Made Marian, Volume One by Lucy Lennox
Derek
Immediately after dessert I announced Jude and the band had to leave because they had a fan event the following morning. Joey and Fiona looked at me like I was a god while Beckett looked like he was ready to contradict me. He knew better, but I made serious eyes at him anyway to get him to zip it.
Jude said goodbye to everyone in the family, politely thanking the Hammonds for including him in their charity plans. When he got to Chelsea, I could see a potential problem so I bumped Jude’s shoulder “accidentally” just before Chelsea’s arms were set to go around him. When he stumbled, I steadied him, discreetly placing him a good foot and a half farther away from Chelsea’s reach. It was just enough to make trying to embrace him again awkward.
That was a move I’d done for Jude many times over the months. It seemed so blatant, I was shocked no one ever called me on it. Jude said it was because I did a good job impersonating a bumbling oaf. I didn’t appreciate his opinions.
What I didn’t expect was the exact same embrace attempt coming from Adam. It came out of left field and caught me unaware. Jude was used to being hugged, but when it happened unexpectedly, I could sense him tense up in fear for the briefest of moments. I kicked myself for not anticipating the move, especially after what had happened earlier that night. I hadn’t been expecting it because Adam was the son of one of Jude’s philanthropist friends. And a guy. Jesus, how stupid was that logic?
After Adam’s awkward hug, we walked out of the restaurant, Jude giving quick goodbyes to the band members he’d see the following day. We settled into the limo with Ollie, and I was finally able to sit and relax. I took the pack of peanuts out of my pocket and began eating them, glancing out the window at the lights of San Francisco all around us.
Ollie talked softly to Jude, but I noticed Jude watching me instead of her. I raised an eyebrow at him wondering if he needed something.
“You’re hungry? Why didn’t you say something at the restaurant?” he asked me.
“Uh, because you’re not my mom,” I replied, more rudely than I’d intended.
“You could have ordered something to go,” he said.
“I brought the peanuts from the dressing room so I wouldn’t have to. In case you didn’t notice, entrees at that restaurant started at sixty bucks, Jude. The peanuts were free. Big difference. The frozen dinner waiting for me at home is practically free too. If I steal one from your place before going home, then it really is free,” I teased.
“I would have paid for your dinner. You were on the clock anyway.”
“Yes, I was on the clock. Exactly why I didn’t stop to indulge in a little paella. Instead I was protecting your paella-eating ass, remember?” I smiled to let him know I was joking. He still looked concerned. “Jude, it’s my job. It’s what you pay me to do. Would you eat dinner while you were singing on stage?”
“Of course not,” he replied. “But you’ve been on the clock for over twelve hours. I’m never on stage for more than three.”
“Please let it go. We’re almost back to your place. I’m fine.”
He turned back to Ollie to continue discussing something about the event the following day. I finished the peanuts and put the wrapper in my pocket. When we pulled through the gatehouse onto Jude’s property, Ollie disappeared into her apartment over the garage and I headed to my car for the drive back to my place.
Before I got into the car I looked back to where Jude was standing by the door from his driveway into his kitchen.
“Jude?” I asked.
He turned to me, long hair following in an arc. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry about tonight. About earlier, I mean.”
His forehead crinkled in confusion. “What do you mean, Wolfe?”
“That crazy fan at the VIP thing. I should have seen it coming and stopped it sooner,” I said.
Jude let out a laugh. “Oh, you mean that guy who tried to kiss me? Don’t be sorry, that’s the closest I’ve come to getting any action in years. Night, Wolfe.”
He turned and entered his house, leaving me to wonder what in the hell that meant when he’d been seeing his girlfriend for months.
* * *
The followingday Jude’s driver delivered him to the airport and I met them at the drop-off. We had a VIP escort through the airport to the boarding door of the plane. Because it was just the two of us traveling to Nashville, we flew commercial. Jude wore his long hair tied back under a worn baseball cap, and he had on sunglasses in an effort to be inconspicuous. When we got on board the airplane and found our seats in first class, I had Jude take the window seat. He looked down at his phone to keep prying eyes from recognizing him. He was a nervous flyer, and takeoffs scared him the worst.
He wore a plain white T-shirt and an old faded pair of blue jeans. I could smell the soap scent coming off him and fought the urge to lean a little closer to smell it.
“You didn’t bring your guitar,” I said. “How are you going to give the lesson without it?”
“Gibson is headquartered in Nashville so they’re donating some guitars. I’ll sign one for the winner of the lesson. Since I usually play on a vintage Fender, I didn’t want to step on Gibson’s toes by bringing it while they’re being so generous to the charity this week.”
“I guess the winner will be thrilled to get a signed Gibson in addition to the lesson. What’s the charity?”
“The auction is primarily benefitting a pediatric cancer organization, but Lawrence Hammond has pledged to match each donation for an equivalent one to the charity of the celebrity’s choice. So if my lesson goes for a thousand dollars, a thousand goes to the children’s cancer group and another thousand goes to my charity. It’s a great way to get celebrities on board for the auction.”
“What charity did you choose?” I asked, expecting him to rattle off something expected, like a children’s hospital or the animal shelter he normally donated to in San Francisco.
“Wounded Warriors,” Jude said before looking back down at his phone.
I looked at him in surprise. “Really? Why them?”
Jude’s knee began bouncing up and down. I wanted to put a hand on it to stop the nervous gesture but didn’t. He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.
“You,” he said.
I sat there frozen for a minute in disbelief before finally speaking. “Me? What do you mean me?”
“Don’t you volunteer for them?” Jude asked.
“Well, yes, but I didn’t realize you knew that,” I said, stunned.
“You received the Bronze Star and were seriously injured on a mission. I assumed that’s why you supported them so actively.”
“How the hell do you know all that?”
“Wolfe, do you really think I’m going to have someone working this close to me every day without learning a little bit about them? I know about your time in Afghanistan.”
I was temporarily speechless. We’d never spoken of my time in the military or what I’d been through before working for Joel as a bodyguard. I turned in my seat to make eye contact with him.
“Thanks, Jude,” I said. “That means a lot to me. And you donating to the organization does too. There are so many men and women who need their help.”
“I sent them a check already too, but I’d love for my guitar lesson to bring in some good visibility. We’ll see what happens. Maybe no one will want to buy a lesson with me, and it’ll all be for nothing.” He chuckled.
“Want to place a bet on that?” I asked with a snicker.
“Shut up. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.” Jude reached down to his bag to pull out a hoodie. He was always cold, especially on airplanes, and had about a million hoodies.
“What am I doing?” I asked.
“You’re trying to distract me from getting freaked out about takeoff. You do it every time we fly.” Jude offered me a genuine smile. “It’s very nice of you, actually.”
I laughed. “Well if you don’t need me to distract you then, I might as well go back to listening to my music.”
“What are you listening to?” he asked.
“Guns ‘n Roses,” I said.
He let out a laugh as the plane began its acceleration down the runway. “I should have known,” he said, clutching the armrests on either side of him. I knew in a minute he’d squeeze his eyes closed and make whatever deal with whatever god he believed in to keep the plane safe in the air.
* * *
Later that eveningwe made our way to the charity auction in downtown Nashville with Jude dressed in a tuxedo and me in a dark suit. I stood against the ballroom wall near wherever he happened to be mingling and kept a general eye on him. The crowd at an event like this one was usually well behaved and didn’t include crazy fans who would mob Jude for attention.
In general, my job was to protect Jude from being mobbed, embarrassed, hassled, or otherwise impeded. I was always on my toes in public, constantly sweeping for threats. But at these smaller functions, I had more time to appreciate just how easily and confidently Jude interacted with people.
He was heavily involved in charity work and had attended many of these highbrow fundraisers in the past. In several of the tour stop cities, there had been a charity event like this that would beg Jude’s participation. He was usually ready and willing with a tux and a large donation. Until our conversation on the plane, I’d always wondered if it was for show or if he really cared about the groups he was helping.
As he worked the crowd, Jude seemed to shine. I overheard several conversations where he described both the research the pediatric cancer group was doing with their funding as well as the Combat Stress Recovery Program Wounded Warriors provided. Instead of the exhausted, burned-out singer who was at the end of a six-month tour, he appeared to be an enthusiastic evangelist for the evening’s charities. My respect for him grew as I overheard him speaking with conviction.
The organizer for the auction came to give Jude a five-minute warning to head to the backstage area, and I saw him smile his thanks to her. As he began to excuse himself from the group of people he’d been speaking to, his eyes swept the crowd. Before his head came all the way around to where I stood, he must have seen something or someone he recognized because his entire body froze in a tense rigor.
My senses went on high alert and I pushed myself off the wall to stride over to him.
“Jude?” I asked quietly from over his shoulder. He jumped at the sound of my voice and he turned to me, white as a sheet.
Lines creased his forehead and he looked almost… scared or nervous.
“What is it? What’s happening?” I asked.
“Wha—? Uh, nothing. It’s fine,” he said, looking around again.
I put my hand on his elbow and began to lead him to the gathering area for the auction celebrities.
“Bullshit,” I said into his ear. “What did you see that spooked you?”
He didn’t answer me, his head swiveling behind us in search of whatever or whoever it was.
“Dammit, Jude, talk to me. Do we need to leave? You look like you just saw an escaped python heading right toward you.”
He finally looked at me as we arrived at the event organizer checking in celebrities with a clipboard.
“No, it’s fine. I thought I saw someone I knew a long time ago when I lived here. It’s nothing. Just took me by surprise, that’s all.”
Like hell that was all, but it wasn’t my place to argue with him. He checked in and waited for his turn on stage.
Because Jude was one of the more famous celebrities at the event, his guitar lesson was close to the end of the auction. While we waited, he mingled with others waiting for their turn on stage. The man knew almost everyone and seemed to relax after talking to them for a while. By the time he was called to the stage, he appeared to have forgotten the python in the ballroom.
