Chapter 21
Being Human
Jules
I’d been sitting in the same position for far too long. The drive back down to Highland Falls was close to four hours, and I’d been writing for nearly every minute of the trip so far.
I couldn’t speak for Noah, but I’d been moving more slowly than anticipated when we woke up due to a minor hangover.
I’d be shocked if Noah hadn’t been struggling with the same, though he didn’t mention it at all.
Did I expect to have too much to drink after a funeral?
Nope, I sure didn’t. But that’s the way the day unfolded, and I chose to roll with it.
While exploring his parents’ home, the guys had discovered Noah’s dad’s collection of bourbon.
To me, bourbon was up there with most types of hard alcohol—things I’d rather not drink.
The guys? Well, it was like Christmas morning for kids.
They’d been rather enthusiastic when they’d seen bourbon bottles with little horse stoppers and ones that were named after someone in the military—a general?
Colonel? Whatever it was, they’d descended on it like folks in the desert at a watering hole and, as a result, had polished off more than a bottle or two.
Thankfully, the Highland Falls crew had either crashed at Noah’s parents’ place or had a designated driver to head back down in the evening, so everyone was able to raise a glass without worry.
Before Mary and Fred retired to their own home for the evening, Mary left pizza for the remaining folks celebrating, likely hoping the crust would help soak up the liquor.
While my downfall hadn’t been bourbon, I had fallen victim to Ivy’s newfound love of peach sangria.
She’d given Mary the recipe, and the woman had whipped up a batch for Ivy, Kate, and me to have with our pizza since none of us were leaving that night.
It was delish and went down far too easy.
Mental note, I was absolutely giving this beverage to Collette in my new book. I just knew she’d be a fan.
At any rate, Ivy, Kate, and I had all disappeared upstairs with Addie at her bedtime.
It had been a long day, and I’d been falling asleep while sitting up.
Noah, Jake, and Drew had been still going strong.
Turned out the speaker someone had brought out earlier was Drew’s, and they were taking turns picking favorite artists and then listening to an album while they debated the best song from each.
We’d woken to a fabulous breakfast spread prepared by Mary.
Everyone else had hit the road before us as we’d gone over some final to-dos with Mary regarding the estate and plans to wrap it up.
While Noah’s parents had left each staff member a year’s salary, Mary was still a paid employee while she functioned in Noah’s absence for all the final estate items. Barry had drawn up some agreement that allowed that to happen—she was essentially Noah’s go-between so he could escape the toxicity that was his childhood home until the estate was closed.
We’d left her and Fred a couple of hours ago with hugs and promises to see each other soon. Her goodbye to Noah was teary, and once again, I thanked the higher power that put her in his life.
I looked out the car windows, and while we were on a divided highway, the traffic was light and there was nothing around as far as I could see. “Where are we?” I asked, mentally shaking off Julian and Collette’s misunderstanding on the pages of my novel.
“Just north of Bloomington-Normal. We’ve got just over an hour left,” Noah said, keeping his eyes on the road.
I rubbed a hand over my face, still struggling with feeling like I’d fallen down on the job.
What kind of company was I? I’d disappeared into my book rather than remembering that the man had buried his parents yesterday.
And yes, they had a horrible relationship, but I absolutely believed the past week had left its mark.
Better to address it than leave it as an unsaid, right? That’s why my characters were struggling in my book, and we didn’t need to suffer the same fate.
Communicate, Jules.
I sucked it up and voiced my feelings. “I’m sorry. I have been a terrible road-trip companion. Do you want me to drive? To run the tunes?”
Noah shot me a smile that made me think all was right with the world and I was, as per usual, overreacting. Comes with the territory of living in your head.
“Tunes?” he said, the word laced with amusement.
“Um, that’s a word people use, right?”
His grin grew. “Yes, it is a word people use. It just sounded adorable coming from you.”
“Phew.” I sat back in my seat, wondering when we’d see signs of the city.
“Sometimes when I’m writing, I type something I think is a word and the program underlines it that it’s misspelled.
Then I go online to try to figure it out, and turns out, I’ve had it wrong my whole life. It can really mess with your head.”
Noah chuckled. “Yep, adorable.” He paused, turning the music down so that we could comfortably talk over it.
“And I enjoy driving—it’s almost meditative, so don’t give it another thought.
If anything, I’m glad you got some writing done.
” He glanced my way. “Do you need to stop? Food? Coffee? Restroom?”
“I won’t say no to coffee.” Frankly, I was a fan of more caffeine at any time. “And if it’s okay, let’s go in to get it. Stretching my legs for a minute would be great.”
Noah glanced at the GPS before answering. “We’re about ten minutes from the north side of Normal. I think there’s a Starbucks over there. That work?”
I nodded, wondering again if I was doing enough. I couldn’t imagine losing my parents, much less both, but how did you balance that with having gone essentially no-contact with them for most of the past eight years?
“So.” Noah caught my attention and took me to a completely different topic. “Did I see your aunt Lou acting out her experience on stage from Sunday night? We never really talked about that what with everything that happened.”
I groaned, slinking down in my seat. “Oh my God, let’s never speak about it again. I’m working to try to get the image out of my mind.”
“It might take hypnosis.”
“You think you’re funny, but I’d consider it.”
Flashes of Lou gyrating on some man while he held her up and Verdell laughed were at the forefront of my brain.
Jesus. I mean, objectively I could look at it and think mental high five to Lou for being as free as she was, hopping up on that stage and having fun with it, age be damned.
And I would agree with that sentiment if I hadn’t had to see it.
That was the tricky part—the vision was burned into my retinas.
Looking at Noah, I saw he was absolutely holding back some laughter. “Imagine Mary on that stage,” I said, deciding he might need a taste of his own medicine.
“Eww,” he replied as he gave me a horrified look.
“Exactly. Be grateful Mary and Fred live up here, because if they were in Highland Falls, I’m sure Lou would have the two of them over for cards and then sweep them into her crew.”
“God no. We’d never have any peace.” He glanced my way. “Maggie said she has video of the night—other than Lou—if you wanted to catch up on what you missed.”
I snorted. “Yeah, I heard. Apparently she and Maeve both went on the stage at one point. I think Kristine from Nomad Yoga was up there when I left. I can’t remember everyone.” I shrugged, considering how I was feeling about it. “I’m not a prude…”
Noah laughed again. “Your books are testament to that.”
“Hey.” I flicked his arm. “They aren’t erotica.”
“Well, they aren’t closed-door romances either,” Noah pointed out.
“Look at you, using romance terms. Well done. Next thing we know, you’ll be talking about third act breakups,” I said, rather impressed despite my commentary.
Noah flipped on his blinker to take the exit and glanced my way as he navigated us to the Starbucks parking lot.
“I absolutely know what that is referring to in a romance book. When you told me you wrote them, I downloaded your series but also read a few articles about the overall plot structure and unwritten rules of the romance genre.”
I sat up straight and looked over at the man while he pulled into a parking spot and turned off the car. “I’m sorry, what?”
He looked at me and tilted his head like he was trying to figure me out when it should have been the reverse. “Did you look me up on social media when we met?”
Topic change much? “Uh, yes. Doesn’t everyone?”
He nodded. “I did the same. When you learned what I’d done in Africa, I’m assuming through the women in town or Lou, did you look up the company I work for?”
I began to get a little uncomfortable. Did he think I was internet stalking him? I mean, I’d been curious. “Well, yeah.”
“Why?”
Yep, now I was feeling embarrassed. “I wanted to know more about you.”
Noah reached out for my hand, I think sensing I was a little uncomfortable.
“I get that. And I was doing the same. When you’re interested in someone, or least this is how I feel, I want to know more about the things they’re fascinated by.
You write romance, and I knew very little about the genre other than some folks disparage it because they’re sexist—”
“You knew that already?”
His wide smile brought me no small amount of comfort, and I was worried I’d lose myself in the deep blue pools of his eyes. Another mental writing note, use that description in the book.
Noah continued, oblivious to my inner dialogue. “Ivy is my best friend from childhood, remember? She actually sent me a romance to read before I knew anything about yours.”
I began to bounce in my seat; I loved talking books. “Ohhhh, what one?”
Noah pulled out his phone, opening what I could see was a reading tracker app. He scrolled for a few minutes, then looked up. “Jana Goes Wild by Farah Heron.”