by Kat Bammer
“Yep, best day ever. Did you see Blake’s face? I can’t wait to razz my big badass brother about the day he lost his cool. Hilarious.”
Julie smiled. From little sister to little sister—she completely got Jessie.
“We’re gonna follow them to the hospital.” Julie hesitated. “I’m sorry for the ruined reception.”
Jessie made a throwaway gesture with her right hand; on closer look she didn’t look half as distressed as she did before the ceremony.
“Don’t be. Alan is on the phone with White Creek Hospital right now. My guess? We’ll move the reception there, if they let us.”
Jessie hadn’t finished the sentence when Alan stepped next to her and took Seb from Jessie. “All set. They’re okay with it. Let’s get going.”
Obviously, Alan had a good relationship with the hospital staff. So without further ado, the reception was moved to the waiting room of the maternity ward of White Creek hospital. And the guests emptied the courtroom.
Julie drove home and changed into jeans and a blouse. She was about to step into her beloved little Fiat when, on a brainwave, she took her phone and called Lisa.
“Hey, I’m home, anything you need?”
Julie could hear some announcement over the PA in the background. “You’re a godsend. Can you take Cookie and Odin for a walk? I don’t know how long this’ll take. Keys are… Oh, you know where the keys to the Inn are. You’re an angel.”
She dropped the call and when she entered the Inn she was greeted by two very excited dogs. She took them for a swift walk through the small forest behind the Inn, all the while deliberately avoiding the little cottage right at the shore and thinking about the man, who’d left without looking back and who hadn’t called since.
When Julie arrived at the hospital an hour later, the party was in full swing with staff and guests mingling together and people spilling out of the room and into the corridor.
Spirits were high, which lifted Julie’s mood. At least that was going right for Jessie and Alan.
“You won’t believe what happened.” Holly stepped up to her and handed her a glass of champagne as soon as she entered the room.
“What?”
“Claire apparently just made it into the maternity ward before she gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Amelia.”
Lisa, who’d moved to the other side of Julie, took her hand and drew her out the waiting room.
“Come on. I’ll take you.”
“What? Wait. No… I can visit tomorrow. Claire must be exhausted.”
But Lisa had crossed the corridor already and knocked on a door before she softly opened it. “Can Julie, Holly, and I visit for a sec? Or is it too much?”
There was murmuring on the other side of the door and Blake opened the door wider. “Come on in. I gotta step out for a minute, anyway. Just make it short. My baby girl needs some sleep.”
With that they entered Claire’s room. Holly and Lisa took the chairs by the bed and Julie kept herself in the background while the two girls fussed over Claire and Baby Amelia. Claire looked surprisingly fit, for having just given birth to a baby.
Julie struggled to find the right words. “That was quick.”
Claire nodded and smiled at her.
“So, how much did it hurt?”
Claire’s smile turned to a chuckle which made the little bundle in her arms fidget. “It hurts a lot, but it’s worth it, don’t you think?”
Julie stepped toward the end of the bed and looked at the little girl.
“You wanna hold her?”
Julie shook her head, but Lisa jumped up from her chair and dragged Julie into it. Claire handed her the little bundle, and it all happened so fast, Julie’s heart leaped and her hands were shaking…with a baby in her arms.
“Just hold her to your body, nice and easy.”
How could Claire act so cool, when Julie was quivering inside? She’d held little Seb before, but that was pretty much it with her experience with little ones.
Julie looked down at the little girl in her arms. Amelia’s eyes were closed, and her mouth made little smacking sounds. Her dark hair was unlike her father’s red mane.
“You sure she’s Blake’s? She looks too cute and fragile.”
Claire chuckled. “The hair will probably get lighter. Maybe she’ll even get some freckles.”
Julie got a little choked up when she looked down at Amelia again. Would Kevin’s and her babies be black-haired too? With her eyes brimming with tears, Julie stood up and carefully handed Amelia back to Claire. “I’m so happy for you and Blake. You’ll make a great mom, and Blake will be the best dad ever.” She turned away, resumed her place behind the chairs, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She was ready to leave…before she broke down in front of the girls. No matter how much she knew logically that Kevin belonged back to his team and on the ice.
It hurt.
He was the only man in her life so far with whom she could’ve imagined a future. A family.
She shrugged and took a deep breath. No sense in dwelling on what wouldn’t be.
This is where she belonged, no matter how much it hurt to not be with Kevin. This was her life. These were her friends.
The door behind them opened and Blake entered again.
“Look who says hi.”
He held his phone up for Claire to see.
On the screen played a short video of Paul and Kevin, each holding a cigar in their hands and shouting their congratulations to Claire and Blake.
There he was. Still alive and happy. Her stomach hardened, and she swallowed hard before she turned to the door.
It would take some time to get used to it.
20
That was it.
Enough moping around. Enough binging on TV and ice cream. Enough hiding and letting life go by. Julie checked her face one last time in her rearview mirror, before she jumped out of her parked car and walked toward Blake’s bar. The warm breeze from the lake lifted the skirt of her cute summer dress for a moment, before Julie pushed it back down.
It’s been two months since he left. Two months of roller coaster rides between hope, memories, and self-pity. Now Julie was ready to reclaim her life. No more excuses. She didn’t need a guy to be happy. Everything she needed was right here. So it was time she returned to showing up as her best self. Not as some sad, abandoned woman.
Julie marched toward the bar but had to stop when a pebble got stuck between her toes. Maybe wearing flip-flops wasn’t her brightest idea.
“Can I help you?”
Julie looked up into smiling brown eyes.
“No, thanks, I just—there it is.” She showed him the stone, and when he raised his gaze from her hand back to her face, he smiled at her.
“Not the most practical footwear for this… But gorgeous.”
Julie’s skin tingled and her eyebrows shot up. Was the guy flirting with her? She smiled back at him, but her smile wavered.
They both walked to the door and he held it open for her.
A gentleman.
“Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome.” There was the smile again.
Her mind raced, and she avoided looking him in the eyes. The guy was flirting with her. She was rusty in that department…and not sure she was ready to enter the dating scene again anytime soon.
The breeze from the lake filled the bar. This was still a little unexpected for Julie.
Blake had replaced one booth on the right wall of the bar with a doorway and had created an outside seating area—just a few tables on the waterfront. But the view out there packed a punch.
“Hey, Julie, the girls are outside. What can I get you?”
Julie waved back at Blake, uncomfortably aware of the stranger from the parking lot now knowing her name. “Bring me a beer, will you?”
She made a beeline for the side door and avoided looking at the guy again.
Outside, lanterns, which were strung around the fenced-in area and t
he descending sun, that slowly settled behind the mountains, cast a romantic light at the tables.
At least she had the girls.
Holly got up to kiss Julie on the cheek.
“Hey, where’s Lisa and Claire? I thought they would join us today.”
Holly shook her head and looked at her strangely. “Lisa isn’t feeling so well.” She paused for a second and her eyes bored into Julie, which made Julie’s neck grow hot. Did she miss something? Was something up with Lisa? Julie didn’t consider herself good company since these last few months she’d burrowed herself in work…when she wasn’t hiding in her bed. She hadn’t visited the girls at the Inn much. Maybe she shouldn’t have neglected her friendships along with losing her overall zest for life.
“She’s due in a week…remember.”
Shit, of course she was. Lisa’s due date was sometime in June. How did she miss that? And how did time fly by so fast?
“…And Amelia has an ear infection.” Holly shrugged her left shoulder. “You’re stuck with us. But I invited a friend of mine who might show up.”
Julie’s smile wavered for a minute, before she got it in check. When did she become the one who didn’t want to meet new people?
“Tara lives in Stone Valley. She owns a construction company there.”
Julie nodded. “I’ve known Tara Patterson since we were little. And she was at Jessie’s wedding, remember.”
Holly slapped herself on the forehead. “I always forget you all grew up around here. And everybody knows everybody around.”
Julie leaned forward and smiled at Holly. “That’s us. Small-town people. Boring as hell.”
“I don’t know Tara,” Dorothy said.
Julie leaned down and kissed Dorothy on the cheek. “Hey, you. Glad you joined us.”
Dorothy glanced at Holly, who nodded, before she settled back with a small smile on her face.
Somehow Dorothy was still a little insecure about her place in their little circle of friends.
“You drove all the way from White Creek to meet us. Maybe we should meet—” Julie hadn’t even finished the sentence when a sudden coldness settled in her stomach. The chance of meeting Hank in White Creek was a lot higher than meeting him here in Moon Lake. At least she hadn’t heard or seen him, since the boys paid him a visit. And…now her mind was back on Kevin.
Great, just great.
Blake arrived with Julie’s beer and a bowl of chips. “Anything else you girls need?”
“How’s Amelia? Everything okay?” Julie snagged a chip and crunched it.
“She’s okay. Just running a little fever. Claire’s sorry she couldn’t meet with you girls.”
“Tell her—” Julie fished her cell out of her purse. “No, don’t tell her. We’ll just call her. Tell her ourselves.”
Blake grinned and saluted, before he reentered the bar again.
It rang and Julie put it on speaker just before Claire picked up.
“Hey, girl, everything okay?”
“Yep, Amelia is asleep right now and Lisa is keeping me company. We’re sorry we couldn’t be there today.”
“Oh, no problem. We’ll just do this another time.”
“Is Lisa doing okay?”
They could hear Claire hand the phone to Lisa.
“I’m okay, just very pregnant and happy to be over it soon.”
Julie chuckled. How come Claire said the same words just a few months ago?
“Enjoy your evening. Drink one for us.”
“We miss you,” Holly and Dorothy chimed in and Julie ended the call and put her cell phone back in her purse.
“I’m right back. I just…need to go…” She pointed inside the bar and stood up.
On her way back from the bathroom, she passed the guy from the parking lot. He smiled at her…again…and Julie stumbled. When exactly had she lost her coolness around men?
Well, Hank and Kevin. Thank you very much.
The first one took her lightness and ease.
The second one ruined her for any other man.
Julie scoffed at herself. She was being melodramatic. Nobody had that much power over her.
Paul had come home for two weeks in May, and Julie had secretly hoped Kevin might accompany him. But her hopes had been crushed.
Thoroughly.
When her mother asked Paul how Kevin was doing, Julie tried not to listen. Well, she didn’t try very hard. And knowing the truth was far better than being caught up in wishful thinking.
Paul told her mother Kevin was working like a madman to get back into shape. Apparently he had his head completely back in the game again. He was training hard and performed better than ever on the ice.
Most likely Kevin didn’t even think about her anymore so why was she still so hung up on him? It was time to get over him…even if her heart felt like it was shrinking a little every time she thought about him.
Julie straightened and smiled back at the guy, then immediately faltered and made a beeline for the bar.
Nope. Not ready yet.
Julie climbed on a bar stool. And Blake smiled at her.
“Shall I get rid of him?”
Julie fidgeted. He caught that? What the hell? She looked up at Blake with feigned ignorance. “What on earth do you mean?”
“Caspar.” Blake pointed his chin, and Julie guessed it was directed at the guy with the great smile.
Yep, he definitely caught that. “So, you know him?”
“He’s a regular. A friend of Alan’s. Lives in Stone Valley.”
“Hmm.” She wasn’t really interested in the guy.
“Talking about Alan. Haven’t seen them since court. Are they doing okay?”
They all had wondered about Jessie’s and Alan’s hurried wedding and more so, their lack of enthusiasm. But somehow, at the time, Amelia’s birth had moved all the focus away from them. It was a month later that the true reason for the wedding got out, and all that was going down behind the scenes.
But Blake had probably known all along.
“Yep, dropped by them yesterday. Jessie was working with the horses and Doc’s waiting room is always full.”
Julie nodded. “Just glad everything worked out in the end.”
Blake’s face turned pensive. “You and me, both. So, should I tell Caspar off, or should I introduce you two?”
Julie shook her head. Why was everyone in Moon Lake infected with the matchmaking bug?
“Neither. I’m not looking right now.”
Blake’s eyebrows shot up. “You talked to him lately?”
Julie’s body turned cold then hot just thinking about him. She didn’t want to discuss Kevin any more than she wanted to have a root canal.
Her jaw spasmed and she forcefully unclenched it. This part of her life was done. Over. “You know what, maybe you should introduce me to Caspar.”
Blake raised both hands, grinned, and moved a step backward. “Message received. You just tell me if you need anything, ’kay?”
Julie smiled at him even though the smile was fake…and forced. Blake was a good guy. One of the best. Claire was lucky to have him.
Julie was lucky to have such men in her life. She remembered the day they came to Kevin’s cottage with a six-pack to do some debriefing. They’d played a big part in making sure Hank didn’t bother her anymore and Julie softened even more at the memory. That day Kevin and her had sex for the first time. Julie pushed the thought right out of her mind and concentrated on Blake again. “Thank you, Blake. Maybe start me off with a shot of tequila and if I need anything more, I’ll let you know.”
“All righty.” Blake took a glass from behind him and filled it from the bottle. Then he looked up when the door opened and Sheriff Travers came in. “Oh, look who the cat dragged in. Another member of the broken-heart club.”
Julie blinked, turned her head to look at Richard, and turned back to Blake. “What? Why? Is he still mourning his wife?”
Blake blew his cheeks. “Not exactly. You know,
their marriage wasn’t what you’d call a love match.”
It wasn’t? Well, maybe that would explain Dorothy and Richard tiptoeing around each other. “So, it’s Dorothy?”
Blake nodded once as Richard settled on the stool next to Julie. “But he’s too chickenshit to do anything about it.”
Blake grinned at Richard and Julie was surprised. She didn’t know the guys talked about things like that.
“Stop pestering me and focus on your own little family,” Richard mumbled. “And get me a beer.”
Blake chuckled, set the bottle of tequila down, and turned to get another glass.
Was she the same? Was she also wallowing in sorrow and not taking any action to change her situation?
That’s not what Julie wanted. She didn’t want to be miserable all the time. That was it…she was moving on…effective immediately.
She turned around in her seat and when she caught Caspar’s eyes, Julie smiled at him.
There was a slight sinking feeling in her stomach when he got up, moved toward her, and took the seat on her side at the bar.
He greeted Blake and Richard, before his eyes zeroed in on her. “Hey there. I’m Caspar.”
“I know.”
He looked at Blake who returned his look with a half-grin.
“So, I got vetted.”
Julie shrugged her left shoulder. “Naw. Not really.”
“You live here in Moon Lake? I think I’ve seen you around.”
Julie squeezed her hands in her lap. This was just small talk; she could do small talk. “Born and raised. You?”
“Stone Valley. Moved there for a job.” He took a sip of his beer and Julie did the same with her tequila.
“What do you do?”
“I’m a geologist working for the local oil and gas company there.”
“Wow, that sounds…”
“Boring as hell?” His self-deprecating chuckle made him more sympathetic. “I know. But that’s just my job.”
So what did that mean exactly? That he wasn’t boring in real life? “Did you always want to become a geologist?”
“No, my dream was to be an archeologist but somehow my focus got caught by the stone formations around the digging sites where I volunteered and that’s what stuck.”