Page 56 of Fish out of Water
Unless I wanted to completely abandon who I was.
And it hadn’t come to that yet.
Yet.
I opened the door and went in, dragging our bags into the kitchen. I set her suitcase on its wheels before dropping my ruined bag on the counter.
Julia was nowhere in sight.
I slowly moved through the house, past the most glaring relic of the life I lived before coming to Sweet Side Bay.
A life I clearlystruggled to leave behind.
The sound of a toilet flushing narrowed down her location.
The sink switched on, running for a few seconds before shutting off. I held my breath as the door opened.
Julia came out of the half bath just off the living room. Her feet skidded to a stop when she saw me. One thumb went over her shoulder. “I had to pee. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course.” I held her gaze, looking for any hint of a reaction to what she’d seen.
“Thank you for bringing my bag in.” She shifted on her feet. “And thank you for letting me stay here.”
“It’s my fault you can’t stay at your own place.” I inched closer to her. “I will fix this, Jules. I’ll figure out what’s going on and handle it.”
She smiled a little. “I know.”
Her faith in me was shocking. Almost as shocking as what she said next.
One yellow-tipped finger pointed toward the large aquarium dominating my living room. “Can I hold your snake?”
I stared at her.
“That wasn’t a euphemism.” She leaned down to peek into the large tank. “I really meant your snake.”
“You want to hold her?”
“It’s a her?” Julia moved closer to the glass. “How long have you had her?”
“Since I was seventeen.” She was the reason I’d defended Vito’s love of his fish to my grandmother on more than one occasion. “My dad got her for me.”
Julia went down to her knees. “She’s so cool.” Her eyes darted my way before going back to the contents of the tank. “She’s an albino python, right?”
I took a step closer. “That’s right.”
“What’s her name?”
“Amidala.”
Julia turned my way, a wide grin on her face. “I figured you were a Star Wars guy.”
I tried not to react like I normally would. Tried to resist the urge to stand taller.
To push out the chest I spent countless hours building up in the gym.
“Why would you think that?”
Julia pushed up to her feet. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It just seemed like something you would like.” She started to walk past me. “What with you being a nerd and all.”
