With the worst timing in history, Jude opened the bedroom door and stepped out. Two sets of eyes, both looking shocked, peered over Hazel’s shoulders, and he dropped his head down. A million lies crossed his mind.
Isla ran around Taylor to her cousin and hugged her. “Jude! Oh my God, you had us all so worried.”
When Taylor looked back, Rufus walked past him, letting himself in. “Guess we found her. What’d I tell ya, Isla? I knew she’d be he—”
Taylor’s gaze shifted to Rufus when he stopped suddenly, then volleyed back to the girls. He saw the moment of recognition on Rufus’s face—wide eyes, mouth open—and Taylor’s stomach sank.
“Holy shit! Is that a wedding ring?” Rufus’s gaze went from Jude to Taylor, searching his hand.
It happened too fast for Taylor to hide the evidence, and he didn’t want to anyway. He would never hide their relationship again. “It is. What of it?”
Rufus laughed manically. “Oh fuck. Taylor ‘Golden Boy’ Barrett has married the crazy girl.”
Taylor was prepared to be mocked. That was Rufus’s style. What he wasn’t prepared for was hearing his wife be mocked. “What the fuck did you just say?”
Rufus was still laughing, but he was more than happy to repeat it. “Talk about irony.” He looked at Taylor. “Your body is all messed up,” he said, then redirected his attention to Jude, “and her mind is all messed up. Together you guys actually make one fucked-up person.”
Taylor swung before his senses caught up with him. He landed a cross punch on Rufus’s jaw sending him to the floor and eradicating his grin. Jude sprang between them, pressing her hands against Taylor’s chest to stop him from hitting Rufus again. With Taylor’s eyes locked on Rufus, Isla dropped to her knees to help him while Jude began whispering to her husband, “Stop! Please. Stop! He doesn’t matter, babe. He doesn’t matter.”
When their eyes met, a calm washed through him, his better senses returning.
Isla barked, “You’ll pay for this, Judith. Wait until your parents hear about this.”
Jude sighed heavily and leaned the top of her head to Hazel’s chest. “I guess the honeymoon is over.”
Maybe it was the rush of adrenaline still coursing through his veins. Or maybe that was just damn funny, but Taylor burst out laughing. “Guess so.” He looked down at her, glancing every couple of seconds at Rufus to make sure there’d be no retaliation through cheap shots. “The silver lining is that we now get to start the rest of our lives together.”
She smiled. “That is a silver lining.”
He moved her behind him while Isla helped Rufus up from the floor. Rufus’s nose was bleeding, so he held his head back. Jude went to get napkins, passing them across the bar to Isla who helped Rufus.
Slightly muted from the bloody nose, Rufus threatened, “Fucker! You’ll pay for this.”
Taylor took a step closer. “Don’t come into my home and fucking threaten me and don’t ever talk shit about my wife.”
Isla looked dumbstruck and her hand dropped away from Rufus. She glared at Judith skeptically, and asked, “So it’s true? You two are married?”
Nodding, Jude responded, “We are married.”
Isla turned to Taylor and said, “Really?” She was wise enough to stop before saying anything more, but her furrowing brow and mouth hanging open was enough.
Rufus glared at her. “What? You disappointed there, Princess? Guess you’re stuck with me,” he spat in annoyance.
Isla huffed. “You’re an asshole, Rufus.” She walked to the door, but stopped to say one last thing. “Judith, you should really think about someone other than yourself and come home. Their worry has turned to anger and your mom’s been crying the whole time.” She pushed past Taylor and left, leaving Rufus there to help himself.
Jude and Taylor turned to him. The arrogant rich boy stood in contrast to the one who waltzed in unannounced five minutes ago. Even with napkins to his nose, Jude found it hard to feel sorry for him. After her experiences with him, that punch was probably a long time coming.
“You know what?” he asked. “I don’t give a shit about your life anymore. Just go ahead and die already.” Taylor stepped to the side and watched as he walked out, slamming the door closed behind him. Jude took the liberty of locking it.
The laughter they shared moments earlier had evaporated and uncertainty filled their love nest.
Walking around the bar, Jude took Hazel’s hurt hand and gently pressed the large Ziploc bag of ice to his swelling and slightly shaking knuckles. He flinched, trying to pull away from her, but she held strong and asked, “Can we finally talk about your Parkinson’s?”
“YOU KNOW?” TAYLOR asked, standing in front of her, his heart shivering as she held his body still.
“I know.”
“For how long?”
“I found out the day before we got married.”
The subject seemed to hit every one of his nerve endings, making him feel vulnerable to the exposure. He pulled his hand away from her and the ice. He’d risk the swelling. “You married me knowing I would die?”
“We’ll all die one day,” she replied so matter-of-factly.
“I’ll die in years, Jude. Decades aren’t guaranteed.”
She moved closer, not liking his distance. “No one gets guarantees, my love. We just have to live the best life we can while we have a life to live.” Running her fingertips down his arm, she said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Worry creased his forehead as he stared at her. “Because I thought you would leave me.”
She touched the skirt of her dress, attempting to flatten a major wrinkle, then took his hand again, placing the ice on it. “I stand before you full of flaws. I’m Jude. Remember? I’m in no position to judge you. I can only judge who the man is to me and that man is the one I will love until my dying day.” Her eyes, like her smile, were soft, filled with understanding. With the gentle way she touched his cheek, it felt like she was caressing the rough waters of his soul. “Why did you marry me if you thought you wouldn’t be around to spend our lives together?”
“I married you because whatever days I have on this earth, I want them spent on you.”
“Your life isn’t currency, Hazel. It’s worth more than any value you think you can place on it.”
“Life is all about bartering, trading, or spending,” he snapped. “That’s what I do every day. I wake up and figure out how I’m getting through that day. It always comes down to the negotiation.”
“Don’t bargain with your life.”
“I bargained for you. Don’t you see that?”
“I know you want to save me, but save me because you intend to be with me. Not because you need a lost cause to give your life meaning.”
“Oh Jude,” he said, leaning against the bar, frustration invading his happiness. “My life before you can be summed up in three steps: I got up. I went to work. I came home. Now my life is an incredible maze of unpredictability. We have these days where we do such mundane things, but I see them in a way I never did before and they’re not mundane. They’re amazing. That’s because of you.” He took her arm and pulled her close. “I can’t lose the only thing that gives my life meaning, so if I have to bargain with God every morning for an extra day, I will. If I have to trade my life for yours, I will. If I have to spend my days to have time with you, I will. I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t. You have me. I’m not going anywhere, even when it gets hard. You’ll have me. When I made that vow to you, it included in sickness and in health. I meant it. Then and now, always.” She hugged him and his arms came around her. “Please don’t hide it from me anymore. Teach me. Show me how I can help you.”
It was hard to talk to her when he was so used to hiding that part of his life from everyone. He never wanted to be seen as weak or garner sympathy because of the disease that existed inside him. He wanted people to only see his strength. But he realized Jude and he were a team now. Unlike anything he had felt before, her love was immeasurable, as was his for her. She never gave him stipulations or contracts, tried to make deals, or sell a charade of perfection. Jude was the opposite of Katherine in every way, and being with her was healing the damage of his past. He’d never known love without conditions before her. She was his Barrett and he was hers. And that was forever.