—Autumn—
Then
“Why is this junkyard so far away?” I asked, sitting in the backseat of Christian’s truck while he drove.
Our parents had just bought it for his sixteenth birthday last week, saying he deserved it for being such a great son, friend, and big brother.
Christian wasn’t like other brothers, not like most of my friends’ siblings anyway.
He was always nice to me and enjoyed having me around.
Even though we were six years apart, he didn’t make me feel like I was a little girl who couldn’t hang around with him.
He usually let me tag along with them wherever they went.
It was only the four of us, well, five of us because Julian never went home. He stayed at our house almost every night, and he even had his own room. Mom turned one of our guest bedrooms into his own space for his tenth birthday.
I didn’t remember since I was only four years old at the time, but it was one of her favorite memories to share with us. Saying he never looked happier than he did the moment she’d surprised him with what she did for only him.
He was part of our family—always had been, always would be.
Julian didn’t know his real parents. He was raised in the system, going from foster home to foster home. I didn’t really understand what that meant, but I guessed the state-owned him until he was eighteen—a legal adult.
A man.
Julian always acted older than he actually was, though. Our parents said it was from him having to grow up fast.
Sitting in the passenger seat, he turned around to look at me. “When you see my new baby, you’ll know why we drove so far away, kid.”
I smiled.
I loved it when he called me kid. It was his nickname for me. No one else called me that, only him.
It was our thing.
“Is it like Christian’s baby?”
I’d learned at an early age what cars and trucks meant to boys and how they called them their babies. Both of them loved vehicles since we lived in Fort Worth, Texas. Near NASCAR and street races, but Julian really loved them.
Cars were his everything.
He worked at a junkyard by our house, close enough he could ride his dirt bike through the woods before he got his driver’s license a month ago. He’d been working there for the last four years helping Big Ben with all his classic cars.
Most of the time he wore a black cowboy hat or some sort of backward hat with a white t-shirt and jeans. His clothes were usually covered in oil or grease, and his hands and nails were normally stained with it too.
He smelled like gasoline and motor oil, and it was one of my favorite smells because it reminded me of him. I even stole one of his hoodies, and he never asked for it back.
Julian didn’t like to feel like a burden on our parents, so he always tried to help out whenever he could. Buying random things at the grocery store or ordering food for us for lunch and dinner.
One time he tried to help out with the water bill, and it made our mom very sad. She started crying, telling him he didn’t have to worry about adult responsibilities, and it was their job to provide for us.
A couple of years ago my parents wanted to adopt him, but Julian said no.
Saying what they already did for him was enough.
I still had nightmares about the time he’d shown up at our house with bruises on his face and body.
I thought he’d been in a fight at school.
Sometimes that happened. He had a short fuse and bad temper which got him into trouble a lot.
Especially with his foster parents.
In this situation, his foster dad beat him up pretty badly, and Daddy got really mad.
Since he was a super important and successful district attorney, he was able to pull strings and get him out of that placement. They put him in a home closer to ours, and that made us all very happy.
Christian met Julian in preschool, and from the moment they exchanged fist bumps they were best friends.
All my friends were in love with my brother and his best friend.
But Julian was mine; he just didn’t know it yet.
The thought alone made my belly flutter and my face flush.
I had to look out the window so Christian wouldn’t see.
He was very protective over me, even when it came down to his best friend.
Julian was the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. He had bright blue eyes that spoke for themselves. I could always tell his mood through his eyes. They would change to all different shades of blue depending on his feelings. His eyes were my mood ring.
He was tall, way taller than me. Big and with lots of muscles because he worked out a lot. His hair was dark, and he had the most perfect nose and teeth. They were straight and super white.
I thought he looked like Eric from the Little Mermaid—my favorite Disney movie. I wanted him to be my Prince Charming, and right now I was too little, but one day I wouldn’t be little anymore, and we could be together forever and ever.
My brother’s good looks had girls falling all over him since the day he was born too, but it didn’t matter. He already had a girlfriend, Kinley. They’d officially been together since last year. Whatever that meant.
They’d known each other since middle school, though. She was pretty and nice to me, and I liked her; the whole family did.
“Julian, can I use your cell phone?”
He handed it over to me. I wasn’t allowed to have one. Daddy said maybe next year when I was eleven.
Swiping over his locked screen, a text message appeared from Katie.
Who’s Katie?
I can’t wait to see your new car. Maybe you could take me for a drive… I mean, I’d love to ride you too.
“Julian, some girl named Katie wants you to take her for a ride in your new car and she said she’d love to ride you too.”
He choked on his drink, and Christian’s eyes widened. I could see the expression on his face through the rearview mirror.
“Are you okay?” I patted Julian’s back to help.
He cleared his throat and coughed a few more times, snatching the phone out of my hands.
“Hey! I wasn’t done.”
“Yeah, you were up to no good.”
“I was not! She texted you as I unlocked your phone.”
He texted her back, and I glared.
What did he reply?
“Are you going to give her a piggyback ride?”
He chuckled, and Christian smacked him on the chest. I was the only girl he ever gave piggyback rides to, and I couldn’t help but feel jealous.
“This conversation is over, Autumn. Hey, dickwad!” Christian smacked him on the chest again, harder that time. “Don’t let her use your phone anymore.”
“I didn’t know she’d be texting me.”
“Since when did you start talking to her?”
He grinned. “Talking isn’t exactly what I’d say we were doing.”
Before I could ask if she was his girlfriend, my brother pulled into a gas station and got out of his truck to fill his tank.
“Kid.”
“What?”
Julian laughed. “What do you mean what?” He rustled up my hair with his fingers, making me giggle. “What’s your problem?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why aren’t you looking at me?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You mad?”
“No. Why would I be mad?”
“Do you want my phone?”
“No. Katie might text again, and Christian will be mad that I’m reading messages I don’t understand.”
“Autumn.”
I deeply sighed, hating when he used that low tone with me.
“I’m not giving her any piggyback rides, okay? Those are only reserved for you.”
I looked up at him. “Promise?”
He made a cross over his heart.
“Then what is she riding?”
“I’ll tell you what…” He smiled. “One day you’re going to know the answer to that question, but today isn’t that day, kid.”
“So then what? Is she your girlfriend now or something?”
“Or something.”
“What does that mean?”
“Why does it matter?”
I shrugged again. “I’m just curious.”
“You, curious? Never,” he sarcastically joked.
This wasn’t the time to make fun. This was serious. I needed to know about my competition.
What if he loves her?
Before I could ask, Julian added, winking, “You’ll always be my number one girl, kid.”
I smiled. He always knew what to say to make me feel better, but I wasn’t naive, knowing he only saw me as a little girl.
Right now.
Christian jumped back into his seat, and for the rest of the drive, I didn’t say anything while they talked about Julian’s new baby.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the car they were speaking about. It was…
Well, it was a piece of crap.
The outside looked like someone scratched off all the paint, the doors and windows were missing, the interior had been removed, the tires were flat, and the front windshield was cracked. You couldn’t see through it. Those were just the obvious things. He hadn’t popped open the hood yet.
I knew a lot about cars because Julian had taught me. Sometimes I’d go with him to the junkyard. I’d seen him work on lots of vehicles, but none of them looked this bad.
“Uh, Julian.” My gaze found his. “I don’t think this car is going to work. I think it died.”
He smiled, I loved seeing him smile. It lit up his eyes.
“All the more reason to bring her back to life.”
“Do you think you’re going to be able to, though? I mean, she looks pretty dead to me.”
“Kid.” He tugged on the end of my pigtail, and for the next eight years, almost nine, he proved his next words to me on a daily basis.
Stating, “I never back down from a challenge.”