Page 43 of I Knew You
“Done,” I replied immediately, holding my hand out for her to shake. She looked up at me, mouth slightly agape, then down at my hand. She shook it but pulled away quickly.
I wanted her, but I couldn’t have her. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. I needed to keep her at arm’s length until everything became clearer.
I hada couple of missed work calls to return, so I stayed inside while Julianna and Lakey explored outside. I watched them explore the yard and small field behind the house from the window over the kitchen sink. Somehow, the sun always seemed to be shining on her. Her brown hair moved freely against her figure, which was hugged by those black leggings, and she smiled even when she thought no one was looking.
“Bram?” Melanie said on the other end of the phone.
I snapped back to reality. “I’m here,” I replied.
“Did you hear anything I said?”
“Um, yeah. That’s fine.”
“It’s fine that Doug ran the government truck into the ditch, and Junior tried to use the winch on the UTV to pull it out, causing them both to be in the ditch, and I had to call Lucky’s Towing?”
“What?” I slammed the beer I was casually drinking onto the countertop. “Why the hell would they do that? My God.”
“That’s what I thought,” she reprimanded. “You’re not listening to me at all. What are you doing? Are you at home? I thought you were sick?”
“Are Doug and Junior okay?”
She sighed. “They are fine. You’re deflecting.”
Julianna threw a stick for Lakey, who happily ran to retrieve it.
“Can I ask you something? Not as a supervisor, but as a brother.”
Melanie was not only a park ranger, but also my half-sister. Ten years younger than me, she had sought me out after finding that we shared paternity. She said my dad knew about her but denied the DNA results. It was no surprise to me that he had another child. I’d even tried to bring it up to my motheronce. She cried when I started asking questions, so we didn’t discuss it further. My father refused to listen to my questions. Despite all that, Melanie and I formed a friendship over time, especially after we started working together. We got along well, both as siblings and coworkers.
“What’s going on for real?” she asked. “You’re not sick, are you?”
“No,” I admitted. “I didn’t call in sick anyway. I’m using personal leave, if you must know. Because…things are personal.”
“Noted. Lips are sealed.” I heard a door shut, and I knew Melanie had entered her tiny office. “What’s up?”
“Do you remember when you and I got tipsy at that Blue Ridge winery a few years ago? And I told you about Whit’s sister, Julianna?”
“I remember. She was the reason you bought that house. Have you seen her or something?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to de-stress. “Something like that.” I looked out at the yard where Julianna was poking around at something under the giant oak tree off to the right by the field gate. Lakey sniffed around her. “She’s here at the house.”
Melanie’s gasp and excited squeal made me pull the phone back from my ear.
“Oh my God, are you serious? Is she staying with you? Did you profess your undying love? Did you at least tell her how big of a crush you’ve had on her for years? Did you kiss her? Have sex with her? Anything?”
“No to those last few questions, and don’t ever say the word ‘sex’ to me again,” I replied sternly. “But I think…I think there’s still something between us.”
There was silence.
“As in, she could feel the same way you do?”
“I doubt it since I don’t even know how I feel. But from themoment we saw each other yesterday, we’ve had something. And I can’t tell Whit, so I just thought…”
“This is so exciting!” Melanie’s exclamation and hand claps made me roll my eyes and wonder why I’d ever called her. “Why is she in town? I thought they didn’t have any family here anymore?”
“She’s having back surgery. She was supposed to stay at her grandma’s old house, but she wasn’t expecting it to be remodeled, and I think everything hit her at once. Anyway, I invited her to stay here with me. Thought I could look after her.”
“Of course.” Melanie laughed, seeing through my ruse. “What does her brother think?”
