Chapter 18
Eighteen
Juliana went next door to pick up the mail and the dress Michael asked her to bring. She left two more letters from Jeremy unopened on the kitchen table. The house smelled musty and a thin layer of dust covered every surface. She would have to get over here to clean next week.
“How long will it take to get there?”
“Six or seven hours, depending on the traffic on the Jersey Turnpike, the Cross Bronx Expressway, and in Connecticut, which is always the worst.”
“Do you usually fly or drive?”
“I fly because I never have much time, but I prefer to drive.”
“If I had this car, I’d prefer to drive, too.”
“Want to?”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
He pulled over. “Really.”
Juliana clapped her hands with glee and jumped out of the car to change places with him. Once in the driver’s seat, she put on her seatbelt, shifted the car into first gear, and hit the gas.
“Jesus!” he said, gripping the armrest with alarm.
Juliana smiled at him. “Hold on to your hat, baby.”
“I’ve never gotten to Connecticut this fast—ever,” Michael said just over three hours later. “How about giving me a turn?”
Juliana smiled. “Nope. I’m having too much fun.”
He cringed when she darted between two semis. “You’re stressing me out.”
“Don’t look.”
“The way you’re changing lanes, I’ll puke if I close my eyes.”
“I never knew you were such a wimp.”
“You weren’t calling me a wimp last night.”
Snorting, she glanced over at him. “Just a tad bit full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Watch the road!”
Cruising along the southern coast of Connecticut, Juliana confessed that she hadn’t been to New England before.
“Never?”
“Nope. We didn’t really go anywhere when I was growing up. A daytrip to Ocean City was a big deal.”
He reached for her hand. “You didn’t have an easy go of it as a kid, did you?”
She shrugged. “It was what it was. Most of the time, it was just my parents and me since the next oldest—Vincent—was eight years older than me.”
“And your parents were unhappy together?”
“That’s putting it mildly. They fought like cats and dogs—when my mother wasn’t loaded, that is.”
“Your brothers and sisters weren’t around?”
“Not unless they had to be. They all moved out as soon as they turned eighteen.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Well, by then my father was heavily into his ‘extracurricular activities,’ as my mother called them, and she was hitting the bottle pretty hard. I just felt like I needed to be there with her.”
“So how did you end up moving out?”
She glanced over at him and then back at the road.
“Juliana?”
“Jeremy kind of put his foot down about it. He hates the way my family treats me, so he insisted I move out of my mother’s house and in with him.”
“He insisted?”
“He gave me the push I needed to do something about a bad situation.”
“Like an ultimatum?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He didn’t give me an ultimatum, Michael. It wasn’t like that.”
“It’s none of my business,” Michael said, looking out the passenger window.
Juliana tugged on his hand. “Hey. Don’t check out on me. What’re you thinking?”
“I forget sometimes that you’re not really free. Then I’ll remember all of a sudden, and it just kind of hits me right here.” He ran a hand over his gut.
She sighed.
He looked over at her. “What am I going to do if you go back to him?”
“Can we not do this?” she pleaded. “I don’t have to make any decisions today, tomorrow, or even the next day. Can we just be together for now?”
He studied her for a long time before he answered. “I guess we can do that.” Kissing her hand, he added, “For now.”
They stopped for lunch in Mystic, Connecticut, where Michael managed to wrestle the keys away from Juliana.
“It’s so pretty,” she said an hour later as she looked out over Narragansett Bay from the top of the Newport Bridge. “This bridge reminds me of the Bay Bridge,” she said, referring to the span over the Chesapeake Bay that connects the Annapolis area to Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“That bridge looks like it was assembled from a bridge yard sale, like ten different kinds of bridges all in one.”
Juliana laughed. “You’re right. It does. Oh, look, there’s a house sitting on the rocks out there!”
“The house is called ‘Clingstone.’”
“I love that!”
He took the Newport exit, and as they drove between two cemeteries, he said, “Guess what the name of this street is?”
“Cemetery Way?”
He shook his head. “Farewell Street.”
“Oh,” she said with a chuckle. “That’s a good one.”
“In the summer this road is jam-packed with cars,” he said of America’s Cup Avenue.
“It seems almost familiar in some ways. I wonder why.”
“Annapolis reminds me a lot of Newport. The colonial houses, the gas streetlamps, and the cobblestone streets are so similar.”
“And there’s a harbor here, too. Just like Annapolis.”
He took a right on to Lower Thames Street. “This part of Newport is called the Fifth Ward,” Michael said when they had traveled about a mile down Lower Thames. “It’s where all the Irish people live.”
“Like Little Italy in Baltimore.”
“Yes, sort of,” he said, pulling into a driveway on Carroll Avenue.
They stretched out the kinks from the long ride.
“This is it.” He gestured to the small ranch house. “This is where I grew up. We used to play baseball at the park we passed at the corner.”
“Are your parents home?”
“I’m not sure what their schedules are today. I didn’t tell them we were coming.”
“What?”
He laughed, put an arm around her, and kissed her cheek.
“Don’t sweat it, baby. They’ll be thrilled to meet you.
” He tugged her along with him and used a key on his ring to unlock the door.
It took him about five minutes to show her around the small, tidy house that smelled of lemon furniture polish and potpourri.
“Oh, is that you?” Juliana asked, pointing to a faded framed photo in the hallway.
Michael grimaced. “I think that was seventh grade.”
“You were so cute!”
“Were?”
Giggling, she studied the other photos on the wall.
“That’s Pat.”
“You looked alike.”
“That’s what people said.”
The bedroom that used to be Michael’s was now filled with toys belonging to his nieces and nephews. Another bedroom contained twin beds.
“For grandkid sleepovers,” Michael explained, leading her back to the kitchen. He went to peek into the garage. Returning to her, his arms circled her waist. “No one’s home,” he whispered against her lips.
She pushed him away. “Stop it!”
“What?” he asked, his lips quirking with amusement.
“We’re in your parents’ house. Behave.”
“Why?” He backed her up against the kitchen counter for a searing kiss.
“Michael, stop,” she pleaded when he kissed her again.
“I’ve needed this for hours.” He held her tight against him as he teased and tormented with his lips and hands until she was breathless.
She moaned when he went to work on her neck and throat. “Stop,” she whispered.
He cupped her breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples. “I want you.”
Filled with nervous laughter, she said, “I can tell.”
He dropped his hands to her bottom, pulled her tight against his erection, and reclaimed her mouth. Even when Juliana’s cell phone began to ring, he kept up the mischief until she tore herself away from him to reach for her purse. “It’s Mrs. R,” she told Michael.
“Juliana?”
“Hi. What’s up?”
“Jeremy’s in town, and he’s looking for you.”
“Oh my God! What’s he doing there?”
Michael gave her a questioning look. She held up a finger to say just a minute.
“He said he had plane tickets for this weekend and decided to come as planned. He wants to know where you are. What should I tell him?”
“I’ll call him.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Don’t worry,” Juliana assured her friend. “I’ll take care of it.”
“He’s um, well—”
“What?”
“He’s wound up because he can tell you’re not living in the house. He’s having a fit.”
Juliana groaned.
“Did you get there okay?”
“Yes, about half an hour ago.”
“Okay. Call me back if you need me for anything.”
“I will. Thanks.”
“What’s going on?” Michael asked when she flipped her phone closed.
“Jeremy’s in town. I guess he’s raising hell because I’m not there.
Mrs. R said he figured out I’m not living in the house.
I noticed how dusty the place was this morning when I was there.
He knows I’d never let it get like that if I was living there.
” She paused before she added, “I need to call him.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.” He kissed her forehead and steered her into the living room. “I’ll wait for you in the kitchen.”
Juliana took a deep, calming breath and released it before she opened her cell phone to push number one on her speed dial.
“Babe?” Jeremy said, apparently pouncing on the phone. “Where the heck are you?”
“I’m out of town. I needed to get away for a while.”
“I really wanted to see you this weekend. I was hoping we could get past all this craziness.”
“We said three months. It’s only been one.”
“Come on, Juliana! This is getting ridiculous.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, but I need this time to figure some stuff out.”
“What stuff?”
“I’ve got to go, Jer. I’ll talk to you in two months.”
“Where are you living, Juliana? I can tell you’re not staying here.”
“With a friend.”
“You don’t have friends that I don’t know.”
“I do now.”
“I miss you, babe,” he said, his voice urgent. “It’s making me sick. I miss you so much.”
“Bye, Jer.” Overwhelmed by the emotion and distress she’d heard in his voice, Juliana buried her face in her hands.
“Are you all right?” Michael asked from the doorway.
Making an effort to rally, she forced a smile. “Yeah.”
He came into the room and sat next to her, drawing her into his arms.
Juliana relaxed into his embrace, comforted by the strong beat of his heart.
“Better?” he asked after several quiet minutes.
She tilted her face up and kissed him softly. “Much.”
He cupped her cheek and was about to kiss her again when they heard the garage door open.
She pulled away from him.