“Yeah, it looks that way. Something’s off. She sounded worried or scared,” he explains.
“What the fuck did she say?”
Shaking his head, he turns to look at me. “She said she just missed me and wanted to come and stay.”
“Maybe she’s at a loss now she’s graduated?” I offer.
When he still doesn’t move, I give his shoulder a squeeze. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Tommy gets moving in the direction of his truck. When he pulls out, I follow him on my bike.
***
We make good time, and Tommy parks in his driveway behind an Accord that I assume belongs to his sister. I pull in behind him, kill the engine, and jump off the bike. My eyes are already searching for Jules, and my eyes nearly pop out of my head when I see her.
Last time I saw her, she was my best friend’s kid sister. Now she’s all woman.
She’s sitting on the porch swing, looking all sweet and innocent. There’s a scruffy tabby on the swing beside her, a large suitcase near her legs, and the biggest iced latte I’ve ever seen in her hand. She’s wearing ripped jeans and a belly shirt. Her hair is pulled up into a messy bun. At first glance, she looks fine. But as we get closer, I can see cracks in her façade. Her shoulders arepulled up tight, and she is white-knuckling that to-go cup like there’s no tomorrow.
Tommy reaches her first. “Hey. You okay?”
“Yeah.” She stands up and gives him a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Sorry. I know I probably should have called before making the trip. I just needed to see you.”
“You don’t have to ask to come here, you know you’re always welcome.”
I speak up, “Good to see ya, Jules.”
She looks me up and down. “Well, hello to you too, Flint.”
“Why didn’t you let yourself in?” Tommy asks.
She stammers awkwardly, “I misplaced the key… my whole keychain actually. I had to get new apartment and car keys made.”
Without taking my eyes off her, I remove the spare key Tommy gave me forever ago from my keyring and toss it to her. Tommy catches it and presses it into her hand.
“There, problem solved. I’ll get Flint another key made when I get a chance.” He reaches down, grabs her suitcase with one hand, and guides her to the door with his other. She unlocks it, and before they can step inside, the cat darts between them and runs into the house.
“Is that supposed to go in there?” I ask.
“Fluffy’s with me,” Jules answers.
I wonder how long she’s planning on staying for if she’s bringing her cat. The suitcase she’s got ain’t small either.
I go straight to the kitchen and pull two beers from the fridge, pop both caps, and hand one to Tommy without asking. I offer one to Jules, but she shakes her head, so I take a mouthful instead. She doesn’t need me hovering, but I won’t leave until I know what’s going on. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. It ain’t got nothing to do with me wanting to keep on looking at her.
She settles onto the sofa, pulls her legs up, and makes herself comfortable. Tommy drops onto the far end of the sofa, and I take a nearby armchair.
“So, what’s going on?” Tommy asks casually. “What’s been going on in your world?”
“I graduated,” she says. “Finished my first well-paying commission and decided I wanted to come and see you.”
“You drove here from LA?”
“I needed time to think.”
Tommy nods slowly. “On the phone you sounded rattled.”
“Something weird happened a couple of weeks ago,” she says. “I was up late working on my commission and decided to do a drive through. I was on the beltline and I saw something strange… Scary.”
