Their good fortune.
Another plus? The bank where they stood to fish was gently sloped. So, on the off chance Petuladidstumble into the water, god forbid, there was no way she’d get in any deeper than her toes before Statler came to her aid.
It had taken some time to trust that she’d be okay, but there was something to be said for habituation, which Statler had worked on, patiently.
Therapy was good, too.
Yup.She still saw a woman in Bangor once every couple months now.
Petula couldn’t wait to talk to her about Julian.
She and Stat were removing their poles and tackle from the truck when Petula heard a vehicle just around the bend; tires crunching in the winter detritus that hadn’t yet been cleared from the dirt road. Just as she was getting ready for the disappointment of company, the person must have changed their mind, because the noise receded back in the direction from which it had come.
She and Statler grinned at each other.
They walked toward the pond, in full agreement that fishing when there weren’t any chatty weekend warriors around, was so much better.
CHAPTER 11
Julian wasn’tsure if he should bite the bullet, drive to Petula and Statler’s house, then just…knock on the door?
Tabbi and Jett had told him that wasdefinitelythe way to go, but his covert training had him wanting to do a stealthy recon on the entire property before he committed.
What if Statler were one of those gun-toting ex-military guys who didn’t like people showing up at his door? What if the man had already copped an attitude where Julian was concerned, and was primed to eviscerate him?
That, of course, would depend on whether Petula had told her brother that he and she had shared a few morning confabs.
Maybe she hadn’t.
Maybe the meetings hadn’t been as important to her as they’d been to Julian, which would definitely suck. But he wasn’t going to worry about that right now. He was on edge, enough.
He’d thought about which approach to take all day, until he’d finally locked the door at Diver Downeast and had to choose.
He hit the key fob for his truck, and…
Screw it.
Julian hopped in with new determination.
Direct approach it was.
If Statler came at him, he’d deal with it.
There weren’t many times in Julian’s adult life where he was overtly nervous. Even when running dangerous ops, he’d been known for his cool head. But as he drove out of town, Julian’s hands tapped apprehensively on the wheel. He had to admit to himself that this was a bigger deal than he’d let himself believe.
After several weeks of pining for Petula from afar, finally daring to speak with her, then having two very innocuous breakfasts together, Julian was absolutely sure he wanted to keep things going. He couldn’t get Petula out of his head. And not just in the protective way that had roared to life when he’d heard about her brother Jefferson being a murderer, then going off radar.
No.He wanted to explore exactly who she was. For herself. Underneath all the prickliness and troubles.
After the majority of Julian’s siblings—with the exception of Vincent, and Seifer who was far too young—had fallen into heavy-duty relationships, he finally understood how they felt. Meeting a woman who just seemed to fit was like getting smacked in the chest with a shovel, being unable to take a deep breath until you knew if she returned your regard.
Did he want what his brothers had?
Absolutely.
Was he making up this attraction to Petula in order to get that?
Not even close.
