All the tears and trouble and the humiliation with Simon were now forgotten. She’d waited for the man she loved, and now she was going to have the first time she’d always desired. And in Florence, of all places. She had many things to be thankful for, including the string of pearls around her neck. She was pretty sure that Grace had had a hand in everything, and she silently whispered her thanks.
When she was finished with her preparations, Julia placed one of the casseroles of chicken Kiev in the oven and walked the second one down to the basement. Upon opening the freezer, she was surprised to find a lot of pre-made meals, stored in Tupperware or wrapped in tin foil, many of which had little notes on them signed Love, Deb.
Julia resisted the urge to gag at the sight of them. Deb Lundy was a nice lady, and she seemed to take good care of Tom. But her daughter Natalie was another story, and Julia couldn’t even fathom how upset she would be if Deb and Tom decided to move in together or God forbid, get married. That would be disturbing on more than one level.
Julia pushed all thoughts of Deb and Natalie aside and devoted her full attention to preparing her father’s favorite dessert, which was lemon meringue pie. He tended to prefer the pie that was served at Kinfolks, but that didn’t stop Julia from making her own.
She was just putting the pie into the oven when the telephone rang.
Tom answered it and within seconds was cursing loudly. After a few brief sentences that sounded work-related, he slammed the phone into its cradle and disappeared upstairs. When he returned, he had changed into his uniform.
“Jules, I’ve got to go.”
“What happened?”
“There’s a fire over at the bowling alley. The guys are there already, but they think it might be arson.”
“At Best Bowl? How?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
He was almost to the door when he stopped and hunched his shoulders.
“I’m sorry I ruined your dinner. I was looking forward to it. See you later.”
Julia watched her father back out of the driveway in his truck and drive away. No doubt Gabriel was already in the middle of dinner with his family, so Julia decided against texting him. She would wait until six-thirty and call him as planned.
When the timer went off, she removed the pie from the oven and inhaled the sweet, citrusy aroma. While she waited for it to cool, she wrapped the chicken Kiev and put it in the refrigerator. It would keep until tomorrow — she’d make a sandwich for dinner.
About fifteen minutes later she heard the front door open and close.
She hurriedly grabbed a plate so that she could serve Tom a piece of pie.
“How did you get away so quickly? The pie is ready right now,” she called to the hallway.
“I’m glad to hear that, Jules.”
At the sound of that voice, the plate slipped through Julia’s fingers, smashing on the old linoleum floor beneath her.
Chapter 27
Simon walked into the kitchen and paused, leaning against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. She stared in shock at a handsome face with blue eyes, framed by short blond hair.
Julia shrieked and sprang toward the doorway, trying to run around him. His large hand shot out to the doorjamb, effectively clotheslining her.
She grabbed onto his arm to prevent herself from falling backward.
“Please,” she begged. “Let me go.”
“Is that any way to greet me? After all this time?” He grinned, withdrawing his arm and standing to his full height of five feet, eleven inches.
Julia cowered just inside the doorway, her eyes darting around nervously.
Simon backed her into the kitchen, his medium-sized frame still intimidating. When he’d successfully cornered her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into a tight bear hug.
“Simon, put me down.” She gasped and squirmed.
He squeezed her more tightly, a wicked grin slicing from ear to ear.
“Come on, Jules. Loosen up.”
She struggled in his arms. “I have a boyfriend. Let go of me!”
“I don’t care if you have a boyfriend.”
He brought his face close to hers, and Julia feared that he was going to kiss her. But he didn’t. He pressed himself against her and allowed his hands to wander, smirking at her discomfort. Eventually, he pulled back.
“Wow, still a cold fish. I would have thought your boyfriend would have fixed that.” His eyes slithered over her lustfully. “At least I know I’m not missing anything. Although it’s still insulting that you’d give it up to him and not to me.”
Julia pulled away from him and sped to the front door, opening it and gesturing outside. “Just go. I don’t want to talk to you. And Dad will be back any minute.”
Simon slowly followed her, like a wolf following a lamb. “Don’t lie to me. I know he just left. Seems they had a bit of trouble over at Best Bowl.
Someone burned the building to the ground. He’ll be gone for hours.”
Julia blinked nervously. “How do you know?”
“I heard it on the radio. I was already in the neighborhood, so it seemed like the perfect time to drop by and see you.”
She tried to appear calm as she weighed her options. She knew there was no way she could outrun him, and she didn’t want to run the risk of angering him by trying. At least if she stayed inside she had a chance of trying to get to her cell phone, which was in the kitchen.
She plastered a fake smile on her face and tried to sound pleasant. “It was nice of you to stop in. But we both know it’s over. You found someone else, you’re happy with her. Let’s leave the past behind, okay?”
She tried to hide her anxiety, and she did a pretty good job of it.
Until he came closer and started running both hands through her long hair, drawing the strands up to his face so that he could sniff them.
“I wasn’t happy with her. It wasn’t about happiness — it was about sex.
And she isn’t the kind of girl I could introduce to my parents. You, on the other hand, were at least presentable. Even if you were a disappointment.”
“I don’t want to talk about this.”
He pulled the door out of her grasp and slammed it shut. “I’m not finished. And I don’t like being interrupted.”
Julia took a cautious step backward. “Sorry, Simon.”
“Let’s cut the bullshit. You know why I’m here. I want the pictures.”
“I told you, I don’t have them.”
“I don’t believe you.” He clamped a hand around her neck and yanked her toward him by her necklace.
“Do you really want to play this game with me? I’ve seen what Natalie has. I know the pictures exist. If you give them to me now, we’ll remain friends. But don’t push me. I didn’t drive three hours to put up with your shit. I don’t care how many strands of pearls you wear, you are nothing.”
He began to tug on the necklace, straining the knots between each pearl.
Julia brought her hands up to stop him. “Please don’t. This was Grace’s.”
“Oh, this was Grace’s. Excuse me. I spent more money on you in a week than they’re worth.” He tugged the necklace again, defiantly.
Julia swallowed hard, and he could feel her throat flutter against his fingers. “Natalie is lying. I don’t know what her motivation is, but I’m telling you that I left behind all the pictures of you that I had. I have no reason to lie to you. Please, Simon.”
Simon laughed. “You give an impressive performance but that’s all it is — a performance. I know you were mad at me because of what happened, and I think you took something for revenge.”
“If that’s true, then why haven’t I used them? Why didn’t I send them to a newspaper or ask you for money? Why would I be holding onto them for over a year? It doesn’t make sense!”
He crushed her to him and brought his lips to her ear. “You aren’t exactly street smart, Jules. It isn’t a stretch for me to believe that you have something that you don’t know how to use. Why don’t we move this conversation upstairs? I can look around for the pictures, and you can try to put me in a better mood.” He drew her earlobe into his mouth, biting it slightly.
Julia inhaled and exhaled a couple of times, trying to grasp at any courage she could summon. She looked up into his cold, blue eyes. “I’m not doing anything until you take your hands off me. Why can’t you be nice?”
Simon’s eyes darkened momentarily, and he released her. “Oh, I’ll be nice to you.” He started petting her cheek. “But I expect something in return. If I don’t leave here with the pictures, then I’ll have to leave with something else. So you should start thinking about what you can do to put a smile on my face.”
Julia cringed.
“Things have certainly changed, haven’t they? I’m real y going to enjoy this.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed his open, eager mouth to hers.
At six-thirty sharp, Gabriel excused himself from the dining room table and walked into the living room, readying himself to receive Julia’s call. The call never came.
He checked his voice mail. No messages from Julia. No new texts from Julia. No e-mails, either. At ten minutes to seven, he dialed her cell phone. After a few rings his call went to voice mail.