Page 97 of All the Ugly Things
And it wasn’t the temperature. It was the entire ambiance of everything that sparked more tears in my eyes. This was ahome. A gorgeous house that had obviously not only been well-maintained over the years, but updated as well, and yet none of it looked like a showpiece. David must have set his thermostat to“Welcome home. Kick up your feet and stay awhile.”
Movement to my right grabbed my attention and I watched as Hudson placed two fingers to his lips and pressed them to the glass.
“Your mom?” I asked, although it was obvious. It was a black and white photo of a beautiful woman, hair tied in a knot at the nape of her neck and off to the side so it sat behind her ear. Pearl stud earrings, wearing what had to be a light-colored satiny colored shirt with a feminine collar. She was smiling toward something in the distance, with a soft look of endearment.
“Yeah.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“She was. Inside and out.”
I choked down the emotion coming from him, probably wafting off me.
This was family. True family not solely by blood but bonded by love.
I said a quick prayer to whoever was listening I would make it through the night without making a fool out of myself and followed Hudson into the home. He took my hand, held it tight as if he knew I needed that tether to something or I’d run.
As we passed the stairs, voices from the kitchen filtered out, growing louder because we were closing the distance and also because the woman who was speaking kept raising her voice.
She laughed then, loud and boisterous. Jenna. It had to be.
“It’s called garlic bread for a reason, Brandon!”
In the midst of the loud voices was David, his quiet, gentle rumble unintelligible to my ears, but the deep, warm tenor of it couldn’t be missed.
In two weeks, I’d go to work for these men and the more time I spent around Hudson, the fewer reasons I could find to be concerned with how or why I was given the job or gained their attention.
I was beginning to like them all too much.
“Hello!” Hudson called, and immediately the sounds from the kitchen silenced like a whip through the air.
“Finally!” Jenna appeared from the corner of the kitchen first, arms already open and a smile so wide it risked breaking her face in two. “Another woman! It’s about time you got here.” She yanked me to her in a hug, and I lost Hudson’s grip on my hand from the force of her strength. “I’m Jenna. And you’re Lilly. David told me you were coming and it’s fantastic. I need another female opinion.”
She pulled back, curled her hands around my biceps.
“I’m not sure I’m much help when it comes to anything kitchen-related.”
“But you have to like garlic bread. Come on.” She pulled me with her and I shot Hudson a glance over my shoulder.
“Jenna. You’re scaring her,” he said, grinning at me and shaking his head.
“No, I’m not.”
“Kinda,” I admitted.
Jenna’s face scrunched. “You’ll get used to it,” she said with a shrug, not the least bit concerned about my reaction.
Geez. Hudson wasn’t kidding. She was a lot. A force of nature.
“Okay, Lilly. Help me out.” She let go of my arm once we reached the kitchen. David was by the stove, gloves on his hands like he’d just checked dinner in the oven and Brandon was off to the side, at the kitchen island with two loaves of bread in front of him, sliced in half and the openings face up. “Tell Brandon here that there is no such rule as too much garlic on garlic bread. I mean, it’s a travesty to limit it, right?”
Brandon chuckled, shaking his head. Apparently he was tasked with the garlic-ing of the bread. “Just remember who’ll be signing your paychecks in a couple of weeks.” He shot me a playful warning tone, and I almost called him on it, but David beat me to it.
“I will,” he said. He tugged off the oven mitts and came to me, holding out his hand. “We’re glad you could come tonight. It’s good to see you.”
“Thanks.” I shook his hand. I might have allowed Jenna’s hug, but I wasn’t comfortable with it. And David was now technically my boss.
Hudson dropped my hand and pulled his dad into a hug. “How you doing, old man?”
