I straightened then, knowing how true those words were.
“Ask yourself if Manhattan makes you smile inside out,” she continued. “Ask yourself, if there’s really anything else besides your mother that makes you happy. Ask yourself—”
“If there’s a guy there that will love you the way I do. Because, Julian, I love you.”
We all turned, hearing the deep and passionate voice.
Seven walked over to me, his jaw twitching, his emerald eyes longing. “Please don’t go. Stay with me, Jules.”
“What about Bridget? I saw you two kissing at the dinner.”
Aunt Bev and Mackenzie eased away so Seven could fill the distance between us.
“I don’t care about Bridget like that.” He snaked his hand around my waist. “I never had. She kissed me after I told her how I felt about you. I’m in love with you, Julian.”
He was in love with me? I was surely going to melt away now. I suspected he liked me. I was only unaware his feelings ran so deep.
We stood for several long seconds, staring into each other’s eyes, burning with desire for one another. Until this moment, I hadn’t realized how much I really wanted to be with him. The feeling was beyond intense.
Mom cleared her throat and Seven and I broke our connection. “Julian, please get in the car.”
Seven tightened his hold on me. “I’m not letting you go, even if you decide to go back to Manhattan, I’ll follow you there. Julian, I’ll follow you to the end of the world until you accept the truth.”
“Which is?” I tilted my head and played innocent.
“That you love me too,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
I eased out of his grasp. “You’re wrong.” A sad expression appeared on his face.
Then I smiled and corrected him, “I’m in love with you.”
Seven’s eyes widened with excitement. He threw his arms around me, kissing me hard. His lips wildly devoured mine as I relaxed my body and pressed deeper into his.
A moment later, we finally eased away from each other. At the corner of my eye I could see Mackenzie and Aunt Bev, beaming, waiting for me to make a decision.
Still clutching Seven’s hand in mine, I spun and looked at Mom. She cocked her head to the side and shook it slightly.
“Mom, I—”
“Jules,” she raised her hand to stop me from speaking. “I know I have been overly protective of you all these years but it’s only because I love you so much. The moment I came here and saw the look in your eyes, I knew how you felt about this place; about him…I just don’t know how to let you go now….”
Mom turned her head and sobbed. I moved around the car and flung my hands around her. “Oh, Mom, it’s not like you’ll never see me again. But…” I searched for the right words to express my true feelings. “I’d like to stay in Narragansett for a while. It’s like I’m—”
“Like you’re finally home,” she said, releasing me. “It’s okay, honey. I understand what Beverly said. It only means you’re coming into your own now and I have to get over you not being a little girl anymore.”
She hugged me again and whispered, “I’m glad you can take care of yourself, Jules. I’m so proud of you.”
When Mom finally let me go, she jerked my arms lightly and got into her car, starting the engine right after. Then with an approving nod, she was off, heading back to Manhattan, alone.
Seven came over to my side and placed his hand around my waist, consoling me. I rested my head on his shoulder and sighed as I watched Mom’s car driving out of the Vanderson estate and turned down the street. Of course I’d see her soon. She was my mother. I wasn’t writing her off. The thing was, for the first time in my life, I wasn’t thinking about how my wants would affect her, or if she’d even approve. For the first time, I was living for me. That’s what Narragansett gave to me. I was no longer the mistress’ daughter, from now on, I was Julian Vanderson.
***
EPILOGUE
I didn’t think it was appropriate to continue living at the guesthouse with Seven, since we were dating now. And in spite of Aunt Bev telling me she had no problem with it and expressed her happiness for the two of us, I moved in with McKenzie in her condo, and Seven found an apartment in Jamestown. That way we’d have privacy whenever we wanted to hang out together.
Since the beginning of August, I’d started working at Vanderson Publishing in the marketing department. So far, it was great, as cool as the time I’d worked with Aunt Bev on the re-boost project. I even made a new friend, Bristol—Aunt Bev’s new red headed intern who’s only a year younger than me. Bristol’s a lot like McKenzie, and both had been trying to convince me to take up a college course at URI. Finally, after going through my many options, I decided to pursue a bachelor degree in Entrepreneurship, starting this fall.
Indeed, things were going great for me and everyone around me. But at times I worried about my mom, wondering how well she was doing, spending her days without having me to worry about. Then I’d call and she’d sound upbeat and boastful, rambling on and on about this new guy she’s seeing. And it’d remind me that I promised myself to move on, to learn how to live my life without having her hand to cling to. I had to do this now, for myself, and for the days ahead.
Thank you for reading Finding Julian. Please leave your thoughts on Amazon and Goodreads. I would really appreciate it.
Acknowledgements
This is the first book I’ve ever written in such a short time, and have exceeded 50,000 words. Thank you, NaNoWriMo, for challenging authors.
Thank you to my family for their endless encouragement and love. Thank you to Jaime Shockman, Laurie Treacy, Annie, and everyone else who read the story and provided great critique. Thank you for your continuous support. I couldn’t do it without you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shane Morgan is the author of Amazon bestselling novel, Impossibly Love. She currently resides in Rhode Island where she spends her days blogging, reading, and escaping into her stories.
Connect with her:
[email protected]
www.shanemorganwrites.com
goodreads.com/shanemorgan
facebook.com/authorshanemorgan
twitter.com/itchingforbooks
Finding Julian Page 18