Page 2 of Crossroads of Innocence
His throat tightened and beads of sweat dotted his hairline. He didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t breathe as he stared at the smiling face.
Jude.
Not one day had passed when he hadn’t thought of her, dreamt of her. Not one day since she walked out of his life at eighteen years old and never looked back. Never called. Never returned home to her family and friends.
Never returned home to him.
Pain that’d never really left came back with a vengeance until he swore his heart would burst. He studied the picture. Her hair was longer than the last time he saw her, her face a bit fuller. But there was no denying it was Jude who stared back at him with those full lips and slightly turned up nose.
“Well?” Toby asked. “You know her?”
Intuition weighed down the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know this man standing in his bar with a photo of his ex. Jude might have dragged his heart through the dirt on her way out of town, but he wouldn’t betray her. At least until he knew more.
“Sorry. Can’t say that I do.” Swiping a dishtowel from the rack below the bar, he wiped a water spot. He hadn’t lied. Jude had left town the first chance she’d gotten close to twelve years ago. The girl he’d known and loved was long gone. He didn’t know the woman in the photo—not anymore.
A tiny vein ticked Toby’s right temple. He shoved his phone back in the front pocket of his coat and retrieved a business card. He threw it on the bar. “I’ll be in town for a few days. Call me if she shows up.”
“Sure thing.” Wade plucked the card between his thumb and forefingers and dipped his chin then watched the man march toward the front door.
“You all right, man?”
With his smile firmly in place, Wade shot his friend a wink and prayed he couldn’t see the truth. That all it took was one mention of Jude for his entire world to fall apart.
Again.
* * *
Jude Metcalf huddled deeperinto her black leather jacket and watched the cop who’d followed her back to Tennessee disappear into the cold, wintery night. She might be in front of the roaring fire in the giant stone hearth, but nothing could chase the chill from her bones.
Not after what she’d seen.
Not after she’d been chased out of her cozy apartment and forced to run for her life.
And now, after escaping the hell of her childhood, she was back in Pine Valley. Back to find the one person she could trust to help her fix the mess she’d landed in. But first, she needed to find the courage to approach him after she’d wronged him so many years ago.
Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Wade move behind the gleaming bar and memories assaulted her. How many nights had she spent in this restaurant with him, planning their futures and discovering things about herself she’d never dreamed possible? She’d gotten her first kiss in a dark corner while shooting pool, and she’d given herself to Wade fully in the room above the bar his dad had used as an office.
Her heart fluttered and heat slammed against her cheeks. Was that normal? To have such an intense reaction to mere memories of something so far in the rearview mirror? Years and hundreds of miles had separated her from her high school love, but sitting back in the Chill N’ Grill, surrounded by Pine Valley’s finest, made it feel like only yesterday she’d jumped on her motorcycle and done the hardest thing she’d ever done.
She’d left.
The busty blond sauntered back to the bar and a jealousy she had no right feeling swarmed inside her like angry bees. Wade flashed the woman a smile, his dimples sexier than she remembered, and filled her glass before returning his attention to Chet.
A pang of longing hummed inside her. Wade wasn’t the only one she’d left behind. She’d grown up with Chet and was glad to see he and Wade were still friends, but she couldn’t get caught up in nostalgia or envy or any other silly emotion right now. Not when the stakes were way too high. She needed to put on her big girl panties and talk to Wade. He’d know what to do—could help her out of this mess so she could get the hell out of this town before anyone else found out she was here.
Drawing in a deep breath, she cast one more glance around the room. The place was full of faces from her past, so many memories that made her the person she was today, but she couldn’t get pulled down by nostalgia. She’d come here with a singular goal. Dipping her chin, she hooked her bag on her back and pulled her hood over her head, she folded her arms across her chest and slid between clusters of people. Each bump or accidental elbow jab sent spikes of fear through her. She made herself as small as possible and weaved between the crowd until she reached the end of the bar.
Her heart pounded. Anxiety pitching higher than the wooden beams across the ceiling. The feeling of being watched made her skin crawl. Needing to expel some nervous energy, she tapped the toe of her sneaker against the worn floor.
Wade glanced her way and lifted a finger. “Be there in a second, darlin’.”
Her knees threatened to give out. His voice was gravelly and thick as ever, and even the low light couldn’t hide the captivating charm he’d had since they were kids. The small lines on his tanned face managed to make him even more handsome. Or maybe it was just the pressing need inside her to be near him.
Closing her eyes, she let her face fall forward. What the hell was she thinking? Wade might be the only person she could trust, but she couldn’t do this. Couldn’t stand in front of him after all this time and ask him to help her. She’d given up the right to ask him for anything the second she drove away and broke his heart.
Broke her own heart.
Because as much as she’d needed to get out of Pine Valley, it had taken every ounce of strength she had to leave Wade behind. Coming back was a mistake. She needed to keep running—keep moving until the trouble she’d found herself in stopped following.
