“That was before I started working as a bartender there. I’ve only been there about six months.”
“Really? Only six months?”
“I did other things for a while. That was back when I lived in Seattle.”
He frowned. “Seattle? That’s where you’ve been?”
She looked down at the floor is hiding her embarrassment. “I’ve been all over. But I wanted to see the ocean. I just woke up one day and decided that I had to see the ocean. So I went. And while I was there I saw the redwood trees.”
“That’s nice.”
“It wasn’t. There was beauty around me and I didn’t see it. Ever. That’s one of the things I regret the most. I would pick myself up and go to a new place all the time thinking things would be different. It never was. At first everything was a big distraction. But as soon as that sameness of doing a job and living in the same place alone settled in, everything would change. Old memories would creep back and it would be as if I never left.”
“Was it really that hard to remember?”
“Yes. I know you don’t know why. But it was. I started going to therapy when I was in Seattle. I tried to run from it. I move to Olympia and then to… Oh, it doesn’t matter. I moved around.” She laughed and touched her cheek. “It drove Dr. Matthews crazy. I had years of therapy but nothing really kicked in until I came back to Montana six months ago.”
Hunter stared into her eyes. “Would you have come back if Caleb hadn’t found you, Julie?” he asked. “You can tell me the truth.”
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t. But I’m here now.”
“Thank you for being honest.”
She turned to the paintings again as the weight of emotion bubbled up her chest. “You should show these at the festival.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
She chuckled at the expression on his face. “Why not? These are really good. There will be lots of artists there.”
He sputtered. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m being serious and you’re giving me a stupid answer.”
He turned around and walked away. Then he stopped and turned to her. “I’m giving you an answer. Maybe not the one you expected but it’s still an answer.”
She followed him into the kitchen. “Because is not an answer. That’s an I-have-to-think-of-an-excuse-before-I-can-come-up-with-a-real-answer type of answer.”
He turned to her. “The answer is still no.”
“But they’re great. Why wouldn’t you want to show them off?”
“We just went through the reason why.”
“You have a gift. This is something special. You work with horses because you love them and it’s your job. You paint for pleasure.”
“It’s just something I do.”
“It’s your therapy. It’s something that you love to do. Why wouldn’t you want to share that?”
“Why is this important to you?”
She propped her hands on her hips and fought to find the words. “Because life gives us surprises sometimes. And this is a big surprise.”
Sweet Montana Secrets: Chapter Six
It had taken some doing, but Julie had finally gotten Hunter to agree to show a few of his paintings with a local woman he knew would be selling pottery at the festival. She was a client of his and he promised he would talk to her about it.
She drove back to Caleb’s apartment feeling good for the first time. She knew Hunter was avoiding all talk about the baby. Maybe he understood how painful it was for her. Or maybe she was reading too much into those paintings she’d seen.
She loved him. She knew she did. It had never gone away and that had been clear tonight when they’d finally broken through a wall she’d put up for herself years ago.
She parked the car in the parking lot and reached into the back seat for her purse. After rummaging through the purse, she remembered.
Dropping her purse in her lap, she groaned. “I can’t believe I forgot the key.”
Twenty minutes later, Julie saw headlights pulling into the parking lot of Caleb’s apartment. Caleb pulled his truck in right next to her parking spot. She could already tell by the look on his face he was not exactly happy with her.
She took a deep breath and climbed out of her car.
“Roll up your window,” he ground out in that big brother way he did when he wanted to order her around. Yep, he was upset.
“I’m sorry. I can’t believe I forgot my key.” She reached inside the car, turned the key in the ignition just enough so she could use the power window button on the door to roll up the window, and then turned the key again, and pulled it out of the ignition.
She slammed the car door as she turned, and saw him scowling down at her.
“I said I was sorry,” she said quickly. “I guess I called at a bad time, huh?”
“You owe me.”
“Get it line. You’re not the only one who feels that way.”
“What were you doing anyway?”
Julie didn’t want to tell Caleb about going over to Hunter’s apartment after learning the news about Margaret. She wasn’t ready to talk about it. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was feeling. Time had moved on, and yet, it hadn’t and the shifting back and forth made her unsteady.
“I was hungry. I got a sub to eat.”
He turned and looked at her hands as they walked. “Yeah? Where is it? Lock the car door. This may be Sweet, but we just had some break-ins in town a few weeks ago.”
Just as they got to the porch stairs, she turned and pressed the button to lock her car. “Um, I ate my sub there.”
“Did you see anyone you knew in town?”
Panic filled her. “Why would you ask that?”
Caleb chuckled as they climbed the porch stairs. “A lot of people you went to school with still live in Sweet, Julie. You’re bound to run into someone you know.”
“Oh. No.”
“Huh. I usually see people all the time.” He unlocked the apartment door and stood aside. “Do
