Hey Jude (Lennox Valley Chronicles #1)

“Our relationship got really stressful.” I brush the stray hairs from my face. “I kept trying to help him—to make us work—but it was bad. Things got kind of messy.” I drop my gaze and play with the hem of my sweater.

Jude listens silently, reaching for my hand. He intertwines his fingers with mine in his lap. I glance up and see the worry written across his furrowed brow.

I take another breath, looking back down at our interconnected fingers. “Last fall, these two guys…” The tears well up again; the pain of this memory is visceral, even now.

“It’s okay, take your time,” he says in a low voice.

I exhale a shaky breath into his shoulder. “Two guys came banging on our door, shouting about some money that I guess Sean owed them—I don’t know. We were home. We hid behind the couch. They broke our window to get in.” I lift my eyes to meet his.

Understanding blooms in Jude’s expression, his brow smoothing out. “I’m so sorry, Olena.” Releasing my hand, he pulls me gently into his chest.

“I was so terrified.” My voice breaks as I say the words. “They had knives and they—”

He pulls back suddenly, searching my eyes with worry. “Did they hurt you?”

“No,” I say, sitting up, and he looks relieved. “But one guy held a knife to Sean’s throat. And the other one…” I trail off, dropping my gaze. “He put his hand over my mouth so I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t breathe.” I take an uneven breath, fighting against the suffocating sensation the memory brings. My face feels hot, and there’s a dull buzzing at the back of my skull. I lift my eyes back to meet his, the tears spilling over.

Jude’s expression is pained; he presses his lips together, his anger palpable. He wipes the tears from my cheeks.

My chest feels tight, and a faint nausea roils in my stomach. Taking another deep breath, I continue. “They took the money we had and threatened us. They said they were gonna come back, said they might have to be less friendly the next time.” I grimace hard at the memory of how that threat haunted me. “But they eventually left. And no one was hurt. Not physically, at least.”

Jude exhales a breath, his brow creased with concern. “Fuck.”

“Yeah. It was fucked up.” I look down, an ache spreading across my collarbone and up into my jaw.

Rain pelts the ground around us. I briefly consider with a detached sort of amusement that this seems to be our thing—getting caught in the rain.

I lift my gaze.

Jude’s hair is dripping wet, raindrops gathering on his skin and running down his face. He kisses my forehead, then pulls back to face me.

“God, I’m so sorry you had to go through that,” he says with quiet intensity, his eyes searching mine.

I nod. “I broke up with him and moved home soon after that,” I explain quietly, frowning. “I couldn’t be in that apartment or be around him any longer. I was always scared. Always.”

Jude’s brow knits together as he closes his eyes and exhales. He opens them again and brushes my cheek with his thumb. “Olena…”

“I still am,” I admit quietly. “The panic attacks… the nightmares… and tonight…” I glance over at the house.

Jude nods and pulls me into him again. He says nothing for a while, just rubs my back gently with one hand. Eventually, he speaks. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Thank you for…” I look up at him, my eyes burning. “Everything. Seriously. Everything.” I tuck my head back under his chin and squeeze him tight.

The sound of the rain changes, and my gaze lands on the ground, my face still pressed against his warm chest. Tiny balls of hail bounce off the grass.

Jude sees it, too, and pulls back to face me, lifting my chin with a finger.

“Hey, I know we’ve done the rain thing a couple of times now.” He kisses my forehead. “But this is…” He trails off as the sound around us intensifies. We watch as the hail bouncing up from the ground becomes larger, the sound louder.

We meet each other’s eyes before jumping up, then scrambling down the steps to make a break for the house. I grip tightly to Jude’s hand as I shield my face from the frozen onslaught with the other arm. The hail is the size of peas and stings where it hits my skin. Jude tries to hold the blanket above us until we get to the covered porch and stop, breathing hard. We stand there without speaking, listening to the cacophony.

“I forgot how quickly the weather changes here,” I say, giving him a small smile. My clothes and hair are wet from the rain, and I can see his are too. The chill is seeping into me quickly and I feel drained and cold.

“You okay to go inside again?” he asks gently, squeezing my hand.

“As long as you stay with me.” I meet his eyes, feeling unsteady.

“Olena, I’m not leaving,” he says with heartbreaking sincerity. And I know he means it.