The Posse

by Tawdra Kandle

  He turned up the narrow walkway that led to the Riptide. Jude raised a hand in greeting.

  “Hey. You here to mooch off my water and coffee again?” It had become her standard teasing greeting.

  “I’m doing you a service, testing that stuff you call coffee before you unleash it on the unsuspecting public. You ought to be paying me.”

  Laughing, she swung open the door. “Well, when you put it that way...”

  His dark brown eyes tracked her routine movements, and he snuck behind the bar to snag a water bottle before taking up his usual seat on a bar stool.

  “So...you make out okay last night?”

  The look Jude flashed him was a mix of guilt and worry, and his heart plummeted.

  “Last night? What do you mean?”

  He chose his words carefully. “Your first night without the kids. I know they went back to school yesterday. So I thought things might have felt a little...quiet.”

  “Oh.” She shook her head, and he definitely detected relief. “Yeah. I was fine.” She paused for a minute, measuring coffee into the machine. “Actually, I had dinner with Matt. I think he was thinking the same thing—that I might be lonely. So he took me out.”

  Logan already knew about their date, but he feigned surprise. “That was nice. Where’d you go?”

  Jude shrugged. “The new Italian place. It wasn’t bad. Maybe a little pretentious. But you know, restaurants...”

  He nodded. “Yeah. But it must’ve been good to get out. Have a little fun.”

  She smiled. “It was. Matty’s a good guy, you know? He just needs...” Her voice trailed off, and her mouth dropped open a little as she stared out the dark window.

  Logan frowned and followed the direction of her gaze, but he didn’t see anything. “What? Jude, are you okay?”

  “Hmm? Oh, yeah.” She grinned across at him, and her eyes sparkled. Logan’s heart skipped a beat again, but this time for a completely different reason.

  “I’ve been thinking and thinking since last night. Matt needs someone in his life. You know? Someone to love. Someone to love him, to take care of him. He takes care of everyone else, the town—even me. That was what last night was about.”

  “Okay.” Logan was cautious, not sure where she was going with this.

  “So it just hit me. There’s this girl I met when I was doing the grief support group. You remember that? Right after Daniel died. She was actually from the Cove originally, but she’s living across the bridge now. She was younger than us. I think she graduated with Molly.” Matt’s youngest sister was six years younger than the rest of them.

  “And you think she and Matt would be good together?”

  Jude put her hand on her hip and leaned against the counter. “I think they would be freaking awesome together. Sandra is a firecracker. She’s got one little girl, and she wants more kids—I remember she said that at one of the meetings. Perfect.”

  Logan propped one elbow up on the bar. “Did you and Matt talk about this last night? I thought—”

  Jude glanced at him as she poured his coffee. “You thought what?”

  “That maybe last night—when you said Matt took you out to dinner, I thought maybe it was more like...a date situation.”

  She stared at him for a solid moment, stopped in the middle of handing him his coffee.

  “A date? Matt and me? Why on earth would you think that?”

  Logan tried to look cool. “You said he took you out to dinner. You’re single, he’s single...why would it be so crazy for me to think it might be a date?”

  She plunked down his coffee mug hard enough that some of it sloshed out onto the bar top.

  “Um, because it’s Matt. And me. We’ve known each other since we were in grade school.”

  “You knew Daniel that long, too.”

  Jude shook her head. “That’s not the same thing.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know! But it’s not. Because we grew up together, maybe. Or...I don’t know.” She stalked over to the grill and flipped it on.

  “Calm down. I was just asking. I’m not suggesting you and Matt are going to run off together or something. Geez.”

  She rolled her eyes at him as she took pancake batter and a huge carton of eggs out of the large fridge. “He’s my friend. Just like you all are. I’m not stupid, Logan. I know you all—the whole posse—probably cooked up some ‘let’s take care of Jude’ plan.” She buttered the grill and whipped at the batter.

  Logan swallowed hard. She was coming dangerously close to the truth of what the posse was doing, and he didn’t want her to be hurt or offended. And he definitely didn’t want her to blow his own plans out of the water, not this early in the game.

  He saw her glance his way, and her gaze softened. “Logan, it’s okay. I’m not mad about it. I know you all promised Daniel that you’d take care of the kids and me, and I think it’s sweet.” She dispensed a row of perfectly matched pancakes on the sizzling grill before walking over to cover his hand with her own.

  “I appreciate it. I’m grateful for Matt taking me out last night. It did keep my mind off the kids being gone, even though I didn’t know I was going to need that. I’m grateful that you’re here every morning, making sure I’m okay.” She patted his hand and moved back to flip the pancakes. “But I don’t want you guys to treat me like I’m made of glass. I’m still Jude, the same pain in the ass you’ve known for years. Don’t forget that.”

  Logan laughed and stood up, draining his mug of coffee. “No chance of us forgetting that. Okay, I’m out of here. Thanks for the water and the coffee.”

  Jude grinned. “Don’t forget the scintillating conversation and fascinating company. That’s on the house.”

  Logan chucked his empty water bottle into a nearby recycling container and quirked an eyebrow. “You know what, Jude? You were right. You are a pain in the ass.” He started toward the door, and then swung back to shoot her a smile.

  “But I kind of like it.”

  He left her staring after him and walked whistling back onto the beach where the first pink rays of the sun were just visible over the horizon.

  Yeah, it was going to be a good day after all.

  ***

  Jude had a plan, and she wasn’t going to wait to put it into action.

  As soon as the lunch rush ended, she stepped outside with her cell phone and scrolled down a list of contacts. And within minutes, she’d invited Sandra to an impromptu dinner the next day.

  “We close at five on Sundays. We used to have a family dinner that day every week, but now...” Jude let her voice trail off, with just a hint of nostalgia that didn’t delve into self-pity. “So I thought, what the hell! I’ll just invite people over to hang out at the Tide on Sunday night. It won’t be fancy, but I hope it’ll be fun.”

  “That sounds terrific!” Sandra and her late husband had lived in South Carolina for a long time, and a hint of it remained in her voice. “What can I bring?”

  Jude was smart enough to know that asking a guest to bring something ensured her attendance. So even though she didn’t really need it, she said, “Would you bring some kind of dessert? We’ll have dinner covered here.”

  “Definitely! Is it all right for me bring Lily with me? I could leave her with my folks, but I try not to abuse their generosity.”

  “Of course, I expected that you would. My nieces will be here, too, I hope, and my friends Eric and Janet have two boys. A little older than Lily, but you know kids. They’ll all hang out together.”

  “Oh, thanks, Jude. I really appreciate you thinking of me. It’s like a godsend. I’ve been a little lonely lately. I’ll see you at five tomorrow.”

  “Looking forward to it!” Jude clicked off with a broad smile. Matchmaking had never been her thing, but maybe it was going to be part of her old age.

  Inviting the posse was a simple matter of one call to her sister-in-law, Samantha. The informal phone tree that was in place for all events or emergencies s
prang into action, and by the time Emmy showed up at five to relieve Jude, Sam had called back to report that everyone was coming to her Sunday night shin-dig.

  “Emmy, why don’t you come, too?” Jude leaned against the counter. She’d just detailed her plan to the night manager. “Bring the kids. It’ll be fun.”

  “Come back here on my off hours? Are you nuts?” Emmy shook her head and laughed. “Okay, sure. But only because my children would kill me if I said no to an evening of fried foods and playing with other kids. Want me to bring a pie?”

  “Nah, it’s your day off. Plus I asked Sandra to bring dessert. Just bring yourself and the kids.”

  “Done.” Emmy grinned. “So who’s going to cook?”

  “Everyone. I’ll try to make extras of everything throughout the day, and then I’ll draft some of the guys into manning the grill. It’ll be casual, but we’ll be having fun.”

  “Awesome. Now tell me why you’re really doing this.”

  Jude widened her eyes. “What do you mean? I have to have an ulterior motive for dinner with my friends?”

  “Of course not, but you have a gleam in your eye. You’re up to something.”

  Shrugging, Jude winked. “Watch and learn, my young apprentice. Watch and learn.”

  The Riptide was hopping for a Sunday. Jude felt like she needed roller skates to keep up with the rush, even with Sadie and Mack working alongside her. The clear blue skies and bright sun had people flocking to the beach, and it seemed everyone had decided to enjoy a late lunch before heading home to start another week.

  “Three burgers, fried chicken and a salad for number eighteen.” Sadie stomped back into their open kitchen. “Plus those kids at the bar want two more orders of fries and refills on drinks.” She clipped the ticket to the rack, as Mack squinted up at it.

  “Good God, woman, your chicken scratch gets worse every day.”

  Sadie scowled and slammed the basket into the fryer. “I just told you what the order was. And it’s not my writing, old man. It’s your eyes and those glasses you won’t go get updated.”

  Jude rolled her eyes. She’d been the buffer here for so long that it came naturally. The busier the restaurant was, the worse they were. She grabbed three beef patties from her stock in the fridge and set them down next to Mack at the grill.

  “I’ll handle the salad and the chicken.” She read the ticket and bit the side of her lip, determined to be as diplomatic as possible. “Sadie, is this...chicken Caesar salad?”

  “No.” Sadie tore the paper from Jude’s hand. “Right here, see? Chicken ranch.” She clipped it back on the rack and went back to her fries, a frown still on her face. At the grill, Mack made the mistake of snickering.

  Sadie wheeled around, snatched up a large metal spoon from the nearby jar and shook it at Mack. “You keep it up! Don’t think I won’t take this to you. Right upside the head. And no one would blame me a bit. No court in the land would convict me, not for what I put up with from you!”

  Jude clamped down on the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing, knowing the old woman wouldn’t hesitate to turn that spoon on her next.

  “Sadie, here.” She handed her a bowl with breaded chicken tenders. “Put these in the fryer, please. And give me the spoon. We don’t have time today to clean up the mess if you decide to beat Mack senseless.”

  Sadie humphed, but she pulled out tongs and dropped the chicken pieces into the bubbling oil. Over her head, Jude exchanged a glance with Mack before they all got back to work.

  She wasn’t usually strict about closing time on Sundays, and often they had stragglers for an hour beyond five. But today, she turned over the ‘closed’ sign at 4:30. By the time Janet walked in at five, the last customer was just cashing out.

  Jude chased Mack and Sadie out of the kitchen, forcing icy beers on both of them. When her sister-in-law came back behind the bar for a hug, she wrinkled her nose.

  “Was it a long day? You like you were ridden hard and put away wet.”

  “Thanks, love you, too.” Jude rolled her shoulders. “Busy, and Mack and Sadie at each other like they do when we get slammed. It’ll be okay. But can you keep your eye on things for five minutes? I brought a change of clothes, and I want to run upstairs and put them on before we get started.”

  “Sure. I’m going to pour myself a drink, that okay?”

  Jude untied her apron and tossed in the barrel by the back door as she headed toward the staircase. “Absolutely. Pour me one, too, and make it a double, please.”

  The apartment over the restaurant was tiny. When she and Daniel had moved in after their wedding, it had been romantic and fun, finding used furniture, using mismatched dishes and pots and pans handed down from their families. Close quarters hadn’t been a problem. And even after Meggie was born, she had taken up so little space, and it had been handy to leave her sleeping upstairs while Jude worked in the restaurant, baby monitor hooked to her belt.

  Since they’d moved, the apartment was more of a flophouse, Jude thought as she stripped off her shorts and t-shirt in the miniscule bathroom. It was a handy place to crash when the posse hung at the Tide and maybe had a little too much to drink. The kids used it sporadically during their summers at home.

  She’d considered selling the house and moving back here, right after Daniel died. The kids and her brother had talked her out of it, arguing that if she did that, she’d never get a break from work. They probably had a point.

  Jude gave into the temptation of a quick shower, knowing her sister-in-law and friends were more than capable of running the show on their own for a few extra minutes. And it felt heavenly to let the water sluice over her, feel the grease and stress of the day slide down the drain.

  Dressed again in a fresh shorts and a thin cotton tank top, she sprinted down the steps and ran smack into Logan.

  She’d seen him that morning, of course, as she had opened up, but tonight he too was freshly showered, dressed in jeans and a white polo shirt that brought out a deep tan. His light brown hair was damp as it fell across his forehead.

  He grabbed her arm to steady her. “Whoa, there. Where’s the fire?”

  Jude felt that same disturbing skitter in her heartbeat that had been showing up whenever she saw him lately.

  Logan, she reminded herself. This is just Logan, one of my best friends.

  “The fire better be in my kitchen, under some burgers.” To prove to herself that she could, Jude tiptoed and kissed Logan’s cheek. “Glad you’re here. Ready to see my plan spring into action?”

  Logan released her arm, frowning. Jude wondered if she’d upset him with the kiss.

  “Seeing as neither of the necessary parties are here yet, I think I have a little while before show time.”

  Now it was Jude’s brow that furrowed. “Matt’s not here yet? Or Sandra? Are you sure? I told them both five.” She scanned the room. “It’s twenty after.”

  Logan shrugged. “I heard there was traffic on the bridge. Maybe that hung up your friend.” His eyes lingered on Jude’s damp hair, wandered down her neck, making her acutely aware of the small rise of her breasts visible at the top of the tank.

  She shook her head to clear it. “Did you get a drink yet? Sam’s supposed to be making one for me.” She didn’t wait for an answer but turned to head for the bar.

  Samantha and Janet were busy in the kitchen, pulling condiments from the fridge and setting up baskets of buns. Emmy was fiddling with the stereo, trying to queue up some music.

  “None of your country twang, Em!” Jude gave her a friendly nudge. “Play something cool.”

  Emmy didn’t look up. “Oh, you mean like Billy Idol? Adam Ant?”

  “They would definitely meet the cool requirement, but since your taste in music is still, umm...” She cocked her head, considering. “...maturing, I’ll compromise on Pat Benatar.”

  “That’s a compromise?” Emmy sighed. “I have a great mix list. I promise, you’ll be happy with it. I even have some Blondie.”r />
  “I guess I’ll trust you. Any love songs on there? We might need them later.” She winked and went in search of the drink her sister-in-law had promised.

  “Captain and coke waiting for you in the back, Jude!” Sam called.

  “You’re my favorite sister-in-law, you know that?” She found the glass and took a long swig. Spying her brother flipping burgers, she made her way to his side.

  “Hey, trouble.” He reached around her shoulders to give her a quick squeeze. “Look at this, you got me back at my old job.”

  Jude grinned. “Yeah, and any time you get tired of training the young minds of tomorrow, feel free to come back. We can always use another hand at the grill.” She glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “One of these days, Sadie really is going to beat Mack. Or maybe pick up a knife instead of a spoon. Came real close today.”

  Mark winced. “I don’t miss that. I remember when I was a kid thinking they were ancient and worrying one of them was going to drop dead, yelling at the other. Dad used to just laugh.”

  “Every time I hint at retirement, Sadie blows a gasket and Mack begs me not to make them stay home together. And truthfully, I don’t know I could run this place without them. The thought of having to train someone to do what they do gives me hives.” She reached around and pulled a too-hot fry out of a basket.

  “So you doing okay, sis?” Mark kept his eyes trained on the burger he was getting ready to flip, but Jude knew he could do it in his sleep. She punched his shoulder.

  “Yes, I’m fine. Logan checks on me every morning, and Matt took me to dinner Friday night. Sam and/or Janet call me every day. I’m feeing the love, but please stop worrying.”

  Mark moved the burger onto the plate next to the grill and smiled. “Whatever you say. Hey, can you grab me some cheese for this next batch?”

  Jude turned toward the fridge just as the door to the restaurant opened. Sandra came in, looking more than a little worse for the wear, followed by a little girl in pigtails who Jude assumed was her daughter Lily. Holding the door and bringing up the rear was Matt.