Julia's Journey (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 2)

by Lowe, T. I.

  “Well, honey. That should tell you something.”

  He looks over at me with a sincere smile. “I guess it should.”

  Once we are checked in and settled at the campground in Kentucky, we eat a supper of large chef salads we picked up at a deli before arriving. I’ve managed four good bites and this seems to appease Greyson. I leave him to finish both our salads as I go wash off the day of traveling.

  Greyson has been true to his word about lots of natural exercise. He keeps us busy all day long with some excursion or another. If there is a trail around, we hike it. We also walk almost everywhere we need or want to go. Our new routine for the towns we visit is to park the mopeds and strike out on foot to explore what they have to offer. Each town is quaint and filled with little shops, museums, and galleries to explore, yet each one is unique in its own certain ways. Greyson always sniffs out homemade chocolates in every town. It’s really his only indulgence. He’s diligent about eating clean. I know he’s on a mission to reclaim his health, and he is one dedicated man. It really encourages me to work on some things myself. The traveling days are surprisingly tiring, too, and I’ve found that I am starting to sleep better.

  I came unglued last week when we ran out of protein shakes that I had faithfully consumed most every day. I insisted on mixing the new batch of shakes so Greyson handed over a giant container of the mix and a case of waters along with a funny look on his face. It was an odd mixture of apprehension and amusement. I searched the back of the container for the proper measurements and discovered the calorie count per shake and went into shock.

  “Greyson Stone!” I yelled. “You mean to tell me that for every two scoops of this mess, I’ve been consuming nine hundred calories!”

  He looked at me crassly, and then broke out laughing. “I’ve been putting three scoops per bottle. Oops!” He laughed way too hard at that so I threw a water bottle at him. Needless to say, I have drunk my last protein shake.

  I slide on a nightshirt after my shower, grab my journal, and go have a seat at the picnic table with Greyson. He is already scribbling away in his journal. I smile when I discover yet another Bible verse tucked on the next blank page. It’s Proverbs 24:13-14. Eat honey my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

  Before I can comment or cry or something, Greyson stands and heads inside. At the door, he speaks over his shoulder. “Good night, honey.”

  He leaves me speechless as I sit and reread the verse over several times. I know he has given me this little treasure with a double meaning. Referencing the honey is obvious from the talk we had earlier today. But he is also intriguing me to explore the words of the Bible that are so foreign to me. I wasn’t raised in church. And to be honest, the only times I’ve stepped foot in one was for either a wedding or a funeral.

  I keep turning the words of the verse over in my head long after I’ve gone to bed tonight. I want to hope for a better future, because I just don’t know if I can keep bearing the past. I’m so confused on how to obtain it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Greyson

  Today we are at one of the most majestic sights I have ever seen. We’ve hiked up to a beauty of a waterfall that resides in the Kentucky Mountains. The waterfall is surrounded by beastly boulders and lush green forest. Everywhere I look, I spot something more glorious than before, and the sound of the rushing water pushes all other thoughts out of my mind. I live in this moment and savor it. This place is like salve for my soul.

  I’m succeeding in this until I catch sight of Julia playing on that stupid phone of hers. She’s constantly checking her social media crap or meticulously counting calories on that app. Julia thinks I don’t notice, but I notice everything about this chick. Always have.

  I’m really fed up with it. She glances away so I take advantage and snatch the phone out of her hand. I text her sister Savannah and her brother John Paul’s contact information to my phone.

  “What are you doing?” Julia demands.

  I ignore her as I take the phone apart into three pieces. I lob each piece into the water while Julia is screeching out like she’s near death. She calls me a few choice words I choose not to repeat.

  “Why did you do that?” she whines out, slapping me in the arm.

  “I’ve had enough of it. No worries though.” I pull out my phone and send her sister and brother a heads up text. “I sent your sibling’s numbers to my phone. I also sent them texts with mine so they know how to contact you.” I show her the two incoming texts. Savannah’s pops up first. She sends lots of grinning emoji faces. I can picture that cute face lit up with her very own grin. Even though she’s never spoken a word to me, I know we connected when we met, as though we were both on the same page as to wanting the best for her older sister.

  “She likes you for some reason,” Julia says in disbelief as we continue to stare at my phone’s screen.

  The next text is from John Paul, whom I’ve never met, but have heard enough about that I know we would hit it off too. He’s a man’s man and likes to tell some tall-tales, I’ve heard. I love how fondly Julia talks about her siblings. I’m an only child, so I don’t know how that feels. John Paul’s text is simply, K.

  “That’s so touching,” I mock as I show Julia the screen, and she rolls her eyes.

  “I can’t believe you just did that to my phone.” She’s still fuming with her face all flushed. I try not to think about how appealing she looks in this moment.

  “You promised to do it my way on this trip. No phone is my way.”

  “Well…” she starts as she pulls her shirt off and leaves me speechless. Oh crap. Here we go… “I’m a grown woman and can do as I so please.” With that the shorts and underclothes are shed and thrown on the ground. Julia wades into the water, squealing from the cold temperature of it.

  “You need to keep your clothes on too! I’m sick of your stripteases every time I turn around!” I yell at her as I scan the area for people. Sure enough an older man is passing at this very moment, laughing.

  “If that’s the only problem you have with that young lady, then you are one lucky man.” He laughs some more, but continues walking without checking Julia out too much.

  “Yeah. If that was the only problem!” I bark out and rub my hands over my face.

  “Loosen up a bit, Stone,” Julia croons from the water’s edge before dunking under the waterfall’s spray.

  I turn away and keep guard as I slump on top of a big boulder. Eventually she sits behind me and leans into my back. I hold my breath until she confirms. “I have my clothes back on.”

  I sigh. “You really need to learn to keep them on.”

  “You’re such a prude,” she teases.

  “No. I’m not. It’s sad that you don’t even recognize when a man is trying to respect you.”

  Julia shuts up at this and seems to be pondering what I just said. She leans into me more and whispers, “I’m sorry. I just… I act out sometimes. Trying to combat other issues.”

  We sit, warming ourselves in the sun for a while when I hear her whisper, “Please don’t die.” And man do those words punch me in the gut.

  Reaching over my shoulder, my fingers comb through her wet hair. Julia has never been able to handle her emotions. Not since I’ve known her, anyway. She either acts out or shuts down. It’s her fight or flight instinct. “I can’t promise you that. We all die. We’ve just seen that bitter reality with Marna and Bella. I can’t promise you I won’t die… But I can promise you I will live. God has given us this gift of life and we shouldn’t squander it.”

  “How?”

  “We both need to work on living healthy. You really need to work on why you don’t eat… Or maybe you already know and you need to find a healthier way of dealing with it.”

  “I don’t know a healthy way.”

  “Maybe talking about it,” I sugge
st.

  “I can’t…”

  I turn around and face her. “Look at everything I’ve shared with you. You have no idea how difficult that was for me. I’d rather you had never found out about the cancer. I hate how weak I am and you have no idea how wicked of a low it was to have my butt handed to me right in front of you. I couldn’t protect you…” I trail off in disgust. That bar brawl still doesn’t sit well with me.

  We sit for a while longer until she speaks. “I have a stomach ache,” she admits. I start to get up and take her back to the RV, but she beckons me to sit back down. “I always have it. Neither from sickness nor from hunger. I use the hunger pangs to mask the deeper pain.” Julia goes quiet, so I sit and patiently wait for her to continue. “I met this man when I was fifteen. I thought he loved me, but he put that pain there and I can’t get rid of it.” She bats away a stray tear and reaches to hold my hand. I hold it tight as she continues. “He stripped me apart and left nothing but pain. The only way I can handle it is to focus on another pain. Pain from hunger or pain from hangovers and pretend that’s the cause. If it’s just hunger pangs, well… I’m in control of my pain and not him.”

  I think back some. I met Julia when she was sixteen. I think some more and get angry. No man had any business doing anything with a fifteen-year-old girl. One word pops into my head—rape. I gather Julia and hold her fiercely, wanting to protect her from the hurt, but failing. I have watched this woman abuse herself all of these years—unable to make sense of it until now. It blows my mind that she actually thinks she can cancel out the hurt this scumbag inflicted on her by adding her own.

  “Julia. Please tell me he’s rotting in prison somewhere.”

  “No. He’s rotting in hell.”

  I hold her closer. My arms ache from trying to restrain from holding her too tightly.

  “Can we just drop it for now?” she asks quietly.

  “For now,” I agree. “But you deserve to live without all of this pain. Julia, you really need to seek out some help.” I brush her hair back and meet her eyes.

  “Can we just finish out this trip first? I really need to see this through with you.”

  I nod my head, feeling defeated and hurting all over with the realization I may not be able to help her. I regard Julia tucked in my side with my arm holding her close and I swear it seems that my arms were made to do nothing more than to protect this woman. I want nothing more than to help her heal from this burden. The sad realization washes over me that I know firsthand—some things, well more closely a lot of things, are out of our hands. All I can do is pray that God heals her.

  We lay back on the boulder, letting the sun warm us in silence until I hear someone walk up and clear his throat. Julia and I both open our eyes and stare over at a young park ranger. The dude looks fresh out of the academy.

  “Hey there, sir,” I say as politely as I can. The way he’s looking at us has me worried.

  He pulls his hat off and starts circling the rim nervously in his hands. “I hate to do this, but I have to arrest the two of you.”

  Julia sits up. “What?” The chick’s voice rings with annoyance.

  I place my hand on her arm and silently beg her to shut up. “Can I ask on what charges?” I have my friendly expression plastered on my face, hoping to win him over with kindness.

  He clears his throat and actually blushes. “Public nudity.” He glances at Julia and the blush becomes fiercer. He turns his eyes back to me. “And littering the falls.”

  “How in the world did you know about that, sweetie?” Julia starts playing her nice card, but I have a feeling it’s not going to help us out of this jam.

  He nods up at the trees where, I notice for the first time, cameras are tucked. “This is a protected waterfall and is under surveillance. It’s all been caught on tape. I sure wish I didn’t have to arrest you, but beings that it’s been recorded there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “Oh,” I state, because what else can I really say?

  The young ranger also points at a sign near the edge of the water that we completely overlooked. I’m guessing it wouldn’t have deterred Julia anyway. “It’s also against the law to swim in the falls.”

  “Well, that’s such a shame,” Julia comments in all seriousness.

  “No worries, man. We broke the law.” I stand up and pull Julia to her feet.

  “If you go willingly, I won’t have to cuff you,” he says eagerly.

  “Cuffs might be fun,” Julia continues to flirt, making the poor guy turn crimson again. She really shouldn’t tease him that way. I roll my eyes at her and she shrugs her shoulders, grinning.

  “Lead the way, man.” Gesturing with my hand, my partner in crime and I follow behind him.

  Ranger Milligan escorts us to the ranger’s station where we are both booked, fingerprinted, and have to pose for mugshots. The ranger is a good sport and takes a few mugshots with my phone at my request. We both give our million dollar smiles as he clicks away. The young dude is pretty easygoing and lets us hang out in the lounge while my credit card is being processed for the two thousand dollar fine. As we wait, I send the pictures and a caption to my parents that says, These two idiots got arrested goofing off at a Kentucky Waterfall. My mom texts back, That’s what the two idiots deserve. My dad sends, you need to be bailed out? I send back, yes mom and no dad. I look over at Julia as she studies her can of diet pop. I show her the text and she laughs.

  “Well, Thorton. I guess we can add arrest to the list and mark it off.” I shake my head disapprovingly. “You just keep adding all sorts of jewels to this trip.”

  She glares over at me. “Me? You’re the one who polluted that beautiful waterfall.” Leave it to Julia to blame all of this on me.

  “You drove me to it. Then you go and give this entire county a private strip show that is on video.” I scoff with my eyes wide.

  She looks away. “Well… That’s unfortunate.” She tries to pout, but we both end up bursting out in laughter at the absurdity of the day’s events. I’ll definitely have a lot to add to my journal tonight. I already have the Bible verse for Julia picked out. Genesis 3:10 - He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

  I just bet she will love that one. I chuckle to myself at the thought of it. Yep. Lots to journal about tonight. If we ever get out of here…

  Chapter Sixteen

  Julia

  I’m sleeping so well and just want to snuggle down in this heavenly bed and keep on at it, but I can’t, because there’s this annoying sound. Tap….scrape. Tap…scrape. The sound is repeating slowly over and over. I crack an eye open and find Greyson propped up on the bed beside me, working his way through a bowl of oatmeal.

  “What…” I stutter. “What are you doing?” Greyson never beats me awake in the mornings.

  “Sleep stalking you for a change. I thought I’d give it a go since you seem to enjoy doing it so much.” He pauses to swallow another bite. “I have to admit, you are quite adorable when you drool.” He grins, shining that mouth full of perfectly polished teeth.

  “I don’t drool,” I say as I wipe the corner of my mouth to be sure. No sign of spit. Good. “Why are you up so early?”

  “There’s somewhere I would like for you to accompany me,” he says formally as he polishes off his breakfast. He gets up and places his bowl in the sink and this is when I notice it’s still dark out.

  “The sun isn’t even awake yet. What time is it?” I slowly sit up, but all I really want to do is go back to sleep.

  “A little before sunrise. We need to leave in about ten minutes or we are going to miss it.”

  “Miss what?” I grumble.

  “You’ll have to wait and see. I’ll even escort you on my moped.” He waggles his eyebrows at me and I have to laugh because Greyson Stone is not normally a morning person. He’s clearly excited about whatever he’s found for us to do.

  “Ugh. You expect me to be ready in ten minutes?” />
  He looks at his watch that he rarely wears. “Eight minutes now. Come on,” he says as he pulls me to my feet. “You’re wasting time. Just brush your nasty teeth and slap some clothes on.”

  “Wow, Stone. You really know how to sweet-talk a lady,” I say to his back as he quickly heads outside. I hurry to the bathroom and do as Mr. Bossy Pants has ordered. As I brush my teeth, I listen to the familiar sounds of the compartment opening on the back of the RV and the moped being rolled out. After I finish with my teeth, I pull on a pair of jeans and a scooped neck shirt. With the time constraint I opt to roll my long hair in a low, messy side bun. I top it off with one of Greyson’s tan fedora hats, before sliding on a pair of flats and heading out the door. Greyson is already perched on top of the moped, waiting on me.

  “Always picture perfect, Thorton,” he comments.

  I hop on behind him and place a quick kiss on his adorable cheek before I think to stop myself. “Thank you. Now lead us on, sir,” I state in mock enthusiasm, causing my driver to chuckle.

  Greyson races us along in the gray darkness of early morning. I can tell we are driving up an incline so I guess we are heading up to check out another mountain. He pulls up several minutes later to what I’m guessing is the side of a mountain and parks the moped. Without a word, he grabs hold of my hand and leads me through a small patch of woods. We emerge to several rows of long wooden benches. Visitors are already seated and facing towards a large wooden cross that seems to be balanced on the side of the cliff. Greyson seats us near the middle. As the benches fill, I sit here and try to figure out how all of these people would know to congregate here. And I wonder how on earth Greyson finds all of these goings-on, for that matter. We sit in this silent group for only mere minutes before a whisper of a song works its way through the crowd. I look around for a song leader, but there is none. The song just seems to happen all on its own. I could barely hear it at first. The group sings about a healer setting them free. They say they could sing of his love forever. Words about opening up your heart and being set free repeat over and over and it’s magical.