Page 45 of Hidden Vows (Love in Ashford Falls #3)

thirty-six

ABBEY

“What am I gonna do?” I ask no one in particular.

I can’t believe he pulled out of the contract.

I can’t believe he just walked out the door without saying anything.

I can’t believe some of the things he said to me.

“How am I supposed to pay George?” I gasp, turning to look at Jude.

“Don’t worry about that for a second.” Jude takes my hand in his, keeping my attention on him. “I’ve got it covered.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

Jude has more than enough money to cover this, but that’s asking too much—especially with everything else going on.

I know we just had a big conversation about what our future holds—the two of us together, raising our baby—but that doesn’t mean all of my problems become his. Or at least it shouldn’t.

“You didn’t. I offered.”

“Jude—”

“Wait,” Ave interrupts. “Sorry, but why isn’t your dad paying George like the contract says?” She steps forward, her hand landing on my shoulder and squeezing .

“He said he was pulling out of the contract. Something about a morality clause.”

She shakes her head, a look of confusion crossing her face. “That’s not how that works.”

The door swings open, Declan, Gage, and Caleb stepping into the kitchen with the rest of us.

“Number one, I don’t remember seeing a morality clause in the contract—I never would have let you sign that. Number two, what in the world is he saying you did to break this imaginary morality clause?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Jude interrupts. “What’s mine is yours. I have more than enough to take care of this.”

“Jude—”

“I don’t want any more hidden vows,” he shouts, and I step back as if the words are a physical blow.

“You’re it for me. You always have been.

” His voice quiets as he takes a step toward me, erasing the space I created, and ignoring the audience surrounding us.

“You always will be.” He reaches out, cupping my cheeks and wiping at the tears I don’t realize are tracking down my face. “And I want the world to know it.”

I hiccup, trying to keep even more tears from falling from my eyes. He’s shown me over and over again since he’s come home how important I am to him, but it’s not until this moment it finally clicks.

All the coffees, the talks, the little moments, the big ones. His reaction to the news about the baby, his love and excitement for the future. Every single thing this man has done since he walked back into my life has been in an effort to prove to me I’ve always been in his heart.

“I love you, Abbey. So much it physically hurts sometimes.” His voice cracks, and I see him swallow before he continues. “ These last seventeen years have been hell for me, and I hate that they’ve been even worse for you.”

His eyes bounce between mine, searching for something before he continues.

“I know I’ve said it before, I wish I could say I’d take it all back, but we don’t know where we’d be if we did, and I wouldn’t trade anything to be where we are now.

” He steps closer, erasing the last inch of space between us.

“You’re it for me,” he repeats. “And I’ll stop at nothing to prove that to you. ”

“Jude—” I start, but I have no idea what I want to say. Words can’t express what I’m feeling in this moment.

He’s right. No matter how terrible these last seventeen years have been, they’ve led us here—back together and with a baby growing inside me.

I don’t know where we’d be if we never split up, but I know we wouldn’t have made this baby, and even if I haven’t met him or her yet, I already love them more than I thought possible.

This man was my whole world. Everything I did revolved around him, and him around me. That’s not healthy for a relationship. We both needed to find out who we were as individuals—our likes and dislikes, our wants and needs.

I hated not having him in my life, but I also like who I’ve become over this last decade and a half. I’m stronger because of our time apart, and so is he.

Jude’s thumbs stroke my cheeks, bringing me back to this moment. “You don’t have to say anything. I just don’t want you to doubt my feelings for you. Not anymore.”

“I love you too.” I bring my hands up to his wrists, gripping them tight, not wanting him to move.

“You’re right. We wouldn’t be where we are today—who we are today—without you leaving when you did, and I wouldn’t want to be anyone other than I am now.

” I take a breath, and with it, all the pressure in my chest releases.

It’s easier to breathe now, easier than it’s been my entire life.

“It doesn’t take away all the pain we’ve both been through, but it somehow makes it easier knowing I have you now.

And nothing anyone does or says is going to change that.

” I move to my toes, bringing my lips within an inch of his.

“I love you too,” I whisper, finally touching his lips with mine and kissing him like he’s the last man I’ll ever kiss again—because he is.

“Wow,” Ava says, right before she grunts. “What was that for?” she whisper-shouts.

“Ruining the moment,” Quinn responds in kind.

“Now you are too,” Emily growls.

“All three of you are.” Caleb laughs, but then I hear the sound of the door swinging back and forth and know he’s ushered them out the door.

“I’m gonna marry you,” Jude whispers against my lips.

“Hmm,” I hum. “I like the sound of that.” My body melts into his.

Jude pulls back, just enough to look me in the eyes, his hands still cupping my cheeks. “Yeah?”

“Definitely.” I sigh.

“Big wedding?”

“No, small. Just our family.”

He quirks a brow. “We’ve got a pretty big family.”

“We have the perfect family.”

He pulls me back in for another kiss, this one just as slow and methodical as the last one. There’s no rush, not anymore. We both know the other is in this for the long haul. I was pretty confident in that before today, but now there’s not a single ounce of doubt.

“Next month,” he demands, his lips never leaving mine.

“That’s not enough time to plan,” I whine, pulling away slightly.

“Plan what? It’s a small wedding.” He grins.

“November,” I counter. “As long as Walt’s out of the hospital,” I rush to add before he can say anything.

I want more time to plan something a little more formal than our first wedding. I loved our courthouse wedding, but this time we get to share the day with everyone we hold close to our hearts and I want to make that special.

“All right. As long as Dad is out of the hospital, November it is.” The relaxed smile that slips across his lips makes my heart leap.

There’s still a lot for us to figure out. Where we’re going to live, for one, because neither of our one bedroom apartments is meant for raising a child.

And I’ll need to talk to my dad. Even with the horrible things he said today, I don’t want to lose him.

I still have hope we can fix our relationship.

It’ll never be what I want it to be. It’ll never be the kind of relationship Jude has with Walt, or Gage has with his parents, but it could still be something.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I have to believe he walked away the way he did tonight because of the audience we had.

But for now, I’m going to focus on the man in front of me.

The man I love loves me too.

The man I love wants to marry me and be my husband again.

The man I love, the father of my child, couldn’t be more excited at the idea of having a baby with me.

There might be some obstacles in our future, but I have a lot to be grateful for.