Finally, I heard hurried footsteps inside. I smiled when I saw Julie’s face appear behind the glass. She didn’t return the smile. When she opened the door, she was staring at me with disinterest. My smile faltered for a second before I pushed myself forward.
“Hey,” I said. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” Julie lips barely moved when she spoke.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I don’t really want to see you right now,” Julie said firmly. “Maybe you should just go.”
“Go?” I blinked. “Julie, what are you talking about? What’s wrong?”
Julie shook her head and looked away from me. Her eyes fell on something to my left. She fixed a fake smile on her face and then lifted her hand to wave. I followed her gaze. Her next-door neighbor was sitting on the porch, staring at us with beady eyes. She was clearly trying to eavesdrop on our conversation.
“Just come inside.” Julie sighed. “I don’t want anyone to hear us.”
I still didn’t know what was going on, but I followed her inside all the same. The house looked exactly as it did the last time I was there. The only difference was a small tree in the corner of the living room. I smiled when I saw it, thinking about the crystal tree I was holding.
“Let’s just make this quick,” Julie said. “What do you want, Michael?”
“To see you,” I said. My confusion was growing by the second. The last time Julie and I spoke, everything was fine. She’d kissed me, had straddled my lap and groaned against me. Now she was completely shut down and I didn’t know why.
“I don’t want to see you right now,” Julie said again. “In fact, I’m not sure if I’ll ever want to see you again.”
“What?” I blinked and stared at her. “Julie, what are you talking about? What happened?”
“What happened?” Julie scoffed. “As if you don’t know.”
“I thought everything was fine,” I said quickly. “Last time I was here, you kissed me and said we could make this work. You said we wouldn’t let Josh come between us and now—”
“That was before,” Julie interrupted. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from me.
I still didn’t know what was going on. I watched Julie as she stared into her kitchen, looking anywhere but at me. With a sigh, I set down the gift I’d brought and walked slowly over to her. I was scared to touch her, but I knew I had to try. I couldn’t just leave without understanding what had upset her so much.
Gently, I ran my fingers down her arms.
“Julie…”
She jerked away from me, jumping forward and spinning around to glare at me. I immediately held up my hands and took a step backward. Touching her was obviously a mistake. Her pale blue eyes, usually so soft and kind, flashed with rage.
“Don’t touch me,” she growled.
“Okay,” I said, losing my patience now. “What the hell happened?”
“I had dinner with Joshua,” Julie said.
When the words left her mouth, my heart stopped. My worst fears had been realized. She went to dinner with Josh. She still cared about him. She still loved him. They were going to get back together.
“You had dinner with him?” I asked. “Why?”
“He texted me,” Julie said simply. “Said he wanted to meet up and talk.”
“And you actually went?” I asked in disbelief. “After everything he put you through?”
Julie shrugged. “I figured it couldn’t hurt, especially if you and I were going to try and make things work.”
“What does that have to do with Josh?” I snapped.
“He’s your brother,” Julie said. “In my head, I thought he and I should smooth things over if we were both going to be in your life.”