by Linz, Cathie
Julia had never really understood the appeal of French kissing before because she’d never been handled by a master in the fine art. As Luke leisurely unleashed his tongue in a moist probing of every curve and corner of her mouth, she truly became a convert. He convinced her that there was incredible gratification to be found in this oral thrust and parry.
Awesome, awesome. The words echoed in her head like a mantra.
Now he was adding slow reverent strokes to his repetoire. Julia would have moaned in pleasure, but that would have meant breaking off the contact, and she couldn’t face that.
A wild ecstatic surge of sexual energy consumed her entire body. He nudged his knee between her legs, and she lifted her knee to enable him to come closer.
“Stop that!” The order came over the loud speaker system and eventually worked its way into Julia’s consciousness. “Stop that right now!”
The real reason she stepped away from Luke was because she needed some oxygen or she’d pass out.
“Humans are not allowed in the dog race,” Phil barked into the microphone.
Slowly Julia became aware of her surroundings once again. Like one of those stop-action scenes in the movies, where everything else faded, telescoping in and out of reality.
A second ago her reality had been focused on Luke’s mouth on hers, his tongue dancing across the roof of her mouth.
“You’re breaking the rules,” Phil continued as the crowd scattered in disarray.
Julia slowly nodded. That kiss had definitely broken all the rules she’d set up for herself here in Serenity Falls.
She looked at Luke. He looked at her. And smiled. She knew what his smile tasted like now. And that changed everything.
For her.
But was it the same for him?
“Why did you do that?” Her lips felt swollen from his touch.
“Because I wanted to. You wanted it, too.”
Yes, she had.
But did she want Luke’s kisses enough to risk everything else she’d worked so hard to obtain here in this quiet town? That was the million-dollar question and one she had no immediate answer to.
“We’ve been shopping all morning,” Pam declared, “and you have yet to mention the kiss that shook the world.”
Once a month Julia and Pam went antiquing, hitting their favorite spots within a hundred-mile radius before stopping for lunch at a little French bistro they loved. The quaint dining room with its lace curtains and warm colors created a warm and cozy environment that was perfect for “girls who lunch.”
Julia had to admit that it felt good to get out of Dodge—or Serenity Falls—for a little while. Away from her zany family, away from the memory of Luke kissing her yesterday afternoon.
“It’s not right. It’s very wrong,” Pam vehemently stated.
Julia realized that she shouldn’t have allowed Luke to kiss her, but even so, she was surprised by her friend’s intense reaction.
“It’s wrong for you not to talk to me about it,” Pam clarified. “I’m your friend.”
“I already know you don’t approve of Luke.”
“That was before I knew that Sister Mary liked him.”
“Ah, the nun with the attitude. She’s from Rock Creek,” Julia reminded her, recalling Pam’s comments from the last time they’d gotten together.
Pam grinned. “I know, but I don’t hold that against her.”
Julia made no comment, instead focusing her attention on the excellent lobster bisque soup in front of her.
But Pam was not easily dissuaded. “All kinds of things have been happening this past week. Sue Ellen sees mystical faces in your llamas and is busted by Sister Mary. Toni disrupts the wiener races. And Luke disrupts the entire town by kissing you.”
“They’re not my llamas.”
“You know what I meant.”
“Now you know why I never talked about my family.”
“They do seem a little . . .”
“Wacky?”
“That wasn’t exactly the way I was going to put it, but if you say so I’ll go along with wacky. After all, you know them better than I do.”
“Yes, I do. And I had no idea they were coming.”
“Would it have made things easier if you had known?”
“It would have given me a chance to prepare. Although there’s really no way to entirely prepare for them, because I never know what they’re going to be into or what they’re up to.” Julia shook her head. “You couldn’t possibly understand.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you come from the perfect All-American family. Totally normal.”
“Every family has their issues to deal with. Even mine.”
“Has your mom ever been arrested for starting a riot?” Julia demanded.
Pam sat back in surprise. “Well, no.”
“Mine has. Not that I even call her mom. She prefers that I call her Angel.”
“Okay, so she’s a little unusual.”
“More than a little. She has llamas in my backyard.”
“They seem kind of cute.”
“You want them in your backyard?”
“Not really.”
“I rest my case. I’ve really tried to make a new life for myself here.”
“And you have.”
“Until I disrupted the races yesterday.”
“Well, actually your niece did the disrupting. You just did the kissing.”
“I didn’t start that. Luke did.” Julia groaned. “Listen to me. I sound like a five-year-old.”
“Are you falling for Luke?”
“Do I look that stupid?”
“Hey, I was just asking.”
“If I’m stupid?”
“No, if you’re falling for Luke.”
“Well, I’m not. Despite the fact that he’s an awesome kisser.”
“He is, huh?”
“That’s hardly a surprise. He’s had tons of experience.”
“Mmmm.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. I was just agreeing with you.”
“I suppose everyone is still gossiping about it.”
Pam nodded. “That and the lack of a winner at the wiener races. Your niece was the only one who actually crossed the finish line, but humans aren’t allowed in the race.”
“And now we know why.”
Pam nodded.
Julia groaned. “I can’t believe my sister just let Toni loose like that. She has no idea of discipline.”
“Who doesn’t? Your sister or Toni?”
“Either one of them. Skye believes that saying ‘no’ introduces negative energy into Toni’s world.”
“So she never says ‘no’?”
“Not unless Skye is talking to me. Then she has no problem saying ‘no.’ We don’t always get along very well. Maybe because we’re so different.”
“How so?”
“She’s always been the wild one. I’ve always been the one to pick up the pieces.”
“That’s got to be tiring.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Let’s get back to Luke . . .”
“I already told you I’m not falling for him.”
“Just kissing him for fun?”
“You think he was kissing me in front of half the town to make a fool of me, is that it?”
“Is that what you think?”
“No.” Julia didn’t want to have those thoughts. But that didn’t stop them from creeping into her mind like a dark sludge.
Wishing didn’t make it so, despite her mother’s New Age philosophy to the contrary. Wishing that Luke wasn’t trying to make a fool of her didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
Okay, now her thought process was getting muddled, and Julia hated that, almost as much as she hated the doubts nibbling away at her insides. She knew Luke liked making waves, shaking things up. He’d told her so himself plenty of times. And she’d heard it from others as well.
“What do you
think?” Julia asked Pam.
“I don’t know. When it comes to Luke I thought I had him figured out. Maybe there is more there than meets the eye. Not that what meets the eye isn’t mighty fine.”
“He’s not that easy to figure out,” Julia said. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Sister Mary isn’t easily conned. If she thinks Luke is worthwhile, then she must see something there.”
“You could try not to sound quite so doubtful.”
Pam shrugged. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt because of him.”
“That’s not something I want either.”
“What about his kiss? Was that something you wanted? It sure looked like it.”
“He caught me by surprise.”
“And . . . ?”
“And he’s an awesome kisser, like I said. I forgot where I was for a minute or two.”
“Four.”
Julia blinked. “What?”
“Mabel timed it. The kiss lasted four minutes, twenty-three seconds.”
Julia felt her face heating up. Putting her hands to her cheeks, she could feel the warmth there. “I don’t believe this.”
“Mabel had her stop watch out, so I think her timekeeping is pretty accurate.”
“I mean I don’t believe they were timing my kiss!”
“I believe only Mabel was.”
“Then they might as well all have, because she’ll tell everyone in town anyway.”
“At least Luke erased the digital picture that Billy took of you two and wanted to post on the Internet.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“From Mabel, so again, it must be true.”
“If Luke wanted to humiliate me, then he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to delete that picture.”
“That’s one way of looking at it. But in my book, he shouldn’t have kissed you that way in front of everyone to begin with if he didn’t want people gossiping about you. He may be used to the gossip, but you’re not.”
Actually, Julia was used to it, just not here in Serenity Falls. But all through her childhood and teenage years, there had been plenty of gossip about her family and their unconventional ways.
One of her most painful memories was being in school, kindergarten maybe or first grade, and being given a work-book her first day there. The other kids had already been together for months, but Angel had just moved into that area of Washington state, so Julia was the new kid in class. The teacher had told Julia to circle the things that were different from the others.
One of the other kids had laughed and pointed at Julia, with her tye-dyed skirt and too-big Mother Earth T-shirt, loudly declaring that she was the one different from all the rest.
That feeling of being the odd one had stuck with her, even though Angel had chosen after that to homeschool Julia and Skye until their teenage years.
Julia wasn’t just the odd one as far as the rest of society was concerned; she was the odd one within her own odd family. She never felt like she fit in.
Her mother and sister had no problem living in what they always called the “eternal present moment.”
Julia worried where they were going to get food the next day or pay the rent the next month.
Somehow Angel usually came through, but there was never any security in knowing that everything would be all right. Somehow Julia lacked those genes that assured the other two women in her family that there was never anything to worry about.
Or maybe they didn’t worry because that was Julia’s job. She’d never asked them. Maybe she should.
Julia’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of their waiter asking them if they wanted dessert.
“Of course. I’ll have the chocolate mousse,” Julia said.
“And I’ll have the crème brûlée.”
“We are sooo predictable,” Julia noted with a grin. “Every time we come here we order lobster bisque, the chicken dijon crepes, and our desserts.”
“We just have good taste,” Pam stated.
“You have outstanding taste. That’s why your floral wedding design business is such a hit at the nursery.”
“My parents weren’t convinced it was going to work out, but it has.”
“So things are going well?”
Pam nodded. “You’d be surprised how many people are planning a December wedding. Maybe they want the tax deduction for the year.”
“You’re such a romantic.”
“Not me. I like having my feet on the ground.”
“Me, too.” Seeing Pam’s look, she added, “Okay, okay, for one moment—”
“For four minutes, twenty-three seconds,” Pam inserted.
“—I let Luke sweep me off my feet.”
“You actually lifted your right foot clear off the ground and were up on your tiptoes with the other foot . . .”
“I don’t need to hear the play-by-play, thank you very much.”
“I’m just saying that it looks like Luke is already halfway to sweeping you off your feet.”
“Halfway doesn’t count,” Julia firmly stated.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Angel said. “I’m not abandoning you. Really I’m not.”
The llamas blinked their long lashes at her.
“I explained it all before. Remember, Lucy? Ricky? You’re going to love it here. Look how much room there is for you to wander around and explore in this pasture. You two have it all to yourselves. And your own stalls in the barn. The Millers are very nice people. You’re going to have a great time here.”
She paused to pat Ricky’s neck reassuringly.
“And I told them how much you like bananas and cookies, Lucy.” The llama’s long hair draped over her spectacular dark eyes and eyelashes. Her fluffy pure white wool was clean now, but that might not last long with the threat of rain in the grumbling gray skies.
“I’ll come visit you as much as I can. At least a couple times a week.”
Lucy moved closer to “snuff” her face with her black nose. Angel bit back a sob as she buried her face in the soft fur she dampened with her tears.
She wasn’t just being emotional with llama separation anxiety. Her issues with Julia were always there at the back of Angel’s mind. And now they were bubbling up as she hugged her llamas.
“It’s just temporary.” She reassured them and herself. “We’re going to have our own place soon, and everything will work out for the best. I can feel it. I just need to trust my inner guide.”
Angel took a healing deep breath. When she got in her vintage VW van, she had to take time to do a whole body chakra meditation. She worked hard to focus her power of attention directly toward her entire energy system, but the fear and anxiety were hard to remove.
And so it was that later that night, she found herself unable to sleep. Getting up from the futon mattress she’d placed on the floor of the den, she recalled how dismayed Julia had been when she’d seen her there. Julia had been looking dismayed a lot lately.
Angel had reminded Julia that she liked sleeping on the floor, like they did in Japan.
Julia hadn’t been reassured.
Angel pulled on wool leggings and tugged on a coat. She added her favorite fuzzy knit cap and scarf in hot pink and navy blue before heading for the door.
The skies were clear as she quietly let herself out of Julia’s house and walked down the deserted street. Midnight and not a soul around. The place was quiet as a tomb. All the houses were dark, no lights shining in any windows.
Yes, some people had their porch lights on. But it seemed they did so more with the desire to keep strangers away than to welcome anyone.
Angel kept walking, trying to escape her thoughts.
She heard him before she saw him. Tyler. Rollerblading.
Angel hadn’t spoken to him since he’d come to Julia’s house and fixed her bathtub faucet. Julia had gotten so upset about her offering Tyler a massage that Angel had felt reluctant to make any waves.
But that didn�
�t mean she was going to welch on their agreement. She still owed Tyler.
“Nice night, huh?” she said.
She’d startled him; she could tell by the way his body stiffened. Wanting . . . no, needing to keep him nearby, she said, “I couldn’t sleep. I moved the llamas from my daughter’s backyard tonight. That was hard. Not that moving them was hard. They went into the trailer without any trouble at all. But it was hard for me to leave them at the farm I’d chosen for them. Not because I don’t think they’ll be well cared for. But it seemed like I was abandoning them.” She shivered. “I told them I wasn’t, but I’m not sure how much llamas understand. Well, I know they understand a lot, but I’m not sure if I was communicating effectively with them. Maybe I should have said something else. Maybe there’s a Peruvian phrase that would have reassured them.”
“Sounds more like you’re the one needing reassurance.”
She was surprised by his insight.
“Have you ever had a secret so big you didn’t know how to fix it?” The words tumbled from her lips.
There was a long pause before Tyler spoke. “Yeah.” His voice was gruff.
“Really? What did you do about it?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing for the past . . . well, thirty years now. Nothing. But that’s not working for me anymore. I have to do something to make it right.”
“Thirty years is a long time.”
“I know.”
“Goes by fast,” Tyler said.
“Yeah, it does. Scary, huh?”
“I would have thought a New Age woman like you would have a positive perspective on the subject of time.”
“I do most of the time. There’s that word again. Time. A strange concept, isn’t it? It’s just one way of marking our shared planetary presence here on Earth.”
Tyler made no comment.
“Anyway, I haven’t forgotten that I still owe you a massage. Unless there’s something else I can do for you? Some way I could help you the way you helped me?”
“I’m beyond help.”
His words wounded her heart. “Don’t say that. No one is beyond help.”
“Now you sound like Sister Mary.”
“Do you know her?”
“Our paths crossed.”
“I helped her at the food pantry over in Rock Creek. I liked her.”