Your Julia. XO
A few minutes later, while Julia was in the middle of assembling two casseroles of chicken Kiev, one for that evening and one for Tom to freeze, her iPhone chirped with an incoming text:
My Julia, I’ve missed you.
We’re watching football too.
R and A have kissed
and made up and set a date.
Richard is something of a miracle worker,
I think, or perhaps it was you?
You don’t know what it means to me
to hear you say that you are mine.
Looking forward to your call.
I am yours, Gabriel XO
Julia fairly floated in the kitchen, buoyed as she was by Gabriel’s words and the moments they’d shared the previous night. Her dream was going to come true. After years of dreaming, Gabriel was going to be her first.
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!”