Chapter 38
Kurt
I check my phone for the fifth time. Why isn’t she answering me? I’ve texted her a few times but I haven’t heard back yet. I don’t want to come off as the annoying guy who needs to know where their girl is at all times, but I am stressing out thinking about Juliana alone with my mom and her mom and my sister and Juliana’s grandmother. That is a lot of people who want this wedding to be real and who think it is real. I hope they aren’t scaring her or pressuring her.
“Kurt, the second half is starting soon, you coming?” My dad calls from the living room. I make my way back into the room and drop onto the couch next to him.
“Any update on what the ladies are doing?” Juliana’s dad asks. He looks over at me from where he sits in the matching chair across from his dad. Everyone looks over at me but I shake my head.
“I haven’t heard anything,” I check my phone again as I say it.
“Your sister probably confiscated everyone’s phones.” My dad says and I look at him, confused and he nods and shrugs his shoulders.
“She’s gotten into this new thing where she wants everyone to be fully involved and off their phones when there is a planned event. I mean, I get it. You want someone’s full attention when you’re hanging out. It is a little dramatic to actually take away everyone’s phone.” My dad leans forward to grab some chips off the coffee table.
“Oh, I was wondering why Juliana wasn’t texting me back. That would explain it.” I set my phone down on the arm of the couch. Now I am very curious. “So no one was informed about where they are right now?”
“Nope,” Juliana’s dad says and his dad agrees. His wife, Juliana’s grandmother, didn’t say anything either.
“I’m sure wherever they are, they are having fun. I just hope your mom doesn’t scare Juliana off. Hopefully, there will still be a wedding after today.” My dad makes the comment and chuckles as he takes another chip. The comment should be funny and not too worrisome but it makes me feel guilty.
Sometimes, I feel fine with our situation but other times, when comments are made or happy feelings are expressed by those around us, I start to feel guilty. Guilty that we are getting everyone’s hopes up and making everyone happy when Juliana and I both know this isn’t going to have a happy ending. Then again, maybe one day it will. It obviously won’t be as soon as everyone is expecting but my feelings are real and growing stronger the more I get to know Juliana.
My dad looks over at me and I guess I didn’t hide my reaction as well as I should have because he leans forward and says quietly to me, “Hey, you okay? I didn’t mean anything by that.”
“No, no,” I shake my head. “It’s fine. I know Mom can be a bit overwhelming.” I smile and emphasize a bit and my dad smiles and nods his head, sitting back on the couch. He glances over at me, still concerned but I keep my attention on the TV.
They’ve only been gone a couple of hours, but anything could have happened in that time. I contemplate for a minute then decide to send a text to Mom to see if she has her phone.
Kurt: Are y’all still out for your girls’ day?
I send the text and set my phone on my knee so I can feel it vibrate if she responds to my text. A few minutes pass and I still don’t have a response from Mom. Normally she has her phone on her and responds quickly so I guess Merrin must have taken her phone away too.
“Relax,” I hear Juliana’s dad’s voice and I look up at him. He looks at me and gives a supportive smile. “Juliana is a strong young woman. She can handle a few hours of a girls’ day. I also heard her mother on the phone with Tatyana, so she will at least have one person in her corner.”
I sit back and give a quiet sigh of relief. Okay, she has Tatyana with her. Together they can handle the other four women, I hope.
The rest of the game isn’t bad but it doesn’t distract me from thinking about Juliana. The more time passes, the more I think about her. I catch myself glancing at my phone every so often and even though there are other people in the apartment with me, I feel lonely. The apartment just feels more like home with Juliana here.
“So, have you and Juliana started planning anything or even brainstorming ideas for the wedding yet?” Juliana’s grandfather asks me when the game goes to a commercial. My dad looks over at me for my answer but when I hesitate he gets up and goes to the kitchen.
“Uh,” I stutter a bit, trying to think of what to say. I clear my throat and try again. “Well, I know my mom wants us to have the wedding at the country club. Juliana and I both have agreed that we like that idea. It is something we are considering. We have good memories from when we were younger and hung out there so I think we are leaning towards that. Honestly, right now we both just have a lot going on so we haven’t discussed the wedding that much. I have a lot on my plate at work, with a few different open cases that I have coming to court soon. Juliana also has been quite busy. She has a lot of hours at work because she wanted to contribute to the bills around the apartment, which I told her she didn’t need to do but, of course, she insisted. She is quite stubborn, well, I don’t have to tell you that.”
I realize I’ve just gone on a long-winded rant and I pause to take a deep breath. I was trying to explain or rather make excuses for why we haven’t really discussed the wedding but I probably came off a little stressed. After spending so much time with Juliana, I’ve begun taking on more of her mannerisms. One of those being her constant ramblings. It’s a habit that I need to knock fast. It’s cute when Juliana does it but no one needs a rambling attorney in court.
“Well, there’s no rush. Some people stay engaged for a few months, they have a short engagement and then some couples stay engaged for a few years. It’s really up to you and Juliana. Don’t let anyone else’s opinions or preferences influence you one way or the other. If you two are both busy for the foreseeable future, just enjoy being engaged and spending time together.” Juliana’s grandfather smiles at me while offering his advice and I feel myself relaxing a bit. Even if this wedding isn’t real, I am just grateful that we have some support.
“Thank you,” I smile gratefully at him and he nods.
My dad comes back to the couch and sits down with us. He cracks open another soda and takes a drink before he speaks.
“So, how do you feel about your daughter being engaged to Kurt?” My dad asks and I let out a chuckle. Juliana’s dad laughs too then clears his throat and sits up a little straighter.
“Very disappointed in her choice. I mean Kurt? Really? She couldn’t do better than him?” Juliana’s dad chuckles and pokes fun of me. He gives me a big smile to show he’s being sarcastic. I roll my eyes but smile as well.
“Thanks for that,” I say in response and my dad laughs and slaps my back.
“No, but seriously, you’re a great guy Kurt. Of course, I’m happy for both of you. I was a little surprised at first, I think a lot of us were.” He takes a breath and I jump in.
“I know, we were a little surprised too. But, and I’m sure you’ve all heard the story before, we were friends and grew closer and fell in love. The engagement was pretty quick since we were really just friends before I proposed but when you know, you know. And I think we both knew.” I say the common phrase that I’ve heard so many times.
“Hey, I can believe it,” Juliana’s dad raises his hands in defense. “I know y’all both had crushes on each other when you were kids but that was years ago. It’s funny to see that it came back stronger than just a crush.”
“She had a crush on me?” I ask, smirking a little. “That’s cute.”
“Don’t start feeling all good about yourself because you definitely had a crush on her as well.” I start to deny it but my dad shakes his head and laughs. He continues talking, “Oh, don’t deny it. You did, we all knew it. Your mother thought it was adorable.”
“Okay, fine,” I relent a little. “Maybe when I was younger I had a bit of a crush on her too. Just a small one.”
“Just a small one?” My dad laughs and shakes his head at me. “A small one that led to y’all being engaged many years later? I think it may have been a bigger crush than either of y’all would care to admit. But hey, that crush led you both to the place you are now and you both genuinely seem quite happy. So that is all that matters.”
Juliana’s dad nods, agreeing with everything my dad has said. The game comes back on but we keep the volume low while we continue talking. I start to relax more and only glance at my phone a few more times, but not as nervously as I had been doing earlier.
“Do you remember that time the Sunday School kids went out to y’all’s place and you took care of her after she got hurt? She didn’t stop talking about that for a whole month. And every Sunday she wanted her mom to help her pick out her cutest outfit and she would talk about you all morning then when we were getting close to Church in the car, she grew quiet and got so nervous. I doubt she even looked at you let alone talked to you then.” Juliana’s dad confesses and laughs at the memory. I can’t help but smile. Juliana and I talked about that day recently and it was fun to hear the aftermath from her dad.
“You’re right, I do not remember her approaching me after that event.” I laugh and her dad laughs with me. “I think I made sure to check in with her the Sunday after that weekend at the lake house but it was just a quick check-in to see if her cut was healing alright. I remember she showed it to me then she ran away.” I let out another laugh recalling the memory. Looking back on it now I can see how her actions showed how nervous she was because she had a crush on me.