Page 24 of Stronghold

"Yeah, I sell Maple Sky syrup and cream. You should go. It's basically chef porn on steroids for three days."

He scrunches his nose. "I'm not sure porn and steroids are my thing."

"Porn isn't your thing?" I tease, and my dick stands to attention at the sight of his flushed skin.

Once again, I find myself wondering the extent of Jud's tattoos and if they do a good job of hiding that blush.

He tilts his head and licks his lips. "I can do porn, and I can do maple syrup. I might check out the festival. Thanks for the heads-up." He winks and goes to the other side of the bar, where someone called him.

Abort. Abort.

I walk back to the table, trying to figure out how we went from barely speaking a word to each other to flirting in zero-point-three seconds.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I see I missed a call from my mom.

Ignoring the looks the guys and Anita are giving me, I say my goodbyes and leave.

I call my mom on my way to the truck.

"Hey, Ma, everything okay?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, honey. I know this is your first night off in a while." She's almost whispering, and from the way she's breathing, I'd say she's taken the call outside.

"It's okay, Ma. I was just heading home anyway. What's up?"

She sighs. "I was adding the latest expenses to the accounts like you taught me, and then I looked at the farm account. There's a couple grand missing that I can't find receipts for."

"Don't worry, Ma. I'm sure they're somewhere. I'll come over and stay the night, okay?"

"Are you sure?" I hear the relief in her voice.

"I'm sure, Ma. I'll see you in a bit."

I should have seen this coming. It's been a while since he last relapsed.

Fuck, this is the last thing I need right now.

9

Judson

"Mom, what on earth is in this jar?" I shout out from the pantry.

"Which one?"

I want to say all the jars because the shelf I'm staring at wouldn't look out of place in a science lab.

Neither jar has a label, so god knows how long they've sat here. Some look like pickled vegetables, but I can't be sure. Some could be jelly.

Damn, it's been so long since I've had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I move on from the jars to a different shelf. If I'd known I was coming on a survival expedition, I would have brought supplies.

"Never mind. You said it was next to the jars, but I can't find it."

She comes in and immediately finds the box, totally nowhere near where she said it would be.

I shake my head but can't help looking at my mom and smiling.

She gives me the box and picks another three boxes.