by Joan Hohl
“Yes. How could I forget.” Laura giggled. “Remember how patient he always was with you, Krissy and me when he took us fishing with him?”
“How could I forget?” Julia repeated, giggling right along with Laura. “How he put up with us three flighty kids, I’ll never know.”
“Or me.” Laura sighed. “God, we had some good times together. Didn’t we?”
“No.” Julia’s voice was soft. “We had a lot of great times together.”
“Yeah,” Laura agreed, sighing again. “Anyway,” she went on, her voice brighter, “I talked to Mom, told her I ran into you, and she asked me to invite you and Krissy to dinner tomorrow evening, said she’d love to see the two of you again. It’s been so long.”
“It sure has,” Julia said. “You can tell your mother I’d love to come. What time?”
Laura laughed. “She said you’re to come early and stay late.” Laura’s tone took on a shimmer of slyness. “By the way, Mom also told me she was going to invite the rest of the clan, said they’d want to see you and Krissy, too.”
“Well, that should be a riot,” Julia said, laughing at the mere thought of Laura’s boisterous family.
After finally saying goodbye a good ten minutes later, Julia returned to take up her position at the large window, her eyes misty with memories.
Tomorrow would be a noisy evening, she knew, but should be a lot of fun as well. Laura’s parents, Janet and Pete, had always been ready for a good laugh, as had Laura’s sister, Becky, and her two brothers, Richard and Daniel.
Along with the pleasure of seeing everyone again, Julia was looking forward to the meal itself. Before hanging up, Laura said her mother had promised to cook one of the meals she knew to be a favorite of the three friends. Topping it off would be Janet’s special, utterly delicious and decadent chocolate cake.
Julia loved the meal mentioned, one she never cooked because her family didn’t care for it, and was looking forward to enjoying it again. But even more than the meal itself, her mouth watered at the mere thought of the chocolate cake.
Thinking of food in general made her stomach growl. Julia knew she should get moving; she had made do with a piece of toast and a quick cup of coffee for breakfast, and as it was still early, she hadn’t bothered to pull into the last rest stop on the turnpike for lunch or a snack.
It was now well past lunchtime, and she was beginning to get a hollow, empty feeling. Still she stood at the window, a soft smile on her lips.
Laura and Krissy.
It had been so long since the three of them had been together. And that had been a sad reunion—Krissy’s mother’s funeral. That had been an ordeal not only for Krissy, but for all of them. Everyone who knew her had loved Krissy’s mother, one of the nicest people you could meet.
Julia sighed.
She’d get going soon, she told herself. For the moment, she was content to remember the growing-up years spent with Laura and Krissy, her very best friends.
CHAPTER 2
They had referred to themselves as the Terrific Trio. Julia Fritz, now Langston, Laura Parker, now Hartline, and Kristin Trzcinski had been best friends since preschool, which in years amounted to thirty-six, as this particular year all three women, like it or not, would celebrate their fortieth birthday.
It was an anniversary Julia had convinced herself was more psychological than physical. Looking at it any other way was too depressing.
They all grew up in Philadelphia, between Upper Darby and Drexel Hill, on the same street in a section of neat middle-class homes. Their parents were friends.
Of the three, Julia knew that Krissy alone would very likely and very coolly deny her actual age. She also continued to maintain her maiden name…through three husbands. An actress of high expectations, and little apparent acting ability—instead of taking a stage name, Krissy chose to keep her own maiden name simply because odd or different-sounding last names seemed to be in style in the business. In Krissy’s opinion, Trzcinski wasn’t merely odd or different, but really odd and different, not to mention difficult to pronounce, thus, she had believed, more noticeable.
Although all three were attractive, Krissy always was the real beauty of the trio. Laura was the brainy one. Julia was the levelheaded, common-sense, down-to-earth type.
The type she always considered boring.
Upon graduating high school, the three, then still girls in spite of being all of eighteen—and considering themselves quite mature—had sworn to be friends forever, even though they had chosen different career paths.
They had shared a wonderful summer together, and a tiny apartment in Ocean City, New Jersey, waiting tables at one of the more expensive seafood restaurants in Somers Point, a few miles right across the bay on Ninth St. from the long, narrow city billed as the family resort town.
That fall, with hugs and kisses, and more than a few tears, they separated.
Krissy went to Hollywood to pursue her goal of becoming a movie star—not necessarily an actress, but a MOVIE STAR, in capital letters. She never quite made it.
Declaring her intention to crash through the glass ceiling, become the best damned MBA, male or female, in her class, Laura went off to college in New England with a full four-year scholarship. During her sophomore year, she met Andrew Hartline, another business major whiz kid from Maine. Drew was a senior and a lover—not necessarily in that order. She immediately fell in love with him, fell into bed with him, and became pregnant by him. Laura never graduated, and she never left New England. She and Drew married and settled in his hometown in Maine. She was then all of twenty years old.
Knowing Laura so well, Julia felt certain her friend had simply decided to accept the occasion of her big four-oh. She was the type who had always simply ignored the passage of time.
Julia was the only one of the three to remain in Philadelphia and live at home. After completing a course of radiology training, she went to work as a technician in the X-ray department of a nearby hospital.
Later that same year, she met Jonathan Langston, a native of Hershey—the most good-looking, sighed-over young bachelor doctor doing his final residency at the hospital. He also was the most polite, considerate and flat-out romantic man she had ever run across.
Julia sighed at the memory she rarely revisited.
But today, with remembrances swirling in her head, the one of falling in love with Jon overwhelmed all others.
The day had been crazy, a flood of patients in the X-ray department. Julia had been on the run from the minute she had gone onto the floor at seven. It was after one before she could leave to get some lunch.
The staff lunch room was only half-full. No lineup at the cashier. Julia grabbed a packaged ham-and-cheese on a wheat roll, a ready-made salad and a large coffee. Seating herself at a table for two, she attacked her food.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
Startled by the deep, soft, bone-melting sound of the resident’s voice, Julia glanced up into brown eyes the color of her favorite dark chocolate. His hair was the exact same shade. Heat ran through her, tinged her cheeks. The gorgeous Jonathan Langston wanted to join her?
“Uh…ummm,” Julia murmured, feeling as thrilled as a teenager meeting her most adored celebrity. Telling herself to grow up, she squashed the thrill. She even managed to produce a calm reply. “No, of course I don’t mind.”
While Jon was in the process of unloading his tray and seating himself, Julia glanced about her. The room held even less people than when she’d entered. There were plenty of empty tables. And he wanted to join her?
Why?
Naturally, the first reason to jump into Julia’s head was that she had somehow mishandled a plate of one of his patients he had sent up from the E.R.
Did he intend to give her hell over lunch?
Julia eyed him warily as he removed a sandwich—looked like tuna—from the plastic container, and pierced a straw through the slits on the lid of a large soda.
If she was getting a lectu
re, it appeared he intended to eat his lunch before delivering it. Resigned to being chastised, yet still hungry, Julia decided she may as well eat her own lunch, fortify herself for the dress-down.
They had both consumed most of their food before he spoke to her again.
“Would you have dinner with me some evening, Julia?”
Julia was stunned. The best-looking guy she had ever seen wanted to have dinner with her? She didn’t answer for a while, couldn’t answer. Her heart was pounding, her throat was dry, and her mind had gone completely blank.
“Julia?” Jonathan sounded worried. “Are you searching for a polite way to turn me down?”
“No! Oh, no!” Julia blurted. “I’m just a little surprised.” A little? Jeeze. She was overwhelmed. “I…I’d love to have dinner with you.” The understatement of all understatements.
He smiled.
She melted.
“Friday is my night off this week,” he said, hesitating. “Would that be too soon?”
“Friday? No, that’s fine. I’m free this Friday night.” This Friday? Hah, she was free most Fridays. And Saturday, and Sunday, and every other day of the week. Not that she hadn’t been invited out; she had, often. And occasionally, she accepted…and was always disappointed. Her mother and all her friends kept telling her she was simply too fussy.
Julia didn’t care. Not for anything in the world would she admit she had this enormous crush on the new, young, totally gorgeous intern at the hospital. And now, that very same intern had asked her out for dinner.
“I get off at six,” he said, thrilling her with the eager inflection in his voice. “Is seven okay?”
“Yes.” Julia managed to sound almost normal. “I get off duty at four. Seven’s fine for me.”
“Good.” Jonathan sounded and looked pleased, causing another thrill inside her.
Friday evening was more than good; it was wonderful. Before they got to dessert, Julia had progressed from enormous crush to falling head-over-heels in love with Jonathan. She prayed every night for him to fall in love with her.
Julia didn’t need to pray for very long.
On their second date, Jonathan took her to dinner and a movie. Five minutes into the movie, he curled his hand around hers, lacing their fingers together. Julia’s senses went bye-bye. Absorbed by the tingling sensation of his warm skin against hers, his long fingers claiming hers, she was totally unaware of where they were, the film running on the screen, the actors or the plot.
Fortunately, when they left the theater, Jonathan didn’t ask her if she enjoyed the movie.
On their third date, he took her to a club with a dance floor. Before she so much as tasted her drink—a Coke, as she was still a month shy of twenty-one—he led her onto the floor, circled his arms around her waist and drew her close to him. The hard, long-muscled strength of his body pressing against hers, the warmth of his breath teasing the strands of hair at her temples, set her pulses pounding, made her own breathing shallow.
They spent most of the evening on the dance floor, his arms around her waist, her arms around his neck, lost in a world of their own, talking very little, slow dancing to even the latest, finger-snapping rock music.
On their fourth date, Julia’s fate was sealed. They didn’t do much of anything, as Jonathan had an early call. They didn’t talk much, except to grouse about the schedule of long work hours and short amount of time off for the interns.
They had a quick meal at a chain sandwich shop in the Old City, then strolled around Independence Mall. Soon after, he drove her home and walked her to the door.
And there, on the porch, with the porch light shining on them, Jonathan drew her into a tight embrace and, lowering his head, captured her lips with his own.
His kiss was gentle, yet heated and passionate. His tongue probed delicately into her mouth. Julia felt her senses soaring, and her body melting. It was wonderful. It was heaven. It was hell when he ended the kiss and stepped back, away from her.
“I…er…” He cleared his throat, sounding as short of breath and sense as she herself felt. “I’d better go.” He took a half step forward, then stepped back again. He drew a breath, a deep breath. “Good night, Julia.”
“Good night, Jonathan.” It was little more than a whisper, all she could manage.
He didn’t look around to face her. “My family and close friends call me Jon.”
“Okay.” She could barely speak at all. “Good night, Jon. See you at work later?”
“Yeah.” He started for the porch steps, abruptly halted, turned, and strode back to her. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her again. Hard. When he ended the kiss this time, he didn’t step back, but held on to her, raising his head to stare deeply into her eyes.
“I love you, Julia. I was gonna wait, give you time to get to know me better, but I can’t.” He grabbed a breath too fast for her to find words to respond. “I love you so much. I’ve been in love with you for months, long before I worked up the nerve to ask you out. I’ve seen you with the patients. You’re so calm, so caring, so gentle…so beautiful.”
Julia was stunned—thrilled, but stunned. She never thought she was beautiful. No one had ever told her she was beautiful, except her parents, and that didn’t count. She didn’t know whether to cry for happiness, or grab his face to pull his lips down to hers for another rock-her-world kiss. He didn’t give her a chance to do either.
“Do you think…maybe…” he said with heart-melting uncertainty. “Do you think you could love me?”
“No, I don’t think I could love you,” she said, thrilling even more to his stricken expression. Cradling his face with her hands, she drew his mouth to within a breath of hers. “Oh, Jon, I already love you.”
They were married three months later. On their wedding night—because they actually waited until their wedding night—Julia learned to her delight that not only was Jon a great kisser, he was a passionate, giving lover. Jon learned—to his amazed delight—that not only was Julia a responsive and eager partner, he was her first lover.
Following what seemed like never-ending years of training and long hours with little money, Jonathan quickly became a rising young star in the field of neurosurgery, though in college-loan debt up to his eye-catching tight rear end. Julia didn’t mind working to help pay off the debt…she was fathoms-deep in love, willing to match his long hours to make ends meet.
Although she knew she would miss being within a couple of miles of her parents, Julia also didn’t mind too much relocating when Jon accepted a surprising and very flattering offer to work with a renowned neurosurgeon at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Julia laughingly told family and friends that Hershey was perfect for her, as she adored chocolate…and kisses.
She and Jon moved to Hershey, and shared so many kisses Julia became pregnant within six months.
Through the years, Julia, Laura and Krissy had stayed in touch with one another, primarily by exchanging birthday and Christmas greetings, marriage and birth announcements. There were the occasional—rare actually—phone calls and get-together visits on the even more rare occasions when all three happened to be visiting family in Philly at the same time.
But, over time, even the three families drifted apart. Julia’s brother, a pilot for a major airline, was based in Miami. Her parents decided to retire to Fort Lauderdale.
Krissy’s mother succumbed to breast cancer. Devastated, her father sold their house and furniture and went to live with his other daughter, Krissy’s married older sister, Jannette, in a suburb of Pittsburgh.
Only Laura’s family stayed on in the city, parents and siblings living within several blocks of one another in the old neighborhood.
Julia’s stomach grumbled, jolting her from her reverie. Grinning at the demanding noise, she turned away from the window, and the memories. Her step light, she headed for the door, intent on having lunch before indulging herself in a lavish shopping spree.
Feeling better than she ha
d in some time, Julia strode along the hotel corridor to the bank of elevators, one thought uppermost in her mind. She hadn’t fully realized how much she had missed her two best friends. It was going to be fun being with them once again.
CHAPTER 3
Pushing open the door, Julia dragged her tired body, two bulging shopping bags and a plastic dress bag, the hanger of which was hooked over and digging into her fingers, into the hotel room. Calling herself all kinds of a dimwit for not waiting for a bellman to relieve her of her packages, she dropped the bags onto the floor, draped the dress bag over the back of the settee, and crossing to the window flopped into a chair with a whooshing sigh of relief.
Forgoing her decision to have a leisurely and nutritious meal in favor of plunging, charge card first, into her shopping marathon, Julia had made do with a quick cheeseburger and soda for lunch, during which she sat all of thirty or so minutes. Other than that brief rest, she had been on the move since leaving the hotel around one-thirty.
She was more than tired; she felt thoroughly wiped out. But it had been fun. Julia smiled. She couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed shopping so much.
And she had spent a lot—a whole lot…of money. Julia’s smile turned to a wince. Then she shrugged and smiled again. Because she was normally rather frugal, at least with the household money and her own personal items—if not with expenses for her daughters—Julia felt justified in having spent so much, or more accurately, charged so much. Besides, she had needed some new summer things.
Jon and the girls always teased her about wearing her clothes until they practically fell off her body—a slight exaggeration, but only slight. Her swimsuit alone was five years old, and a bit out of style. Okay, maybe more than a bit. Time for a new one, which she had bought, doing a double take at the price tag.
But the cost of the swimsuit was nothing compared to what she had paid for the dress. Never would she have believed she would pay so much for a dress—an evening gown for a special occasion perhaps, but a street-length dress?