Page 28 of You Were Invited
Guided by the flashlight, he left the water-logged wheelbarrow for tomorrow. He sprinted back to his cabin. Despite the rain pelting his face, he grinned from ear to ear.See ya soon, Annie..
eleven
Annie sprang out of bedbefore her alarm went off the next morning.
She worked a little before getting ready to meet Julian. The first shirt she pulled on didn’t feel right, but after a quick change, she felt more at ease.
Why do I feel so giddy about manual labor?She slipped into her black jacket and gloves, and stood outside, sunglasses on her face and phone in her pocket.
A night wind had pushed out the rain, revealing a periwinkle blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds the color of cream. The air smelled grassy and damp. It was cold, but thankfully it was nowhere near cut-right-through-to-your-bones cold.
Enjoying the fresh air, she paced the property slowly until Julian walked out of his house. When he noticed that she’d seen him, he gave a little wave and headed over. Today, he wore a button up green plaid shirt with a white t-shirt underneath. He’d pushed the sleeves up to his elbows, showing off his broad, firm forearms.
“Morning.” He picked up his baseball cap and scratched his forehead with his bare fingers. From his back pocket, he pulled out the flashlight she’d loaned him. He handed it to her. “Better than Rudolph on Christmas.”
Her lips parted into a smile. “Ready to get back towork?”
They started stacking the rain-sodden logs, chatting. It was friendly and light. All told, Annie felt herself opening up... and… she couldn’t remember the last time she’d so readily opened up to a new friend. Perhaps not since meeting Molly in the fourth grade, when Annie had needed crayons, and Molly had drooled over Annie’s well-loved dolphin homework folder.
“Sure, he’s just a ‘friend’...” Serene Hallowbrew whispered. “You ogled those well-muscled arms of his, and that was purely platonic...”
Out of the corner of her eye, Annie did a sly up-down of Julian, but was then instantly thumped with regret. She lowered her eyes and inwardly kicked herself.I’ve already got this guy in my crosshairs? Now’s not the time for new love. Rebounding would be the worst thing I could do right now.
She whispered under her breath, “Get it together, Annie…”
“No… you really meant ‘get together,’ Annie…”
Annie bit back a response.
Although the time she’d spent with Julian had been innocent, she reminded herself that her goal was to move away from Chris and start her new life in Fort Walton. To be there for Molly and Peter when they needed her.Thiswas just a vacation. While Julian had made it clear he enjoyed her company, what were the chances that he—
“This is nice. I hate it when people talk just to fill the air.”
“What?” Annie snapped from her thoughts. “Oh, yeah! Yeah, nobody needs to talk every second of the day.”
Just then, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She checked the I.D.
Chris...
Frowning, she declined the call and put it back in her jacket.
They finished stacking the first load of very wet wood. She followed Julian with his wheelbarrow for two more rounds ofwood gathering and stacking. She felt appreciative for the gloves on her hands when she noticed Julian picking at the caked-on, dust-coated sap spotting his long fingers.
Her phone rang again when they were stacking the last pieces. It was almost noon.
“Sorry, sorry. One sec.” She checked her phone.
Christopher.
Again.
She declined and turned her phone off.
“I don't miss that much," Julian said.
She raised a brow.
Julian gave her a half smile. He looked a little tired around the eyes. "Someone bothering you? I could ‘ave sworn I heard your growl."
