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“Go home.”
She wraps her arm around my shoulders. “No.”
My head falls, and I can’t stop the tears. They continue to run, one after the other, hitting my dirty jeans. I wipe them away with my hands, but Sadie leans over and places her head on my shoulder.
“Just go, Sadie.”
“It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone,” she whispers.
I can’t stop them from coming, so I sit there and cry for the first time since Mommy died.
Chapter One
Jude
Twenty-seven years later…
I roll over in bed and stare at the ceiling for a bit. The roosters don’t care that it’s Sunday morning. It’s been a long time since I’ve slept in anyway, so I get up and pull on my pajama pants, then tread downstairs to my kitchen. The coffee is already brewed, so I pour myself a cup and go out to my porch that overlooks the lake on Plain Daisy Ranch.
“Jesus, shirt please.” Emmett, my youngest brother, walks over wearing his typical too-long basketball shorts. He lives next to me, through the line of trees, but I rarely see him on a Sunday.
“I could say the same.”
“You forget, I’m still in my twenties, so…” He looks down at himself and pats his six-pack. “Perfection.”
I sit in the porch chair and prop my feet up on the railing. “Why are you here?”
He pulls his phone from his shorts and holds it up. “You really need to keep your phone on you.”
I like the convenience of my phone, but I could do without it at times. I’ve never been one to keep up with social media or play mindless games on it. I’m usually the only person in a waiting room not on their phone.
“It’s upstairs,” I say.
He bounds up the porch steps and heads into my house. I roll my eyes at the banging of the cupboard and the clinking of mugs.
“Why are you here again?” I call through the screen door.
“Dad is on his way.”
My forehead creases. “Why?”
He walks out with a cup of coffee, taking the other chair on the porch. The one that’s barely ever sat in since I live by myself. He bounces up and down on the seat. “Cushy.”
“Emmett—why?”
He stares at me for a moment. Finally remembering the question, he rocks his head back and shrugs. “Not sure. Just said to meet here in ten.”
“Doesn’t he have company?” I arch an eyebrow.
Sometime when we were in high school, Dad started entertaining women on Saturday nights. Sometimes they’re women he picks up from a bar and brings home, but I learned years ago never to go over there on Sunday morning. Poor Ben, my other brother, is living there until his house is done, and he gives me the scoop every time my dad is making breakfast for a new woman on Sunday. I want my dad to be happy, but I don’t like seeing another woman in my mom’s kitchen. Not that I would tell anyone.
Emmett shrugs. “Maybe he stayed home last night.”
“Doubtful.” I sip my coffee.
“It’s kind of sad, don’t you think?”
I feel Emmett staring at me, but I don’t bother turning my eyes away from the small ducks paddling around the lake. “What is?”
