Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Eventually, they had to leave the safety of their cocoon and make a proper plan for the day.
A plan that would involve Daniel driving them both to La Villita, where she would catch a taxi back to her house.
She would pack a suitcase, then drive to the Joffrey Tower downtown and clean out her locker and her dressing room.
She’d email her resignation to the ballet company when they got to Texas.
Daniel, meanwhile, would go to the restaurant and tell Sebastián their plan, before returning to the trailer and packing up his own stuff. They agreed to meet again at twilight at the secluded beach in Lake Forest, where they’d had their first kiss.
“Hoy vamos a comenzar una nueva vida, carino,” he murmured, pressing his forehead to hers. “Today we start a new life.”
She smiled, the kind of smile she couldn’t hold back if she tried.
As she turned and jogged toward a waiting taxi, she had a feeling of floating.
She was going to live in Texas with Daniel and Sebastián.
They were going to get married and be a family.
A family that had never existed before, one that they had made up only out of the separate parts of each other.
* * *
The taxi pulled up across from the house, and Julia hesitated before stepping out, her heels dangling from her fingers. The morning sun cut long shadows over the manicured lawn.
She held her breath as she opened the front door. The house was awake and busy, with cleaning staff moving through rooms, and workers on ladders taking down the floral arrangements. From the kitchen came the clinking of what must have been a hundred champagne glasses being washed.
Her mother was nowhere in sight.
In her bedroom, she stripped off the ruined dress and stepped into the shower, washing the lingering scent of Daniel from her skin.
Dressed and made up, she dragged out her suitcase, throwing in what she’d need for Texas.
No to knitwear, coats, and scarves. Yes to sundresses, tank tops, and jeans.
She upended her jewelry box, tossed in a couple of designer clutch bags, and grabbed shoes she could sell online.
She shoved it all into the suitcase and turned for the door.
And stopped.
“Mom.”
She stood in the doorway, arms crossed, flawless as ever at eight in the morning.
Julia’s stomach clenched.
“Well,” her mother said coolly. “That was quite the stunt you pulled. Walking out on your sister’s wedding.”
Julia swallowed, her pulse hammering. “I—”
“You could have at least waited until the cake was cut.”
Julia forced a breath. “Why? It’s not like I could have eaten any of it.”
For the briefest moment, something flickered across her mother’s face, but it was gone before Julia could name it. Her gaze dropped to the suitcase. “Where are you going?”
Julia’s fingers tightened around the handle. “I’m moving out.”
Her mom’s tone was incredulous. “Today?”
“I’m twenty-two, Mom. I think it’s time.”
Her mother’s head tilted slightly, assessing. “With only one suitcase?”
Julia stepped forward, determined to push past her if she had to.
“You’re going with that boy, aren’t you?”
Julia stopped mid-step.
Her mother scoffed softly. “You think I haven’t noticed? Sneaking out at night. Skipping practice in the morning. The bruises on your neck. The smell of marijuana on your clothes.”
Julia’s jaw clenched. “You don’t notice anything about me, Mom. Not since I was twelve. Not since Natalie started showing more promise than me.”
Her mother exhaled, long and slow. “That isn’t true.”
Julia met her mother’s eyes and held the gaze. “Isn’t it?”
For the first time, her mother looked at her—really looked at her. And the anger in her face shifted. It was still sharp, still cutting, but now edged with something Julia hadn’t expected.
Worry.
For a second, it threw her.
She wasn’t used to her mother caring what she did, only how she appeared while doing it. The worry looked out of place on her face, like it didn’t quite belong there. And yet, it was there. Real. Raw. Julia blinked, and for just a breath of a moment, she felt something soften in her chest.
Was I wrong about her?
Has she always cared, just never shown it the way I needed her to?
But then the steel came back into her mother’s posture, the lines of judgment reforming like armor, and the flicker of connection vanished as quickly as it had come.
Her mother straightened. “So you’re just leaving? Throwing everything away? Your ballet, too?”
Her hands trembled, her whole body wired with adrenaline, but beneath the fear was something else—a lightness, a strange, intoxicating sense of relief.
She met her mother’s gaze, her voice steadier than she thought possible. “Ballet was always your dream, Mom. I think we both know it was never mine.”
She descended the stairs, shoulders squared, forcing herself to believe she was making the right choice. The weight of her mother’s disappointment pressed against her back, but ahead was something else.
Freedom.
Sliding into her BMW, she pulled out of the drive and onto the narrow lanes of Lake Forest. Her heart was still hammering from the confrontation, but already she felt lighter.
The trees lining the road cast long morning shadows, their leaves rustling in the warm breeze.
She rolled the window down, letting the fresh air hit her face as she turned onto the highway.
Every mile she put between herself and that house felt like peeling off another layer of suffocating expectations.
Then, in the rearview mirror, she spotted it.
A black SUV.
Her stomach clenched. It was probably nothing. Just another car on the road. But something about it, its dark-tinted windows, the way it hugged the lane behind her, made her uneasy.
She switched lanes. So did the SUV.
Her pulse quickened.
She eased her foot onto the gas, putting some distance between them. After a few bends, it disappeared from view. She exhaled, rolling her shoulders. Just paranoia.
But when she glanced in the mirror again—
The SUV was back.
Still behind her.
Her fingers tightened around the wheel. Could be a coincidence. Could be nothing.
She slowed slightly, hoping it would pass. It didn’t.
Her heartbeat slammed against her ribs.
Trying to keep her breathing steady, she took the next exit, weaving onto a quieter stretch of road. She checked the mirror.
The SUV followed.
A trickle of sweat ran down her back.
She signaled right. The SUV signaled right.
Okay. Not paranoia. Not a coincidence.
She could hear her own breathing now, sharp and fast. Her mind raced through possibilities. Carjackers? No, too polished, too precise. A private investigator hired by her mother? Maybe.
Then she saw the plates.
Government.
Her breath hitched.
Red and blue strobes flared along the windshield and grille.
Shit.
Her foot hovered over the accelerator. Run? Try to lose them on the way into the city?
No. That was stupid. She’d wrap her car around a tree and end up in jail for fleeing a federal agent.
Adrenaline made her movements jerky, but she forced her foot onto the brake. Indicated. Pulled over. Prayed they would pass.
They didn’t.
The SUV stopped behind her. A woman stepped out.
She was Black. Cropped, graying hair. A crinkled shirt with a pink stain on the front.
Julia closed her eyes. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. Not for her. Not for Daniel.
The woman reached the window, glancing between Julia and the suitcase on the passenger seat.
“Gee,” she said, dryly. “I hope you weren’t planning on going somewhere.”