A Fresh Start for Two (4 page)

“No, not that I’ve seen. But I keep watching because I’m sure he’ll lose it someday. I want to be there to protect her if I can.” Lucia peeked at the door again to make sure they were still alone. “You have a girlfriend?”

Jake shook his head.

“I can tell you like her, so why don’t you try to ask her out? She doesn’t know what it’s like to be treated nice. You would be good to her. I can tell.”

“And how would you know that?” He sat up and leaned toward her, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“I can just tell. Women know these things.”

“I would have to disagree with you there. Julia doesn’t know these things. And I’m a police officer. Trust me, there are plenty of women out there that
don’t
know these things.”

“Maybe so, but I know. I can see it in your eyes, and besides, the way you treat us says a lot.”

“She told you about the incident at the restaurant?”

“Yes, and I’m glad someone called the police. She would not.”

“Lucia, I know you just met me, but I want to help her. That relationship is destined to end poorly. Why doesn’t she leave him? She doesn’t seem to be infatuated with him.”

“Money. Julia makes decent money as a waitress, but her mother has worked as a cashier for years, so they have very little. She has a younger sister just out of high school, also a waitress, but she doesn’t make much money either. Julia thinks she owes it to them to stay with Vincent because he’s so rich.”

“So her mother doesn’t care how he treats her?” Jake settled back in his chair, his arms crossed, mulling over this information.

“I guess not. After picking her up at the restaurant the other day, her mother told her that Vincent’s attitude was all her fault. She tells her to do what she’s told. The woman has the wrong view of what a relationship should be. Her mother is so blind. She only wants what is best for herself, not for Julia.”

Jake saw her as soon as she walked into the room. Her hair was down and long, hanging in her face. A pair of sunglasses covered her eyes, but it did nothing to conceal the light she seemed to emanate. “She’s here,” he whispered. He pulled out a chair for her as she approached and she sat down, all flushed. “Sorry I’m late. Let’s get going. We have a lot to do.” She kept her head down as they discussed the start of their business, discussing what they should name the shop, what products they would carry, and how much investment capital they would need. They were allowed to borrow from a bank in the beginning, so they calculated an acceptable monthly payment. They also found a place to lease on Main Street.

Throughout the whole meeting, Julia kept her head down and her sunglasses on, silently taking notes for the group without lifting her gaze or speaking up more than was necessary. After about forty-five minutes, Jake couldn’t stop himself.

He reached over and tipped up her chin. “Why don’t you take your sunglasses off, Julia? You don’t need them in here.”

She tried to pull away from him but failed. Fortunately, there was no one around to question his behavior—Lucia was as eager to get Julia away from that bully as he was. He had a pretty good guess as to why she was acting so muted, and he wasn’t going to let it go without comment.

He brushed her hair back from her face and her reaction was instantaneous. She jerked away from him and brought her hair back down to cover her cheek. Only she couldn’t hold back a pained wince, and he knew it. The bastard had finally done it. He’d hurt her and he was going to pay.

Chapter Four

Julia jerked her head back, not wanting him to see her injuries.

In a fluid movement, Jake pushed his chair back and stood up. “He hit you, didn’t he? That bastard hit you.”

Julia shook her head. “No, I fell. I fell and that’s it. Let’s get back to work. We need to finish this.” Hell, this was too embarrassing, even though they were the only ones around. Why hadn’t she agreed to go along with Vincent’s request?

Because this was something she wanted for herself. She was so excited about this project, about the prospect of thinking what she would carry in their store, that she had already created an entire Pinterest board showing exactly what she would want in the early inventory. Vincent was not going to force her to quit this class, and neither would her mother. She was staying because this was the one thing in her life she wasn’t doing for Vincent or her mother or her sister. She
needed
it.

Jake sat back down and she sighed, relieved to have escaped a scene for at least the time being. She knew he wouldn’t let this slide, which only made her feel warmer toward him. He had been so upset that day at the restaurant, and now he had that same look on his face. It was like he was her knight. He had rushed in to protect and defend her like no one else had ever done. Maybe Lucia sensed something about him that she hadn’t. What was it like to have someone in your corner?

Not that such a feeling was totally foreign to her…it wasn’t. Vincent had seemed to be there for her initially. He had taken her out to nice restaurants, bought her nice things. She held her head in her hand, her elbow on the table, just realizing how she had been looking for the wrong things. Money…Vincent had plenty of it, but what else did he have? He had told her he loved her once, and she believed him.

She pulled her thoughts back to the present. She couldn’t take being scrutinized right now. Thankfully, Jake seemed to be backing off.

Lucia whispered, “Chica, tell us. We both want to help you.” She reached for her friend’s hand.

Jake had guessed correctly—Vincent had slapped her before the meeting. And then he had gripped her hair in his fist and brought his face within inches of hers and told her to drop the class or drop the engagement. In response, she’d boldly declared that she didn’t care, and she had meant every word. Suddenly, his whole attitude had changed. He had apologized and begged her to reconsider. Now she didn’t know which way to turn. Through this class, her dream was finally coming true. Well, not really, but at least it was forming a life on paper. She was opening her own shop. No, it would be a shoppe, with a p and an e on the end, or a boutique.

“Julia? I want the truth. Please.” Jake was speaking in a hushed voice now, but he gazed straight into her eyes and her insides melted.

“Like I said, I fell. Please, I want to work on our project. Let me show you what I did on my Pinterest page.”

So she avoided the discussion by turning her laptop to show Lucia and Jake what she had chosen for their starting inventory; the turquoise, lavender, and white décor she had chosen; the sign for the store face; and counters displaying jewelry. Everything. There would be sprigs of lavender everywhere and lavender candles on the shelves, her favorite fragrance. She had put so much effort into this, and she had to admit she had done a beautiful job. Vincent had caught her working on it, and of course he’d told her it was the stupidest idea he had ever seen.

But not Jake and Lucia.

“On my gosh, chica. This is beautiful,” Lucia said. “You have the eye for this.”

Jake’s eyes widened as he took in all the work she’d done. “Nice, Julia. Did you do all that by yourself?”

She nodded, so happy they were impressed with her work that she found herself choking up. To clear away the mist in her eyes, she stared at the ceiling for a long moment. They had no idea how long she had dreamed of a store of her own.

Lucia packed up her stuff and offered a hasty, “Hey, I have to go. See you both in class tomorrow. I need to start my homework since I’m working tomorrow.” And with that, she was gone. It was obvious she was purposefully leaving her alone with Jake, but Julia couldn’t summon up the energy to be mad. Besides, she wanted to be alone with him.

As soon as Lucia left, Jake gently reached over and pulled off Julia’s sunglasses. Her instinct was to back away from him in shame, but he wouldn’t let her. Tears pooled in her eyes as he ran a feather light touch down her cheek. “Does it still hurt?”

She shook her head and stared into her lap. But he didn’t let her break his gaze—he lifted her chin and stared at the black and blue eye. She knew how bad it looked. Even if she hadn’t known, the fury in his eyes would have told her.

He leaned over and placed a tender kiss on her cheek, and the tears slid down her face so fast that he must have tasted the saltiness of them. “A real man would never treat you like that. You need to get away from him. His behavior will only escalate.”

Her voice echoed in the quiet building. Thankfully, there was no one else nearby. “I can’t. My mother would kill me.”

“Don’t listen to your mother. There’s a lot I don’t know about your situation, but I know you have to stand up for yourself. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

She gazed into his eyes and she was lost in their green depths. He placed a delicate kiss on her soft lips, but then backed away. For some reason, she didn’t want it to end. She leaned forward and kissed him, taking the lead this time, knowing it was wrong, but powerless to fight her attraction to him. Jake was like a beacon in the dark to her, pulling her toward him. His hand caressed her cheek, and the heat of his touch branded her, making her want to throw everything away for him. His tongue mated with hers until she gave a small moan, so he jerked back. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no.” She stared at her books. “I know you would never intentionally hurt me.” She gathered her books and stood up to leave. Before she left, he whispered, “Meet me at the race track, the old race track behind the quarry.”

“What?” She paused, uncertain.

“I want to spend more time with you. Come to the race track in two nights. Eight o’clock, I’ll take you for a ride. My friend has a car you should see. The track is deserted, but it’s been in his family for years. No one is ever there except for my friend and me.”

Without saying anything, she turned to leave. He started to follow her, but she stopped and swung around. “Please, no. If he sees you, he’ll kill me. He can’t know I am working on the project with another man…especially you.”

She spun back toward the door and ran after she glanced at her watch. Had he really asked her out? In a way, yes. And she wanted to go more than anything.

But if Vincent ever caught her, she wasn’t sure what he would do…

***

Julia got up the next morning and trudged down the stairs after her shower. Her sleep had been troubled and full of vivid dreams. There were three that she couldn’t get out of her mind. One was of Vincent beating and beating her until she screamed. As much as she tried to erase it from her thoughts, it would not leave her. Second, she had dreamed of the opening day of her store on Main Street in Summerhill. The shop had looked just like it did on her Pinterest board.

The last dream had been about Jake Ramsay. He had kissed her again and more—much, much more. He had made the sweetest love to her she could ever imagine, cradling her in his arms as if he had true feelings for her, as if he really were her knight.

Her footsteps echoed through the house as she made her way to the kitchen, still in a hazy cloud as she thought about Jake—both his kiss last night and the dream. So she ignored everyone and everything, plodding along wrapped in her dreams.

Of course, her mother broke through her euphoric state the instant she poured herself a cup of coffee.

“What’d you do this time?”

Julia squeezed her eyes shut and scrubbed a hand down her face. “Mama, can we just leave it alone until I’ve had some coffee?”

“No. I want to know. You must have really pissed him off.” She sat at the kitchen table, probably on her third cup of coffee by now, running her fingers across the plastic tablecloth worn from years of use. Her mother refused to remove it because the table was old and dated, like most of the house.

Julia sat down across from her. “Fine. He’s pissed because I’m taking an accounting class instead of an English class.”

“So why are you taking accounting?”

“Because. You know my dream has always been to have my own shop. I need to know how to do the books if I want a business.”

“Business, books, shop, horse shit. Just marry the man and do as he says. Then you can buy whatever you want. What is the big deal, Julia?”

“The big deal is that I do have a mind, Mama. And maybe I want to do more than entertain and volunteer. That’s all Vincent thinks I should do with my time once we’re married. Oh, and let’s not forget taking care of him.”

“So what’s wrong with that? Do you know how many women would trade places with you in an instant?”

“Good, then they can have him. I don’t want him.” She put some creamer in her coffee and stirred it, making as much noise as she could, her last statement reverberating in her mind. Yes, Jake and Lucia had helped her to see that. It was time to change her life.

“You better patch things up with him. We need his money, and you owe me. Do you remember why, or do I have to remind you?”

“No. Please don’t. You have ingrained that memory in my head. I don’t need to hear it again.” She cringed at the thought of listening to her mother tell the story of their father’s death one more time. He had been killed in a car accident after leaving the house in a fury. Her mother reminded Julia and her sister of that on a daily basis, and she blamed his fury that day on them.

Her mother kept quiet for a bit. Julia didn’t even want to look at her, so she stared into her coffee. Her face ached, she was so very tired, and she was just sick of it all.

She lifted her gaze to her mother’s, wanting her to see exactly what Vincent had done to her. Suddenly, a spark of anger lit her inside, hot and bright enough to make her speak her peace. “How’s it look, Mama? Did he hit me hard enough for you?”

“Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady. I’ve given up everything for you and your sister.” She glared at her, but then she broke down in tears. The same old tears that came out every day. They no longer had the effect they’d once had.

Her tone changed, crying as she stared at her daughter. “Julia, I don’t want him to hit you. But you should behave.”

“Mama, I do behave. I do everything he asks me to do, but it’s never good enough for him.
I
am never good enough for him. Can’t you see? He’ll never be happy.”

“I don’t like the bruises on your face. Julia, I’m sorry. You know I don’t want him to beat you. You’re so beautiful. Why would he ever want to mar your pretty face?” She rested her face in her hands and started crying in earnest.

Tiffany came in from her bedroom off the living room. “What’s going on?” She glanced at each of them before declaring, “Oh my God, Julia! What happened to you?”

“Vincent—he’s what happened to me.” Julia glanced at her sister, but then returned her gaze to the coffee. A few little grounds floated to the top, so she picked them out with her finger, not wanting to look at either her mother or her sister.

“What the hell did you do?”

Her head jerked back to her sister. “What the hell did
I
do? Why would you both assume I’m at fault? You should both know better. Don’t I always take care of you? I clean the house, and I cook for you or bring food home for you from the restaurant. I kiss Vincent’s ass so he can help take care of you, too. What do you two do except snipe at me all the time?”

Her mother picked her head up from the table and wailed, “Just do as you’re told, Julia. Please.” Her head fell back down and she cried even more. “I can’t take this…I have to go to work at one o’clock and I’ll never be able to make it today.”

Tiffany glowered at her sister. “She’s right, Julia. Just do as you’re told and there won’t be any more problems.”

“Tiffany, I would think you’d understand.” She shoved herself away from the table and stalked over to her sister. “How does it look?” She moved her face to within inches of Tiffany’s, but her sister backed away. “What color do you like the best? The black? The blue? How about the purple? How the hell can you say you love me if this doesn’t bother you…if you think I really deserve to get slapped by my own boyfriend?”

Tiffany’s eyes widened. “Julia, I didn’t mean…I mean…that looks awful. He must have hit you hard. I’m sorry, but you know how Mama loves him. I don’t work at a nice restaurant like you do. I barely make any tips. He gives us money.” Tears pooled in her eyes and she spun around, running into her room and slamming the door.

She probably shouldn’t have done that to Tiffany. Julia picked up her coffee and headed to her room, not wanting to deal with her mother. As she sat down on her bed, she couldn’t help but remember how delicately Jake had touched her yesterday. It was almost like a dream. She couldn’t really be mad at Tiffany—she was only eighteen and probably didn’t understand half of what she was saying. At least not
really
. But why would her mother want her to stay with someone so violent?