“You’re just jealous,” Courtney sneered, her tone hateful. “Just because you don’t have any friends, you don’t want me to have them.”
“Honey, that’s not true. I do want you to have friends. Just the right ones. When you spend time with this group, your grades go straight into the toilet and you start dressing like some kind of freak.”
“You hate me,” Courtney spat out. “Admit it. You wish you’d never had me.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Julia reached for her daughter again. “That is so not true.”
“Yes. It is. And Grandma and Grandpa Patterson feel the same way. They never come to see me or ask about me. All those times they came to take Andy and Beth? I never got to go with them. There must be something terrible about me.”
Oh, my God!
“Courtney, no. You’re getting this wrong.”
But Courtney whirled away, storming up the stairs. “Just leave me alone.”
She slammed the door to her room, leaving Julia staring after her, fear stabbing at her heart. Was that what Courtney thought underneath it all? That Julia wished she’d never been born? How on earth had they arrived at this point? She’d tried to do her best to make her feel loved and wanted. To counteract the attitude of the elder Pattersons. To give her daughter a sense of security. Apparently she’d failed miserably and so much had festered inside Courtney for a long time. How had she missed all of that?
And was Courtney right that she, Julia, was without friends? There was Claire. Of course. But who else did she ever let into her life? No one in Charles’s circle had ever given her the time of day, including his parents. Somehow, it was always easier after the mess she’d made of her life to focus on the kids, Claire, and the business. Was it coming back to haunt her now? And what the hell could she do? If she laid it all out for Luke, would he understand and want to help?
Sunday, she coaxed Courtney into lunch on the Riverwalk, the drive downtown filled with a sullen silence. By the time they’d finished lunch, though, and Julia tempted her with a shopping trip to some of the boutiques that lined the waterway, the atmosphere lightened a little.
But not much.
Sunday night, Courtney closeted herself in her room again and when she hurried to catch the school bus Monday morning, it was without a word of goodbye.
Julia was left with an aching, uneasy feeling and anger at the unfairness of life. She couldn’t seem to find answers to problems that looked insurmountable. She almost dreaded going to the office Monday morning. When she walked in, she found Claire already there, waiting for her with questions in her eyes.
“You’re not getting away from me this time,” she warned.
But before they could get into anything, the phone rang and Margot, the receptionist, told Julia that a Mr. Buchanan was on the line for her.
“Take it,” Claire insisted. “Right now. And then we’re going to talk. Margot, tell Mr. Buchanan Julia will be right with him, then bring her a cup of tea.”
Julia stowed her purse in her office and nodded at Margot who set a filled mug on her desk. Then she picked up the phone, her hand trembling slightly.
“Hello?”
“Good morning.”
The deep timbre and molasses-thick warmth of his voice sent shivers along her spine and made her pulse throb. Images of Thursday night flashed through her mind like a video rerun, only with these images came sensations and responses. Julia drew in a deep breath to steady herself and slowly released it. She could do this. Somehow.
“Good morning.” She couldn’t help smiling. “Did you have a good weekend?”
“It would have been much better with you.” There was no mistaking the intimacy of the tone.
“Luke…”
“We’ll get back to that in a minute. Business first.”
Julia wasn’t sure if she waited eagerly or with dread for his announcement. “You’ve made a decision already?”
“At this morning’s executive staff meeting, after everyone took the weekend to review everything. The contract is yours. The selection of Bright Ideas for the campaign was unanimous. My secretary’s going to call your office later to set up a planning meeting.”
Yes!
For one exhilarating moment, she forgot her personal issues in the thrill of success. This would lift the agency to a whole new category. She wanted to punch the air in a gesture of victory. Then reality returned. Everything else aside, she’d now be working closely with Luke Buchanan. Keeping him out of her life—and her heart—was going to be next to impossible.
“Julia?” Luke’s voice held a mixture of curiosity and amusement. “You still there?”
She forced herself back to earth. “Yes. Yes, I am. I can tell you that we’re thrilled you’ve chosen us and assure you we will work hard to implement a successful campaign.”
“I know you will. So does everyone else. My secretary is faxing over the contracts as we speak.” He paused, and when he spoke again there was a different tenor to his voice. “On another note, I don’t want you to forget about Friday night.”
“Friday night.” She repeated the words, suddenly stiff and edgy.
“Dinner. Remember? Name the place or I’ll be at your door.”
“Luke, listen…”
“No.” She felt the authority in the word humming through the connection. “We will be having dinner, Julia. The location and manner of meeting is up to you. I’ll call you Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.” Another pause. “Just keep remembering that I love you. That I never stopped.” Then he broke the connection.
She held on to those words with desperation.
“Time to celebrate.” She looked up and saw Claire standing in the doorway, holding a stack of papers in her hand, her eyes alight with excitement. She waved the papers in the air. “Contracts just came in.”
For a brief moment, Julia remembered when the Hot
