Chapter 34
Julien’s phone buzzed on his desk, the screen lighting up with an incoming text. A smile took over his face when he saw it was from Martha.
Martha
Just texting to say I hope you have a great day!
They still weren’t able to spend as much time together as he’d like because of his long hours at work and the fact that she’d started back at the library, but they were finding ways to stay connected.
Mainly one of them would randomly reach out for no other reason than to simply let the other person know they were thinking of them.
Small texts. Social media reels. Memes. Video clips.
Random little tidbits that didn’t have any significant meaning other than to convey I’m thinking about you.
Julien had heard one of his younger employees refer to such a thing as pebbling.
The phrase came from the mating rituals of the Gentoo penguins, who carefully selected pebbles as symbols of their affection for their mate.
Of course as soon as Julien learned that, he’d ordered a penguin stuffed animal to be delivered to Martha as well as Penguin’s Perfect Pebble by IglooBooks.
Maybe other men sent their girlfriends flowers, but he’d thought Martha would appreciate a children’s book more than a dozen roses.
Although there wasn’t anything stopping him from sending her flowers as well . . .
After completing a flower delivery order, he returned to his text messages.
He scrolled up, rereading some of their previous exchanges.
Days before, she’d gone to have lunch with her parents to tell them about her relationship with Julien.
He’d offered to go with her, but she’d declined, saying they wouldn’t feel comfortable expressing their true feelings with him present.
Julien had tried to assure her that everything would be fine, but she had it in her head that her parents would have some things to say about her stepping across the social-class lines.
Every time he’d opened his mouth, she’d cut him off, saying it was something she needed to discuss with her parents alone but that later on, when they got used to the idea, he could accompany her to spend time with them.
Martha
Did you know our parents are friends? Like, our moms do brunch together twice a month and our dads practice their golf swings in the backyard.
Julien
I did know that, yes.
Their relationship had developed past professional into friendship a few years ago.
He was surprised Martha wasn’t aware, but then he’d thought about it and concluded that it was something the Aldridges probably hadn’t talked about with Martha because of her own hurtful past with his father.
Not talking about John King to their daughter had more than likely been the status quo for so many years, he wasn’t sure if it had even ever crossed their minds to broach the subject of their friendship.
Martha
Why didn’t you tell me?!?
Julien
I seem to recall trying to, but someone wouldn’t let me speak.
Martha
Next time, try harder.
Julien
How about next time I kiss you quiet?
Martha
Hmm. I think I like the sound of that.
Martha
Your mom is over here now, btw.
Julien
Tell her I said hi.
Martha
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. I really thought my parents would have a problem with us being together. As a kid, they always made sure I knew there was a strict line dividing our families.
Julien
I have definitely noticed that you are not a kid anymore. I’m pretty sure they have too.
Martha
Now our moms are talking about when we get married, how great it will be that they won’t have to fight about who gets us on holidays since they practically live together. Apparently, every Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Fourth of July are spoken for from here on out.
Julien
I’ll mark it on my calendar.
Julien grinned. He didn’t hate the sound of holidays surrounded by both their families.
Marriage was something they’d talked about during their long nightly conversations.
Sometimes in broad strokes—what made a good marriage, how should husbands and wives handle conflict, finances, and the distribution of household responsibilities—and sometimes with a more narrowed viewpoint—what would marriage between the two of them look like if their relationship progressed to that point?
They talked about everything and anything, from their favorite teachers growing up to whether or not they wanted children of their own, how many, and what their parenting methods would be.
They talked about their greatest fears and what true happiness meant, both their best and worst memories, what regrets they had and what they wished they’d done differently.
They laughed about their pet peeves, what silly things were on their bucket lists, and which character they most identified with from Friends.
Even when Julien had been engaged to Lauren, he’d never felt so connected to another person.
He hadn’t even known it was possible. To be both simultaneously completely comfortable and relaxed while also exhilarated and energized.
To enjoy both the stillness and quiet with Martha as well as the stimulating conversations and deep, soul-searching moments.
He’d never had someone who challenged him and yet also offered a soft place for him to fall.
He didn’t feel judged. He didn’t feel like he had to prove anything or live up to any specific expectation.
He felt fully accepted, supported, and fulfilled.
Was that what true love felt like? The realization that maybe you’d found someone who could do a better job at keeping your heart safe and cared for than you’d been doing yourself up until that point?
The desire to give your heart to her, to live with it beating outside of your body, and know that it would be the best decision you’d ever made?
A knock sounded on Julien’s office door, disrupting his thoughts.
Tomiko poked her head in. “Sorry to interrupt, Mr. King, but I wanted to remind you about the marketing meeting happening in five minutes.”
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” Julien gathered his things and headed for the conference room.
The marketing department was one that had experienced a big restructuring with the personnel shift, so the day’s meeting would be a good measure on how everyone was settling in and getting a handle on their new responsibilities.
When he stepped into the conference room, he was pleased to see most of the team already there.
He was not, however, happy to be greeted with the presence of his father at the head of the table.
When would his dad finally stop seeing the need or make up excuses to come into the office?
Julien had been patient, he thought. He’d bit his tongue while he listened to his dad explain about running the business—things he’d been instructing Julien on for over two decades.
His mom had even called yesterday, asking when her husband would finally start acting like a retired man and stop waking up early to put on a suit and go to work.
She’d told Julien she expected him to do something about it.
What, he wasn’t quite sure. It wasn’t like he could kick his dad out and bar him from the building.
The new head of the marketing department was fiddling with a laptop, working on connecting the computer to the room’s screen for her presentation. He was interested to see her campaign ideas and what channels she proposed they spend the allocated budgets on for the biggest return on investment.
Julien greeted his employees and shook hands as he made his way around the table.
He stopped beside his dad’s chair and sat down next to him, resting his elbow on the table.
He turned his body to block out the rest of the room, talking privately with his father.
“I have this well in hand if you’d like to meet up with Mom for lunch. ”
His dad waved away the suggestion. “Pretty soon I’ll have all the time in the world to take your mom out to eat in the middle of the day. This is a crucial time for King. It won’t hurt for me to stick around a few more days just to make sure everyone is comfortable in their new positions.”
“Stepping away for good is going to be hard no matter if it’s today, tomorrow, or two days from now. I promise you, I can handle this. You need to let me.”
Even though the skin around his dad’s jaw sagged with age, Julien could still see the muscle there firm.
“I know. Your mother’s been hounding me about the same thing.
” His gaze met Julien’s, pleading. “Will you give your old man forty-eight hours? I just need . . . I just need a little bit more time.”
“Two days.” Julien squeezed his dad’s shoulder. “But then you need to take Mom on a nice vacation. She’s always wanted to go to Athens.” He gave his dad a side-eye. “And she didn’t mean the one here in Tennessee.”
John smiled. “She deserves that and more for putting up with me all these years. Maybe we’ll do a whole Mediterranean cruise. Do you think she’d like that?”
“I think she’d love that.”
He nodded once, and Julien knew it was a done deal.
Pam, the new marketing director, called the meeting to order, launching into her presentation without much preamble. Julien followed along with her slideshow, appreciating the amount of time and energy she’d put into her data collection and the way she presented new avenues for them to branch into.
“What abou . . . abou . . .” John slurred, pausing in his speech.
Julien looked at his dad, his brows pulled low. He’d never not heard the man speak in an authoritative way.
His dad frowned. “What abou . . . t.” He finally managed the word. “A book tour?” The cadence of his words was off. Some coming out louder and some so mispronounced they were hard to decipher.
Julien leaned toward his dad, concern rising rapidly within him. “Are you okay?”
“We considered the benefits of a brick-and-mortar tour,” Pam answered.
She continued speaking, but Julien had tuned her out, his focus solely on his father. Was it his imagination or had his father just swayed in his seat? “Are you okay?” he asked again.
His dad squeezed his eyes shut. Opened them. Shook his head. “Water,” he croaked.
There was a drink cart that held bottles of water, tea, and coffee in the corner of the conference room.
Julien stood to retrieve a bottle of water at the same time his dad also pushed to his feet.
When his dad swayed again, Julien knew his imagination had nothing to do with it.
He reached a hand out to grip his dad’s elbow for support, but the man took two shaky steps forward, putting him out of reach.
John King pitched to the side. Julien lunged, catching him just before he hit the ground. “Someone call for an ambulance!”