by Amber Nation
Dean looked relaxed which caused me to ease some of my anxiety. He even threw his head back to laugh a time or two. That man had such a beautiful heart to help out a family who was stuck. I watched as he shoved himself off the car and walked towards the bumper. I was now almost flush with the dashboard just trying to get a better view of what was going down. He flashed me a gorgeous smile that made my stomach flip. He braced both hands on the trunk of the car and started to push while the toes of his boots dug into the snow below him.
He almost made the whole process look easy but I’m sure he was exerting himself, being that he was trying to get the car unstuck by himself. I saw the tires move back and forth a few times and within a few short minutes the car was free. A hand stuck out from the driver’s side window to bid farewell as they slowly took off down the road towards their destination.
Dean shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled lightly to himself as he came rounding the side of the truck. Once he lifted himself into the cab he placed his gloved hands in front of the heat vent to warm them up a touch. I didn’t know whether to commend him for his bravery or chastise his ass for his blatant stupidity.
Chapter 14
Dean
My hands were numb from having to push the ice cold car; I needed to remember to pick up some weather-resistant gloves. When I was approaching the stalled car I tried to talk myself out of it several times. Not only was I placing myself in immediate danger, but Julia as well. I would never blatantly place Julia in any danger. And while the crime rate was scarce in Cottage Grove, it wasn’t entirely out of the question for something to happen.
Turns out it was Mr. Samson, a sixty-something-year-old man with dark skin, and his wife Edna. They were on their way home after risking the road conditions when they started veering off the road and ultimately got stuck. I offered to call them a tow truck but he insisted they could make it home if only he could get moving again. Several cars had passed theirs, but I was the only one to stop, so I knew that I had made the right decision in checking things out a little closer. I would just accept the consequences of my actions when I got back into the truck with Julia.
My body shivered as I was trying to warm up a bit before taking off the direction of Eden’s father’s grocery store. I looked at Julia who had her mouth gaping open but an indifferent expression on her face. I quirked a brow, getting ready to find out exactly what was running through her head when she launched her upper body across the console and sealed her lips with mine. The kiss completely came from left field but it was frantic and was warming me right up from the inside. She was conveying through her kiss just how scared she was but glad that I had made it back in one piece. All too quickly she pulled away from me and righted herself in her seat, but not before sucker punching me in the arm.
“Ow!” I hollered a bit too loud in the small confines of the truck. I rubbed my hand along my throbbing skin. “What the hell was that for?”
“For being a stupid jerk! I had to kiss you because you were back and that was such a noble and friendly thing you did. But at the same time I had to sock you because it was utterly reckless and moronic! Do you not watch the news or read the newspapers? That type of thing,” she flicked her wrist towards where the stalled car had been, “could’ve gotten you killed!”
She huffed out a breath before buckling herself and crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her lips were red from where she’d forcefully kissed me and her remaining anger was radiating from her pores. She was cute as hell.
I placed the truck in drive and carefully pulled back out onto the main road, continuing on with our little adventure. The more I thought about the whole situation, I tended to agree with her that it was incredibly stupid but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. It was engrained into my soul to help people whenever I could, so that’s what I did without thinking about the consequences beforehand. Typical male my mother would regale.
I couldn’t help the bright smile that formed on my face and the amusing chuckle that bubbled up from my chest. “What’s so damn funny?” Julia questioned, her anger still very much in place.
Her hostility only made me laugh harder. I loved the fact that I could get such a rise out of her. “You kissing me and then punching me for what I’d done, yeah, you like me…” I wasn’t giving her any room to argue, so I pressed a button on the dash to turn the radio on and turned the knob up to put a cease to any further talking. She would only be lying to herself, so I was making things easier on her.
A little more than a half an hour later, we were finally pulling into the parking lot of Mr. Richardt’s grocery store. Normally, it’d only take us ten minutes or so but with the road conditions and the fact that I thought it was hilarious that Julia was still pouting in the corner, I decided to make sure I took my time.
Earlier when we had left Baylor and Eden’s house I didn’t want to come across as broody, but I knew that if I spoke to her I’d end up saying something that I would regret. Like pleading with her to consider staying or rather telling her that we shouldn’t see each other for the rest of the time she was here. There was no doubt that spending this much time with her would make things infinitely worse on me when the time came for her to leave. But I would risk my heart to be near her as much as she would allow. I meant what I said, that I would try and keep the mindset that this was all a fling, but I didn’t think I could convince my heart of the same thing. It already knew what it wanted and it wanted without a shadow of a doubt to claim Julia Caldwell.
I jumped from the cab and shut my door before hurrying around to Julia’s to help her out. I offered her my hand which she stared at before reluctantly taking in her embrace. She kept her hand in mine as we crossed the snow-plowed parking lot and only released it when she went to retrieve a shopping cart. I pulled my list from the inside pocket of my coat and we set off gathering the things that were needed by Stella and Bea. Walking side by side, it seemed almost domesticated. I wanted to imagine the possibility of Julia and I doing this weekly, but pushed it further back in my mind.
“Why are we getting things for Stella? Why not Bentley, he is her son.”
Because Bentley most likely couldn’t be bothered, is what I wanted to come out saying, that he was probably still in bed with his hussy of the week. “We were already heading out so I told Stella that it wasn’t an inconvenience. Besides, Norah is with her, so it gives me the opportunity to check in on her.” Not a complete lie, but not the entire truth either.
“You really love Norah, huh?” Her tone became soft as if she was trying to understand.
“More than anything and as if she were my own.” Sofie, my first wife, couldn’t understand why I had to fly out of Texas back to Oregon for the birth of my God-daughter. That should’ve been my number one clue that things weren’t going to work out between the two of us, my family always came first and she didn’t feel that way. But once those little blue eyes landed on mine, I was a goner. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for that little girl.
We resumed walking up and down each aisle, getting little things for us to snack on throughout the week as well. “Dean, can I ask you a question?” She stopped walking and looked up to me.
“You just did.”
Rolling her eyes she continued, “Do you want kids of your own someday?”
I wasn’t expecting such a personal question to come from her, but I didn’t even need to take a moment to think. “Absolutely.” Thinking back to Kate, I could’ve had a child with her.
“Why do you look so sad?”
“Oh, I was just thinking about my second wife, Kate. We tried for a long time to have kids, even going to different fertility specialists. The day I thought she was going to surprise me and say we were going to be parents was the day that I found her in bed with a random guy that she’d met at the supermarket one day and they’d hit it off. It was ironically the same day that she informed me that she was having his baby.”
Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped in
astonishment. I didn’t want her to pity me, but what was reflected in her eyes was nothing more than pure empathy. “My second husband cheated on me as well. He was only interested in himself and that damn dog of his. Like I’ve said before, the only thing he ever gave me was my boobs and that was purely for his benefit. He said they weren’t adequate enough for him. I was blinded by love and let him berate me as he saw fit.”
I couldn’t help but to see red as anger flashed in my eyes. Her husband talked down to her and emotionally abused her? No wonder she was guarded like Fort Knox and reserved about getting closer to men in any way other than a purely physical sense.
She shrugged her shoulder, “It’s all right, it’s all in the past now. Besides, Paul was harmless in the physical sense. And at that particular time in my life it was what I needed.”
“What you should always need is to feel safe and protected in any relationship and any guy who doesn’t provide that for you isn’t a man at all.” I placed a hand on her hip and whispered close to her ear, “But you should also always feel desirable and wanted. He was a fucking idiot to not see the special beauty who was right in front of him.” She turned her head away from me as if she couldn’t fathom that a man would actually be nice to her and want to spend his time with her.
The way she worded her earlier statement made me question something that crossed my mind. “What about your first husband?” Her head whipped around until her eyes connected with mine and fear immediately set in on her face. She was truly terrified.
“Logan? I don’t ever talk about him, I don’t even want to give him the satisfaction of thinking of him. Story time is officially over.” She began walking away from me, her hands clenching the handle of the cart. I hurried after her, quickly catching up before she turned the corner. In the next aisle she finally looked up from her purse and spotted Mr. Richardt, Eden’s father, and I could see her face light up.
With what she had just revealed to me, the pieces were starting to form together about Julia’s first husband, Logan. She never indulged in anything other than inconspicuous details, but it was blaringly obvious that Logan was a downright bastard and not only hurt Julia emotionally, but physically as well. The reason why Julia acted the way that she did, putting on a front for everyone, was becoming abundantly clear. I just had to show her that not all men were like her ex-husbands. That I wasn’t one of them.
“Mr. Richardt, it’s so good to see you!” Julia exclaimed, before pulling him into her arms for a brief embrace. She acted as if she hadn’t seen the man in months rather than just yesterday at Eden’s wedding. Once they released each other, he took a second to look from her to me and back again.
“Is he being nice to you, Jules?” Richard indicated towards me with a jerk of his chin. “Eden told me that you two hadn’t been getting along, then I find you in here together.” He eyed me warily before kneeling back down in front of the box of produce he was restocking. He pulled out a crate of bananas and stood with a stagger before placing them in front of the display to make things easier for himself.
“Oh he’s being just fine, Rich, nothing to worry about.”
Why in the world were they making me sound like I was a predator or something? Or that it wasn’t all Julia’s fault that we bickered worse than an old married couple?
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, you’re one of my girls and I always worry about my girls. Eden not as much since she’s in the same town as me now and only a phone call away. And even if they are hanging out with Dean here, who I’ve known since he was knee high to a grasshopper.”
Julia sniffled and quickly wiped clean the evidence of the tear rolling down her cheek.
“I’m good, Mr. Richardt, I promise.” She walked back into his outstretched arms, and then whispered in his ear which had his gaze finding mine. Again, what the hell? “We must be going, we have things to drop off before we head back home.”
She let the word home roll off her tongue with such ease that I was sure she hadn’t even realized what she’d said. Oh, we were going home all right. To my home.
By the time we pulled into Baylor and Eden’s driveway, it was well past dark. I killed the engine and just waited to see how Julia was doing. It had been an emotional day, with a lot to take in for the both of us, but it really opened my eyes to how Julia could really be.
Besides the Richardts and the Jenkinses, Julia really didn’t have any family that cared for her. And despite everything she had told me she’d been through and the blanks I’d filled in myself, she truly had a beautiful soul when she put her reservations aside and opened her heart and her mind.
She made it through the Norah inquisition as to why we had arrived together with perfect poise. And listening to a twelve-year-old without sending any sarcastic barbs her way was an accomplishment for Julia. She knew just how important and special my Norah Bean was to me, and it awoke another part of me when I saw that she was making a conscientious effort to heed her tongue.
Then we went to Bea and Earl’s. Beatrice fussed over Julia as if she was her own daughter, if they had ever been blessed with children. Bea was like another mother to me, but also acted as my secretary as well. We got along so well that I thought nothing of the fact that she pulled me aside and harped on me for not telling her of the raving beauty in the other room. How was I supposed to tell anyone anything when there really wasn’t much to tell?
The last stop on my list was my parents’ house, although I may have left out that tiny detail to Julia. She may have given me the stink eye, which may have held promise of retaliation of the castration variety that would occur later. After a few awkward moments and some even more awkward introductions, she warmed right up to my momma. And my mother took an instant liking to her, too. After she gushed about how beautiful Julia was, she insisted that we stay for dinner. Stealing glances at one another and idle touches was all that had passed between the two of us since her stolen kiss in the truck earlier and I was more than ready to feel her body against mine again.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m tired,” she said as she lifted her arms as high as the inside of the truck would allow, trying to stretch. “This has been a long day. I plan on sleeping until noon tomorrow and then lounging around on the couch the rest of the day.” I wondered if this was her not-so-subtle way of trying to get rid of me, but she wasn’t doing the best job of it. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight. And if there was one thing to say about me, I didn’t always play fair.
“Did you ever have any holiday traditions growing up with your nanny?” I was resorting to useless chitchat, but I didn’t want to lose her company, not yet.
She briefly lifted a brow before she looked down at her hands which were linked together, resting in her lap. “Nanny always bought me an ornament every year. Didn’t matter what kind of ornament it was, I have all different ones ranging from poseable nutcrackers to a pink French poodle.” She chuckled mildly. “But they all had to have the year engraved on them, it was her thing.” Her voice grew sad as she released a sigh, and lifted her head, “I still have every single one she ever gave me, up until 2010, when she passed.”
I reached over the console and picked up the hand closest to me, brought it towards my mouth, and turned it over so I could place a single kiss in the center of her palm. Then I took in her wide-eyed expression, which was an improvement from being sad just seconds before. “Thank you for today. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” I knew how to lay it on thick, but this was different because it was entirely true. Even when we were peeved at one another it was still enjoyable. Never a dull moment between the two of us.
I wasn’t sure if I had rendered her speechless or if she was having a hard time speaking past her emotions, so she nodded her head.
“Why don’t you go pack a small bag and meet me back at my place? We can watch a movie while we relax on the couch together.”
She lifted a brow and questioned, “Why?”
“Because that’s
where I live. And if you recall, I have a little matter of a rain check from this morning that I intend to use and I’d rather hear you scream my name in my bed in my house.”
Her cheeks turned the faintest of pinks and it was always glorious to see her blush. She said nothing more before hopping out of the truck and letting herself inside Baylor and Eden’s house. I guess we’d see if she’d show.
Twenty minutes later, I had a fire started in my living room fireplace and had changed into a long-sleeved black Henley tee and flannel pajama bottoms. There were a few Christmas movies saved to my DVR; all that was missing was Julia. I was about to give up on her coming over, when I heard a soft knock at the door.
Whenever I saw Julia, even put together with her impeccable outfits and her flawless hair and makeup, I was never prepared. But when she waltzed in with her hair thrown up in a bun on top of her head and her face void of any makeup, much as she had looked in the morning, I was struck dumb and rendered speechless. She was a vision, plain and simple. Someone up above was rewarding me and I wouldn’t take it for granted.
She unzipped her coat and slid it down her arms which pushed out her chest towards me and good God almighty, she was braless. I had to put my fist in my mouth and bite down on a finger so I could calm myself down a bit before I threw her over my shoulder and hauled her ass to my bed.
Suddenly, I felt shy and didn’t know what to say or do next. “I thought we’d watch a Christmas movie, is that ok with you?”
Her eyes lit up, “Can I pick?”
“As long as it’s not Elf or A Christmas Story, I’m sure Norah will have us watching them on a continuous loop closer to the day.”