by Anna Katmore
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I still had difficulty accepting his explanations. True, the duck might have not been dead after all. And he could have climbed the twine ladder. Julian wanted me to believe it. Why would he lie?
Slouched forward, I rummaged in the drawer to fish out the list I had started a week ago, titled Julian’s spooky dual life. Reviving the duck and his jump fifteen feet up to the balcony added two more points to the data sheet. As I stared out of the window, my teeth sank into the top of the pencil and the taste of wood spread in my mouth.
Down in the vineyards, two small figures wandered along the path. My mother had looped her arm around Julian’s bent elbow, and he turned his head toward her every now and then.
Damn, I wished I could hear what they were talking about. He seemed to revitalize my mother every day, so she must know about his secret. If there was one, anyway. After all, maybe he just served her stimulant drugs in a drink.
Flipping the pencil through my fingers and dragging a long sigh, I watched as darkness slowly set. This evening, I wouldn’t wait for him to visit. The French door creaked on its hinges as I closed and locked it.
When I returned to my desk to hide the list in the drawer again, my gaze caught on my spidery handwriting.
“What’s your secret?” My whisper echoed in the empty room.
Ah, bullcrap. I folded the paper and shoved it between the pages of The Lord of the Rings. Maybe I had read a bit too much last night, and the images had rubbed off on me.
That night, sleep didn’t come fast. The clock’s hands had only moved a few minutes each time I checked, and I predicted this was going to be one long night.
Lying on my back, I listened to the shuffling of footsteps on the tiles in the hallway. Julian had returned from his stroll with the dragon. Minutes later, the wood on the balcony floor creaked under his feet. The curtains banned the porch’s soft light from my room, but the yearning to see him remained.
Close to climbing out of bed and dressing again, I tucked the blanket under my chin and turned on my side, facing the blank wall. The danger of these longings for him deepening loomed just around the corner. It was far too risky to fall into this particular trap. Hurt enough for a lifetime, I couldn’t bear to be pushed away again. If I kept people outside the secure line of my self-protection, they wouldn’t be able to hurt me.
In the morning, Julian and I were only going to be what I could afford the most to let happen. Friends. Nothing more. My growing fondness for him had to stay locked away in the depths of my heart. But those few precious moments I had spent in his embrace I would cherish forever.
Eyes squeezed shut, I willed the image of his warm smile to stop dancing before me.
When I blinked next, daylight broke through the slits in the curtains. A shiver gripped my entire body as cold enveloped my skin. The covers had slipped to the floor during the night. Dreams of a murderous Lou-Lou coming after me must have caused me to toss and turn.
I opened the balcony door, enjoyed the warm caress of the morning sun on my face and took a deep breath. The smell of Marie’s hyacinths and freshly brewed coffee wafted on the breeze.
Ah, precious Saturday. No work for the next forty-eight hours. The muscles in my back would sure appreciate it. With a giant yawn, I stretched my limbs.
“Jona, is that you?” my aunt’s voice drifted from the garden.
“Good morning,” I said loud enough for her to hear. On my tiptoes, I tried to get a glimpse down, but the best I got was a glance at the entrance to the vineyard.
“Come down, we are having breakfast out here.”
My stomach gave a rumble at the thought of toast with jam and orange juice. “Be down in a sec.”
After I tucked a pair of shorts over my bottom and pulled the black V-neck tee from Marie’s donated pile over my head, I jogged down the stairs and strolled out into the garden. Too warm to wear boots, I went barefoot, and the cool grass tickled my toes.
Everyone had already found a seat around a large table with a glass top where a colorful breakfast was laid out. Albert hurried to fetch another chair and placed it between him and Marie.
I met Julian’s gaze and quickly dragged my fingers through my bed hair. Damn, I should have taken the time to run a comb through that mess.
“Good morning,” I said again before I lowered into the chair. Steam rose from the pot when Marie poured coffee into my cup.
Julian lounged deep in the wooden lawn chair opposite me, with his fingers laced over his stomach. I raised my hand to give him a special greeting. A set of dimples perfected his smile.
Dear God, why did I lock the door last night?
Next to him sat my mother, but I didn’t pay her the tiniest hint of attention. I’d trained myself in ignoring the dragon at mealtimes. It helped a lot that she didn’t speak to me. She had stopped that habit when I had refused to eat her stinking cake.
An extra portion of milk and sugar toned down the bitterness of the coffee. I nicked a slice of toast and smeared butter and jam on it. Meanwhile, Marie scooped a spoonful of scrambled eggs from a ceramic bowl and dropped them on my plate.
Returning to her own cup and bun, she said, “Tonight, we will have a handful of guests for a little celebration, chérie.”
“Yeah, I know. Julian said so yesterday.” And I was most sorry that I couldn’t attend the festivity, but a throbbing headache would without a doubt come on sometime this afternoon. Suppressing a grin, I bit the corner of the toast.
Julian fixed me with an intruding stare that I could hold no longer than a couple of seconds. He couldn’t know what I was thinking, could he?
“Unfortunately, Albert and I are busy with party preparations, so we will not have much time for anything else,” Marie explained.
“Can I help you with anything?” I offered.
“No, dear. You have worked enough for this week. You should take a look at the beautiful side of France while you are here.”
I got a look at the most beautiful side of France when I glanced across the table.
Julian still held me captive with his gaze. His eyes sparked as though he knew what would come next and just waited patiently for my reaction.
“Luckily, Julian offered to show you around and to”—she paused and pursed her lips—“to entertain you.”
Having just sipped from her coffee, my mother sputtered the entire load in a spray of drops over her plate then coughed as if her life had met an early end.
“Good gracious, Charlene!” My aunt clapped a hand to her chest. Then she fetched a napkin and, leaning over the table, wiped up the mess. “Are you feeling all right?”
“And I thought you’d only see that in films.” Awash with disgust, I rolled my eyes. Nasty sprinkles of the dragon’s spit had landed on my glass. With two fingers, I pushed the juice away from me.
My mother took the napkin out of Marie’s hand. “I’m so sorry. Don’t know what got into me.” Her apology was an embarrassed mumble, matching the flaming red of her cheeks. She cast me a glance around the curtain of her hair, lowered into the chair, and ducked her head from Julian’s disapproving look.
When everyone had calmed down, I glanced at my aunt and Julian in turn. “There’s really no need to entertain me. I’m used to spending time by myself.”
“You are our guest, Jona. As long as you stay with us, I do not want you to feel bored, or worse, left behind.” Marie placed her slim hand on my forearm. “And Julian insisted.”
“Did he?” Not breaking gazes with Julian, my mocking grin mirrored his. “How nice of him.”
He straightened, propped his elbows on the table and folded his arms. The amusement vaporized from his eyes and was replaced by a warm shine. “There’s a place I’d like to show you. Marie said we can take her car. Today, I’ll take care of you, if you’re up for a little fun.”
My mother’s gaze snapped to her caretaker. The shock in her eyes was hard to miss.
Nonetheless, I ignored her. “We’ll dr
ive? Where is this place?”
“It’s a surprise.” The legs of his chair scraped on the patio as he shoved back and rose to his feet. “So if you’re done with your breakfast, get ready and meet me in the garage. Oh, and Jona.” He shot me a glance over his shoulder as he already headed to the house. “Bring a towel.”
I frowned, totally intrigued now, but he said no more. A glance to my aunt and uncle in turn only got me a tight-lipped shrug from each. I refused to search for answers in my mother’s face.
I licked my jam-sticky fingers and rose from the table. “I guess I better not be late then.” I could hardly bear the anticipation.
Rushing back to the house, I came past the twine ladder underneath our balcony where Marie’s hyacinth beans trailed up. Two fingers placed lightly on the skeleton structure were enough to pull it away from the wall. It confirmed my suspicion. Tacked to the façade, the construction of wood dowels and twine was hardly strong enough to support the growth of climbing plants. Never the weight of a grown man.
Lips pursed, I scratched my head. This was one fine lie he’d told me about the ladder. But one day alone with Julian would provide a lot of opportunities to draw out his secret.
After I retrieved a towel from the rack in my bathroom, I skittered back into my room to comb my hair. With my boots slipped on, I hurried to meet Julian in the garage.
Even before I rounded the corner, I noticed, with disgust, that he wasn’t alone. The voice of the dragon carried to me and stopped me in my tracks.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea, Julian.”
The muscles in my jaw tightened. Had he lured me into a trap?
“But I didn’t ask you for your opinion.”
Oh boy, Julian’s snappy tone had my hair standing on end. But he was out of his mind if he really believed I would go on a family day with Charlene.
Shoulders squared, my boots pounded on the tiles as I strode into the garage. An evil glare narrowed my eyes. “If she’s coming with us, I’m cancelling.”
Julian gave an exhausted sigh while his eyes rolled skyward. “No, she’s not. And no, you don’t. Your mother just came to wish you well today.” He moved his gaze to her. “Right?”
My mother searched his face, almost pleaded with her eyes, but Julian remained motionless. Then she skirted the SUV’s rear and stopped in front of me. “Have a beautiful day, Jona.” Even if her saying this was so obviously imposed upon her, the smile she gave me appeared genuine. So much so that I had to fight the impulse to smile back.
Saying nothing, I watched her back as she trudged out of the garage.
“Are you ready?” Julian’s enticing voice so close to my ear startled me. My head snapped around. His eyes were inches from mine, and I held my breath as one corner of his mouth twitched sweetly.
I raised the terry cloth. “Here’s the towel.”
“And I’ve got the rest.” After lifting a picnic basket into the car’s boot, he closed the door. “Get in. We’ve got a bit of a drive before us.”
Excitement gripped my heart. I climbed into the passenger’s seat. Simultaneously, we slammed our doors shut and fastened our seatbelts, then Julian reversed the SUV out of the garage.
For the first twenty minutes of the drive along paved country roads neither of us spoke. Lost in the romantic landscape, I peeked out through the window. With only little traffic, Julian sped south, concentrating on the highway ahead.
I feared he wouldn’t talk to me at all, but he surprised me a little later when he cleared his throat and said my name.
“Hm?” I tilted my head to the left.
“Yesterday, you know, with Lou-Lou, the duck and everything… You seemed terrified for a moment.” After the briefest glance at me, he stared in front again. “Did I scare you?”
Oh boy. And I had wondered how I would bring up the topic. All the better if he knew I felt something wasn’t right. “You—” But my own sigh cut me off. “No,” I finally drawled. “You didn’t scare me. But I’ll have you know I’m not buying your story with the twine ladder. I examined that thing. A bloody squirrel couldn’t make it up there without breaking the wood.”
Brows furrowed, his eyes snapped toward me. “You still don’t believe me?”
“Shit, no. But I don’t know why you’re not telling me how you made it up to the balcony. Did you step on Charlene’s shoulders?” I cringed at the thought. Under his weight her spine would have snapped just as easily as the wood.
Julian pulled a wry face. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“Then what?” I urged, shifting toward him.
He raised a suggestive brow. “What if I jumped and hung on to the railing?”
“What if you stopped finding excuses?”
“What if I get you some ice cream later and we don’t speak of it again?”
“I can’t believe you’re trying to buy me off.” But, damn, ice cream sounded tempting.
Although Julian didn’t confess, I felt like I was one step closer to figuring him out. There was only one question burning in my mind now. Should I be happy about my little victory, or scared as hell?
He shifted his glance to me and, though his lips were tight, his eyes shone with warmth and care.
No, Julian didn’t scare me. He never could.
“You better not forget about the ice cream.” And with another sigh, I returned my attention outside, granting him peace for the moment. I glued my face to the passenger’s window so he wouldn’t notice my grin.
The ride took a little longer than an hour, and with the final miles the landscape changed from rolling hills to flat plains. Fidgeting in my seat, I couldn’t wait to find out what kind of place he wanted to show me.
“How long until we get there?” I asked for the thousandth time.
“Be patient.”
“Be patient, my arse. Patience is for OAPs. I’m seventeen!”
“You sure? Because right now you’re acting like a three-year-old.” He laughed.
Minutes later, he pulled the car to a curb and cut the engine.
I turned a beaming face on him. “Are we here now?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes. Now get out, you little nag.”
Surrounded by a line of conifer trees, several cars, and a souvenir shop, it was impossible to tell where he’d brought me. The road we’d come on wound to the right and kept going into the distance. This was an interesting place, peaceful, but strangely isolated.
Hands placed on my waist, I twisted from side to side, getting rid of the stiffness in my back. As soon as a fresh breeze wafted around me, I got lost in an oddly familiar smell. Eyes closed, I took a deep breath of…Julian.
The unique cry of a bird echoed in the distance. Even though I’d heard the sound only once in my life, I recognized it immediately and threw Julian an amazed glance across the hood.
WHY IS A KISS COMPLICATED?
THE SHADE OF the trees dusted my naked arms with goosebumps while Julian unloaded the boot of the SUV. With the basket and two towels in one hand, he offered me the bent elbow of his free arm to hang on. His smooth skin burned under my cold fingers. I couldn’t help but skim them in circles over his biceps while we walked down a narrow path covered with small twigs and needles of conifers.
Julian laughed softly. “I probably shouldn’t say anything…but this really tickles.”
I lowered my flaming face and forced my fingers to lie still over his arm. I uttered an apology and was glad that he didn’t pull his arm out of my hold.
During our walk of a few hundred feet, the cry of the birds grew louder, raising a fountain of anticipation in my gut. “Seagulls?” My eyes fixed on the impish smile that hovered at the corners of Julian’s mouth.
“I guess this place wouldn’t be the same without them,” he replied the moment that the line of trees cleared and provided a view of the cliff before us.
It was crazy to ignore my trace of vertigo when I meandered toward the edge. But, shit, I had to take a look down.
The marvelous sight of the Mediterranean Sea rolling to the beach eighty feet below caused my heart to stop for a moment.
Julian’s tender nudge with his knuckles closed my dropped-open mouth. I turned to him and read the joy at my reaction in his face.
“I’m taking the basket and towels down first, and then I’ll come up to help you down the slope. Just wait here,” he said.
“Make it fast,” I breathed happily, struggling to keep the boiling anticipation under control.
At his reassuring nod, I leaned against the nearest tree and watched him skitter down a gravel path that appeared dangerously steep. But his promise to help me make my way down banned all the expected fear from my chest.
“Ready?” he said, panting, when he came back and held his hand out to me.
To slide my fingers into his stirred a pleasant tremor in my belly. My free hand automatically rubbed over the tingly spot. Julian’s warm gaze embraced me as his hand closed securely around mine.
The path being too narrow to let us walk side by side, he had me climb down behind him while he moved backward, facing me. His left hand stretched forward and I clasped it for support, while he steadied himself on the rocky wall to his right. On a pebbled patch, my boots lost their grip, causing me to slide down as if on rollerblades. But Julian kept his balance as I bounced into him.
“Whoa.” The squeal escaped me the third time I rushed down a foot or two and coaxed a low chuckle from my guard in front of me.
“Would you please stop laughing?” I scolded. “Why do we have to take this breakneck path anyway? Aren’t there stairs somewhere, or at least a less life-threatening way?”
“There’s an easier way to the public beach a couple hundred yards over there.” He pointed to the left. “But this place here is…well, hardly anyone comes down here.”
Rolling my eyes, I laughed. “I do wonder why that is.”