“What did you expect?” Julie asked with a laugh.
He tipped his head to the side looking sheepish.
“Is he good to you, Jules?”
The question caught her off guard and she stared at him, searching his face for any sign of an ulterior motive. She didn’t see one.
“Yes,” she said not able to hide her smile. “He is.”
“Good,” said Caleb, meeting her smile with his own. “I’m happy for you. I always liked him. He was strange but okay. It’s cool that he made something of himself. I got to tell you though; I couldn’t have pictured this when he was bent over in daddy’s field picking tomatoes.”
She thought about it for a moment – Eric that summer on her father’s farm, but the funny thing was, she could picture it. Part of her had known that Eric would somehow be larger than life. He’d always been too alive to live small.
“As long as he’s good to you, he’s okay with me.”
Shocked by her brother’s sudden desire to look out for her, she smiled and wondered if she’d ever understand him.
“I KNOW YOU said that you weren’t interested in discussing this,” said Jackson over the phone.
Eric flipped the speaker off and picked up the receiver, knowing before he did it that he was going to regret it.
“Then I’m assuming you must have a very good reason for calling me,” he said.
“The security agent assigned to Ms. Blake went with her to a meeting this afternoon.”
She’d called for security. She said she would – promised actually – but Eric was pleased she’d followed through when he wasn’t there to make her.
“And?” asked Eric. He hadn’t known she had a meeting but that couldn’t be why Jackson was bothering him.
“I think it would be easier if I showed you.” The usually stoic no nonsense security chief sounded uncomfortable and something tightened deep in Eric’s chest.
“I’m sending you my private email address,” he said thumbing open his cell and texting the address. “You can send whatever pictures you have there.”
“Done,” said Jackson after a few minutes. “Would you like me to stay on the line while you look at them?”
“Not unless you think it’s necessary.” The tight feeling got worse. If there was a real threat to Julie, Jackson wouldn’t have asked. He’d have waited which meant it was something else. Something more personal.
“Okay. My man took the pictures at Ms. Blake’s meeting. It is standard protocol for us. She didn’t see him do it.” There was a pause as if Jackson was trying to think of what to say next. “After you look at the pictures, sir, let me know how you would like us to proceed.”
“Of course. Thank you,” he said sure he wouldn’t be grateful for any of it.
He woke his computer and typed in the password for his private email. There were two new messages, presumably from Jackson. Opening the first, he flexed and released his fist, waiting for the picture to load. With every new section of the image, his jaw tightened until he was clenching his teeth, looking at a picture of Julie sitting in a restaurant booth laughing with Caleb. She sure as hell wasn’t looking at him like she was done with him. The second image confirmed his fears. Julie smiling at her brother, her expression warm, loving and judgment free.
“Well fuck,” he said out loud to no one. He didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to believe that she’d lie to him. There still might be a reasonable explanation. He dialed her new number and waited a few rings for her to answer.
“Eric,” she said, sounding breathless and happy.
He wanted so much for her to have a good reason for the meeting. If she told him about it on her own, he could find a way to make sense of things.
“Tell me about your day, cher. I miss you and I still have hours of work to do before I can come home.” He waited, praying Jackson was wrong, and it was all a big misunderstanding.
“I didn’t do much,” she said, and his heart fell. “I went out for a bit, but I called security and took the car.”
He tried to concentrate on what she was saying but he could barely hear her past the roaring in his ears. He’d been so sure she was innocent. He still couldn’t believe it. There was no way she was working with Caleb. It didn’t make sense.
“I’ve got to go,” he said.
“Oh okay,” she said, stopping what she was saying mid-sentence. “Hurry home. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He hung up the phone. Half an hour earlier he’d known she loved him. Now he couldn’t be sure of anything.
