By Arrangement
"Did you see me? Did you see me?"
She squealed,
drawing near, but still far enough away that she drew the affectionate
attention of a nearby family. The other family laughed and allowed her
to
continue on her way.
"We saw you honey. You were
beautiful!" Jacob Brennan, Julie's dad, exclaimed and drew her up into
his arms. The man's
smiling face meant everything to the eight year old and she threw her
arms around
his neck and hugged hard.
"Thank you, Daddy!" She turned out
of his arms
toward her mother who was waiting for her as well.
"You were the best swan princess's
sister that I've
ever seen!" Sophie Brennan replied before embracing and kissing her
daughter.
"Priddy
Julwie."
Even her four year old brother Stephen got in on the act. His chubby,
brownie
covered cheeks dimpled up at her. "Priddy,
priddy, Julwie."
Julie wrapped her arms around her
brother, carefully
avoiding getting brownie on her outfit. "Thanks, Stevie."
She turned her gaze around the
crowded gathering in search
of someone else that she wanted to ask about her performance. She saw
him
walking over ahead of his father and stepmother. A
look of
pride shown brilliantly in his eyes.
"Did you see me, Will? Did you?"
Julie asked
him.
"I saw you, Jewelie,"
he said, his eyes teasing as he said his pet name for her. Gently
ruffling her
curling red mane of hair, he continued. "You were the most graceful and
the most beautiful swan in the entire show."
Julie's eyes sparkled at his
compliment. "Do you
really think so?" she asked.
"Absolutely," Will tweaked
her nose. "And you know what?"
"What?" Julie asked happily,
falling into step
beside him.
"Someday, when we're all grown up,
you and I are going
to dress up in prince and princess clothes and we're going to get
married."
Julie gasped. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Will grinned
down at her.
Julie looked from the boy to his
parents and back before
offering him a clumsy hug. She was sure that when that day came, it
would be
the happiest of her life.
The old lane hadn't changed.
Honeysuckle and morning
glories still grew along the wood and wire fencing that divided
property lines
and protected pastures. Where there was no honeysuckle, there were wild
blueberries and morning glories growing in abandoned profusion.
The mellow warmth of the Sun only
served to enhance the
enticingly sweet aroma of tender honeysuckle blooms to drift over the
winding
blacktop, soothing any that should pass, easing the cares and
frustrations of
the day.
Indeed,
Julie
was, of
course, behind the wheel of the sport utility vehicle, and she had
absolutely
no intention of risking sliding off the road. It made much more sense
to her
ordered mind that the opposite vehicle be the one to move closer to the
crevice
as his vehicle was already old and dirty. So when the other vehicle
simply slid
to a halt, half blocking her side of the road, Julie simply sat for a
moment in
stunned amazement.
A head encased in a baseball cap
poked out of the driver's
side window of the old Ford and asked if she wouldn't mind going
around.
Julie drew off her sunglasses, and
pressed the button that
automatically sent her window the rest of the way down.
"Can't you just pull over some
more?" she
called. Halfway up an incline, she didn't like the idea of backing up.
Besides,
the path around the old vehicle would take her much too close for
comfort to
the edge of the road.
"That's a little difficult at the
moment," the
man shot back. "We're already too close as it is." Julie thought that
his tone implied that this was her fault.
"So back up!" she called back, her
rising
irritation evident in her tone. A small voice in the back of her mind
berated
her for taking such a sharp tone with a stranger on a deserted road.
But the
pressures that she thought had been soothed away by the three and a
half hour
drive from city to country, rushed to the surface. She ignored the
voice. She
also ignored the one that told her that if she didn't get a hold on her
temper,
this entire incident would probably get back to Nana Franklin. Cedar
Hill was a
small town in every sense of the word. Nothing remained secret for
long.
Julie gunned her engine slightly,
hoping to encourage the
man to do as she asked. When he simply opened the door and climbed out
of his
truck, Julie cut her own engine and climbed out as well. Shoving her
sunglasses
back on her nose, she went to face the man.
He was as dusty and dirty as his
truck. And the baseball
cap, bearing a misting of something pale, looked more gray than black
as did
the deep brown edges of the hair that poked out of the sides. As he
approached,
Julie thought she noticed something familiar in the way he walked, but
she
didn't have long to ponder it because she was suddenly face to face
with a pair
of very familiar hazel eyes.
Her heart suddenly thumped into
triple time, making her
almost giddy with a rush of adrenaline. She practically forgot to
breathe as
time peeled away, washing her back to the day nine years earlier when
she had
last set eyes on William Michael Richardson Jr. The
day that
he had broken her heart.
"Are you all right?" Will's quiet
voice
penetrated her memory-induced haze, drawing her back to the present.
Julie blinked up into his politely
concerned expression
and immediately flushed. He hadn't recognized her.
Though she knew that, dressed in
business attire, she
looked very different from the Julie that Will would have been used to
seeing,
always trudging around barefoot wearing old cover-alls and cut-off
shorts. And
the trademark Brennan red hair, once worn in braids or pulled back into
a
ponytail, was stylishly cut and fell softly around her face. Julie
could not
bring herself to correct his misunderstanding. Her emotions felt far
too close
to the surface.
"I'm fine," she replied, finding
that the fight
had gone out of her. "And I apologize if I.
. .uh.
. . "
Will's face spread into a wide
grin, a curious light
appearing in his eyes. "Don't worry about it, I felt the same way. But
no
matter how much I yelled at the old truck, she wouldn't start again."
Julie felt her blush intensifying.
"Your truck won't
start?" She was mortified. And worse, her mouth was about to go off
into
nervous overload.
"Of course your truck won't start
-- you just said that. .
. ," she found herself babbling. "I have a
cell-phone. I could call someone for you. Or if you need a jump or-or
something. . . I'm really, really sorry for. . ."
The
curiosity in
Will's gaze grew, but Julie was too far gone to give it much thought.
She had
half started back to her truck, only wanting to leave with what little
of her
dignity was left in tact. A warm hand on her arm stopped her. She
froze, and
the tumble of words halted.
Will moved around to face her and
slowly reached up and
removed her sunglasses. He stared into her eyes for a long moment. It
was all
Julie could do to stare shell-shocked back into his hazel gaze.
"Julia?" he asked. "Julia Tracy
Brennan, is
that you?"
"Yes," she said softly, almost as
if she were
afraid that the word would somehow ruin the moment.
"It's me, Will Richardson," Will exclaimed, releasing her arm and
drawing her into a bear hug
that pulled her off her feet.
Julie barely had time to register
leaving the ground
before he had plopped her back down and was telling her that she looked
wonderful and how had she been.
"Thank you. I've been good," was
the best she
could manage. Will had always been a very tactile person, and very
demonstrative about his feelings. In light of the way she had made such
a fool
of herself at their last meeting, it all left her feeling a little
overwhelmed.
Will must have sensed her
reticence, because he took a
small step back and shoved his thumbs into his front jean pockets.
Ducking his
head slightly, he smiled up at her. "I won't hold you up. You're
probably
anxious to get up to your Nana's."
"Yeah, I am," Julie agreed with
him, grateful
for his sensitivity on the matter. "It's been a long drive."
Will nodded and handed her glasses
back. "Well, it's
been good to see you."
"You too," Julie told him, backing
toward her
truck. Then, suddenly remembering, she stopped. "What about you? How
are
you going to get going?"
Will laughed, flashing long
dimples. "Oh, it's a
straight drive. I'm just going to roll down the hill till the engine
catches.
Remember how we used to do that?"
Julie remembered only too well. She
smiled her response.
Will watched until she climbed back
into her truck and
directed her around his pickup. She waited to be sure that his engine
caught
before continuing along the lane.
The gentleness and beauty of her
surroundings did nothing
to stop the trembling that overtook her. After nine years, she had
become a
professional woman, dealing with all manner of clients and other
professional
people. She had learned to handle herself in any given situation. She
had put
her fateful relationship with Will Richardson far behind her, or so she
thought. If in nine years she had not learned to get over Will
Richardson, she
wondered if she ever would.
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