Night Road(29)

Jude crossed her arms and leaned back, waiting. There was no point in dismissing Mia. Jude shouldn’t have bothered with that. “Yes, please, Zach. Enlighten me.”

“I’ve been with Lexi.”

“What do you mean?” Jude asked.

“I’m in love with her,” he said.

Love. Lexi.

Of all the excuses she’d imagined, that hadn’t even made the list. Zach was in love with his sister’s best friend.

Jude looked at Mia, who wasn’t smiling but didn’t look angry, either. “Mia?”

“It’s cool, Madre,” she said.

Jude wasn’t quite sure how to respond, and here were her mirror-image kids, so alike they seemed to breathe in tandem, sitting slanted together, looking somehow both worried and defiant, waiting to hear her reaction to this news. They had hidden this from her, and it stung a little. “How long?”

“A couple of weeks,” Zach said.

Mia flinched at that, and Jude knew she’d been hurt by this, a little at least.

Jude let out her breath. This could be ruinous. What would happen if—when—Zach broke up with Lexi? What if Lexi stopped coming around? Mia would be heartbroken.

She chose her words carefully. “Obviously, Zach, I’m not going to tell you who to date and who not to. But Lexi is important to all of us. You need to remember that she was Mia’s best friend before you started dating her and she’ll be Mia’s best friend after it’s over. And we don’t keep secrets in this family. You know that. Okay?”

“Okay.” He smiled brightly. As usual, he expected to get his way.

“And about football practice. You will be on time to every practice from here on, and you will be without a car for the next week. I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

Zach’s smile fell. “That’s bogus.”

“As is lying,” Jude said.

Headlights flashed through the living room window, illuminating Zach and Mia for a moment.

The front door opened and Miles walked into the house, with a jacket slung over his shoulder and a novel under his arm. He came around the fireplace and saw them standing there in silence. He recognized trouble and frowned. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Zach said. He looked at Mia and hitched his head. They ran upstairs and disappeared.

“What was that all about?” Miles asked, tossing his sport coat onto the sofa. He went to the elegant mirrored bar in the corner of the room. A moment later he handed Jude a white wine.

“Zach’s dating,” Jude said, thankful for the wine.

“Again?” Miles said. “That was quick.”

“It’s Lexi.”

Miles took a moment to think about that. “Well. Okay.”

“No. Not okay. He’s been skipping football practice.”

Miles sat down beside her. “I’m sure you had one of your come-to-Jesus talks with him. He’ll be back on track tomorrow.”

“But why did he go off track? Zach’s been dating a new girl every month since freshman year. As far as I know, he’s never skipped anything to be with a girl. Lexi must be special. He actually used the word love.”

“Hmmm.”

She bit her lip, worried it. “I see problems here, Miles. Lexi’s practically one of the family. And jealousy can be brutal—remember how they used to fight over the Captain Hook action figure?”

“The Captain Hook action figure. Are you kidding me?”

She looked at him. “This is a delicate situation. A lot could go wrong.”

He smiled, a little indulgently. “That’s what I love about you, Jude.”

“What?”

“You can see the dark side of anything,” he teased.

“But—”

“They just started dating. How about holding off on an airstrike?”

Jude smiled at that. She knew he was right—she was overreacting. But a lot could go wrong with this new relationship. Hearts could be broken. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now. She went to her husband, put her arms around him, and looked up. “You are no help at all.”





Seven





The next morning, Jude woke to a cool and surprisingly sunny day. While Miles showered and dressed for work, she stood at her bedroom window, sipping coffee, trying to imagine how she could improve the borders in her garden. The lines weren’t quite crisp enough, and she really wasn’t happy with some of the lighting. It was too bad she hadn’t noticed that in September. Now it was autumn, the rainy season, and gardening pretty much required a snorkel and mask.

Miles came up behind her, reached for her coffee cup and took a sip, then handed it back to her. “Let me guess: you don’t like the roses you planted last week and azaleas would be better.”

She leaned against him. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Not at all. What are you going to do today?”

“Lunch with my mother.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Don’t let her bully you.”

“Yeah, right. I just have to get through it.” Smiling at him, she went into the bathroom and took her shower. Afterward, she kissed Miles good-bye and started her day. She corralled the kids to breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen after them, and sent them to school with hugs and kisses.