I needed to think for a second.
No, I needed a plan.
Problem was, I didn’t have the faintest idea of who to ask and where to go to find her. Surely there were organizations for this sort of thing.
Jules will help me.
I’d become so accustomed to keeping my past in the past, that the thought surprised me. In order to tell Jules about Sunny, I’d need to tell her everything else, too. The prospect made my chest tighten in conflict.
Golly, it would feel so good to let it out. To finally allow my past to inform my present. To be truly me—the ex-convict and all.
But I didn’t know how I’d survive her rejection. She might hear the truth and never want to talk to me again. My brain rejected the thought as soon as it surfaced, and something warm, beautiful, and heady spread over my spirit. A thought as pleasurable as stepping into the warm river washed me.
Julia Collins will not reject me.
Somehow, right then, I knew the truth. Jules would listen and believe me. My breath left my lungs in a rush.
I should’ve already told her. From the very start, our relationship had been anythingbutcasual. We were thrust head-first into each other’s messes. And with all she’d done for me, I owed her an explanation. She’d need to know at some point anyway, because I cared about her much more than I was ready to admit out loud. I’d always thought Gracie was my soul-mate, and allowing myself to entertain thoughts about someone else felt like betrayal. But, for better or worse, wrong or right, I wanted Jules in my life. Heck, maybe I evenneededher.
The truth was a risk I would have to take.
I pulled out my phone as I eased back onto the main drag toward I-40. Siri sent the message:“Done in Pleasant Gap. Pick you up at 5pm?”
Her response was in true form:“Is there food involved?”
Jules and her food. I rolled my eyes, smiling at her antics:“Sure. If that’s the only way you’ll agree.”
She replied:“See you at 5 then.”
I dropped the phone into the cup holder. A few minutes later, I was cruising down I-40. Blood pumping, hope surging, and excitement growing.
I had a daughter.
And a woman, quite frankly, I was falling for.
Danny’s words echoed in my brain. “Don’t let what’s in the past hold you back.”
I didn’t plan to. This day was a new beginning. I decided to let go of the past and lean into the blood flowing through my veins. If there was anything Kevin Moore was, it was courageous. I was going to lay it out there, because that’s what he would’ve done. I was going to love deeply, because maybe that is what I was meant to do all along.
My heart beat wildly as I thought of Jules and Sunny. I was going to do the right thing. For me. For them.
After fourteen years, things were finally looking up. With Pleasant Gap in the rearview and Nashville just ahead, the speedometer kept inching past 80mph.
TWENTY-NINE
Julia
Ianswered the door at 4:40 p.m. in sweats with a toothbrush hanging out of my mouth. “You said five!”
Pat smiled and did the cute huff-chuckle thing. He looked dashing. His face was freshly shaved, and he wore a navy polo. Hair was still damp from a shower. Pat apologized, “Sorry I’m early.”
Holding the door open for him, I talked around the toothbrush. “Come in then. I’ll be ready in a couple minutes.”
I disappeared into the bathroom to finish up and threw on a blue dress I’d been meaning to give some attention. I heard Pat walking around the living room of my apartment. He called back to me, “Love what you did with the place.”
His appreciation for my style made my cheeks feel warm.
“Did you do the decorating or did you hire someone?”
