Page 66 of The Surrender

“And you’re seeing that man again? I can’t keep up!”

I look at Jude across the car, worried about having to make introductions. Can I avoid it? Keep him away from my family?

“I can’t stand the tension,” she rambles on. “And since when do you swear, Amelia Gracie Lazenby? And at your father!”

“I was frustrated.” I see Jude look out the corner of his eye. I roll mine.

“You must come immediately and make peace with him.”

“I’m always making peace with him. Why can’t he make peace with me?”

“Because you swore!” The engine continues to roar. “Where are you?”

I swallow and relax back. “Jude’s just picked me up from work. I’m going to his place.” I laugh on the inside.His place.I make it sound like a two-bed semi.

“In the Rolls-Royce?” Mum whispers, saving Dad’s ears.

“Not today, Mum.”

“Oh.” She sounds disappointed. “Clark says he’s richer than God.”

Jude chuckles beside me, and I narrow my eyes on him. “I’ll pop in tomorrow, okay?” Test the temperature and decide if Dad’s had enough time to sulk.

“Okay, darling. Grandma and Grandpa will be here. We’ll go for a walk in the garden.”

“See you.” I drop my phone in my bag and look at Jude. He’s grinning at the road. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s not my mother you should be worried about, it’s my father.”

He nods mildly, eyes on the road. “So they know you’reseeing that managain?”

I settle back, uncomfortable with the conversation. “Yes, they know.”

“Sounds like they’ve taken it well,” he says, a definite sardonic edge to his tone.

“Don’t take it personally.”

“I’m not. And why were you frustrated?”

“What?”

“You said you were frustrated.”

I don’t like this. Talking about exes never goes down well. “I dropped the f-bomb on him.”

“Why?”

“Because I was frustrated.”

“And ... why were you frustrated?”

“Jude,” I breathe, dropping my head back. “What is this?”

“Just trying to understand the level of disapproval I’m going to face.”

I’m not imagining his car getting faster. “I said don’t take it personally.”