Bent (9 page)

She could get used to sitting on the swing with coffee every morning if she could find a gorgeous man to hand-deliver a roll to go with it. Julia grabbed her iPad and returned to the swing to get some work done. Most of the emails waiting for her were junk, but one email caught her off-guard.

Hey stranger!

Want to explain to me why it is that I found out from Turner that my big sister is back in town? You said you were coming back to Wisconsin, but didn't mention you were coming back to Brooklyn. Kinda rude. And what about you hanging out with Micah Friday night. You're going to start hearing a lot about him around town. If you're trying to figure out what's true and what's bullshit, let me know. I know you aren't going to like it, but he and I talked a fair bit while you were away.

Call me.

Love you.

AS

Julia wondered how it was that everyone in her life seemed to have stayed close to Micah while she was gone and no one slipped up and said anything to her about him. Never. It might go down in history as the one secret that was kept in this forsaken town.

It irritated her that they felt the need to hide the truth. Yes, it would have been hard at first, but she felt like it would have been easier to deal with if they'd been forthcoming with her about it. It felt like they didn't trust her to be able to handle the gravity of the situation. Hell, maybe she and Micah could have resolved their issues if anyone had bothered to explain things to her.

She walked up the driveway to where Micah was finishing making cuts. "Hey, can we talk at lunchtime? I'll buy today."

"Yeah, sounds good," he said as he kept moving boards and marking them. "Hey, Jules, you wanna come out and keep me company in a bit?"

Julia shook her head and smiled, "We'll see. I might have to take a nap. Some hot guy took me out last night and I didn't get to bed until late."

Micah played along, feigning anger. "Need me to take care of him for ya?"

A smile broke out on Julia's face, "Nah, I think I might like him," she teased while retreating to the house.

The smile didn't leave Julia's face as she sat down to check in with her clients. Once she'd sent emails to everyone to let them know she'd gotten moved and would be back to work on Monday, she decided to email her brother back.

Hey jackass.

Sorry I didn't tell you I was coming back to Brooklyn. I figured you'd try to talk me out of it. I'm renting a house Annie's parents just bought. Yes, I hung out with Micah Friday night. And Saturday night. And you'll never believe who Mrs. Stevens hired to do the renovations on the house. Honestly, I'll be shocked if he can turn this place into something livable. It's pretty crappy but it's cheap. So, now that we got all of that out of the way, when are you going to come and see me? And when did you talk to Carly?

JW

She picked up her keys to run for lunch and remembered that they still hadn't taken care of the dead battery on her car. Micah hesitated for a moment when she asked to borrow his truck again. Looking at his watch, he told her he would run her into town. "Sorry, have to pick up Caleb in thirty."

"You want me to just give you the money then?" Julia asked, uncomfortable at the thought of meeting his son. She was still trying to get past the fact that he had a son and the key role Caleb's existence played in their past.

Micah opened the passenger door and ushered her in, "Nah, it'll be okay. It's not like you're the only female friend I have."

The words stung in a way Julia wasn't expecting. She didn't know what she expected but there was something unsettling about being in the friends zone with someone who was so important in her life.

Micah's mind was racing as he drove into town. He kicked himself for the comment he made as they got into the truck. Yes, it was a true and valid statement but he hated the pain he saw in Julia's eyes. It was meant to ease her mind so she wouldn't worry about what Caleb would think seeing a woman in the truck. Instead, it made him sound like new women were a frequent occurrence in their lives.

"Jules?"

She opened her eyes, "Yeah?"

"About what I said..." he hesitated. Why was he suddenly worried about crafting every word that came out of his mouth when he was around her? "I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

Julia stared at the building in front of them as he parked. "I know," she said dismissively. She might claim she understood what he meant but her eyes told a different story.

"I just--," he was desperate to explain, not wanting to erase any progress he'd made in making things right.

As he opened her door, she grabbed his arm, "I mean it. It's okay."

Neither of them spoke as they ate lunch. Micah wished Joel Bryant would call to let him know they were back from camping. He needed to get back to work. He needed to put his feelings for Julia into a box tucked deep in the back of his mind. He knew he'd crossed a line last night, and again this morning.

Julia was the first to break the silence, "We really do need to talk about yesterday." Her voice was hesitant.

Micah folded his hands on the table. "I can't say I regret much of it. You?" Fearing he would see that exact emotion in her eyes, he focused on the napkin dispenser between them. It was the best day he'd had in over a decade. Even if she walked away today, he couldn't call it a mistake.

"No, but..." she trailed off. Micah wished she'd give him any sort of clue about what she wanted. He still had no right to ask for anything but the energy between them didn't feel like friendship. It felt like the piece of him that was missing had been found.

Taking a chance, Micah reached for her hands, caressing them with his thumbs. "You were the one who said we need to be honest. I don't think that applies only to our past."

The vibration of Micah's cell phone interrupted the answer Julia was about to give him. After the short call, he  grabbed her hand and raced to the truck. He explained that the call was from Joel. They spent some extra time at the campsite this morning and they hit a deer about twenty miles south of town. Joel wanted Micah to pick up the three boys and their gear while he waited on the tow truck. Julia offered to call Annie for a ride home. Micah told her it wasn't necessary but he understood if she didn't want to go with. He was relieved when she said she'd go with if it's what he wanted.

The truck roared to life once Micah got outside of town. He tried to maintain his cool with Julia sitting next to him. Inside, he was fighting an anxiety attack because this was the first time something happened with Caleb when he wasn't there. From what Joel told him, the car was totaled. Micah reminded himself that Joel said no one was hurt and Caleb would roll his eyes if he knew Micah was freaking out about the situation.

Julia reached across the console and placed her hand on Micah's thigh. "Hey, no point getting us killed on the way there." Her words were critical but her voice soft. He eased off the accelerator and nodded in agreement. That small gesture made him relax. She was still the one person who could calm him with nothing more than a touch.

"By the way..." Julia stopped, but Micah could tell this time it was to make sure he was hearing what she was going to say rather than to avoid saying something she wasn't ready to say.

He glanced at her, not wanting to take his eyes off the road. "Yeah?"

"No, I don't regret yesterday. But we do need to get my car running again."

Micah's laugh was throaty, "Come on, is that really what your big 'but ...' was about at lunch?"

Julia gasped, "Watch it with the big butt comments." She had managed to do what she did best so much of the time. She had taken Micah's mind out of the dark recesses of worry and made him laugh. Then, her face turned serious, "No, that wasn't what that was about. I'm just a little scared that we're falling into old habits too fast. There's a lot we haven't worked through. If we're honest, we don't know each other anymore."

"I know what I need to know for now," he stated with total surety. "We'll work the rest out later." He pulled her hand to his mouth and softly kissed her knuckles. "And in case I don't say it later, it means a lot to me that you're here with me now."

Julia sighed, "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

When they got to where Joel Bryant told Micah they'd hit the deer, Julia gasped. It was an understatement to say the car was totaled. The buck hit the front quarter panel on the driver's side and hit again near the back window as Joel drove under it. It was amazing to know that no one was cut when the back windows shattered.

"Hey, they're fine," Micah reassured her. He laughed at the notion that she was upset over the accident when she'd never met anyone involved and the group was sitting on the other side of the ditch playing cards as if it was the normal place to congregate on a Sunday afternoon.

"I know, but that's not good," she said, unsure of what she should do next. She followed Micah to the group and Joel excused himself to take a call.

Micah rattled off all of the boys names and playfully kicked the sleeping bags they were using as chairs. "Come on guys, get everything into the truck." He turned to Julia, "I swear, they look goofy and smell a little, but they won't bite."

Caleb and his friends transferred all of the camping gear into the bed of Caleb's truck and immediately started bickering about who was going to sit where.

"It's my dad's truck. I'm not riding bitch," Caleb blurted without thinking. His head immediately whipped to see if Micah heard his declaration. The look on Micah's face told him he was busted and they would be talking about it later. "Sorry, Dad."

"Just get in the truck." He rolled his eyes at how much his son was changing. Micah tried not to be hard on him, remembering what it was like to be a twelve year old boy, but there were lines he wouldn't allow his son to cross.

Julia laughed, "Like father, like son?"

"Yeah, something like that," Micah chuckled. It was surreal having Caleb and Julia here together. He liked that she seemed comfortable with the situation.

Julia leaned against the tailgate of the truck while Micah checked in with Joel one last time before leaving. As the men stood on the shoulder of the road talking, she noticed Joel glancing over Micah's shoulder at her. When Micah saw where his friend's attention was focused, he waved Julia over to join them.

"Julia, this is Joel Bryant. Joel, this is Julia Sanders." She saw Micah flinch after he said her last name, "Sorry, I guess it's Wilson now."

Joel laughed at the awkward moment in front of him, "Wilson Sanders, huh? I think Julia's a much more suitable name than Wilson."

"Well, I figured that if I'm going to make a name for myself, might as well make it one that will stick out," Julia shrugged, thankful that Joel was able to pull them out of an uncomfortable moment. "Julia Wilson, formerly Sanders. Nice to meet you."

"Same. Hope the next time will be better circumstances." Joel looked back at his Mazda and shook his head, "Well, why don't you get those boys back to town before they start eating one another. Amy's insisting that you're coming over for dinner tonight for doing this, just so you're ready for her when you get to the house."

Micah nodded, "Sounds good, man. No fights here."

Julia saw Joel's eyes flitting from her to Micah and back as if he was trying to figure out what their relationship was. "Hey, Julia, I'm sure she'd love to meet you too. It's not often Micah has a woman around to keep him in line," he laughed, punching Micah in the shoulder. "Sorry man, I mean it's up to you of course, but we'd love to get to know her."

Joel's invitation created a bit of an awkward moment. She expected Micah to jump in and correct his assumption that they were a couple but he let it slide. She could understand not saying anything to their group of friends since it would only lead to a hard time about how they
should
be back together, but why not correct someone who didn't know their history?

There was no point in trying to carry on a conversation as Micah drove back to Brooklyn. The boys in the backseat were  recapping everything they'd done on their overnight trip. From the number of stories they had to share, Julia would have thought they were camping for a week instead of one night. The good thing was that all of the boys were so caught up in telling Micah about the trip that she was invisible. She closed the eyes and listened to the banter.

Amy Bryant was waiting in the driveway when Micah turned into the newest subdivision in town. The boys barely acknowledged her existence before running into the two-story monstrosity of a house, undoubtedly to get back to the comforts of modern technology.

Julia felt like she was under a microscope as Amy looked her up and down, forming her first impression of the woman Micah had chosen to spend time with. She was getting sick of the feeling that everyone was trying to decide if she was good enough for Micah. She'd been more than enough for him at one point and she wasn't the one who screwed that up. Of course, if Julia couldn't stand up for herself to say those words to her friends, she knew she'd never say them to the perfectly put-together woman standing in front of her. Julia figured she had to be quite the sight in torn jeans, old t-shirt and paint-splattered Keds.