Bittersweet Junction

by Ivy Sinclair

  She was relieved when they pulled into the church parking lot. Before the Jeep was barely even in park, she popped the door open and slid carefully to the ground.

  “Jules,” she heard Ben call to her, but she ignored him.

  She saw her father standing on the front steps, and she beelined for him. “Hey, Dad.”

  Jack gave her a small squeeze. “I’m glad you’re here. Your sister’s in a snit. How about you go give ole Mike a break and see if you can calm her down? I’m sure it’s just wedding day jitters playing on her nerves.”

  “Where are they?” Julia would gladly give Mike a break. She just couldn’t decide between his arm or his leg.

  “Downstairs,” Jack nodded toward the inside staircase. “Good luck. Hey, Ben!”

  Julia shot past her father without looking back over her shoulder. She was so angry with Ben she could spit, so she welcomed the opportunity to direct that fury towards the other offending party.

  Halfway down the stairs she heard Clary and Mike’s raised voices.

  “Don’t lie to me, Mike! You’ve been lying to me for years! I was just too blind to see it.” Clary sounded as if she was crying.

  “For Christ’s sake, Clary. I don’t know what you are talking about. It’s the hormones making you crazy.”

  Julia wanted to punch him. She hated it when men blamed women’s emotions on hormones instead of validating them. She hurried down the stairs and entered the church’s cafeteria just as Clary shouted.

  “Do you think I’m an idiot? You are still in love with Julia, and we both know it!”

  Julia’s feet stopped and then both Mike and Clary turned to face her. She saw a deep flush rise in Clary’s cheeks and a grimace crossed Mike’s face. There was no way to pretend she hadn’t heard what she heard. Half the town probably heard her yell. Julia wanted to slink away and leave them to hash out whatever had spun up between them, but she couldn’t do that either. So she drew herself up and forced her feet forward.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt. Clary, I think we need to get everyone in their places for the rehearsal,” Julia said, pointing at her watch. “According to the itinerary, it’s almost time to start.”

  “I’m sorry, Jules,” Clary whispered. “I can’t think straight.” Clary put her hand on her stomach and slouched down into a chair. Mike started to move to her side, but Clary’s glare stopped him in his tracks.

  “Mike, why don’t you go make sure everyone else is ready?” Julia suggested. “I’ll help Clary. Maid of Honor and all.”

  “Sure,” Mike said, giving her a grateful look.

  Julia wanted to smack him as he passed her, but first she needed to fix the situation with the wilted woman in front of her. She knelt down in front of Clary and stroked her hair.

  “What’s all that crazy talk, Clare Bear?” she said. “Mike isn’t in love with me. That was a million years ago.” She wiped her sister’s tears away and then dug a Kleenex out of her purse. She handed it to Clary who sighed as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.

  “He’s been acting so strange,” Clary said. “It’s as if the closer we get to the wedding, the more he’s distanced himself from me. Then he told me today that maybe he doesn’t want to run for sheriff after all. Maybe he wants to put in a transfer to a bigger city where there are more opportunities down the road.”

  Julia tried to put out of her mind the fact that Mike probably cheated on her sister. She needed facts first before accusing him of anything in front of Clary. Right now, her sister needed support and a shoulder to cry on.

  “That doesn’t sound so bad,” Julia said.

  “Then he told me that maybe he’d apply for a job in Minneapolis. Why would he want to do that? You’re in Minneapolis. He wants to be closer to you,” Clary sniffed. “He’s never gotten over you.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” Julia said, pulling her sister into her arms. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe he’d consider Minneapolis a good choice because he thought you’d want to be closer to me? That you’d have family close by to help with the baby?”

  Clary pulled away from her and looked at her with wide eyes. She winced. “I didn’t really give him a chance to tell me why he wanted the transfer. I jumped to that one conclusion when I heard where he was thinking.”

  “Trust me. I have no interest in Mike, and I honestly don’t think he has any interest in me,” Julia said. “If anything, it’s echoes of the friendship he and I had, and I hope that he and I can be friends now because we both love you.” Unless I have to kill him for cheating on you, she thought.

  Clary put her hand to her head. She rubbed her stomach at the same time. “I feel so silly, Jules. He’s right. These pregnancy hormones are making me lose my mind. I don’t know how he’s putting up with me.”

  Julia stroked her hair again and then stood. She reached out her hands to help Clary to her feet. “Let’s go find a restroom, get you freshened up, and then get this show on the road, okay?”

  Clary nodded with a small smile. “Thanks, Jules. I am really glad you’re here.”

  It warmed Julia to realize that she was too. For the first time in forever, she felt like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Ben couldn’t believe how quickly the tides turned against him once again. One minute he and Julia were flirting and acting just like the couple that he hoped that they could be. The next minute, she held him accountable for all of Mike’s actions and expected him to be the one to set everything right. Julia should have known better than anyone that whatever Mike wanted, Mike got.

  There was a nagging voice in the back of his head questioning if Julia was right in her accusations. The conflict raged on inside him. It wasn’t his place to tattle on Mike. If it were, he’d be out of breath all the time. Still, he understood some of Julia’s outrage. He hadn’t meant for it to come out that Mike cheated on her too. When he found out, he made Mike swear it would never happen again. Little did he know, Mike’s guilt drove him to get down on his knee and propose, which started the chain reaction that ended with Julia leaving town. Maybe if he had told Julia then, she would have broken with up Mike before he proposed and then she would have stayed.

  Why hadn’t he told her? It would have been the easiest way to break them up. He would have been the hero for telling her. Then Mike wouldn’t have stood in the way of Ben making his move. But the words never seemed to form. In the end, he hadn’t wanted to cause her any pain. When Mike promised he wouldn’t cheat on Julia again, Ben believed him. So he kept Mike’s secret even though it was the one thing that would have delivered Julia right into his arms.

  It was a pointless game to play in his mind. What was done was done. Ben was even more certain that his planned bachelor party activities were appropriate for the situation. There was no need to further raise the suspicion of either one of the Bell sisters.

  By the time that Ben reached the church steps, Julia already dashed inside. He wasn’t sure how long she planned to avoid him. If history was any indication he could be in the doghouse for a long time. It frustrated him that there was no way to get her alone until later. He needed to explain himself better.

  Jack held out his hand as Ben climbed to the top of the stairs, and Ben shook it. “Great weather for a wedding,” Ben said, deciding to stick to safe topics. He wondered if Jack had heard the rumors about Mike. It was safe to assume he had if Julia heard them within a day of being back in town.

  “Can’t complain,” Jack said, looking up at the sky. “Say Ben, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about.”

  “What is it?” Ben asked warily. If push came to shove, he wasn’t going to defend Mike to Jack. He was questioning why he covered for Mike at all.

  “You know that I retired six months ago,” Jack said. He grimaced as he said the word retired. “Well, I’m bored.”

  “Oh,” Ben said. He wasn’t sure where Jack was going with his comments, but he was relieved that it s
eemed to have nothing to do with Mike’s indiscretions. “Yea, my mom retired from the school district last year. Some days I don’t think she knows what to do with her time. It’s like she lost a piece of herself.”

  “Exactly. Makes you feel like a horse put out to pasture,” Jack said. “I was talking to Mike the other day. He and Clary would like to look for a little bit bigger house with the baby coming, but all his money is tied up in the campaign coming up.”

  Mike hadn’t said anything to Ben about his financial situation, so it was all news to him. He had heard Clary complaining about the amount of space in Mike’s house, but he hadn’t thought much about it. “What are you asking me, Jack?”

  “Mike needs a little cash. I need to do something before I go nuts. I also know you always wanted to go back to school. I was thinking of buying Mike out of his portion of Bruiser’s Spot. I’d also like to have an active part in the business, which could allow you to do something else if you wanted. Of course, I wanted to ask you first and see what you and Maggie thought about the idea before I made Mike an offer.”

  Ben was stunned. He had never considered the idea of having a third partner who could help Maggie run the bar. Then Ben would be free to his own pursuits. The idea of having the choice of continuing to spend every waking hour at the bar, or finally having the chance to do something else with his life was intoxicating. “I’ll need to think about it, Jack. I’ll also need to talk to Maggie. Would it be okay if we discussed this after the wedding?”

  “Take all the time you need. I think it would be a great thing for both of us, so I hope you’ll consider it,” Jack beamed. Then he waved over Ben’s shoulder. “There’s Pastor Jones. Excuse me, Ben. I’ll talk to you later.”

  After Jack moved around him, Ben stood there for a moment staring out at the field next to the church like an idiot. It was as if a door he closed long ago was now cracked open. He felt strange. When Mike jogged up the stairs from the basement a few minutes later, he looked at Ben with concern.

  “Everything okay?”

  Ben nodded, but noticed that Mike looked tired. “How about you?”

  Mike ran his hand through his hair. “Women. They’ll drive you crazy.”

  Ben remembered thinking the same thing that morning. “I take it Clary and Julia are downstairs?”

  Mike pulled him inside the church and off to the side. When his eyes adjusted to the darker interior, Ben saw Sarah at the front of the church directing the rest of the wedding party to their stations. She looked as organized and calm as ever. He wondered if she had really taken his rejection as easily as she said she did. It still seemed odd that, after a year of pursuit, she’d give up so easily.

  “Earth to Ben,” Mike said, snapping his fingers in front of Ben’s face.

  “Cut it out,” Ben said, pushing Mike’s fingers away. “What?”

  “Clary just accused me of still being in love with Julia,” Mike whispered, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

  “Are you?” Ben was equally curious about the answer.

  Mike looked hurt. “Of course not. I know I haven’t been forthcoming about it in the past, but Jules was never the right girl for me.”

  “Are you in love with somebody else then?”

  “What the hell, man?” Mike said, his eyes flashing with anger. “You’re as bad as Clary. What’s gotten into you?”

  Ben knew that he should back off, but Julia’s accusation of passively standing aside and letting Mike continue to play Clary like a fool stung. “I know, Mike. You’ve slept with half the women in town. Either Clary is blind or blissfully oblivious. It’s not right.”

  Mike took a step back. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”

  “I’m not accusing you of anything. I know what’s going on.” Ben said. “I’m telling you that whatever bullshit you’ve been up to has to stop. Today. You can’t keep doing that to Clary.”

  “What are you? The moral police?” Mike scoffed.

  “I’m your friend,” Ben said. “I’m Clary’s friend too. It’s time to grow up, Mike.”

  Mike looked Ben up and down as if he had never seen him before. “So this is about Julia.”

  “What?” Ben’s mouth fell open.

  “Look, I knew that you had a thing for her and that you were always jealous of me and her. You tried to turn her against me, and I’ve always wondered if you did something or said something that made her dump me. You told her about Crystal Blair, didn’t you?”

  Ben had no idea how they had gotten there. Crystal Blair was the captain of the cheerleading squad and Sarah’s best friend in high school. Crystal made no secret of her interest in Mike, just like half of the female student body. Ben arrived early to baseball practice one afternoon and found Mike making out with Crystal in the boys locker room.

  “I never said anything about that to Julia. It would have devastated her,” Ben said. “This is hardly the time or the place for this conversation, Mike. I’m just asking that you take every word you say in front of that altar tomorrow seriously. Clary deserves that as does the baby she’s carrying.”

  Mike’s face turned white. For a second, Ben thought that he was going to punch him. Then Mike turned on his heel and stormed toward the front of the church.

  Well, that went well, he thought.

  Sarah was halfway down the aisle when Mike pushed past her. “You’ll be right at the bottom of the step,” she called to him. Mike put his hand up to acknowledge her but didn’t turn around. He dropped into the front pew and stared forward.

  “Can’t get things going without the Best Man,” Sarah said, approaching him with a soft smile.

  “Not sure I’m qualified for the title at the moment,” he said honestly.

  Sarah looked back at Mike. The tension in the air was obvious. “Weddings always put people on edge. The sooner we get this part done though, the sooner we can all have a drink.”

  “Or twelve,” Ben agreed.

  “We’re ready to start,” Sarah said. “Have you seen Clary?”

  As if she heard her name, Clary and Julia appeared in the stairwell. Ben saw that Clary’s face was puffy. She had been crying. Julia avoided his eyes, which annoyed him. He had to find a way to explain himself to her. He wasn’t the jerk that she made him out to be, and he was taking steps to fix what he had done wrong.

  Sarah bustled everyone into formation, and Ben found himself standing next to Julia moments later.

  “So are you ever going to speak to me again?” he said in a low voice intended just for her ears.

  Her chin came up. “Not unless you do the right thing.”

  He wanted to pull her outside and kiss her silly in that moment. She was gorgeous when she was angry. He also thought that might help her be less angry with him. “Can we get along for the next couple of hours, please?”

  “Why are you two arguing?” Clary asked, overhearing his question.

  “We’re not arguing,” Julia said over her shoulder. “We’re having a fundamental difference of opinion about something important.”

  “I think that is the start of every argument you’ve ever had, sweetie,” Jack chuckled.

  Ben didn’t want to continue the conversation in front of Julia’s family. He was saved by Sarah’s voice booming out into the small room.

  “Quiet, everyone!” she called out from the front of the line. “We’re starting, now.” She swung the doors open, and Ben heard music begin to play from the organ at the front of the church.

  In no time, it was his turn to walk Julia down the aisle. Her eyes met his for a brief instant, and he saw the questions there. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be okay. As her hand slipped into the crook of his arm, he clutched it tightly. He heard her short intake of breath, but then it was time to start walking. Moving toward the front of the church with Julia on his arm felt serendipitous. He wanted to make this woman his forever.

  As they approached the steps at the altar, Mike stared at them with an
impassive look on his face. They split directly in front of him, and Ben watched Mike’s eyes follow Julia to the other side of the aisle.

  Luckily, Clary’s entrance seemed to draw Mike’s attention back where it was supposed to be. Throughout the rest of the rehearsal, Mike was quiet and reserved but perfectly appropriate. He said each of his lines on cue, and from what Ben could tell, his gaze never wavered from Clary’s face.

  For Clary’s part, she was pale and quiet, but when the Pastor reached the end of the ceremony, her face broke out in a wide smile. She launched herself into Mike’s arms, and their embrace seemed loving and sincere. Ben hoped that his words shot a dose of common sense into Mike’s brain. A roll in the sack wasn’t worth losing what he had in front of him.

  Only once during the rehearsal ceremony did he catch Julia looking at him. She chewed on her lower lip and seemed deep in thought. He smiled at her, intending to reassure her that nothing between them had changed, but then she diverted her glance back to the pastor.

  Finally the rehearsal was over, and everyone clamored to get to dinner and celebrate the next day’s event.

  “Give you a ride, Jules?” he asked, catching her before she could leave the church.

  “I’m going to ride with my dad,” she said.

  “You can’t avoid me forever,” he said. “I don’t think you want to, either.”

  “You’re right, Ben,” she said. “I can’t avoid you forever, but I can sure as hell try.” She pushed past him and fled down the stairs before he could say anything else.

  “She has always had quite a temper,” Sarah’s voice floated over his shoulder.

  Ben grimaced. “I didn’t realize you were still in here.”

  “I had a few things to put in the dressing room for tomorrow,” Sarah said. “I actually could use a ride to dinner. I rode over with Mike and Clary, and I think they’ve forgotten about me.”