Page 97 of Best Kept Secret

“Wait a minute. You think she loves me?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Uh, no. Unless I’m reading this whole not-talking-to-me thing wrong.”

“You are.”

Hudson stared at Jared, mouth agape. “Were you at the bar tonight? Do you even know what you’re saying right now?”

Jared chuckled. “I’ll walk a straight line if you want me to.”

“Why would you say she loves me when she wants nothing to do with me?”

“I talked to her earlier this week, and she sounded miserable. She blamed it on her period, so I didn’t ask any more questions, but now I know the truth.”

Hudson was unfamiliar with her monthly cycle, but he eyed Jared with disbelief. “The truth being that she loves me?”

“Yes. If she didn’t care about you, she would have told me everything and admitted I was right. But she didn’t breathe a word.”

“Maybe she just didn’t want to hear, ‘I told you so.’”

Jared shook his head vehemently. “She doesn’t want me to be right. She’s waiting for proof that I was wrong about you.”

“I’m so confused.” Hudson could hardly believe they were talking, let alone having this conversation. Was Jared on his side now? No way. That would be too good to be true.

“Don’t you see? She wants you to come after her, just like in the movies.”

“I tried that. I left her countless messages, and I even endured a long lecture by her next-door neighbor.”

“Alice?”

“Yes!”

Jared laughed. “That must have been good!”

“It was rather enlightening. Anyway, I tried all the usual methods, and nothing worked. I was thinking about showing up at her office and groveling, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.”

“And all this time, I thought you were the smooth one with the ladies.”

“I’ve never been in love before,” Hudson said. Jared might not have been ready to hear that, but it was the absolute truth, and it felt great to finally say it out loud.

“I know,” Jared said, surprising him even more. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

Then Hudson remembered the party. “Nick’s having a surprise birthday party for Stacy tomorrow night, and he invited me. Obviously, Kelsey will be there too, and I plan on talking to her then, if she’ll listen.”

“Ah. So that’s what Nick called me about. He left me a voicemail, but I haven’t listened to it yet.”

“You’ve been busy, what with hating me and all.” Hudson hadn’t meant to sound snarky, but thankfully, Jared just laughed.

“Like I said, I’m sorry about that. Believe it or not, I want things to work out for you and Kelsey. Now that I know you’re serious about her and you’re not just fooling around, I won’t stand in your way. Plus, I don’t want my sister to hate me.”

Hudson should have felt relieved, but he still felt trepidatious. He knew how he felt and where Jared stood, but what about Kelsey? Without her, this discussion was pointless. He wanted to believe that Jared was right—that Kelsey wasn’t suffering from PMS but was truly in love with him.

Then Annie wriggled in her bouncy seat and smiled in her sleep. It was almost like she was silently agreeing. Looking at her, he realized how much he wanted Kelsey to be part of his daughter’s life too. Annie could learn a lot from the feisty woman he loved.

Soon Jared went into his room, and Sonia returned to pick up Annie. After they left, Hudson went to bed but not to sleep. He had too much to think about, most of all what he was going to say to Kelsey. Tomorrow could be the defining moment of the rest of his life, and he wasn’t leaving anything up to chance.

Twenty-Nine