Page 119 of I Knew You
I didn’t reply. He was right. That had sealed the deal in my mind. Losing Julianna was the worst part, but if I’d ruined Whit’s future, I would have lost Julianna anyway. At least, I thought so at the time.
“I hated every second of what happened next,” I continued. “I lied to Julianna and told her I wasn’t interested in her romantically. I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn’t feel good enough for her anyway. But when I told her this after Grams’ funeral, she made me promise not to tell you I was driving because she feared you’d never forgive me. And I kept that promise, and I didn’t tell you until now. And she knows now I was going to tell you. We talked about it. Actually, we fought about it. She was afraid.”
“I can’t lie, I wish you’d have told me way earlier,” he replied sullenly, playing with the leg of his jeans. “She and I haven’t been truly close since Grams died. But you and me? We have been. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me what happened this whole time.”
“I wish I had told you, too. It was so fucking difficult to keep from bursting out with it sometimes. But Julianna’s wishes meant everything to me.” Whit looked up at me, bewildered. I continued, “I didn’t want to make anything harder on you either. In our twisted ways, she and I were looking out for you.” His brow furrowed, and I realized he was thinking through what I said, so I added, “Look, I don’t have a pile of shit excuses. I have the truth. And the truth is I know I was wrong, and I’m a better man now.” Aggravation melted from the furrow of his brow, and a calm acquiescence smoothed the hardness of his face.
“I guess I can accept that,” he muttered. “Or I can try to. It was a long time ago. It might take a while to process, I guess. But you love Julianna?”
I nodded, unable to keep the grin off my face. “I do.”
His crooked grin gave him a boyish look. “All these years, I thought you were being dramatic about her.” We both chuckled deeply, and it felt good. I could feel the wall built between would dismantle, even as my body screamed in pain from the punch fest.
“I’m crazy about her,” I confirmed, smiling like a fool, unable to hold my feelings back. “We’re going to stay together. I’ll always work to be better for her. You have my word as a brother to you.”
He nodded definitively and stood. He moved toward me, but this time, he came to me with love and respect. I released my breath when his arms came around me in a brotherly embrace. We clapped each other’s backs, leaning into the moment.
Now was the time, and I pivoted a little toward him as I spoke, low, in case Mel and Julianna were near. “I should have told you this long ago, but I owe you more than I could ever repay. You decided to be my friend when I never gave you a reason to, and I got to experience a real family when I didn’t know that’s what I was missing. And now I have a wife because of it. None of it would have happened if it weren’t for you. How knows where I’d be, who I would be.” I slapped my hand on his back. “So, thanks, man. You mean a great deal to me. Brothers for life.”
He pulled back, and I was surprised to see tears spilling onto his cheeks. My own eyes were misting over, but I was saved from ugly crying when I heard the girls shuffling back toward the living room. By the time they came back through the threshold, Whit and I had gathered ourselves.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Julianna murmured aloud when she saw Whit and me behaving amicably. I gently grabbed her arm and brought her to me for a quick kiss.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you two like this. It’s so weird,” Whit mused.
“You’ll come around,” Julianna offered. She turned toward her brother and threw her arms around him, and they hugged tightly. Whit’s face was more relieved than I’d seen in a long while.
“I missed you,” Whit whispered to her. I couldn’t seeJulianna, but I heard her sniffling. Mel watched me from the doorway, and we exchanged a knowing look. We knew what it was like. Mel and I didn’t know what we were missing until we found each other, but it had been worth the wait. And I hoped it was the same way for Whit and Julianna now.
Time had a funny way of bringing people together, and I knew that whatever came after this, all of us, in one way or another, would be family.
Epilogue
Bram |April 19, 2025
“I’m getting eaten alive!”
Julianna smacked her calves. It was spring, and mountain mosquitoes in the evenings were already becoming quite a nuisance. I was lucky and usually the last person to be bitten. My beautiful wife, however, was always the first to be bitten. She wore a knee-length, cerulean floral dress, accentuating her dark hair and porcelain skin. I couldn’t blame the mosquitoes. All that exposed real estate made me want to bite her, too. She hadn’t known we were coming here, but I was prepared.
I pulled out my pocket-sized insect repellent permanently attached to my work key ring in the center console of the Jeep and handed it to her. She saw the small bottle and smiled.
“I got you, always,” I said with a wink, and a blush appeared on the apple of her cheeks. She walked away from the vehicle a few steps and sprayed her legs and arms while Ireached into the back floorboard and pulled out the duffle bag I’d stashed earlier—something she hadn’t noticed.
She looked down at it but said nothing.
We strolled hand in hand across the weathered, cracked pavement of the Mill Creek High School’s auxiliary parking lot. The sun was setting, and the sky was lit up with every color, from burnt orange to lilac. No one else was at the football field, but that’s how I wanted it.
I’d dreamed of this night since becoming head football coach for the Mill Creek Raptors a few months ago. I didn’t know how or when I could make our fantasy a reality, but since Coach Mayfield handed me the key to the field gate and the coach’s office, the only thing on my mind was getting my wife alone on this football field.
Admitting to others that I wanted to be a coach wasn’t easy. The sport still brought back so many mixed feelings for me. But after Julianna and I discussed it at length, she made me realize my passion and talent for football was meant to be shared. I enjoyed teaching and mentoring. I’d already gotten together a day camp for the following year’s football tryouts, and I’d somehow roped Whit into coming back to Mill Creek to assist.
It was a hopeful thing—a redemption.
Julianna had no setbacks from her surgery, but still, I held onto her like she was made of glass. She claimed to hate it, but whenever my grip on her would naturally relax, she’d lean into me more.
“What are we doing? Breaking and entering?” Her voice was teasing, but I saw a light spark in her eyes at the thought of mischief.
I smiled back at her, charmed.
