The Posse

by Tawdra Kandle

  Cooper heaved a sigh. “So...nothing? You felt nothing?”

  Jude bit her lip and glanced up at him through her eyelashes. She shook her head.

  Cooper pressed his lips together and nodded slowly. And then one side of his mouth quirked up.

  “Daniel would die laughing at us right now.” He chuckled, and Jude couldn’t help joining him.

  Before long, they were both crying with laughter, clutching their sides and leaning against the walls.

  “I kissed you! Because I thought Daniel would want me to! God, what the hell was I thinking?” Cooper doubled over again.

  “Spark! No spark!” Jude gasped, holding her middle.

  Finally, when the laughter had subsided to wheezes, Jude patted Cooper’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know what’s got into you guys. First Matt takes me to dinner, and unless I’m imagining it, he almost put the moves on me. You here, tonight. And Logan--” She stopped and looked down.

  “What about Logan?” Jude heard the curiosity in his tone.

  She waved her hand. “Oh, nothing. You know Logan, he’s just coming around a lot, keeping his eye on me. And then the other night...” She bit her lip. The dance and near-kiss was not something she was ready to share. For some reason, it felt more sacred than what had just happened with Cooper. She shook her head.

  “The other night?” Cooper prompted.

  “I’m being silly. I was going to say that if I didn’t know better, I’d expect Eric to come by next, offer to bring me on as Janet’s sister-wife.” She winked at Cooper. “That might not be a bad gig.”

  Cooper rolled his eyes, and Jude laughed again.

  “Okay, I got to get home.” She smiled up at him. “Thanks for this. I needed it.”

  Cooper lifted a hand. “I’m glad I could help. Even if there’s no spark, at least I can provide comic relief.”

  “Which is exactly what I wanted tonight. I’ll talk to you next week, Cooper.” She turned, but before she reached the door, she stopped and looked back him, still standing by the unfinished table.

  “Cooper, that spark? Don’t give up on it. Not yet. You’re going to find someone who can give it to you.”

  ***

  Ever since high school graduation, the posse had made sure to get together at least once a month. At first it hadn’t been difficult; even when Daniel and Logan went away to college, they were less than an hour away and regularly back in the Cove. The girlfriends, and then the wives, were included in most of their plans, but the ones who stuck, like Jude, Samantha and Janet, were wise enough to give the boys their time alone, too.

  When Logan designed his house, he had included a room that was especially for the posse. From the solid oak bar in the corner, with its built-in coolers and ice-maker, to the pool table and state-of-the-art sound system, it was a man’s room. Over the years, he had added framed photos of the group and other mementos. It was, he thought, their unofficial clubhouse.

  He sat on his leather barstool and watched as Matt chalked a cue. Eric and Cooper were playing, too, but it was one of their more laid-back games. No high stakes here tonight. It was a Friday night, and after a few beers, they were all feeling pretty mellow.

  “So, Matt.” Mark tossed a handful of nuts into his mouth and munched. “Remember when we talked about you guys dating my sister? What happened? How did you end up with her friend instead?”

  They all knew the answer, but it was much more fun to rib Matt about it than to admit that. He ignored Mark for a few minutes as he lined up his shot and pocketed a few balls.

  He straightened before leaning his cue against the table and picking up his beer. “I have no freaking clue. All I can tell you is I took Jude out to dinner one night. I didn’t put the moves to her, because...well, hell. Because she’s Jude. I thought I’d lay the groundwork, you know? Wine and dine her before I--”

  Mark yelled, clapping his hands over his ears. “My sister! She’s my sister. Keep it PG-13, please.” He shuddered.

  Matt shrugged. “You asked. Anyway, before I could ask her out again, she had that thing at that Tide, and then on the way—you know what happened. I met Sandra.”

  “But you weren’t supposed to be picking up other girls. You were supposed to be courting my sister.” Mark had moved on to pretzels, and he jabbed one in Matt’s direction to make his point.

  Matt grimaced and cracked his knuckles. “I don’t know what to tell you, man. I love Jude. Like I love my sisters, you know? I tried to look at her different when we were at dinner that night, but I just kept thinking of her like Molly or Ellen. And then she brought up kids, and I started thinking. You know what? I want kids. I want to be a dad.”

  Logan sipped his bottle. “Is Sandra on board with that?”

  “We haven’t gone far down that road, but yeah, I’ve been honest. She has Lily, and she’s a great kid. But Sandra says she never planned to have an only child.” He picked up his cue again and ran his fingers down the shaft. “It’s early days yet. I’m not jumping into anything, not without being as sure as I can be. But we’re a good fit so far.” He looked up and met Logan’s eyes. “You guys like her, right?”

  Logan smiled. “She’s terrific. Fits in real well. I’m glad it worked out for you, buddy.”

  “So then there were two.” Eric blew an easy shot and cursed without any heat. “Cooper and Logan. You want to give us a status report, too? Nosy minds want to know.” He waggled his eyebrows at Cooper, and Mark groaned.

  Cooper looked uncomfortable as he stepped around the table and eyed up his shot. He leaned over, squinting, and the room was silent as he flicked the ball.

  Balls scattered, sliding into pockets with satisfying clicks. Cooper stretched his back and glanced at Logan.

  “What do you want to know?” He stalked around the car and dug around in the cooler. “Shit, Logan, I’m done with beer for the night. Mind if I pull out the good stuff?”

  Logan spread his hand in a help-yourself gesture. Cooper rummaged in the small fridge and emerged with a bottle of Jack. He pulled a shot glass from the shelf, filled it and downed it in one smooth move.

  “What do you want to know?” he repeated, looking around. “What I did with Jude? You want the dirty details? Shut up, Mark.” He glared as his friend opened his mouth. “We all get it. So plug your ears or take this chance to hit the head while I give the people what they want.” He poured another shot and downed it just as fast.

  “They want to know how I seduced Jude.”

  Logan’s breath hissed in between clenched teeth, and his hands balled into fists. “Son of a bitch, that was never part of the--”

  “What, Logan? Part of the plan? I don’t remember us laying down guidelines. No one gave me a rulebook. It was just, sweep Jude off her feet and may the best man win. Remember?” He grinned. “Well, maybe you’re looking at the best man.”

  “You--” Logan jumped to his feet and would have sailed over the bar if Eric hadn’t grabbed his arm.

  “What?” Cooper repeated. “Why are you getting so sore? It’s what we agreed on, right?”

  “Cooper, I think you need to shut up for a minute.” Matt’s face was pinched as he approached the bar.

  Logan stepped back, holding onto his cool with the thinnest of threads. Mark patted his shoulder and glanced between the two men.

  “Want to tell us what’s going on? Cooper, did something really happen with you and Jude?”

  “Why, don’t you think I’m good enough for her?” Cooper raised one eyebrow.

  “Of course not. None of you are good enough for my sister. But I’m pretty damn sure if something did happen, Jude would’ve told my wife, and my wife would’ve told me. So I’m wondering what you’re playing at here.”

  Cooper held his gaze steady for a minute more before he sighed and rolled his shoulders. “Nothing. Nothing happened with Jude and me. Well, I kissed her,” he amended. “But that’s all, and it didn’t go any further. And it won’t.”

  “Why no
t?” They had abandoned all pretense of continuing the game, and Matt leaned against the table.

  Cooper raised one shoulder. “No spark. That’s what she said, anyway. And she was right. I mean, kissing her was fun. It was great. But it was, you know...” He searched for a word. “Comfortable. You know when you’re kissing a girl, and you get to the point where if you have to stop, you feel like you’re going to die?”

  They all looked around the room, down at the floor, as they nodded.

  Cooper sighed. “That didn’t happen. If I had kept kissing her, if things had, you know, heated up, that would have been fine. But things didn’t heat up, and that was fine, too.”

  “What did Jude think? What did she say?” Mark, feeling it was safe, moved away from Logan and took a seat. “She said there was no spark?”

  “Yeah. And when I told her that was all right, the spark might come later, but I was okay with comfortable for now, she told me she wasn’t. She said she wants the magic.” Cooper turned his eyes to Logan. “She said something about dancing with someone. And I could be way off-base, totally wrong, but to me, it sounded like she was talking about something recent. I don’t think she meant Daniel.”

  “So you think she’s already seeing someone?” Eric’s voice was incredulous.

  “No.” Cooper shook his head. “I think she would have told me. She joked about all of us taking her out, she mentioned Matt and me, and she started to say something about Logan, but then she stopped.”

  “Logan?” Mark used his best no-nonsense classroom voice. “Do you have something to share with us?”

  Slumping back on the stool, Logan shrugged. “No. I mean, I’ve been seeing her in the mornings, when she opens, but just to make sure she’s okay. And I saw her the other night. I helped her at the Tide when she was cleaning the kitchen.”

  “You want to explain why you almost took off my head when I was kidding around before about seducing Jude?” Cooper kept his eyes level on Logan’s face. “You didn’t exactly seem casual.”

  Logan held his gaze. “Nope. Just sounded like you weren’t taking it seriously.”

  “It was more than that.” Matt cocked his head. “You have something to say, Logan? Say it.”

  Cooper broke the stretching silence. “After Jude left the other night, I got to thinking about you, Logan. There was something in her voice when she mentioned your name. Different than when she talks about the rest of us.”

  Matt tossed his empty beer bottle into the barrel. It hit the others with a jarring rattle. “When I talked to you the night I took Jude to dinner, something was off with you. I got a vibe. What gives?”

  It fell to Mark as the older brother to ask the question. “Do you like Jude, Logan?”

  That broke them, and the tension vanished. The laughter went beyond the humor of Mark’s question and was tinged with relief. Spats within the group were rare, and uncomfortable for all of them. And they’d never yet fought over a woman.

  Matt slapped a hand on Logan’s back. “Spill it, brother. No secrets here. Remember when you liked Karen Martin? Did we tell anyone?”

  Logan snorted. “Matt, that was fifth grade.”

  “Right, and we never said anything in all these years. We’re trustworthy.”

  Logan shook his head. “Cooper, pour me a shot, would you? If I’m going to spill my guts, I need some Jack.”

  “Shots all around, Coop,” suggested Eric.

  They downed them without speaking. Logan closed his eyes, savoring the burn. He could feel all eyes on him as he spoke.

  “Okay. Yes. I like Jude.”

  “When did this happen?” There was no condemnation in Mark’s voice.

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t like I just woke up one day feeling that way.” He heaved out a breath. In for a penny, in for a pound, he decided.

  “I always kind of liked Jude. But I never would do anything to get between her and Daniel. They were—well, you guys saw it. They were Jude and Daniel.”

  They nodded. Everyone knew exactly what he meant.

  “And it’s not like I hung around waiting for something to happen. You know how I felt about Daniel.”

  Eric punched his arm. “Never any doubt, bro. We all know that.”

  “But why didn’t you say something when we made this agreement?” Matt wasn’t condemning, just confused. “If you had told us, Cooper and I could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble. I mean, I asked Karl for dating advice. Karl, who works for me? I sank that low.”

  “Yeah, man, and I kissed her,” Cooper put in.

  Logan pinned him with a glare. “Don’t remind me. I still kind of want to hit you.”

  Cooper put up his hands. “No spark, remember? I’m not your competition, dude. And if you’d told us upfront, I never would have kissed her.”

  “I didn’t want to sound—you know, we’d just spread Daniel’s ashes. Saying I thought I was in love with his widow seemed a little like jumping the gun.”

  “You’re in love with her?” Eric’s mouth dropped.

  Logan put his head into his hands, leaning on the bar. “I don’t know. I think so. And sometimes I think maybe she might--” He shook his head. “I don’t want to scare her off. I don’t want to lose her friendship.”

  Cooper slung an arm around his friend’s shoulder. “I have a feeling that’s not going to be a problem. She had a look on her face. And there was her voice, too. You might have to man up and go for it.”

  There were more nods around the room before Matt shot to his feet.

  “What the hell’s the matter with us? Sitting around here talking about feelings and love and shit? When did we become a bunch of old ladies?”

  Grunts of approval followed his proclamation.

  “Another round of shots!” Cooper slapped his hand on the bar. “And then...we shoot pool. Crank up that music, Mark. The men are back.”

  ***

  “Cooper kissed you?” Samantha nearly shrieked the words, and they echoed through the empty restaurant. It was slow, even for a cloudy off-season Wednesday, and against their strong objections, Jude had sent Sadie and Mack home a few hours early. She didn’t often get the chance to talk to her sister-in-law in person without kids, men and customers milling around.

  “You want to say that a little louder, Sam? I don’t think Meggie caught it up in Savannah.”

  Samantha clapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. But oh my God, Jude. Cooper? What did you do?”

  Jude shrugged. “At first, I kissed him back. I thought, why not?”

  “But then...?” Samantha leaned forward. Her curly brown hair fell over one shoulder, and she flicked it back impatiently.

  “But then, there was nothing. All I could think about was what I was going to say after he stopped. And how his hand was pushing my bra hook into my spine. I’m sorry, if you’re lost in a kiss, you’re not thinking about that stuff.”

  “Not if it’s a good kiss.”

  “Right. So I stopped him, and we talked a little. And then we laughed. A lot. Until we cried.”

  Sam shook her head. “That’s crazy. What was he thinking?”

  Jude wiped off the counter and dropped her rag into the sink. “I guess that we were both single, so maybe we should be single together.” She frowned and shook her head. “Or not. I don’t know. I’m not sure Cooper really knew why he did it. But it’s over, no hard feelings.”

  “The only one who hasn’t made his move yet is Logan.” Sam played with the wrapper of her straw and glanced up slyly. She raised one eyebrow when her sister-in-law flushed.

  “Or did he? C’mon, what are you not telling me?”

  “Geez, Sam, are we in high school again? Calm down.”

  Samantha rolled her eyes. “When you live in small town, you never really leave high school. And I’m living vicariously through you. I love your brother, don’t get me wrong. He’s my one and only. But you gotta admit Logan is hot. Always has been. I couldn’t understand why he never got married.”


  Jude bit her lip. “Remember Tess? I think when she died, he just shut down that part of his life. It was so sad.”

  “I’d forgotten. Mark and I were still living up in Jacksonville then. It was over twenty years ago. They were engaged, right?”

  Jude nodded. “Yes. She died three months before the wedding. It was sudden, a bacterial infection. She was fine, then she was really sick, and then she was gone. It all happened in about a week.”

  “That’s horrible.” Sam was silent for a beat. “But from the blush on your face, I’m guessing Logan is ready to move on. What happened?”

  “Nothing, really. I’m probably making more out of it than it means.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. Tell me all.”

  “I was here by myself, and you know I like to dance while I’m cleaning. Logan came in, and he danced with me. And then the music got slow, and he danced with me some more, but slower...and I thought he was going to kiss me. Just for minute, he looked at me... but then he pulled back.” She lifted one shoulder. “And that was it.”

  “But do you think he’s--” A beeping sound interrupted Samantha, and she glanced at her phone. “Shit! I have a meeting at Gavin’s school. They’re trying to rope me into being class mom again. I’m going to stand my ground this year and say no.”

  Jude grinned. “You say that every time. And this is Gavin’s last year in elementary school. You know you’re going to do it.”

  Sam sighed and climbed down from the stool. “Yeah, I am. You were the smart one, you know, having your kids young. I don’t know what I was thinking when Mark and I decided to wait. And then to have four! I’m too old for this.”

  She circled the bar to hug Jude before grabbing her handbag and heading for the door.

  “We’ll talk again soon. I need to hear more about your hot love life!”

  Jude shook her head, smiling. Growing up with only a brother, she hadn’t realized how much she missed having a sister until she had one in Samantha. Now she didn’t know what she would do without this crazy lady who had become her best friend.