by Leonra Worth
Tomorrow would tell, either way.
He was here now and he wouldn’t leave until things between Melissa and him were settled.
Melissa got up early the next morning. Her parents were staying with Michelle and Brodie so she had the Sonnier beach house all to herself. She made herself a strong cup of coffee and walked out onto the porch to watch the sun cresting over the curve of the shore to the east. A beautiful morning shined across the water but she hadn’t slept very well last night.
She’d dreamed of Judson. They were young, maybe nine or ten, and he was chasing her around the church grounds. He loved to pull her hair. Funny, he still loved to do that. In the dream, she giggled and ran away but he called after her.
“I’ll catch you next time.”
And he had caught her. Over and over.
She didn’t think she could go through this again, this falling for him and then fighting against him. Judson had a temper but he’d never done anything physical to her. Theirs was an emotional roller coaster ride of lashing out and making up. A pushing and pulling and tearing away at the layers they’d both used to hide their fears. And she was just now beginning to see what had caused her dread and apprehension. And his.
Why was it that she could love him so much and dread being with him at the same time? Love shouldn’t hurt this way.
She sipped her coffee and nibbled on a piece of dry toast, wondering what she would do with her time until Michelle came to pick her up. Together with their mom, they were going baby shopping. Michelle had told them she was three months along so she felt safe enough to start planning things.
A baby.
Melissa closed her eyes and imagined having a child of her own. Judson’s child. She’d wanted that since their flirtation had turned serious in high school. But the rodeo and their pride had stalled them out too many times.
When she opened her eyes, she saw him walking up the beach toward her, the sunrise behind him. He was wearing boots, jeans and a tee shirt. And his old cowboy hat. She’d have to teach him to take off his shoes and enjoy the sand between his toes.
Grabbing her camera off the patio table, Melissa began snapping pictures. Judson looked like he belonged right here with her. His image stayed like a memory inside her head.
And just like that, she was back with Judson. He was here and she needed him. But her heart was telling her that he needed her and... he needed a family. A real family. Maybe this time they could find a way to heal and maybe this time, she could show him that she had a good, solid family of forgiving, loving people who would help him get over whatever angst he held to as tightly as he held the bull rope on one of his rides.
Melissa smiled and waved to him. She wouldn’t rush into his arms but she would be civil to him. She’d work hard on talking to him and asking him questions instead of talking at him and pestering him with demands.
“Hey,” he said when he reached the beach house. “So this is the famous Sonnier beach shack?”
She nodded. “Yes, but we call it a cottage. C’mon on in and I’ll show you around.”
He nodded, took off his hat and made his way slowly up the steps. “I can’t come in but I’ll take you up on that tour later.”
His eyes said much more. Enough to make her shiver in the wind. “Okay,” she said. “How about some coffee?”
“That would be good.” He stood on the porch, looking awkward and unsure. “I’ve been talking to Brodie about what exactly he wants me to do. Just wanted to say hi before I head up to the ranch. I have my work orders.”
She got him a cup of coffee and they sat down on the porch.
“Are you sure you can handle the work with your bad leg?”
A flash of frustration hovered in his eyes, followed by embarrassment, and a lowering of his head. “Yeah. I need to keep moving. It’s basically healed but the doc said I’ll have some arthritis from scar tissue and bad joints. I hope getting back to work will loosen me up.”
Melissa knew him well enough to think he wasn’t telling her everything. Probably hiding the real details of his injuries in the same way he hid the details of his feelings.
“Maybe so.” She stared out at a flock of pelicans zooming by in perfect formation over the breakers. “Just take it easy. Brodie’s not a hard taskmaster. He lives on Florida time.”
Judson squinted at her. “Oh, and what does that mean exactly?”
“A slower way of life. More about flip-flops instead of boots.” She eyed his feet.
“I guess I’m not dressed properly for playing in the ocean.”
“No, but those will work just fine inland.”
He sipped his coffee and watched her with those deep blue eyes. “So... are we friends again, Missy?”
“For now,” she said. “I mean, you’re here and I’ll be here for a couple of weeks. We have to make the best of things.”
“I’d like to make the best of things,” he replied, his eyes moving to her lips. “I want us to be the best we can be.”
“Judson, we have to take it slow and try to figure out where we always go wrong, okay?”
“Okay. So why don’t we just start fresh? Start over and really get to know each other?”
“I thought we did know each other. I’ve known you for most of my life.”
He looked out at the water. “I mean in a new way. Here. With no rodeos and no ex-girlfriends or nasty in-between boyfriends. Just you and me and that big, old ocean.”
Melissa stared back at him, her heart hovering against her ribs like those birds hovering in flight over the water. “We’ve never tried that before.”
“It worked for your sisters,” he said. “It just might work for us.”
“It just might,” she said. “I mean, we’ve been around each other pretty much since grammar school so we naturally fell into this pattern of fighting and making up, even when we were kids. But we’re adults now. Something has to change.”
“Then we’ll start acting like adults,” he said.
“That’s a new concept,” she replied with a laugh.
He grinned and drained his coffee. “I know you have plans with your mom and sister today but, later, when I’m done with work and you’re back, can we meet here and visit? Talk a little more? I like this place.”
The first step.
“That would work,” she said, feeling both overwhelmed and hopeful. But they had to take this step together. “I’ll see you then.”
He got up and put his hat back on. “I’ll try not to wear any shoes,” he said with a dazzling smile.
“No shirt, no shoes, no problem,” she blurted.
He lifted his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Then he turned and carefully made his way down the steps. She watched him walking toward the full sunrise, his silhouette giving her an ache inside her heart. She wished she could take away his pain. Both in his leg and in his heart. Snapping a couple of shots of him, Melissa felt a weight lifting off her heart. He was safe. That counted for something.
Looking toward the heavens, she prayed they could at least become friends again. Judson had always been her friend, even when they acted as if they hated each other. But lately, that friendship seemed to be slipping away, drifting on a tide of despair and hurt.
Could they find that place again? The place where they laughed and talked and took long walks or rode horses along the levee on the river back home?
Melissa smiled and hugged her robe against her. So far, so good. But... time would tell. Time and that ocean between them could change everything.
Chapter Six
Judson took one last look at the barn and stables, thinking Florida wasn’t that different from Louisiana or Texas after all. Michelle stabled Coco and a couple of other horses along with the meanest black stallion Judson had ever seen. Blackbeard. He lived up to his name. Brodie had bought him from the Sonnier’s neighbor in Louisiana just so he could show Michelle he could get back on a horse. Literally.
Judson might be done with the rodeo ci
rcuit but he needed to get back in the saddle again, too, and win Melissa over again. For good this time.
Horses Judson knew. Women, not so much.
His aunt was a good woman but she hadn’t been very thorough with him on how to communicate with the opposite sex. Mostly, she’d taught him to be polite and to respect women.
Nothing much on how to handle women.
“Looking good, buddy.”
Judson turned from Blackbeard’s disapproving snorts and daring black eyes and found Brodie standing inside the open barn doors. The big horse swung around at hearing his voice and let out a low neigh of greeting.
Obviously, Brodie had a way with his horse.
And his wife.
“Hey,” Judson said, picking up bridles and buckets to head back to the tack room. “It wasn’t that bad out here to begin with. Michelle always did like a clean stable.”
“Yeah, she’s kind of a fanatic about it,” Brodie said with one of his chuckles. “Funny how life can twist around on you. I worked with horses all my life up in Tallahassee on a fancy hunting plantation. Rode ’em, took care of ’em, cleaned up after ’em. I did it to please my old man but I liked the animals well enough. But when I left, I told myself never again.”
It was Judson’s turn to chuckle. “Is that why you hired me? You can’t take it anymore.”
“Oh, I can take it,” Brodie said. “I love it out here, away from the tourists and the smell of suntan lotion. I just never reckoned I’d like the smell of horse manure as much as I like the smell of the ocean breeze. It’s all about perception. I was miserable working with my disapproving daddy.” He shrugged. “But here, it’s different. Nice and quiet, peaceful. There’s a little pond on the back of the property and we’ve got the Blackwater River to the west, just past the old house we want to renovate. Michelle and I like to take out the rowboat and just sit on the pond and watch the sunset or the moon rise. Or sometimes, both.”
Judson could see Brodie was a happy man. He needed to understand how to get that for himself.
“So, because you love Michelle, that makes it worth taking care of this place, right?”
“Yeah, I love this place because she loves this place. We come out here together and she works just as hard as any man. She’s a photographer by trade but she’s a horsewoman, too. I run a charter boat and I like to mess around with driftwood.” Brodie walked over to Blackbeard and gave the snorting stallion a quick pat on his muzzle. “We make it work. It’s kind of like magic or something. When it’s right, it’s good.”
“Melissa says you’re a true artist,” Judson responded. “She has a carving of a ballerina you gave her.”
“Yeah, Michelle commissioned me to make that for her last Christmas.”
Judson thought about that. He couldn’t even remember what he’d given Melissa for Christmas. “I guess we have to make sacrifices for the people we love.”
“Bingo,” Brodie said. “Speaking of that, it’s quitting time. I need to get home and check on my wife. I got a bad feeling she did some serious damage to our bank account today.” Brodie’s grin widened. “Baby shopping.”
Judson saw the light shining in his new friend’s eyes. “That’s pretty cool, man. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Brodie said. “You did good today but you don’t have to push too hard. How’s the leg?”
Judson grimaced. “Hurting to beat the band.” But he hadn’t thought much about his leg while he’d been mucking stalls and trying to corral Blackbeard. “Your stallion is a little prickly and unpredictable.”
“Ain’t he though,” Brodie said. “Blackbeard and I have an understanding of sorts.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“As long as he doesn’t throw me, he can live here in ultimate luxury.”
“How’s that working for you?”
“We’re still in the early stages,” Brodie replied. Then he put a hand on Judson’s back. “Now, what have you planned for this meeting you have with Melissa tonight?”
“Nothing,” Judson said, wishing he hadn’t mentioned that to Brodie earlier. “I didn’t know I was supposed to plan anything.”
“Oh, my friend, I need to teach you the right way to win back a woman.”
“Is there a way?” Judson asked, hopeful.
“Yessir.” Brodie pointed to his pick-up. “Listen and learn, Judson. Listen and learn.”
Melissa stood with Ruby and Michelle in one of the spare bedrooms of Michelle and Brodie’s new beach house. The two-storied home with the bright blue shutters shimmered with a modern beach vibe that Melissa loved.
“This room is perfect for a nursery,” Ruby said, tears in her eyes. “Just down from the master but nearby the other bathroom up here and right by the stairs so Grandma can get to him or her before anyone else.”
“I told Brodie that downstairs bedroom suite would come in handy,” Michelle replied, blinking back her own tears. “It’s really happening.”
“It is now,” Melissa said, waving a hand toward the yet-to-be-put-together white baby bed and the matching white rocking chair by the big window.
Everywhere in the room, packages and boxes sat waiting to be undone and explored.
“Brodie has his work cut out for him,” Ruby said with an indulgent smile.
“He’s good with his hands.” Michelle quipped with a giggle.
“Obviously,” Ruby retorted, rolling her eyes. “I’d like to see him tackle this, however.”
“Maybe Judson can help.” Melissa offered.
When both her mother and her sister stared her down the way they used to when she’d come downstairs wearing an inappropriate outfit, she shrugged. “We’ve got to keep him busy, right?”
“Right,” they said in a long sarcastic drawl.
“He’s coming to visit me at the cottage tonight.” Might as well get that out in the open since the cottage wasn’t very far down the beach from this house. “Just to talk.”
“You and Judson have never just talked,” Michelle said.
“Well, we’re trying to now.” Melissa twisted a strand of long hair. “We’ve decided instead of picking up where we left off, we’re going to start over. Start fresh and get to know each other.”
“Get to know each other?”
Her mom looked as confused as the man in the children’s furniture department after Michelle told him she’d take all of it.
“Really talk,” Melissa said, thinking their method did sound redundant. “We realized we talk at each other and with each but we never talk to each other.”
“I’m confused,” Ruby said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I’m going to make me a glass of sweet tea and then I’m going to sit on the porch and watch the waves roll in. And see if I can find your daddy fishing down there on the shore.”
“He and Brodie are going deep sea fishing tomorrow, remember,” Michelle called after their mother. “We’ll have another day of shopping.”
“Great.” Ruby kept walking.
“She loved every minute of it,” Melissa said. “And so did I. It was fun to go shopping together. We rarely do that anymore.”
Michelle touched a hand to Melissa’s hair. “So, you and Judson, are y’all going to be okay here together?”
“I think so,” Melissa said, her heart stilling. “He’s changed. I’ve changed. This time apart has helped both of us.”
“And being here can heal a lot of wounds,” Michelle said, her hand on her stomach.
“Yes. Maybe I’m taking a page from both of my big sisters’ books. You both have inspired me to be better at this, to do better at things. Mom suggested compromise—a mutual promise. She thinks that’s the secret. And since I’ve never seen you this happy and Maddie was glowing when she left with Sam, I think Mom’s onto something.”
“This place has that effect on people,” Michelle said, hugging her hands to her stomach. “And we all know Mama’s one smart lady. So yes, she might be right.” Placing her arm around Melissa’s
neck, Michelle leaned in. “But I think my baby sister is growing up.”
Melissa grinned. “And it’s about time, right?”
“We all have to do it sometime,” Michelle retorted. “Took me a while.” She shrugged. “Of course, Brodie’s like this big kid, always laughing and grinning. It’s hard to be sad around him.”
Melissa glanced at her watch. “I have to go and take Spike for a walk. I need a shower and I guess I should find some food.”
“There’s leftover appetizers and wedding cake in your refrigerator and ours,” Michelle reminded her. “He won’t starve. And you can always go to the Surf Shack since he’ll be working there part-time, too.”
“I hope he wasn’t supposed to work tonight,” Melissa said.
“No, he’s got the early shift. Breakfast.”
“Oh, boy. Judson is so not a morning person.”
An hour later, Melissa showered and put on a floral, cotton tunic and denim leggings. Then she pulled out the leftover boiled shrimp and petite cuts of sirloin, a couple of burgers and some potato salad and fruit and placed it all on the counter. Next, she got out two plates and glasses and some silverware. After checking the clock, she had a moment of panic.
What if Judson had decided not to come?
She put Spike in his little bed in another room and moved through the open French doors and went out on the deck, enjoying the ocean breeze playing over her hair and rustling the fronds on the palm trees near the steps.
Another fifteen minutes passed and then she saw Judson walking up the shore, barefoot, his faded jeans rolled up and his cotton shirt open over a blue tee shirt. He was carrying a basket in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.
That was something new. Judson wasn’t a flowers and candy type man. He didn’t do grand gestures—except for the first time he’d proposed to her. Usually he just showed up and said, “Get in the truck. Let’s go.”
