Iquickly focused on my ships again, trying to think of something to say because the silence felt way too charged after that comment.
“So, what do you do?” I asked. “I mean, what’s your job?”
“I work for Chase’s dad’s construction company.”
“Is that the one with an office here in town?”
“Mm-hmm. Owens’ Construction. The administrative office is here in Hidden Creek, because that’s where most of the Owens family is located. But we have a few satellite offices in bigger towns where most of the building happens.”
“I guess you spend a lot of time on the road then? Driving to building sites?”
“Right now I do because I’m staying with Chase. My own place is near Mountain View, which is a lot more central to most of the sites. We have an office there, too. Do you know that town?”
“I’ve heard of it. I don’t know if I’ve actually been there, though. Maybe when I was younger.”
We started the game, and as we played, Jude informed me that Mountain View was a small city of about forty thousand residents thirty miles east of Hidden Creek. When I asked him what exactly he did at Owens’ Construction, he told me he focused mainly on large commercial jobs as a project manager. He also did quite a bit of design work. I asked about his home remodeling project, and he said he’d bought a cabin in the woods two years ago and was completely redoing the interior. Due to the scope of the work, he’d decided to move out for the duration rather than live in the chaos. He hoped to be back home in three weeks or so.
“Chase and Hannah must really like you if they’re letting you crash there for that long,” I remarked dryly.
“They like having me there to take this little rascal in and out,” he said, nudging Lulu with his toe. “They’re on a date tonight to celebrate being pregnant. But don’t say anything. They just found out a couple days ago, and they don’t know that I know.”
I forgot all about the game—even though I’d been about to land the sinking shot to his cruiser—and just looked at him with my mouth hanging open. “Wait, what? You know Hannah’s pregnant, but they didn’t tell you? How does that even happen?”
He shrugged. “Lulu had an accident right by their bedroom door the other day. I ran into their bathroom for toilet paper and the pregnancy test was right there on the counter. Right above the toilet paper holder. And there was a big plus sign on it. There’s no way I could’ve missed seeing it.”
“But you didn’t admit you saw it?” I asked incredulously. “Oh, and I call B-4, which I believe will sink you.”
“Yep. My cruiser is toast,” he confirmed with a scowl. “And no, I didn’t tell them. They’re in their own happy little bubble, thinking they have a big secret and they’re the only two people in the world who know it. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
“Aren’t you afraid you’ll let it slip?”
“Nah, because I won’t have to worry about it for long. Chase’ll break soon. I predict he’ll tell me within the week, even if their plan right now is to wait longer.” He squinted at his game grid. “I call E-8.”
“You missed,” I said, placing a white peg in that hole of the grid. “You shouldn’t have told me, you know. I haven’t even met Hannah, and now I know she’s pregnant—before any of her family and friends. I shouldn’t be in possession of that kind of information. J-6.”
Jude grinned maddeningly. “You missed. And I trust you to keep the secret. F-3.”
“Dang, you hit my battleship. And you shouldn’t trust me—we just met today and you know nothing about me! What if I’m an incurable gossip?”
“You’re new in town. You don’t have anyone to gossip to.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I declared. “I’m tight with all of Grandma’s little old lady friends. There’s Priscilla and Rosie and Donna and Sarah Beth, to start with. And Evvie, Constance, and Liz. If I tell just one of them, the rest will know within ten minutes. Or, better yet, I could just show up at the Methodist sewing circle and share the news and the whole town would know by lunchtime.”
He raised a dark brow. “Like you’re going to subject yourself to a morning of quilting, or whatever they do at a sewing circle,” he scoffed.
We went back and forth for a while, striving to sink each other’s ships as we playfully butted heads on the pregnancy thing. Then he asked more about me. I told him where I’d moved from, and a little more about my job, going so far as to say I handled some cyber security issues for the companies who contracted me.
A half hour later I was feeling surprisingly comfortable with him. Jude was gorgeous and smart, but also so funny and humble he put me at ease. Well, mostly at ease. My heart still gave a little jump every time he smiled.
We were finally down to one ship each in the game. I had my two-hole destroyer and he had his three-hole submarine. It was his turn, and he was studying his grid intently. I’d stuck with my strategy of hiding my smallest ship near a corner, and I was confident he wasn’t going to find it.
Then he looked up, his expression smug. “It’s going to take me a maximum of four guesses to pinpoint your location.”
“Whatever,” I said, equally smug.
“J-9,” he said, watching me closely.
“Missed,” I said, trying not to give anything away, even though I now knew he suspected my corner trick. Thankfully he’d chosen the wrong corner, but I had to find his sub in the next two guesses, or he was going to win.
We fought to the bitter end, and he won by one measly, maddening shot. If he wouldn’t have had a three-holed ship against my two-holed one, I could have taken him.
“Again,” I said, scowling as I pulled the white and red pegs from my grids.
“Careful,” he teased. “You’re bordering on a full-on pout, and you promised me you wouldn’t go there.”
“I’m not pouting,” I said, forcing a blatantly fake smile. “Can we please play again?”
He closed his case and stood, an infuriating grin on his face. “Not tonight. I need to get the dog home before Chase and Hannah come back or they’ll worry.”
“Sure you do,” I said sarcastically.
He grinned. “I’ll give you a rematch, don’t worry. It’s a good way of making sure I’ll see you again.”
I scooted my chair back and got to my feet, raising my arms in a stretch. “It was a good game,” I said grudgingly. “I’m a little rusty, that’s all.”
“You think I’m not? It’s been close to twenty years since I’ve played.”
“How old are you?” I wondered, because that was a question I hadn’t yet asked.
“Twenty-nine.”
I tilted my head and gave him a side-eye look. “Twenty-nine for real, or twenty-nine and holding, like my sister’s been for the past six years?”
He laughed, and I’d already grown to love the sound. “For real. I’m already dreading what Chase is going to pull when my birthday rolls around. I wasn’t exactly nice when he hit thirty.”
“Then I hope he’s dreadful to you,” I declared. “Didn’t your mother teach you what goes around comes around?”
“She did indeed, but I decided it was worth it.” He reached down and scooped up a very tired dachshund. “You ready to go, Lu? No real chocolate for you tonight. And barging into the neighbor’s kitchen to beg didn’t make a good first impression.”
I chuckled. “I’m kinda glad she barged in, to be honest. I was feeling a little out of sorts. It’s weird having a big, quiet house all to myself.” I winced. “Does that make me sound pitiful? I don’t mean it like that. It’s just that I’m used to being in a noisy city, and it’s so quiet and still here. And dark.”
He looked at me, his eyes warm. “You’ll feel settled soon enough. Then you’ll appreciate the silence. I guarantee it.”
“I’m sure I will.” I reached over to scratch Lulu’s neck. “Night, doggie. Thanks for stopping by.”
Jude moved toward the door and I followed, unable to stop myself from admiring how good he looked in his faded jeans and navy T-shirt. The man had it going on. Simple as that.
“I’m sure I’ll see you soon,” he said, opening the door and stepping out onto the deck. “Thanks for the game and the brownies.”
I smiled. “Does playing a game we last played as little kids make us lame?”
He looked back at me, his eyes glinting. “Nah, it means we were lucky enough to have grandparents who spent quality time with us. It brought back good memories for me. Good night, Ava.”
“Night,” I said softly, liking his perspective.
I liked a lot about him, actually. More than I was comfortable with. I wondered where it would lead.