lindsay’s hand.

“Two fall beach weddings!”
Meggie rolled her eyes. “Don’t you people know how many exams I
have coming up? You’re going to wreck havoc on my GPA.” But she
smiled as she said it.

Later that morning, as Jude
and Sadie finished up with the breakfast crowd, Joseph ambled in
the door.

“Where’s that baby?” Sadie
demanded, looking over his shoulder.

“I remember when
I
was the one you wanted to see.” Joseph sighed. “Sorry, Sadie.
Lindsay took him over to visit Aunt Samantha.” He glanced at Jude.
“You have a minute to talk?”

“Sure.” She untied her
apron. “Out on the deck?”

“Nah, right here at the bar
is good. I’d like Sadie here, too.”

Sadie climbed onto a stool.
“I never say no to sit-down. What’s on your mind?”

Joseph licked his lips and
took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.
Mom, I know I need to finish school, and I’m going to. But not in
Gainesville. Lindsay and I are going to enroll here, at the
community college.”

Jude smiled. “That’s great,
honey. I’m glad to hear it.”

“But here’s the thing. We’re
going to need some place to live, and jobs so we can support
ourselves and the baby. When I was at lunch with Uncle Logan, he
mentioned he hoped you could get someone to cover mornings for you
someday, to free you up a little. So I got to thinking. What if I
took over mornings at the Tide for you? Most mornings, at least. I
could do that, still get to take classes. And between Lindsay and
me, we could maybe take over a few other shifts, wherever you
needed us.”

Jude didn’t answer at once.
“Are you sure you want to do that? Four o’clock comes early,
especially when you have a baby at home.”

“You did it, Mom.” Joseph
grinned. “And here’s part two. If I were working here, maybe
Lindsay, DJ and I could live upstairs. Maybe that could be part of
my salary, you know. Free rent. And then it wouldn’t be so hard to
get up and do the opening.”

She nodded. “You’ve given
this a lot of thought. What does Lindsay say?”

“She thinks it’s a great
idea. She loves the Tide, and she really wants to settle in the
Cove. Uncle Logan even mentioned that maybe she could help out at
the new bed and breakfast, once it’s open.”

Jude looked at Sadie. The
older woman gazed at Joseph, and in her eyes, Jude could see the
dawning acceptance that this boy, whom they had both watched grow
since an infant, was now a man.

Finally, Sadie turned back
to Jude. “Seems like a no-brainer to me. Gives the boy what he
needs for his new family, frees you up to have a little of a life
now with your new man.” She spread her hands, wrinkled and gnarled,
on the bar. “And Mack and I’ll be here to make sure none of you
screw this place up.”

Joseph smiled and looked at
his mom. “Well? What do you think?”

Jude rose and hugged her
son. “I think you’ve got yourself a deal.”

***

Hawthorne House opened ten days later,
right on schedule. The whole town turned out for the open
house.

Joseph and Lindsay covered
The Riptide that day so that Jude could play hostess. She stood
with Logan on the front porch, greeting friends, visitors and
guests, smiling until she thought her face would crack.

“Do you know what it means
to me to have you here right now?” Logan murmured into her ear.
“It’s more than I ever could have dreamed when I was designing this
place, putting it back together.”

Jude leaned her head on his
shoulder. “I guess Hawthorne House is kind of like us. Old stuff
put together in new ways.”

“Hey, speak for yourself.
I’m not old, and I’m willing to prove it.” He winked at her.
“There’s got to be one bed upstairs that’s not being used.”

“I doubt it. We’re full to
capacity, and I’ve heard only good comments so far. Of course,
that’s probably because Abby and Emmy are working their asses
off.”

She glanced through the
door, where she could see Abby chatting with guests in the sitting
room, while Emmy passed another tray of cookies in the dining room.
Cooper stood near the wall, talking to an older woman about his
furniture designs, but Jude noticed his eyes followed Emmy as she
wove among chairs and people.

“So far, so good.” Logan
linked their fingers and kissed the back of her hand. “The portrait
of Daniel should be ready by next month. But the photo Joseph
picked out looks good for now.”

“It does.” She closed her
eyes and sighed. “My feet are killing me. How much longer do you
think we need to be here? Seems like things are slowing a little
now.”