Page 15 of Hidden Vows (Love in Ashford Falls #3)

eleven

JUDE

“What made you decide to open the bar?” Gage asks from his seat across from me a few days after my conversation with Caleb.

“Honestly, I needed something else to do besides sitting by my dad’s hospital bed. I love the man, but it’s a little boring watching him sleep nonstop.” I attempt a smile, trying to bring a little levity to a heavy topic.

The honest truth is that the doctors can’t tell us why he hasn’t woken up yet, and it’s starting to scare me.

The swelling in his brain has gone down, and they’ve weened him off the meds that were keeping him sedated and removed the breathing tube, so there’s no easy explanation for why he’s still isn’t awake.

The only thing keeping me from going completely out of my mind is that all their scans and tests show that he has normal brain function, meaning he’s not brain-dead, just… stuck in limbo.

“What do you normally do? When you’re not here, I mean. Like, what have you been doing for the last seventeen years?” There’s no judgment in his tone, only curiosity, and that makes me smile because that’s the same Gage I’ve always known .

“I’ve done a little bit of everything since I left town.

” I wipe down the bar top next to Gage, not because it needs to be cleaned, but to have something else to focus on.

I’m not sure if I’m ready for everyone to know about my secret author career.

That is one thing I swore my father to secrecy on.

“Okay…” He lets the word hang before setting his beer down and leaning forward. “But what have you been doing recently?”

Gage probably thinks his patient look as he stares at me silently will make me uncomfortable enough to tell him the truth. Bad news for him…I don’t break that easily.

“I’d just gotten to Harborview the day you called. I wasn’t doing anything quite yet.”

“Speaking of Harborview. How crazy is it that you were in the town Ava and Declan grew up in?”

It’s nice to know not everything changes. Gage may want to know what I’ve been up to since I left town, but he won’t push me when I’ve avoided the same question twice. The man before me still knows me just as well as I know him.

“I’ve met Ava, obviously, but tell me more about Declan.”

Caleb told me a bit about his sister and new brother-in-law, but he focused more on his wife and new daughter than anything else. The look of pure love and devotion as he showed me picture after picture made me both happy for him and incredibly jealous.

It made me even more motivated to do everything in my power to get Abbey back.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone step up to the bar. Tilting my head at Gage in apology and lifting my finger to motion one second , I turn to help the unfamiliar face. It doesn’t take long to pour them a couple of pints before I’m back in front of Gage. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m used to it.” He chuckles. “This happens all the time with Walt.”

It doesn’t surprise me that Gage has stayed so close to my dad. Just like Gage’s mom and dad became surrogate parents to me when we were growing up, my dad became a surrogate parent to Gage—especially after Gage’s parents divorced.

I love that Gage still comes around and spends time with my father at least once a week. It’s comforting to know my dad still had someone to take care of in a way.

But it’s also a reminder of how much my father loves this place.

His devotion is clear in the way he’s always here, behind this bar, serving everyone who walks through the doors.

I love his dedication to keeping these doors open, but when he makes it through this—because I refuse to believe he won’t—things are going to have to change around here, and I can get some of those changes started.

Step one? Hiring some staff to help out around the place.

“Declan is Ava’s older brother, and now husband to Quinn Marks.” Gage lifts his beer, taking the last sip before continuing. “He moved to town about six years ago and is the art teacher at the high school.”

“I heard about the wedding from Caleb earlier this week.”

“Well, there’s not much else to it. He and Ava grew up in Harborview with parents who probably shouldn’t have had children.

He got married, got divorced, and realized just how shitty his parents were, so he left and ended up here.

” Gage shrugs. “He met Caleb, who dragged him to a family dinner, and you knew Scott…”

“The second he knew about Declan’s family life, Scott pulled him into the Marks family fold,” I finish for him.

“Exactly. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Do you want another?” I ask as Gage fiddles with the empty glass in front of him.

“Not right now. I’m waiting for Ava.” His eyes track to the door before falling to his watch. “She should be here soon. She was catching up with Abbey next door.”

My spine tingles at the sound of her name. I haven’t seen her since I walked out of the store Wednesday afternoon. It was intentional, trying to give her space to think about everything we talked about, but it’s been torture for me. Knowing she’s so close and yet still so far away.

The moment I decided to fight for Abbey, I knew it’d be hard.

She’s always been stubborn—and I hoped she still was.

Arguing with Abbey—though our only real fight was that last one—was one of my favorite things to do.

She’s never been afraid to speak her mind or fight for what she thought was right, and I can’t wait to see that fire in her again.

“Well, tell me more about Ava.” The smile that takes over his face has the green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head yet again. What I wouldn’t give to have that kind of light in my life. To be happy simply at the thought of the person I love.

“She’s amazing, man.” He aims his goofy grin at the bar, shaking his head slightly before lifting his eyes back to mine. “I don’t know why she picked me, but I thank my lucky stars every day that she did.”

“You’re a good man, Gage. It doesn’t surprise me that she’d pick you.”

And he spends the next ten minutes telling me all about what brought Ava to town—a custody case between Scott and his ex-wife—and how they met—one day at the courthouse—and how they fell in love—sitting here at this very bar with both of our fathers and their meddling nature—and how he has no doubt that she’s the love of his life .

“I’m truly happy for you.”

“Thanks.” His smile falls as he studies me. “I know you have your reasons for being so secretive and refusing to answer my questions earlier, but what about you?”

I sigh and fall forward, leaning against the back of the bar across from Gage. “It doesn’t feel right filling you in on everything before talking to Abbey about it.” I shrug as I speak, standing straight behind the bar again. “I know that doesn’t make sense, but?—”

“No,” Gage cuts me off. “I completely understand that. I may not have a few months ago, but I do now.”

I can’t help but feel guilty at the idea of giving Gage absolutely nothing about my life since I left.

He was my best friend, the person I talked to about everything happening in my life.

There was only one time I didn’t talk with him, and I imagine if I had my life would be very different right now.

“I’ve truly done a little bit of everything.

The first town I stopped in, I got a job as a dishwasher at the local inn.

After that, I worked as a custodian in a local law office.

There was a period I worked the front desk at a mechanic’s shop.

Once I turned twenty-one, I started bartending a lot.

I even toyed with the idea of being a tattoo artist for a spell. ”

“Now that one doesn’t surprise me.” Gage chuckles, gesturing to my arms, covered in tattoos.

“If I’d been more open to the idea of staying in one place long enough, I would’ve done it. But I never stayed in one place longer than six months.”

“Why not?” There’s that genuine curiosity again, and I find myself giving him the truth.

I let my eyes wander to the floor for a second, swallowing the lump that forms in the back of my throat.

“I never wanted to leave Ashford Falls.” I’m so quiet I wouldn’t be surprised if Gage misses the words entirely, but he doesn’t say anything when my eyes meet his.

“The idea of staying anywhere long enough for it to start feeling like home terrified me.”

“Jude…” He trails off, a stretch of time passing between us before he speaks again. “Did you let yourself have anything since you left?”

I open my mouth to answer, but I’m cut short by the door practically flying open, Ava marching in with a bright smile on her face.

“We need shots!” she says as she slams her hand on the bar next to Gage.

“Are we celebrating?” Gage asks her, his eyes bouncing from Ava to the door as it opens less dramatically as Abbey steps through.

My breath catches at the sight of her. It’s not just her beauty or radiant smile that has me at a loss for words. It’s the fact that she’s voluntarily walking through the front door. I thought it would be so much longer before I saw her here.

Ava turns to Abbey. “Well? Are we celebrating?”

“Yeah, we definitely are.” She slides into the empty seat next to Ava, offering me a small smile as she does. “Whiskey for me.”

“Make it two!” Ava shouts, her excitement getting the better of her.

I chuckle as I grab the shot glasses, catching Gage’s eye and silently asking if he’s having one as well.

At the shake of his head, I grab the bottle of Redbreast from behind me and pour the ladies their shots.

Abbey’s fingers brush mine as she takes the shot from me, and the simple touch does more than it should.

The spark that travels up my arm and straight to my heart has my breath catching.

“What are we celebrating?” I ask as the two of them slam their shots back, shaking myself slightly but unable to take my eyes off her.

“Abbey’s stick-in-the-mud father is giving her the money!” Ava’s hands shoot in the air, and she bounces on her feet. Her excitement is almost contagious enough for me to forget the words she said.

I have no idea why Abbey needs the money, but based on the energy flying off Ava and the smile stretched across Abbey’s face, she’s happy about it.

I want to be happy for her, but I can’t help the worry that courses through me.

Knowing her father, there must be strings attached, and I don’t believe for a second he’s told her the truth about those strings.

“Another round!” Ava demands.

I want to ask Abbey more about why she needs the money and exactly what the deal is with her father, but I don’t get the chance. Ava pulls Abbey out of her seat and toward the middle of the bar, where there’s a little more space, and starts dancing.

Gage can’t stop the laugh that bursts out of him at the scene, and I can’t blame him. Murphy’s has never been a bar for dancing, but that doesn’t stop Ava.

It takes Abbey a moment to feel the beat of the music, a large smile forming on her lips as her head falls back, and her eyes close as Ava spins her around.

Her hips sway to the music and my eyes are transfixed by the sight.

She’s carefree in a way I haven’t seen in far too long, and I want to make sure she stays that way.

“Turn the music up! And get us another round!”

Gage glances at me, the crinkles at the corner of his eyes more prominent than I’ve ever seen them. “You heard her. Turn up the music.”

I follow orders, turning up the music before pouring another round of shots for them, and then I watch. I know I shouldn’t be as enthralled by the sight as I am, but I can’t tear my eyes away. It’s been so long since I’ve seen Abbey this happy, and I don’t want to miss a moment.

I’m nervous about the deal Abbey’s made with her dad, but as I watch her dance and have fun with Ava, I realize I’ll do anything to make sure that smile never leaves her face again.