I felt myself softening slightly. Just slightly. "And you didn't think to share this at any point? I seem to recall several long road trips."
His brows winged up. "Yeah, because you were in such an open, accepting place during those road trips, Audrey. You would've thrown yourself out of the car and run into the fucking desert if I'd mentioned watching every video you've ever posted."
It was possible he was right about that. "Then you should've brought it up after the engagement party. When we talked."
"Yeah, probably." He tipped his head to the side. "But I didn't want to spend the whole night on history. Not when it seemed like we finally understood each other again." He ran his knuckles over his chin. "And you were naked. That had a lot to do with it."
"And Percy? How did he get involved?"
"Ah. Well." Jude pulled some of the tools from his pockets, studying them before returning them to the shelving unit where I kept extra light bulbs, lawn bags, and garden clippers. "Percy picks up any virus within five miles of him. When he was three, there wasn't a full month that he wasn't sick with something. He'd only fall asleep if I held him." He patted his chest, right where his son's head would rest. "But he caught me watching your videos one night. He was hooked right from the start."
I wanted to be annoyed. To harp on him keeping this secret for so long. But all I could ask was, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
He lifted a shoulder. "Probably."
"Care to unburden yourself while I'm in a forgiving mood?"
He stared at me for a long minute before saying, "Through a strange series of coincidences, one of my closest friends is your boss's brother's business partner."
"My—what? You know Lauren's brother?"
"Not personally, no," he said. "But I know his business partner Jordan Kaisall."
"And how do you know Jordan?"
He yanked the hat off and pushed a hand through his hair. "Remember how I said I got fed up with corporate aeronautics a few years ago? And I thought about giving it all up to manage a fleet?"
I gave him an impatient shake of my head. "Vaguely."
"That's how I met Jordan. Interviewing for a job managing his fleet."
"And you went into this knowing his partner's sister was the principal of my school? I mean, how did you even find that out? And why?"
"No, I had no idea," he said quickly. "No, fuck no. Jesus. I've done a lot of fucked-up things for you but that's a bit much, evenfor me." He scrubbed a hand down his face, laughing. "They did a deep-dive background check before the second interview and brought the connection to my attention. I knew you'd left your ex and moved to Boston at that point but the rest came as a surprise. An awkward one, at that."
"Is that why it didn't work out?"
He shook his head. "It became apparent that I'd get bored with the gig within six months. And I sleep better at night, not knowing all the shit Jordan gets involved in."
"You knew I'd left Chris?"
A muscle in his jaw ticked before he said, "Yeah."
"How?"
There had been no announcements. No social media posts. I'd just gathered the handful of things I'd wanted to keep from our home in San Diego and boarded a flight to Boston to move on with my life.
Another long stare and then, "I used to search the California court filings every few months."
"Oh, yeah. Okay. That's not psychotic at all." I paced away from him and toward the washer and dryer stationed at the other end of the utility room. I started tossing some towels into the washing machine. We'd accumulated quite the pile with Bagel rolling in every spot of mud he could find. "I'm not sure whether the most unhinged part is you being so confident that my marriage would crumble, you set a calendar reminder to check for my divorce filing. Or the fact that you knew it'd ended and you still waited until last month to say anything to me. Or that when you finally found me, it was to guilt me into a fake engagement."
"I did say I've done a lot of fucked-up things for you."
I didn't respond to that. I just threw a detergent pod into the basin and banged the lid shut. After I started the machine, Iturned around, my lips pursed in a hard line and my arms locked over my chest. "Why did you wait so long?"
"Why didIwait?" He crossed the room toward me, tapping a finger to the center of his chest. "Why the fuck didyouwait? Why didn't you call me the minute you were rid of him?"
"What did you want me to do?" I cried. "I thought you hated me for how I left. I thought you never wanted to see me again."
