Page 120 of The Risk Taker
“I know,” I sob, struggling to rein my emotions in. “I trust you.”
“You trust me?” he echoes.
“With my life.”
He screws his face up and kisses me. I cling to him, fisting the front of his shirt, and crushing my mouth to his as I kiss him back with all I have, showing him how much he means to me, how grateful I am to him, how I never ever want to be apart again.
He keeps me in his arms as we break our kiss, and I look to the side. Mom’s watching us with a small smile, and my father’s face is pale.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“I’m fine, Dad.”
He hovers, waiting for Slade to let me go before he pulls me into an unexpected hug.
“I am proud of you, Darling. Don’t for one minute think I’m not,” he whispers in my ear before letting me go.
“Let’s get some air,” Mom suggests, taking my hand.
Dad hangs back with Slade to talk to the restaurant manager for a few minutes before following us out.
“They’ll catch up,” Mom says, looking back from where she’s walked me up the street.
“Is Dad all right?”
“He’s fine. It just made him think of that time you fainted on the subway.”
“I was fifteen.”
“And he’s never forgotten how worried you made him.”
I look back at the two men, taking their time to walk to us. They’re talking, both of their scowls having lessened a fraction.
“Your father respects people who stand up to him. And he loves you, Jude. He’s proud of you.”
“Until just now I wouldn’t have believed that,” I murmur.
“You quitting med school opened some old wounds, that’s all. He wasn’t as brave as you were at standing up to his father.”
“What do you mean? Dad always wanted to be a surgeon.”
Mom shakes her head with a wistful look. “A guitarist, actually. He was in a band in high school.”
“What?” I gape at her. “How come I never knew this?”
“Because he doesn’t like to talk about it. He gave up on his dream under the pressure from his dad. He loves what he does now. But it took a while.”
“Wow.” I blow out a breath.
“Yeah, wow,” Mom muses, glancing back at where Slade and my father are deep in conversation.
“Do you think he’ll ever come around to the idea that I’m not getting back with Callum?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“It was your father who asked that Callum be seated further away at the dinner the other evening.”
