They’d made a plan to go to the festival together. He’d appeased Julie by calling Ruth, a client of his who also had a table at the festival where she was selling some pottery. Ruth was excited about seeing the paintings.
Hunter wished he’d burned them a long time ago.
But he had promised so he knew it would make Julie happy to see that he’d followed through on that promise. He’d gone out to the festival grounds earlier in the day to drop off the paintings for Ruth. When he returned, he quickly showered and cleaned up so he could pick up Julie and they could head to the festival together.
Just as Hunter was leaving his apartment, his cell phone rang. He tried to ignore it. He didn’t want to pull it out of the his pocket because he was afraid of who might be on the phone. But he checked anyway just to make sure wasn’t Julie calling about some last-minute change.
As he suspected it wasn’t Julie. It was one of his bigger clients who had a stable of horses Hunter usually serviced. He knew that there was a competition next week and most likely this was an emergency since he was already scheduled to go out to Bert’s ranch next week. For people who were in competition or had injured animals, shoeing could mean the difference between canceling an event or in the most severe cases, it could mean risking further injury.
Hunter decided to let the call go to voicemail. If Bert needed him, he’d call back. Otherwise, he’d call back tonight. He’d been looking forward to seeing Julie for days and he wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of the day they’d planned.
He climbed into his truck and drove the short distance through town to Julie’s apartment. In a way he didn’t even think of it as Caleb’s even though Caleb’s name was on the lease. But Julie was there. It made it her home, and his compass seemed to move in that direction these days.
She was standing on the porch leaning over the porch rail looking out at something when he arrived. She smiled when he pulled into the parking lot and waited for him on the porch until he got out of the car.
“Wow. You look amazing, Julie,” he said, not being able to help himself. Her smile grew brighter.
She did a little twirl that made the sundress she was wearing lift a little along her thighs. “You said you wanted see my legs.”
He fiddled with his cowboy hat and then looked back up at her. Damn. “Yes I did.”
She’d worn the dress for him. He liked that. It didn’t really matter what she was wearing, but the fact that she’d thought about it and chosen that dress to show off her long legs just for him, well, that was special.
“Are you ready to go? There is already a line of traffic heading down towards the field.”
Her expression changed as if she was suddenly worried about something. “Maybe I should put on some boots. I’m sure the field will be a little muddy in places from that rain we had last night.
He glanced down at the flats she was wearing.
“They should be okay. If there’s any mud, I’ll carry you over it.”
She laughed, throwing her head back and placing a hand over her chest.
“You know that line would be real corny if it didn’t also do something to me. How many times have you delivered it?”
“First time. I swear.”
“Let me get a sweater and I’ll be right down.”
He shook his head as he watched her disappear into the apartment slamming the screen door as she breezed through it. It felt like the years apart hadn’t even happened. The easiness they felt together, and the flirtation seemed to all fall into step.
But those years had happened and it still left too many things unsaid. Hunter needed to know the answers to those questions he had when he was lying awake in bed thinking of Julie. Maybe tonight. Maybe they could put it all out on the table after a good day together. He wanted her to trust him enough to tell him the truth. It was the only way they’d be able to move forward. And he wanted that with all his heart.
He loved her. He’d never stopped loving her. He wasn’t foolish enough to think she’d fall back into his arms and trust him completely. It would take time. But he wanted a future with her and that could only happen if they bared their souls.
Julie stepped out of the apartment onto the porch and checked the door to make sure it was locked. Then she seemed to skip down the stairs. Just as Julie got to the bottom of the stairs, Hunter’s cell phone rang again. He ignored it as he walked with Julie to his truck. The cell phone stopped ringing for a few seconds, then it started up again as he opened the truck door on the passenger side. Julie looked down towards the source of the noise.
“Aren’t you going get that?”
“No.”
She frowned. “What if it’s important?”
“It’s always important. Everyone wants me to give them attention immediately. Right now the person who is going to have my immediate attention is you.”
Her smile was slow and her eyes filled with emotion.
“Thank you.”
She climbed into the truck and he slammed the door. Then he walked around back behind the bed and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to check the caller ID. Bert again. It probably was something important. Bert wasn’t the type to nag him unless it was. Dammit.
He climbed into the truck and slammed the door. Then he turned the truck’s engine over.
“It’s okay if you take that call,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s better not to know.”
Julie reached her hand across the cab of the
