Hometown Series Box Set

by Kirsten Fullmer

  “I don’t have to disclose that, and you know it.”

  “You know I can find out in a matter of minutes,” Julia threatened.

  “That’s not public record,” the attorney said, with his chest puffed out.

  An old man pushed through the crowd. “I’m the district judge here and if this young lady is these folks’ attorney, then she has a right to see the records!”

  The crowd cheered. Julia glanced around her at the people she’d come to love and admire. Her back straightened and she stared the attorney down. When he glanced away, Julia motioned for Fergus and Bobby to come to her side, hoping they wouldn’t notice that her hand was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

  Chad and Gloria helped Bobby and Fergus step forward. Tara stayed back with Bobby’s mother.

  “You well know that the property owners may challenge the right to take their land if the proposed taking is not for ‘public use’,” Julia stated confidently, “And if it’s not, the afore- mentioned party is not legislatively authorized to take said property, and I intend to show that whomever your client is, they have not followed the proper substantive or procedural steps required by law.”

  Shocked by the words flowing from her mouth, Julia stubbornly held onto a persona of brazen calm. The crowd muttered, shocked and captivated by Julia’s speech.

  “What makes you think you can beat this?” the attorney demanded.

  Julia puffed up, her eyes shooting shards of ice, and her voice dull as cold, gray steel. “Because I know you,” she growled. “And Bobby doesn’t lie. Something about this stinks of a coverup, and I’ll find it.”

  The man standing before Julia shriveled under her glare but stood his ground.

  “Furthermore,” Julia continued, “we will simply drive to the courthouse and file a motion to stay the eviction, and these good people will be back in their homes within the hour.”

  A look of relief washed over the sheriff’s face. “You can do that?” he asked, his eyes darting from the judge, to Julia, to the attorney.

  “Sure can!” the judge piped up with a grin.

  Julia turned to the sheriff. “You can take these chains down, sir, the stay will give Fergus and Mrs. Middlewood ten days for me to sort this out.

  The sheriff hurried to comply. “Ned, take those chains down and stay here until —this young lady— returns with the paperwork.”

  The deputy nodded, unlocked the padlock and with a clank, tugged the chains from the gate of the greenhouse.

  The crowd erupted into cheers and Bobby ran to Julia’s side, enveloping her in a tight hug. “Oh, Miss Julia, thank you!” he cried.

  Julia nodded and patted Bobby’s back, smiling over his shoulder at Chad, Fergus, and Tara, her heart finally slowing its staccato beating. For the first time in well over a year, she felt as if she were a competent person who could stand up for herself and stand her ground.

  Thank goodness this was just a paperwork issue, she thought to herself, as she was patted on the back and admired by what seemed to be the entire town, because she knew in her heart that she could never prepare a court case again or perform in a court room. Those days were gone but when it really mattered, she’d found courage and dug up some attitude and helped her friends. And Chad.

  A small part of her heart shriveled, however, at the knowledge that they all admired her because they thought she was a competent land acquisition attorney, not just a false, broken-down, bit of bravado.

  * * *

  Morning sun poured through Julia’s window and across her face. Chad watched as her lips smacked and her nose wrinkled, then one eye opened. She blinked up at him, a slow languid smile spreading across her face.

  “Hi,” he said, smoothing the hair back from her cheek. “I’m glad you got some sleep.”

  Julia moaned and cuddled into his side, her arms pinned between them.

  Running his fingers through her mussed curls, Chad stared into the room over her head, his heart tight in his chest. Julia had grown to be such a huge part of him that he felt as if his past life was all pushed off-kilter, and his footing was on loose rock.

  Julia mumbled and ran her fingers up his chest, causing a million thoughts and emotions to flash through his mind, but his mood remained pensive. Today was Justin and Tara’s wedding, and he’d stand beside Julia watching, wondering if she was dreaming of her own wedding, and what that would mean to him.

  As he’d sat with her at the courthouse half the night, searching through computer records and microfiche, he’d contemplated the fact that she had been a high-powered land attorney. Julia had told him that he wouldn’t have liked her, and he had to admit that when she’d stood toe to toe with that attorney, Chad hadn’t known her at all. The things he loved about Julia had been completely missing. Her deep, dark, shining eyes, her tenderness, the sweet vulnerability she usually radiated had been banished behind the face of that vicious, powerful woman.

  She really was completely different since her illness. The trauma had irrevocably changed everything about her. And thank goodness, because he didn’t know what he’d do if that scary woman showed up again.

  Insecurity swamped his soul, throwing a damper on the relief he felt over Julia’s ability to help William’s family. He’d experienced a horrible crushing sensation yesterday at Fergus’ place, knowing that once again he’d failed William.

  The fact that Julia could fix the situation, and come to find out, save William’s family in a far more effective manner than he had, bit at his pride. He’d sworn to be there for Bobby and his mother, to make sure they were safe and cared for, and now Julia had overstepped him in a magnificent and astounding way.

  As Julia’s fingers roamed up his neck and she fit her body to his, Chad wrestled with ferocious inner demons. He loved the woman in his arms fiercely yet feared her and resented her at the same time. Never had he imagined that love could be so complicated.

  Carefully releasing Julia’s grip, Chad kissed the top of her head. “I better be going. That wedding delivery will be in Uniontown by now, and you’ll be fussing for it soon.”

  Julia rolled onto her back. “I’m glad you didn’t have to go clear to Pittsburgh today.”

  “Me too,” he said as he collected his clothes, feeling guilty for his relief at the excuse to leave.

  Chapter Twenty

  Julia arrived at the inn just after nine o’clock, ready to help prepare for the two o’clock wedding. She’d been delayed leaving the house, because she’d had to track down a wayward kitten. Paul had wandered out of the bedroom while Julia was in the bath, and she’d spent frantic moments searching under furniture until the little kitty had been discovered curled up asleep between two pillows on the sofa. How she’d gotten on the sofa was beyond Julia’s imagination, the little minx.

  Ringo had whined and followed her through the house all morning as if he knew something big was cooking, and he wanted to be part of it. She’d taken an extra moment to play with him in the yard before she’d loaded up the ribbons and supplies and headed out.

  Tara had picked up all the flower arrangements for the guest rooms before the wedding rehearsal the day before. Julia had been so pleased with them, she’d barely been able to let them go. Roses in pink and soft yellow, and puffy white mums spilled from blue crocks and jars, adorned with ribbons and scraps of lace, with leafless branches painted white, or stems of baby’s breath filling out the arrangements. If Julia thought she was excited about the flower arrangements for the guest rooms, she was breathless to dig into the fresh delivery that Chad had just unloaded and get started setting up the flowers on the deck for the services.

  Each post along the sides of the deck would be topped with a salvage-wood box, overflowing with antique roses in white and pale pink.

  As a surprise for Tara, Julia planned to string a chain of flowers and pearls that matched the mixed arrangements, along the deck rails and down the aisle. Placing the last cooler on the deck, she counted carefully, and then double-checked the
numbers in her notebook. It appeared that the flowers were ready to thread through the vine and ribbon, triggering Julia to smile and hum under her breath as she tucked her notebook into her back pocket.

  Becky bustled up to Julia’s side, sidestepping around the men on ladders hanging wire over the deck. She was huffing slightly, with her hand on her chest. “I just heard, and I can’t believe it!”

  Julia smiled. “It was a bit of a shock, wasn’t it?”

  “I just can’t get over how you handled that snooty attorney!” Becky gushed, fiddling with one of her necklaces.

  Shrugging, Julia reached for a cooler of flowers.

  “How did you find out that other man had been bilking people out of their property?” Becky asked.

  Julia tugged vines gently from the cooler. “Well, it’s pretty common for the gas companies to have a dummy buyer acquire land for them when they want to build a pipeline, but the gas company didn’t know this guy was pressuring people to sell their land to his shell company without disclosing that it was for a pipeline.” She scratched her head, trying to focus on flowers and law at the same time. “Anyway, turns out he was basically embezzling from the gas company that hired him to buy land for them, by buying it for himself and then hiking up the price.”

  Becky’s brow puckered. “How did he manage to get papers to evict them?”

  Working her fingers tenderly through a knot in the vine, Julia scoffed. “That’s where he messed up. He tried to use the power of the gas company to acquire land through eminent domain laws, and he’d have gotten away with it if I hadn’t spotted his bogus company from a mile away.”

  A glazed look fell across Becky’s face.

  Julia tried again. “The guy made his company look like a smaller company buying the gas.”

  Becky nodded, her eyes darting to the pool and back. “Right—so anyway, now the gas company wants their land for the pipeline, and that’s a good thing? I’m confused.”

  Julia laughed. “They just want to lease part of it,” she explained. “Basically, Fergus and Bobby’s mom will be getting a hefty check in the mailbox each month from now on.”

  “Well, isn’t that something!” Becky smiled, finally understanding the meaning behind yesterday’s debacle. “Need a hand here?”

  “That would be great,” Julia replied with a smile as she handed Becky a roll of ribbon.

  * * *

  An hour later, Julia and Becky pulled the last of the ribbon from the roll. “Do we have more of this?” Julia asked as she turned to dig through her boxes.

  “I thought I saw another one, but maybe we used it,” Becky said, rubbing her lower back and glancing back at the rail.

  Shuffling through now empty cardboard boxes, Julia tossed paper and empty cardboard rolls behind her like a boat wake. “This isn’t good, I’ve only got ten feet left to finish the aisle.”

  “Don’t panic,” Becky reassured, “I’m sure we can figure something out.”

  Julia dropped into a chair and huffed out a breath. “Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep.”

  Becky sat next to her and patted her hand. “I know, but you’re the town hero.”

  Shaking her head, Julia’s face scrunched into a frown. “No, I’m not, I’m just...”

  “How can you not feel fabulous about saving Fergus and Bobby’s family?” Becky asked, in shock.

  Julia stared across the beautifully decorated deck to the shimmering pool. “I’m not really. I mean, it wasn’t—”

  “Oh, honey, you are exhausted. What are you trying to say?”

  Turning sad eyes to Becky, Julia swallowed hard. “I used to be that person. That lawyer. But I’m not now. I could barely remember all that law lingo. Now I’m just...”

  “Just our friend and flower shop owner?” Becky asked, her eyes glowing. “Don’t you see? We all love you. All the parts of you.”

  Julia shook her head.

  “Look at me, Julia,” Becky demanded, waiting for Julia to make eye contact.

  Finally, Julia shrugged, tipped her head back and made a dubious face but looked at Becky.

  “Listen to me, you are who you are, honey. You are Julia. The girl who was a sassy lawyer, and now you’re a sweetheart with a flower shop. We’re all good with that.”

  Julia’s gaze fell to her hands in her lap. “I get the feeling Chad isn’t.”

  Becky’s brows slammed down. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know,” Julia lamented, “He just felt kind of weird to me this morning.”

  Becky stood and began collecting paper wrappers and ribbon rolls. “His best friend is getting married today, maybe he’s just feeling out of sorts,” she said confidently, but one brow quirked. “Want me to talk to him?”

  “No,” Julia said stacking up the empty coolers. “It’s not a big deal, he’s busy helping to put the arbor together, it’s fine,” she said, but her voice was heavy with concern. “Anyway, I have plenty of time, so I’m going to run to Uniontown and grab some more ribbon.”

  Frowning, Becky gave Julia a hard stare. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Julia nodded and bent to pick up the coolers. “I’m good, I’ll be back in a bit,” she called over her shoulder.

  Becky watched her walk across the deck carrying the stack of coolers. Julia reached her foot out, tapping as she inched forward, to find the top step. A cool breeze whipped across the deck and goosebumps rose along Becky’s spine. “Oh, I will talk to Chad all right,” she muttered under her breath.

  * * *

  Julia hurried from the store in Uniontown, and a strong wind whipped at her hair and the bag of ribbon in her hand. She glanced to the west where billowing black clouds were rising swiftly overhead.

  “Oh no, not rain on Tara’s wedding day!” she cried. She unlocked her truck and jumped inside just as the first fat raindrop splashed on her windshield. “Maybe it will blow over quickly,” she worried, thinking about all the flowers on the deck at the bed and breakfast. She chewed on her bottom lip and checked her watch for the time. The wedding was still almost two hours away -- she had plenty of time to get home, grab her dress, and get back to the inn. If the flowers were mussed, she’d have time to fix them, she assured herself.

  About the time Julia pulled onto the highway, the first bolts of lightning streaked across the sky. Before she could utter a curse, thunder rumbled past, unnerving her even more.

  The storm was violent and fast moving. The roads were soon covered in water as rain fell in sheets, limiting Julia’s vision and slowing traffic. With her windshield wipers slapping back and forth, Julia’s tension level rose. Would she be late getting back? Would the storm let up in time for the wedding? Would the flowers all be ruined? She shouldn’t have left! If only she’d been more prepared, she would have been there to bring the flowers in and help clean up after the storm.

  Minutes ticked past as traffic crept along the highway, many cars pulling off to one side to wait out the downpour. Resolutely, Julia pushed forward, creeping ahead with only the taillights of the car ahead to lead her way.

  Sweat beaded across her upper lip as she gripped the wheel with white knuckles. The old truck didn’t have a stellar defroster, and the windows fogged around the edges. Even though the truck had decent tires, the water on the road was six inches deep in places, and the truck lost traction a few times but Julia managed to get the fishtails under control and keep going. The farther she got from Uniontown, the more traffic would thin and she could pick up speed.

  A few miles from Smithville, Julia rolled her shoulders and concentrated on relaxing. By the time she got to the wedding, she’d be a sweaty mess if she didn’t calm down. Heaving a sigh of relief, knowing that around the next curve she would be able to see town, Julia was caught off guard when the truck hit a puddle of water and hydroplaned straight through the curve.

  Before she could even hit the brake, the truck careened off the side of the road and down an embankment. Julia slammed on the brakes, jerked the wheel hard,
and managed to miss hitting a tree head on, but the truck slid sideways, pushing through the deep wet mud and weeds on the slope. Unable to slow its sideways momentum, the truck lurched heavily to one side.

  Julia felt the driver-side wheels lift from the mud as the truck rolled onto its side, then roof.

  * * *

  Chad climbed the steps to the deck, his thoughts heavy with the upcoming wedding and concerns about Julia. At some point, he’d evidently turned into a real wimp, because he had to admit he was intimidated. Everyone was talking about how amazing Julia was and what a changed life Bobby’s family and Fergus would now lead.

  Of course, he was relieved that money was no longer a concern for his adopted family, but it was almost as if the two years he’d spent supporting Bobby, fixing leaky shingles, and working on their cars had been forgotten. Had he done such a poor job of caring for them?

  He’d also watched Justin struggle through the morning with pre-wedding jitters.

  Chad knew that Justin loved Tara and he’d be devastated without her, but why did people have to get married anyway? Wasn’t it enough to be devoted to a woman you loved without leaving your home and giving up your plans and signing your life away?

  Hating himself, he knew he was being an idiot, but he couldn’t help it. He kept picturing his inevitable first quarrel with Julia, and in his mind, she’d turn back into the horrible, manipulative woman he’d seen the day before. What would happen if she wanted an expensive car or a fancy house someday? She could be so—demanding.

  Glancing up, Chad realized the deck was empty and that Julia was nowhere in sight. Even the coolers and boxes of supplies she’d brought were gone. A cool breeze ruffled his hair, and he turned to the east where dark clouds lined the horizon. He frowned and shrugged. Maybe she’d gone home to change.

  The wedding was in less than an hour; she was probably doing her hair.