“You heard me,” he chuckled, and then like a typical guy his eyes dropped to the swell of my breasts barely contained behind my bra. “Marry me. Maybe not today or tomorrow, or next week or next month, or maybe so,” he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me, as long as you promise to marry me one day…” He paused and cracked a grin. “And promise to have lots of my babies.” His hand reached for my stomach, his fingers skimming my skin. “I want it all with you, Tate. Marriage, babies, a house, a life. None of it has any meaning without you. Please, say you’ll marry me?”
I stood, mouth agape, and stared at him like he’d grown three heads. I hadn’t been expecting that to come out of his mouth, especially since I’d shown up today to seek his forgiveness. I was shocked, to say the least, and didn’t know what to say. I knew what I wanted to say, but I was scared. I closed my eyes and swallowed thickly, silently telling myself not to be so scared all the time. Pushing my fears and anxieties aside, I spoke. “One day?”
“One day.” He promised. “When you’re ready,” he amended.
I nodded, and a slow smile lifted my lips. “Yes.”
“Yes?” He stepped back with shock. Grinning, he gasped, “You said yes!”
He picked me up around my waist and spun me around. I had no choice but to hold on tight. When he set me down he kissed me soundly, humming low in his throat. He gripped my face between his large hands and pressed his forehead against mine. “We’re getting married,” he grinned.
“One day,” I repeated.
“One day soon.” He whispered lowly. “I hope,” he added, nibbling on my lips. I sank into his touch. I couldn’t get enough of him. Why had I ever thought I could live without this? I was crazy.
He took my hand and sat down in the grass. I lay down beside him and he turned to look at me. “I have so much to tell you,” he smiled, his eyes roaming greedily up and down my body.
“Like what?” I prompted.
Shrugging, he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. “Well, for starters, since you broke my heart,” his sad eyes slid to me and then he smiled jokingly, “I had to find ways to distract myself so I couldn’t think about you. I spent a lot of time fixing things at Pap’s house, which I’m sure you saw. But there’s something else I did.” His lips turned down in a frown and my heart stopped beating all together. Shit. He was going to tell me he slept with someone else. I knew it. Oh God. I was going to be sick. “I found Julia.”
Okay, that so was not what I’d been expecting.
“Julia? The Julia? The Julia your grandpa thinks I am during one of his bad days?” I couldn’t get the words past my lips fast enough.
“Yeah,” he nodded, his brown eyes sad.
“Have you talked to her?” I asked.
“Yep,” he tapped his fingers against the top of his knees. “I’ve talked to her. She…uh…she thought my dad put me up to calling. I told her I hadn’t talked to that fucking asshole since I moved out. I explained to her about Pap calling you Julia, and that we were curious.” He shrugged, letting out a sigh.
“And?” I prompted. “Was she nice? What did she have to say? How was she involved with your dad?” I kept firing questions at him, curiosity ea
ting me up.
“She said that her and my dad were high school sweethearts. They planned to get married after college and live happily ever after,” he mumbled.
“Come on, Jude,” I sat up, tucking my damp hair behind my ear. “I know there’s more to the story than that.”
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “She caught him cheating on her with my mom. My mommy’s the best, ain’t she?” He smiled but the happiness from minutes ago was gone. “Julia, uh,” he cleared his throat and his jaw clenched, “she was pregnant at the time.”
“What?!” I gasped, almost falling over with shock.
Jude nodded. “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction. I have a brother. He’s three years older than me.”
“Wow,” I breathed. “You have a brother?”
He nodded. “Crazy, right?”
I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. He’d not only found Julia, but a brother. Family he never knew he had. I knew since Jude didn’t have a relationship with his mom and dad, that he worried about what would happen once his grandpa was gone. But now he wouldn’t be alone. He had a brother.
“Do you know his name?” I asked.
“Archer,” he answered. “Apparently it’s a family name on her side,” he shrugged, squinting against the descending sun.
“Have you talked to him? Are you going to meet him? Them?”
He swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yeah,” he reached for my hand, “they’re supposed to come up to the farm next week for lunch. Archer wants to meet Pap. Julia is coming too. It’ll be nice to meet them, but I’m nervous. I hope you’ll be there with me.”