Page 11 of Bridesmaid Undercover
I study him for a moment. “Did Dad contact you?”
“Why would you think that?” he asks as he attempts to casually lean back in his chair. But I can see right through him.
“Uh, from what I just said.”
He folds his hands in front of him. “He might have sent me an email.”
“What did he say?” I ask.
“Just another warning about the so-called lawsuit he’ll be throwing at us. Nothing new, just that he sent it this morning, and since we’re meeting with the Canes…well, I hate looking like a liability.”
“We’re not a liability,” Jude says. “And don’t let him tell you any other way. We spoke with our lawyer while making the move over, we did everything we were supposed to do, including offering four weeks’ notice, which your father chose to ignore and fire you instead. He’s threatened so he’s threatening you.”
See, Jude is the comforting barn in the room, hugeandnice to have around.
Hudson nods. “Yeah, I know. Just don’t want the Canes to regret partnering up with us.”
“They won’t,” I say. “I mean, by the spread on the table alone, they’re going to think we’re a winning trio to be in business with.”
Hudson smirks. “You’re such a dickhead.”
“Just putting it out there, if no one eats the fruit salad, I’m claiming it now,” I say.
“Your sister actually asked for the fruit salad, since I brought it home last time,” Jude says with a challenging brow.
Hudson smiles broadly. “Why don’t you two arm wrestle for it?”
I drum my fingers on the table. “You know, I would, but I don’t want to humiliate Jude like that, so I’m going to just let him take the fruit salad.”
Hudson chuckles. “Yeah, okay, Hardy.”
Jude fidgets with his suit jacket as he asks, “What did you do this past weekend?”
“My friends had an engagement party,” I say. “Polly and Ken. I don’t think you’ve met them, but I’ve known them since college.”
“That’s right,” Hudson says. “So, did you see Maple at the engagement party?”
Of course, he’d ask that, especially after I gave him shit for his breakfast spread.
Hudson has always thought I should be with Maple. When he found out that we broke up, he chastised me for an entire week about how I was a dumbass and shouldn’t have let her go. And then, of course, periodically throughout the time we’ve been apart, he’s told me to find a way to make up with her. To find her and tell her what an idiot I am, but unfortunately for his little matchmaking heart, our paths never crossed.
I don’t blame his persistence though.
Everyone saw the connection we had.
When we met back in college, there was an instant magnetism between us. At the time, she was majoring in zoology and animal sciences, and as her passion was animal conservation, we spent many dates at the San Francisco Zoo. When she graduated, she got a job at the Denver Zoo where she was a zookeeper for the flamingos, her favorite animal. After a while, she was offered a field job in Peru to conduct research on the Chilean flamingos, observing their patterns to determine why they were endangered. And there was no way I could have followed her to Peru if I hadn’t been able to follow her to Denver.
“Maple wasn’t at the party,” I say. “But, apparently, she’s coming back to San Francisco for good.”
“Who’s Maple?” Jude asks.
“Hardy’s ex-girlfriend who he let slip through his fingers,” Hudson answers.
“The one that got away?” Jude asks.
“Exactly,” Hudson says.
I turn to Jude. “We were going in different directions, so she was bound to get away. But now that she’s coming back, I want to see where her head is at, maybe start talking again.”
