Page 66 of Hidden Vows
I chuckle softly, shaking my head at her antics, and the glint in her eye tells me that was exactly what she was aiming for.
“I opened the door, and just as we started talking Chuck showed up.”
There’s no need to explain who Chuck is, Ava met him once when he showed up at the bookstore one night while we were closing, and she didn’t pass up the opportunity to know more at our very next ladies’ night. Chuck has been the topic of conversation a few times…none of them loved the idea of me and Chuck, not that I can blame them.
It was clear from the start nothing serious was going to happen, and considering the three of them have found their happily ever after, they want the same for me.
“That couldn’t have been good.” Quinn grimaces.
“I mean…it could have been worse. Him showing up made Jude reveal more than I think he’d been planning on.”
“Oh? Like what?” Ava bounces in her spot slightly.
“Like the fact he’s never slept with anyone else…ever.”
“What?” all three of them shout.
The silence that washes over the yard is a little comical. Everything goes still as the guys turn to look at us, concern evident in all their expressions.
“You all okay?” Declan asks from his spot behind the grill.
“Yeah, we’re good,” Quinn yells back, waving him off like he’s the one who disrupted the story. “I’m sorry, but I think you’re going to have to explain that one.”
Before I say anything else, I feel the weight of Jude’s stare on me and let my eyes meet his, silently telling him I’m fine. With a slight nod of his head, his attention turns back to the guys in front of him and mine comes back to the ladies in front of me.
“I mean, there’s not much else to it than that. Jude’s never been with anyone else.”
“Hold up.” Ava shakes her head, her brows pinched. “There’s so much more to say. I mean, the whole reason you broke up was that he had an affair. At least, that’s what he claimed.”
“The affair was a lie.” I lift a hand when I see Ava’s mouth open. “Look, I said it that night, I didn’t trust the affair was real. He’d been telling me for weeks before that we should get a divorce, I just refused to listen to him. I thought it was nerves about being married so young. I thought it was something we’d be able to move past.”
“I don’t blame you. The way you two were with each other was enviable.” Quinn reaches out and squeezes my hand before releasing it.
“Honestly, if I didn’t have Caleb I’d be envious watching you two together now.”
“Ditto. Well, I mean, if I didn’t have Gage.” Ava raises her drink in an imaginary toast, making all of us smile. “So, the affair wasn’t real. Not that I thought it was. That man has looked at you like you’re his entire world since the moment he showed up in Ashford Falls. Anyone with eyes could see that.”
“What really happened?” Quinn whispers.
“My father.” It shouldn’t surprise me the lack of shock on their faces. My father’s been showing his true colors more and more lately. “He told Jude if he didn’t leave me, and Ashford Falls, he’d take my mother to DC and make sure I never saw her again, and that he’d destroy Murphy’s and make it so difficult for Walt to be here, he’d need to leave to find peace. He threatened to destroy the people Jude cared about most.”
“And instead of talking to you about it, he decided what was best for everyone involved and left?” Emily asks in bewilderment.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Ava whispers, her eyes shifting to Gage for a few seconds before they return to me. But when they do, there are tears building in them. “You can’t take what you know now and apply to a situation from the past. At nineteen, Jude probably thought Edward could do some horrible things if he wanted to.”
It’s my turn to reach out and offer comfort. Ava was the queen of beating herself up for decisions she made that she thought she should have known better. It wasn’t until Gage came into her life that she started to believe what she just told me.
“You’re right.” I offer her a small smile. “I’m still angry withhim about it, but I understand it. We were kids and he thought he was doing what was best. My mom had just been diagnosed with ALS and I was going to lose her no matter what, he wanted me to have as much time with her as I could.”
“He still could have given you the option,” Emily mumbles.
“But that’s just it, he knew me—he still knows me—better than anyone else. If he’d told me back then, I would’ve chosen him. I would’ve been devastated not having those last two years with my mom, but I would’ve chosen him because she would’ve been so mad at me if I’d made any other decision.”
Quinn doesn’t say anything, but she grabs my hand and holds on tight, a tear slipping down her cheek. It’s the worst club to be in—the one where you’ve lost a parent—but sometimes having someone to lean on who truly understands the pain makes it just a little easier to bear.
Quinn’s gaze shifts away for a minute before she pulls herself back together. “So, he didn’t cheat, he’s been faithful to you this whole time, and you’ve forgiven him.”
“We’re still working through some of the trust issues—it’s not something that can be fixed with the flip of a switch—but we’re both more than willing to work on them. So, yeah, I’ve forgiven him.”
