Sketch Artist

"Honey. I'm sure Mr. Ken..."

"Jude. I prefer Jude over mister anything," he said politely and with a smile.

"Okay. Sorry."

"No, I just don't like the formality. I'm a more laid-back kind of guy."

"That's a little surprising considering how you work for the police department," Hannah observed.

This time, Jude chuckled.

"Okay. You got me there. But this is a part-time thing, and even though I'm not tightly wound, I have a huge amount of respect for the people who make it possible for me to live my life the way I want to. Well, then there's my father who's a retired police officer, so...what can I say? It's my small way of giving back, and it all works for me."

Jude hadn't looked up once while he spoke, and he clearly wasn't working on the suspect's face, but he hadn't stopped sketching the short amount of time they talked. Without answering her daughter's question, Hannah asked if Jude needed anything else from her.

"Um, no. We're done. I just wanted to give you this before you go."

He tore off a sheet of paper and gave it to Hannah.

"Oh, my goodness! Alicia. Look!"

The young girl stood up, looked at it, then sucked in her breath very loudly before saying, "Mom. That is like O...M...G awesome!"

Her mother almost said, "Please don't say 'like'," but instead told her she agreed.

"That looks just like us!" Alicia said as she looked at the sketch of her and her mom sitting side by side on some imaginary park bench.

"Is...is this for us to keep?" Hannah asked not wanting to assume.

"It is. I hope you like it."

"It is SO cool!" Alicia said as she put her arms around Jude who as sitting right next to her and hugged him without first asking.

Her mom almost stopped that, too, but she knew her daughter was experiencing a kind of first crush, and Jude graciously accepted the hug without hugging back.

"Can we...I don't know. Pay you for it?" Hannah asked.

"Thanks. But that's all the payment I need," he replied as the pre-teen pulled away.

"I'd hug you, too, but there's nothing exciting about a hug from a woman my age," Hannah told him, not sure why she even said it.

"Um, that's not exactly true," Jude told her in an 'I'm not so sure about that' tone of voice.

Hannah raised an eyebrow, and Jude looked right at her and said, "Not when she's as beautiful as you, anyway."

He saw the confused look on Hannah's face so he quickly turned to Alicia and added, "Or you!"

Hannah was sure he was just being nice, and yet she found herself strangely flattered by his kind words.

"Gosh, you're one smooth operator," she replied, trying to play it off but enjoying this latest compliment.

"Nah. I'm an open book. I never say mean things on purpose, but I otherwise tend to just say whatever's on my mind. You're a very attractive woman, so I said it. It's no more complicated than that," he told her, that gorgeous smile accompanying his words.

"My mom isn't married anymore," Alicia blurted out, causing her mother to nearly die of embarrassment.

"I...did she...did my daughter just say...what I think I heard her say?"

"No comment," Jude replied with a smile as Hannah stared her daughter down.

"Sorry," she said when she realized her mom wasn't kidding this time.

When it came to meanness, that was about as close as Hannah ever got, and she felt bad as soon as Alicia turned away.

"No. I'm sorry, honey. I totally overreacted."

"I miss Daddy, too, you know," Alicia, who was now on the verge of tearing up, said, choking back tears.

Jude intuitively understood what was going on and said, "I uh, I should be going," as he picked up his sketch pad and pencils.

"Now I feel terrible," Hannah said mostly to Jude but also to her daughter.

She looked at Jude then, just like her daughter, suddenly blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"You don't eat ice cream, do you?" Hannah asked.

Alicia's eyes opened wide and whatever tears had been forming evaporated.

"What?" he asked, having no idea what she meant.

"My mom took me for ice cream yesterday after the bank got robbed," Alicia explained, never taking her eyes off of her mother in case this was something else inappropriate to say.

"Oh, okay. So...is your mom trying to bribe me into thinking she's really a nice person?" Jude asked, trying not to smile.

When Alicia saw her mom make a face that said, "Okay. I'm totally busted!" she told Jude that was true.

"But it wasn't really a serious offer, was it?" he asked, still looking only at Alicia.

"I don't know. We've never had ice cream two days in a row. Not even after my daddy die..."

She stopped talking and expected another non-verbal chastening or worse, but her mom only smiled a kind of 'you poor, sweet thing' smile.

"Because if it was," Jude said, ignoring the reference to Alicia's late father, "I would so say 'yes'."

"Really?" Alicia replied so hopefully it caused her mom to finally say something.

"Well, it's not that we couldn't have ice cream again, it's just that I'm sure Jude has things he needs to do, and it's still very early and cold outside, so..."

"I just happen to know that Cold Stone Creamery opens at 9am. Even on cold winter days like today," Jude said to both of them.

"Can we, Mom? Please?" Alicia pleaded.

"Um...well, I...I don't suppose it would be so bad if we had another small scoop."

"So...was that an invitation to tag along?" Jude asked as he stood there with his art supplies in his right hand down along his hip.

"Can he come with us? Please?" Alicia continued pleading.

"Do you really want to do that?" Hannah asked, not sure he still wasn't just being polite.

"I love ice cream," he said very matter of factly. "So, yes. I'd love to go with you. Or maybe follow you if that's more convenient."

Alicia was so beside herself she didn't even hear Jude also offer to take them or that he owned a big ol' truck—something he said in an exaggerated Southern accent.

As Alicia celebrated, her mom said, "For some reason, I didn't picture you as a truck kind of guy."

"Hey, I believe I've just been stereotyped," Jude said, pretending to be deeply hurt.

"No. It's not that. You're just so..."

All she could think of was they way Jude had defined himself so she said, "Laid back."

"Not so laid back that I'd drive a Prius," he told her, trying to sound very serious.

Realizing Hannah might, he quickly said, "Not that driving a hybrid isn't a good thing."

Before Hannah could say anything else, Jude said he really needed to get this sketch to the chief so it could be approved and sent out.

"So give me maybe...ten minutes?" he asked with a smile.

"Okay!" Alicia answered for her mother who not only didn't give her daughter a 'look' but who politely said, "Yes. Of course."

Jude was back in a little over five and said he was ready to go.

"So...am I driving?" Hannah asked.

When he mentioned the truck again, Alicia was paying attention and got even more excited.

"I love trucks!" she said so enthusiastically her mother had to laugh.

"Since when?" she asked her daughter.

"Since...like forever!" came the reply as though her mother had no idea what her daughter liked.

"Uh-huh. Forever since you found out Jude has one," her mother said with a little bit of a tease in her voice.

"Mom!" her daughter protested.

"I think I've embarrassed my daughter again," she said to Jude, but Alicia also heard it.

Jude put an arm around Alicia's shoulder and said, "We'll be okay, right?"

"Right!" the young girl said as she put her arm around his waist the best she could.

It was still cold outside, and Hannah pulled her jacket tight as they got up to the truck which really was big.

"Wow! What kind of truck is this?" Hannah, who was not a car person, asked.

"It's a Dodge RAM 2500 with a 6.7 liter Cummins Turbo Diesel I6 engine," he explained which told Hannah nothing. The blank look on her face and the shrug of her shoulders made him chuckle, but he didn't say anything about either one.

"It looks brand new," she said as he opened the front door for her.

"I just bought it two weeks ago after getting paid for a design I did for the state capitol."

"I'm impressed," Hannah told him as she went to step up.

"Can I ride in the front?" Alicia asked before her mom got in.

"That's up to your mom," he told her. "But there's a middle seat, so it's fine by me."

"As long as there's a shoulder strap...I think that's okay," her mom said as Alicia nearly pushed her out of the way to literally climb up inside.

Hannah looked at Jude and shrugged her shoulders again as her daughter scampered on by, and he just laughed.

"I think she's great," he told her as he held out his hand.

"She really is," Hannah agreed as she accepted his offer to help her get up and in.

When she looked down at him she laughed.

"Oh, my goodness. This thing is HUGE! Can you hear me down there?"

He laughed again then pointed at her and ever-so-seriously said, "No jokes about me compensating for...other things, okay?"

It took Hannah a second to 'get it', but once she did, she covered her mouth and said, "Shame on you!"

Jude laughed loudly then told her to mind her feet as he shut the door and went around.

"This is like a jet airplane," Alicia said as soon as Jude got in. "Look at all the dials and stuff!"

"But it sounds like a tank! Well, kind of," he said as he hit the ignition button and it roared to life.

When it did, Hannah flinched slightly at the diesel's noise and tried to grab on to something as though the vehicle was about to lift off. Her daughter laughed and Jude asked if she was okay over there.

"Ha, ha!" Hannah said once she realized where the noise was coming from.

"Isn't this cool, Mom?" Alicia said, ignoring her mother's annoyance.

"Yes. It is pretty cool, huh?" she replied as she looked at everything in front of her.

Hannah then ran her hand over the beautiful upholstery and said, "I...I love this leather!"

Jude thanked her then said, "Alicia. Find something for us to listen to, okay?" Jude said after turning on the radio which was called 'the command system'.

"Okay!" she said happily as her mother winced.

"Be careful what you wish for!" Hannah warned as her daughter tried to figure what all the digital icons were for.

"Oh. Here we go!" she said when she found the FM button. She tuned it to a hip-hop station and her mother winced again.

"See what I mean?" Hannah hollered as her daughter found the volume control and cranked it up.

"Hip-hop is cool!" Alicia announced as she sang along with something her mother had never heard, the volume up and the bass booming.

And then she saw Jude rapping out the lyrics and looked over at him.

Very loudly, he said, "What can I say? I love trucks and hip-hop!"

"Sorry!" Hannah yelled. "I was stereotyping again!" just as Jude turned the volume way down.

"No. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to be that loud," he told her much more quietly.

"It's okay," Hannah replied as her ears stopped ringing.

"I like pretty much everything except for opera. What do you listen to?" he asked as the truck finally told him the engine was warm enough to drive.

"Old people's stuff!" Alicia said, looking up at her mother for signs of disapproval.

"It's not...old-people music," her mom said rather defensively.

"Let me guess," Jude said as he dropped the big rig in gear.

He looked over at her as though he was studying her. A few seconds later he started nodding very seriously then said, "Goo Goo Dolls. And...Red Hot Chili Peppers."

He knew he was right by the look on her face then said, "And wait. There's more. You're also into the Beastie Boys, aren't you?"

"My mom LOVES them!" Alicia said.

"Oh, wow. Your mom needs some serious help, doesn't she?" Jude said as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Hey! I'm sitting right here, you know," Hannah said, only pretending to be defensive this time.

"Okay. But I uh, I pretty much nailed it, didn't I?" Jude said with a smug look of satisfaction on his face.

"Maybe," Hannah said with a flip of her hair.

"Uh-huh. And I bet you're a Matchbox Twenty kind of girl, too, aren't you?"

"Oh, my goodness. How do you know that?" Hannah asked when he named another of her favorite groups from 'back in the day'.

"You're kind of an open book yourself, Hannah," he told her, that smile still there.

"I am not," she said quietly but loudly enough to be heard.

When Jude chuckled, Alicia laughed, too, and Hannah folded her arms and pretended to pout.

"Fine. Go ahead and gang up me. See if I care!" she said, playing it up a little more.

"Ahh! We love you, Mom. Right, Jude?"

"Of course. What's not to love?" he said as he glanced over and winked at Hannah who suddenly felt playful and stuck her tongue out at him hoping her daughter wouldn't see.

But she did, and that caused a big sucking sound of air as in, "I'm telling!" before Hannah laughed. Once she did, the other two lost it and laughed for quite awhile before settling back down.

It only took another couple of minutes to get to the ice cream shop, and Hannah asked her daughter what flavor she wanted, knowing the answer would be Rocky Road.

Instead, she asked Jude what he was having, and when he said, "French Vanilla," Alicia announced that was what she wanted, too.

"Huh," her mom said as she watched her daughter continue crushing on her first 'boy'.

Jude wasn't a boy by any means, but Hannah knew she was probably in high school before he was even born. Still, she had to admit he was very easy to look at, and he was also one of the nicest people she'd ever met. It was also fairly obvious her daughter thought he was pretty incredible, so she decided to make the best of this one-time fun outing, hoping it would help her and her daughter put the more serious events from the day before even further out of their minds.

The 'big rig' pulled in, idled loudly, then went silent.

"All right. Ice cream's on me!" Jude said as he opened his door, grabbed Alicia and helped her down then ran around to help her mom before she even had her seat belt unbuckled.

"You need an escalator, Jude," she told him as she stepped down with his help.

"What fun would that be?" he said as she landed right in front of him for a quick moment.

Their eyes briefly met, and Hannah smiled even more briefly before quickly turning away as the cold seeped back in.

She was surprised at how many people were already there ordering ice cream or frozen yogurt when it was so cold outside. It made no sense to her, and all she could do was chalk it up to people being different. Then again, she'd done the same thing the day before, but she justified it due to the circumstances that had brought her there.

"Mom? What are you getting today?" Alicia asked as she took her mom's hand.

"Fat?" she glibly replied.

Jude heard it and said, "I don't believe there's an ounce of that on you."

Surprised yet again by how something he said made her feel, Hannah could only thank him and assure him that wasn't true. What was true, was she was the only person on earth who knew she'd gained 2-3 pounds since her husband's passing. It wasn't even noticeable to anyone else, but Hannah avoided the bathroom scale these days like the plague because of it.

"My mom is so pretty!" Alicia said, only adding to her mother's frustration and embarrassment.

"Yes, she is. And you know what? Since you look just like her, you're going to be just as pretty yourself when you grow up."

Hannah watched her daughter's cheeks turn rosy again as they moved up in line.

Jude asked Alicia if she still wanted vanilla, a flavor she'd told her mom she didn't like several times before in the past because 'it was too plain', just as Alicia told him she loved vanilla!

So Jude ordered two waffle cones with French Vanilla ice cream while Hannah opted for a small cup of frozen vanilla yogurt as her way of placating her guilty conscience for 'overindulging' again.

"So how's the vanilla?" Hannah asked as Alicia took a first lick.

"It's French Vanilla, Mom," she was informed.

"Oh. Right. So do the French make good vanilla ice cream?" she asked as Jude sat there and listened, a smile on his face whenever he wasn't eating his ice cream.

"It's really good. You wanna taste?" Alicia told her.

"No, thanks. I have my yogurt. My...vanilla yogurt. Because I love vanilla."

"Mom? You are like totally weird. No offense, okay. Just sayin'," her daughter said, mostly for the benefit of Jude.

"Yes. I'm sure it's me," her mom said with a smile to her daughter who now evidently loved big trucks and vanilla...French...vanilla ice cream.

"One of these days maybe someone will let me in on this," Jude said, curiosity having got the best of him.

"Oh, it's nothing," Hannah said. "Other than how some things are changing very rapidly right before my very eyes."

"Everything changes," Alicia said to Jude out of the blue. "Everything. From each cell in our body to the stars and planets. Nothing stays the same. Not even for a nanosecond."

"Oh, my. Someone is either a genius or repeating things she's heard from a genius," he said to her while looking at her mom.

"Okay. I'm lost," Alicia said, unaware of the irony in her comment.

"Huh. And here I thought I was the only one," Jude told her, still looking at Hannah.

"Like you said, maybe one of these days I'll let you in on it," Hannah replied, a smile on her pretty lips before dipping her plastic spoon into the yogurt.

"I'll admit I'm confused, but what you just said sounded like there's at least the possibility of more days where we might get together," Jude observed as he licked the slowly melting ball of ice cream again.

"Oh. Well, I hear anything is possible," Hannah replied with a bit of a coy look, causing her daughter to shake her head in disbelief.

"Not...anything," Alicia said without hesitation. "You can't make a square circle or have a married bachelor."

"Geez. Alicia's like some kind of modern-day combination of Freud and Einstein," Jude observed.

"Huh?" Alicia replied as the confusion bounced back and forth around their table.

"Eat your ice cream, honey," her mom said, hoping they could get back to some semblance of normal.

As she took another tiny bite of her frozen yogurt, Hannah thought to herself that one day, if there were other days, she would explain what was going on with her daughter. For now she was actually having fun and had forgotten all about the botched robbery and the gun she'd had pointed in her face.

Once everyone was finished, Hannah suggested she and Alicia go back to the police station and get their car so they could go do something else.

"Ahhh! Do we have to go already?" Alicia nearly whined. "You said I could skip the whole day, remember?"

"Honey. Jude has things to do. And so do we," her mom patiently explained.

"Actually, I'm free," Jude said in a very tactful way. "It's one of the benefits of being self-employed."

Suddenly recalling the fear she felt at the bank, Hannah said, "And no one tries to rob you."

Jude laughed politely then said, "I was kind of hoping you might let me take you over to the capitol so I could show you the project I did for the state of Kentucky."

Before Hannah could say a word, Alicia was begging her mom to go. While her daughter's unusual behavior was driving her crazy, she really did want to go see it. Or was it more that she didn't want their time with Jude to end?

"I suppose that would be okay," Hannah said as though she was making some kind of concession for the sake of her daughter.

"It's just over on Capitol Avenue," Jude said before adding, "Which, of course, you know."

Hannah laughed and told him she'd been by it 'a time or two'.