Page 38 of The Surrender (Arlington Hall #2)

Jude nods and practically hands me over to Dad. It’s a conscious move. He’s telling him he’s not taking me away from him. Oh, Dad.

“Shall we walk?” Dad stuffs his hands in his pockets as Jude makes his way back to my mother in the Library Bar.

“Let’s walk,” I agree, smiling when he cocks his arm for me to link.

“You lead the way since all this is familiar to you.” Dad raises a cheeky eyebrow. I roll my eyes and walk us out the front and around the side. My attention is set on the maze, but I soon divert to the Kitchen Garden when I remember what I’ve done in that maze.

It’s silent for a while, but it’s not uncomfortable. I know he’s trying to unravel what he wants to say, and I’m truly interested in what that may be. Whatever it is, Jude seems to have figured it out very quickly. I, however, have been clueless—and frustrated—for years.

“I am proud of you, Amelia,” he eventually says as we’re walking through the cabbages. “Here, sit.” Dad points to a bench nestled between the carrots and parsnips, and we lower.

Dad takes my hand. “Ouch!” I hiss, making him drop it.

“Damn it, I forgot about that.”

“I can switch sides.”

“You should have it checked, Amelia—surely it should be healing by now. And this bandage should be off; it needs air.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” I move to his other side and give him my uninjured hand. He smiles, taking it and bringing it to his lips, kissing it.

“I’m proud of you.”

“Okay,” I say slowly. Unsure.

Dad frowns, looking off across the various vegetable beds, back to unravelling. “I don’t want to lose you,” he blurts, surprising me.

“What?”

His shoulders drop. He sighs. Breathes in. Faces me. And he smiles, almost embarrassed. “I suppose I stupidly thought curbing your ambitions would keep you close.”

“Oh, Dad,” I breathe.

“Nick was a safe bet,” he goes on, looking a little ashamed. “I like the boy, yes, but I liked that he desperately wanted a family.”

“You knew that?”

He’s back to sheepish. “He mentioned it one of the first times we met.”

“Are you joking?” He’s been holding out on Nick because he thought he’d get me chained to the kitchen sink and pushing out babies, therefore keeping me close by?

“I’m not,” he sighs. “All this ambition of yours, your dreams, what if they take you away from me?” He squeezes my hand, and all frustration for my father leaves my body, making it shrink.

“You foolish old man.” He’s done the exact opposite by cutting me out of the family business and pushing me away.

“Or not so foolish. Now you’ve met this Harrison bloke, you’re in another county.”

“But it’s not ambition that has brought me here, Dad.”

“Then what is it?” His eyebrows rise in interest.

This is it. No more skirting around it to save feelings. “Love, Dad. I love him.”

“I feared as much.”

I laugh at the irony. “I feared as much too.”

“You did?”

“Yes, because it was unexpected and, obviously, it crept up on me at the trickiest time.”

He hums, amused. “Nick.”

“Nick,” I confirm. “But more you, Dad. I don’t want to hurt Nick’s feelings, of course, but I’ve always been more concerned about you.”

“You have?”

“Yes, because I can’t dump you, can I?”

He chuckles, and it’s the sweetest sound. “No. No, you can’t.”

“And I wouldn’t want to.”

“Oh, my girl.” He hooks his arm over my neck and tugs me into him for a hug. I feel his lips on the back of my head. “You’ll never know how blessed I feel to have you.”

“I feel blessed too. Most of the time.” He nudges me, and I smile. “I have no plans to leave London.”

“You don’t?” he asks, sounding hopeful as he releases me.

“No, I don’t.”

“What about Harrison?”

“Will you please call him by his actual name?”

“Jude,” he grunts. “I’m sure he expects you to move here.”

“It’s new,” I say. “We’ve not talked about long-term, Dad. I’m just going with this.”

“But you love him?”

“Deeply,” I admit.

“So you might move to Oxfordshire?”

“I don’t know.” I laugh. “And you’re talking like it’s another country. I’d be across a couple of county borders.”

His shoulders drop. “It felt like miles getting here.”

“Is that why you came? To see how long it took to get to your daughter?”

He cocks me a sideways smile. “I know I’m a pain in your arse, Amelia. I know I drive you to distraction. But the thought of another man being more important to you than me doesn’t make me feel very good.”

God love him. “No man will be as important as you, because you’re my dad.”

“That’s sweet. And this ... Jude. Does he support your career?”

“He does.”

“I see.” His nose wrinkles. “Nick stopped by earlier.” Looking at me, he squeezes my hand. “I get it now. I understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Well, he hardly lights up the world, does he?” He huffs to himself. “But he was predictable and reliable, and I know it’s awful for me to admit this, but he licked my arse so much, I knew he would never dare take you away.”

“That really is terrible.”

“I know.” He turns to me, smiling and cupping my cheek. “You’ll always be my little girl first.”

“I will.”

“Good.” He nods, assertive. “Then I suppose you ought to take me back into this outrageous mansion and I ought to show a bit of grace to the king in his castle.”

“Just one more thing.” I stop him from getting up. “Promise me you won’t mention Jude to Nick, okay? That has to come from me.”

“I promise,” he says, dropping a kiss on my cheek. “And promise me you’ll get that hand checked.”

“Promise.”

Settled, I smile wide as Dad helps me up and walks me back to Arlington Hall. I never for a moment considered there could be a deeper reason for his prehistoric stance towards my ambitions. Turns out, my old man is scared.

“Be nice, now, okay?” I order gently when we make it back to the Library Bar.

“Yes, yes.”

Mum and Jude are talking quietly, my man looking so insanely handsome as he smiles at whatever Mum is saying. When she spots us, she sits up, hopeful, and Jude cranes his neck a little to see, standing as we near.

Dad offers his hand, and Jude takes it, flicking his eyes to me. “You’ll look after her.” It’s definitely a demand.

“Without question.”

“Respect her.”

“Endlessly.”

Dad eyes me briefly. “Support her career.”

I laugh mildly and Jude smiles. “Always.”

“Love her.”

“Until I die, sir.”

“Oh, well, that’s a statement and a half.”

Mum looks like she might faint, her wide eyes jumping between Dad and Jude.

“I mean every word.” Jude looks at me. Not them. Just me. I tilt my head, and he tilts his.

“Then welcome to the family.” Dad drops Jude’s hand and opens his arms, and I nearly fall flat on my face in shock. I’m certain Mum would too if she weren’t sitting.

“Thanks.” Jude welcomes his olive branch, accepting the man hug. I’m speechless.

“And you can call me Dennis.”

Mum’s eyes are welling. My world just got a whole lot better.

“Well, since you’re here,” Jude says. “Would you like to eat?”

“Yes.” Mum’s up like a shot, answering for them both. “We’d love to, wouldn’t we, Dennis?”

“Sure. Why not.”

“We might have to settle for the Piano Bar.” Jude comes to me, slipping his arm around my shoulders. “The Orangery tends to get booked up in advance, and it would be cheeky of me to kick some guests off the reservations list.”

“You managed to get a table rather sharpish when you lured me here to seduce me,” I mumble under my breath, for only Jude to hear.

He doesn’t say a word, but his lips twitch in amusement as he leads us to the Piano Bar, my parents all but swooning over Arlington Hall. We sit at a table in the far corner, and Jude hands menus over to each of them. It’s then I remember we’ve already ordered our lunch.

“It’s in my apartment, probably cold by now,” Jude says quietly. “Just reorder.” He goes to the bar, and I lower next to my dad.

“So this is the Piano Bar,” he muses, scanning the menu.

“This is the Piano Bar.” I relax for the first time in a while and take in the wonder of my mum and dad sitting with me.

In Arlington Hall.

After meeting my new boyfriend.

And, better, accepting him.

I feel like a weight’s been lifted.

An hour later, I’m in my element listening to the easy conversation. Jude knows all about the family business and my grandparents, and he and Dad have found a common interest in rugby, of all things. Dad’s talked with keen interest.

“Jude’s brother plays for England.” I speak up, noticing that Jude, once again, hasn’t mentioned it himself.

“What?” Dad’s flabbergasted. “What’s your brother’s name? Wait. Wait a minute. Harrison! Well, would you believe it?” Dad looks at Mum and laughs. “Jude’s brother plays for the England rugby team.”

“Well, that’s impressive. So tell us about the rest of your family,” Mum says.

The atmosphere distinctly shifts, and I watch Jude discreetly as I nibble on a halloumi chip. “Well, there’s Rhys, as you know—he’s my littlest little brother. Then there’s Casey, my biggest littlest brother. He’s a chef.”

“Oh, where?”

“Private mostly. Yachts, dining experiences, that kind of thing. He won’t hang around the same place for long. I think the longest he’s ever stayed put was when he went to France and completed his degree in French culinary in his early twenties.”

“A chef, a sportsman, and a successful hotelier.” Mum looks at me, eyes wide, impressed. “Your parents must be so proud.”

I bite down on my lip, seeing Jude shifting in his chair. “Sadly, my parents are no longer with us.”

“Oh. Oh, that is a shame.”

“I’m sorry,” Dad says. “Were you very close?”

Jude looks out the corner of his eye to me. “Yes. My mother particularly, after she lost my father.”

I study Jude as I pick at the last few halloumi chips on my plate, seeing him withdrawing from the conversation.

He lost his father too. I recall him mentioning with perfect clarity that he found it hard talking about his dad.

Hard or angering? He can’t be mad at his dad for dying.

I would never tell him so, but it seems so unfair for Jude to place blame for the loss of his mother.