I snort and turn in his lap. “Don’t leave me with them,” I stage whisper, earning a smirk.
“I have every faith in you, wifey. You’ve always had your brothers under your thumb. I’m not worried so you shouldn’t be either.” He punctuates that statement with a hard, far-too-fast, but oh-so-good kiss before helping me get off of him and placing me back in my chair.
I’m scowling at my family before Jude and Wy have even closed the front door. “That wasrude.”
“We haven’t seen you in person for months, Em, and I’m not about to apologize for wantin’ to check in on my sister who was so consumed with grief that she ran away in the middle of the night to find peace,” Dare says, his tone not leaving any room for argument.
“And since we’re layin’ it all out,” Ash adds. “We all lost Dad, but you also got married the same day you were told you were the key to bringin’ the mountain back together. We saw how destroyed you were and since we’re the only family we’ve all got left now, we’re allowed to worry about you. You’ve got a life, a job, and a house here, and on top of that, you’ve got an accidentally legal–but apparently real–marriage to navigate. We just want to know you’re OK.”
“Bein’ married to Jude is not a hardship. He’s been amazin’ and understandin’ and hasn’toncepressured me into doin’ anythin’ I don’t want to do,” I reply, leaving no room for argument in my tone.
“Hey. We get it. Hell, we’veseenit,” Dare replies.
“Even saw your husband in a towel,” EJ teases.
“Weallsawthat,” Ash says, screwing his face up. “At leastyouwere dressed.”
“Barely,” I mutter, earning more gagging noises from Ash this time. Serves him right for storming into my house in all his ‘get off my sister’ caveman glory.
“OK, let’s stop talkin’ about what we walked in on and start gettin’ into why we’re here,” EJ says seriously. You know it’s important when the twins aren’t joking around.
I stare over at the oldest of the two. “Yes, let’s do that. Whyareyou here other than missin’ me at Thanksgivin’?”
Dare rubs the back of his neck as he looks around the table at our brothers. “Jude wasn’t completely off base with his assumption.”
My eyes bug out at him. “Y’all donotneed to give Jude the ‘hurt my sister and I’ll hurt you’ speech. He wouldn’t hurt a damn fly, let aloneme,” I reply cuttingly.
Dare holds his hands up in surrender. “We can see that. He’s one of the good ones. Doesn’t mean we don’t need to see you’re OK for ourselves. Ash is right about that.”
“I usually am,” Ash grumbles, making me snicker.
Dare shakes his head. “Makin’ sure you’re bein’ looked after has been our job since the day Mom and Dad brought you home and that’s not ever goin’ to change.”
“Do you know Jude wrote me a letter and gave it to me before the ceremony? Before we even knew each other?”
Both Ash and Dare stare at me, their eyes flashing with surprise. “What did it say?” Dare asks softly.
“He promised that I’d be his person and he’d be mine.”
“Beforethe weddin’?” Ash asks.
“Yep.”
Ash sits back in his chair, a murmured “whoa” passing his lips. “How about when you found out the marriage was real? You haven’t really talked to us about that,” he continues.
My eyes lift to the roof as I try to find the words to explain it. “Before Jude turned up at my door that night, I’d been feelin’ weird for a week or two.”
Dare’s eyes narrow as he sits forward on the couch and rests his elbows on his knees. “Weird how?”
“Like I was missin’ somethin’--or someone. Like my body was too big for my skin. I was tired all the time and seemed to be gettin’ weaker and weaker. All I know is that Jude was feelin’ it too,” I explain. “Here’s the thing, I’m a scientist and there’s no explanation that fits. I just feelbetterwhen we’re around each other and now that we’re…” My cheeks burn as Dare shoots me a smirk, reading me like a book, “closer, it’s like I can sense him and need to be with him all the time.” EJ and BJ waggle their brows and I scowl. “Not likethat!”
News flash… it’s also very much like that.
“So you believed he was your soulmate, just like that?” Ash says. “You’ve always been one of the most skeptical people I know.”
“Never more than you, big brother.” I poke my tongue his way. “But yes, I not only believe it, I also feel it. I know it, and there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jude is the man I’m meant to love and spend my life with.”
They all fall quiet with a mix of contemplative expressions.