Bent (5 page)

             
He thought about following after her, but he told himself that this was his decision. His mistake. There was nothing good that would come from him prolonging the split. He sat there watching her sulk into the house. It took him another ten minutes before he could pull away.

When he didn't answer, she pressed the issue, "You promised me the truth. Did you leave me because I was going to school?" The staccato in her voice told him it was do or die time. He looked up and saw tears welling along her lower eye lid.

"No," he mumbled rubbing the palm of his hand down his face.

After taking a few deep breaths, she whispered, "Okay. So why?"

He glanced over his shoulder, "Does it matter now?"

"Yes, it matters. You wanted to know what I need so things aren't weird between us. I need this." The strength in her voice told him that while she didn't know about Caleb, she knew something.

Micah reached over to wipe the tear that was rolling down her cheek, "Because I cheated on you and couldn't tell you."

The truth was out. The truth she'd heard from friends within months of leaving finally came from his mouth. She'd imagined this day many times over the years. Never had she expected to feel relief at him admitting what he'd done. She'd envisioned slapping him, throwing things at him, even breaking down in tears but never relief.

Julia pressed him for details. She didn't want to know and it wouldn't change anything but she needed to know. Micah hesitated at first, pleading with her to leave it alone. He told her it wasn't anyone she knew and it wouldn't change anything. When she stood to leave, he started talking.

It happened at a party at Micah's brother's place. They'd been fighting about Julia leaving for school and Micah started drinking. The next morning, he woke up with one of his brother's friends tangled in the sheets with him. He promised that was everything, that he'd never cheated with her other than that one night.

A tear rolled down Micah's cheek as he begged her to forgive him. For cheating. For lying to her. For making her think she was to blame for anything.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear as she pulled him close to her. There was no anger, just love. It was a different type of love than she used to feel for him but it felt good to know that everything was out in the open.

He pulled away when he felt her forehead against his temple. "There's more."

Julia stomach turned. She'd gotten this far without getting upset. What more could there be?

"I'm so sorry, baby." Micah's voice was barely audible, "You know how you thought Caleb was mine and Carly's?"

Everything she'd had to drink started to make its way up from her stomach. "He is?"

"Oh, God no!" Micah shot up, "I told you that earlier. But... I'm so sorry..." he started pacing from one end of the table to the other, wringing his hands in his hair. "That's the night that Caleb... you know..."

Julia twisted on the top of the picnic table and jumped off the other side. She needed to get away. There were too many emotional swings for her body to process. She retreated to the picnic table to finish the conversation. "Did you know... that night?"

"Yes," he admitted. Still pacing, Micah didn't make eye contact.

The anger she thought she'd feel had arrived. "You are a filthy coward," she spat. "Tell Austin and Lizzie I can't make it tomorrow night. I'm sure you'll have no problem coming up with an excuse."

She flinched as their shoulders touched when she plowed past him. She had the answers she needed. It was time to go. She didn't see Annie as she walked through the bar so she kept walking. She'd call her later and let her know what was going on.

First, she had to get over the fact that everyone in her life kept the fact that Micah had a child from her. Now there was a constant reminder of Micah's infidelity walking the streets of their small town. The longer she stayed here, the more likely she would run into his love child. As much as she swore she was over Micah, that thought crushed her.

Some night out. She looked back towards the bar as she opened the door of her Pontiac to see if Micah followed her. She wasn't sure how she felt to see that he hadn't tried to come after her.

The house was quiet when she got home. Too quiet. She still wasn't used to the stillness of living alone. She turned on her
Angry Girl Music
playlist on her iPad to break the silence. Even the blaring music couldn't drown the replay of everything she'd learned. She hated herself for thinking she could forgive him. She hated playing his little games with him. Those games had allowed her to feel things she hadn't felt in a long time.

Once she settled into her new bed, she checked email on her iPad and took care of a few client requests. Images of Micah sleeping with some strange woman raced through Julia's head the entire time.

She went to the kitchen and poured Merlot into a plastic tumbler. She hated drinking wine out of plastic. On the upside, a 32 ounce tumbler held a lot more wine than a crystal goblet.

Back in bed, her thoughts drifted to Micah as a father. They'd talked about getting married and having kids after she was done with school. Caleb could have been their son, but now some whore was the one who gave him a child. A son. The tears she'd held back when Micah was opening up to her began to pour into the pillow she clung to.

She swore this was the last time she would let herself cry over Micah. Eventually, the tears stopped and Julia fell asleep.

Julia was rudely pulled out of her fitful sleep by a truck tailgate slamming below her bedroom window. As much as she wanted to go outside and unleash on the contractor for starting work at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning, she knew better. She was lethal before she had a cup of coffee and being arrested for assault probably wasn't the best way to start the weekend.

She tried to ignore the screech of nails pulling out of wood as the remodel work began on the front porch. Once she felt the coffee working in her system, Julia ran upstairs to get dressed. She also hoped to convince the contractor that it was acceptable to start a bit later in the morning.

The crying fit from the night before combined with too much alcohol left her eyes looking and feeling like two cherries in a bucket of spit. She dug through her bag for some Visine and splashed cold water on her face in hopes that the combination would bring some life to her face.

Once she felt like she looked fit to be seen by another human being, she came down the stairs in a pair of white running shorts rolled at the waist paired with a purple tank top. After the day she had yesterday, a long run sounded like a good idea.

A chill ran up Julia's spine as she stepped onto the wrap-around porch. "What the hell are you doing here?" she seethed. She was going to kill Annie when she saw her. She could deny knowing Micah was at the bar last night but there was no way she could deny knowing that he was the contractor her mother hired to fix the house.

"Good morning to you too," he said casually, not taking his eyes off the rail cap he was removing.

"You didn't answer me," she snapped. Micah didn't look up, just smiled and kept working. That made her even more angry.

When Julia's posture didn't relax, Micah finally lifted his eyes, "See, here's how it works. Someone gives me money and I do work for them. In this case, Mrs. Stevens gave me a nice check and I'm going to take care of everything around here that's been neglected. What are you doing here?"

Matching his sarcastic tone she said, "I gave Mrs. Stevens a check and she gave me the keys to the kingdom."

Micah set down the pry bar and came around to the stairs, seeming amused. Julia wanted to slap the smirk off his face but knew that he'd enjoy it far too much. "Well, if you're living here and I'm working here, we're going to see a lot of each other."

It had only been forty-eight hours since Julia was looking forward to living on her own. Coming to Brooklyn was going to be peaceful. She was going to reconnect with friends and enjoy the slower pace of a small town again. Now, she was face to face with the only man who'd ever broken her and he was smiling, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. Her dream life was quickly becoming a nightmare.

"Don't look so damned happy about it, Micah," she growled. It was far too early in the morning and there was no amount of coffee that could thaw what she felt for Micah. "You're a lying ass. You might be happy that you get to be here but I'd prefer if you'd try to walk the other way when you see me."

Even as the words passed her lips, she questioned them. Her head told her she needed to stay mad at Micah. Her heart had always turned to warm putty in his hands and was threatening to do that again. No, this was a time to listen to her head. Her heart was foolish and weak.

"You're absolutely right," he agreed putting his hands up in surrender. "But that doesn't change the fact that you have to live here and I have to work here. I can't guarantee I'm always going to run away from you. I don't want to run away from you. Hell, part of me wishes you'd beat the crap out of me and get it over with."

The thought of pummeling Micah for everything he'd ever put her through made Julia crack a smile. She'd never actually do it but it was an entertaining thought.

"Truce?" he asked extending a hand to her.

She didn't want a truce. The only thing she wanted was him gone so she could process everything. She contemplated whether or not she
could
call a truce with Micah before grabbing his hand and shaking. Calling a truce simply meant she wouldn't pull the ladder out from under him or throw a hammer at his head. It didn't mean she had to forgive him or be pleasant to him.

Without another word, she turned to go back inside. She hated it when Micah made sense and today he made sense. He didn't choose to come to her house, he was there because he was hired to do a job. Given the condition of the house, he was going to be showing up for a long time. The best strategy, she decided, was to find out when he'd be working on the house and try to be out during those times.

The morning was relatively uneventful. The screeching of nails being pulled from wood became easier to ignore and Julia was able to get some work done. She spent part of the morning looking over the social media presence for the country band from The Oasis. They had an incredible stage presence and their music was good. While the fans were the loudest during their cover tunes, it was the original songs that stuck with Julia. She scribbled some notes on a yellow legal pad at her desk and started to put together a proposal for helping the band extend their reach beyond southern Wisconsin.

Faced with bare cupboards and an empty refrigerator, Julia made a quick shopping list of essentials. She remembered that you didn't buy anything that wasn't critical at the local grocery store. Yes, there is something to be said for buying local, but when buying local costs twice as much the budget has to play a role. She grabbed her car keys off the shabby white table in the foyer and bounded down the stairs to the driveway.

She leaned in to turn on the car so it could cool down before she was ready to leave. Nothing. The battery was so drained it didn't even attempt to turn over. She took a few deep breaths preparing for what she knew she needed to do.

"Hey, Micah?" she called across the lawn. If the store wasn't on the other side of town she would have walked. It seemed like a better option than having to admit she needed his help.

"Yeah?" He didn't look up from the stack of lumber he was marking.

She didn't know whether to thank or curse Mother Nature for the late August heat that left him working shirtless. Not one to pass up on a nice piece of eye candy, she wanted to take in the sight of every ridge and valley of his sculpted chest but she needed to resist. Looking made her want to touch. She knew touching would make her want him. And wanting him was the last thing she needed.

"Did you need something?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

Her face turned red as she was caught staring at him. "Um, yeah. Can you jump me?"

The pencil in his hand dropped to the cement. "Excuse me?"

"My car. Do you have jumper cables?" She rolled her eyes. There was no way he could have honestly thought she was being so bold. When she was able to look up at him again, she saw that he was stifling a laugh.

"You always were so easy to make blush," he laughed.

He didn't have jumper cables in the truck. They were in a box he'd taken out to make room for the lumber he brought over this morning. As she walked to the house, hoping that Annie would answer her phone, Micah called after her.

She turned around just in time to see the keys to his truck flying her direction. He offered her his truck as long as she brought him lunch. As he started to tell her what he wanted from Subtown, she rattled the order back to him. Some things never changed, including the sandwich that Micah always ordered from the local sandwich shop.

Julia got behind the wheel of the full size pickup and adjusted the mirrors, chuckling because she knew how much Micah hated having things adjusted in his vehicles. If he didn't want her to crash, he'd have to deal with it. She slid the seat forward considerably so she could reach the pedals.