Page 38 of Fragile Heart

CHAPTER15

Quinn

“Um, hi,”I say quietly as I walk up to my front door and see Hudson sitting against it with his eyes closed. He doesn’t move, so I squat down next to him and gently shake his shoulder. “Hudson.”

His body jolts, and his eyes fly open. He looks around to get his bearings before his pretty blue eyes finally land on me. I smile. “Whatcha doing here?”

He clears his throat. “I was waiting for you. You weren’t at the diner, and Holly wouldn’t tell me where you were.” A wave of warmth rolls through me. He couldn’t find me, so he waited? Hudson Porter waited forme? “And you didn’t answer my texts.” I wince. I hadn’t expected anyone to try to get ahold of me today, so I turned my phone off. Today is always emotional for me, and sometimes I just need to disconnect from my everyday life and check in with my emotions.

“Oh, sorry about that. I had my phone off for most of the day.” His eyes search my face trying to figure something out.

“Is everything ok?” he finally asks.

I nod. “Yeah. You wanna come in?” He stands, and I unlock the door. He follows me in, shutting the door behind him. I set my bag on the table and turn to face him. He looks confused and, if I’m not mistaken, a little hurt which I’ve never seen on Hudson before.

“You can sit.” I point to the couch. “I’m going to grab some water. Do you want anything?”

“A water is fine.” I take the few steps to my kitchen and get us two glasses of water, noticing that something feels off between us. Almost awkward. We haven’t been like that since the morning he woke up in my apartment after I dragged him home from the bar.

When I come back, Hudson hasn’t turned the TV on like he normally does when he comes over. Another indicator that something is wrong. I hand him his glass and sit down next to him.

“Are you mad at me?” he finally asks.

I choke on my water, confused about why he would think that. “No, why would I be mad at you?”

“Because of yesterday. I didn’t realize the scenes we were filming would be so intimate.” He pauses like he isn’t sure if he should continue. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. Vaughn mentioned you left in a hurry.”

“Oh.” I feel the blush creep up my cheeks. I silently curse Vaughn for giving me away. Does Hudson know that I’ve developed feelings for him beyond our friendship? Have I made it that obvious? “It’s ok. I just wasn’t expecting it. It was fun to see the set and everything. Thank you for inviting me.” I try to brush away the awkwardness. I know how I feel about Hudson, but he hasn’t said anything about his own feelings. I can only assume this is one-sided because I would never expect someone like him to fall for someone like me. That kind of thing only happens in fairy tales. And even if he does like me as more than a friend, he’s leaving in a few weeks, and I’ll likely never see him again. It’s probably best that we just stay friends no matter how much I may want more.

“I wish you could’ve stayed longer,” he tells me, his voice soft and low. I try to not read into his words, but it feels good to be wanted, even just as friends.

“I didn’t want to be in the way. And you were so busy and everything.” He doesn’t try to deny it, but I can see the disappointment on his face. It makes me feel terrible that I left without saying goodbye to him.

“Why weren’t you at work today? I thought you always worked Fridays?” he asks out of nowhere.

“I do. But today was an exception.” My hands get clammy. I knew this conversation was coming. I just hadn’t planned on it being tonight.

“Do you want to tell me why? I couldn’t get anything out of Holly.” I smile, thinking about how protective Holly can be sometimes. I’m lucky to have her.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to explain this because almost everyone in town knows the story. But Hudson doesn’t know any of it, and it’s time that I tell him. As my friend, I want him to know.

“Today is my ex-fiancé’s birthday. He passed away from cancer four years ago.” I pause for a sip of water. It never gets easier saying those words. “I usually spend his birthday with his parents and then visit his grave.” Hudson remains perfectly still, watching my face.

He stays silent for too long, and I start wondering if I should’ve kept this part of me to myself. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not something I tell people when I first meet them. And I don’t usually have to tell people because everyone in town already knows. He was from here too.” I watch his Adam’s apple bob, and he looks at the wall behind me. He’s processing everything, so I stay quiet to give him time.

“So, you were engaged?” he says finally.

“Yes. I was.” He nods.

“Thank you for telling me.” My eyebrows shoot up in surprise because it’s not at all what I expected him to say. Honestly, I don’t know what I expected butthank youwas definitely not it.

“So, how was your day?” he asks me slowly, unsure if he should be asking anything else.

“It was good. His parents moved about forty-five minutes away, so I drove over to them, and we had lunch and talked about him. His name was Kyle. It’s good to remember him and the good memories. We looked through old pictures and watched videos. It was nice.”

He nods. “So, you’re ok?”

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