Rock My World

by Lauraine Henderson

  Bobby dismissed Julianna reaction. "It's had over a thousand views."

  "Well, I'm glad I'm not on social media. Anita Taylor will be so embarrassed. I feel sorry for her.

  At that moment, Brad Taylor, fury covering his face, stomped down the aisle from his office and ran out the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  B rad didn't get far, and when shouting and yelling could be heard through the double doors into the store, Julianna and Bobby each locked their drawers and followed their customers outside to see the commotion.

  Stacy, decked out in skinny jeans, a low-necked blouse, and heels, stood in the middle of the parking lot screaming at Brad. Julianna couldn't remember ever seeing Stacy in such a stew. Her beet-red face clashed with the pink of her top, and Brad's rosy face matched.

  Julianna crossed her arms in front of her chest as she silently witnessed the exchange.

  "You're going to ruin me!" Stacy shouted.

  "It wasn't my fault!" Brad shouted back.

  "Well, who the hell do you think took the video? It was in your office!"

  Brad sputtered. "Even if I took the video, I sure as hell wouldn't send it to Edna!"

  Stacy stopped ranting and looked at the mob of people now surrounding them as though she was considering what he said. "Then who did it, Brad? Who would be so mean? Who had access to your office? Who..." Stacy's run of questions abruptly stopped as she zeroed in on Julianna.

  Leaving Brad standing in the middle of the pavement, surrounded by the crowd, Stacy marched up to Julianna, "Did you do this, Junior?"

  Julianna cringed at Stacy's use of her old nickname but stood her ground. "Why would I care what you do with Brad Taylor, Stacy?"

  "Well, maybe you wanted to get back at me."

  "For what?"

  "For stealing your man."

  "As if."

  "I have it on good authority that J.R. dumped you this time. Don't think your life is kept behind closed doors. And I intend to take advantage of your loss."

  Julianna looked around at the crowd of neighbors, friends, and customers. "I have nothing to say to you, Stacy. I couldn't care less about you or what you do. But I certainly wouldn't stick it to my boss like that." She looked away before Stacy could see through to her true feelings. "How many men do you need, anyway?" she muttered.

  "Julianna, Bobby," Brad said, obviously wanting to break up the scene. "Get back to work!"

  Stacy turned on Brad once more, but Julianna and Bobby followed Brad's instructions and returned inside the store. Julianna could see them continuing to argue, but thankfully, she could no longer hear their words. Bobby would hear all the gossip and fill her in, she was sure. Edna was somewhere in the crowd; Julianna could feel it.

  Bobby kept her posted about the popularity of the video until, with over ten thousand views, Julianna told him to stop. She still couldn't feel bad for Stacy and Brad, but her heart went out to Anita, who had left town the day after the video hit the Internet. Rumor had it that Anita was the one who planted the camera in Brad's office, the result of his suspicious behavior, and then sent the video to Edna Mae.

  Two weeks after the video shocked the little town of Cooper Springs, Julianna came to work to find Brad cleaning out his office. The tight line of his mouth might have scared away newer employees, but Julianna had been there for a long time.

  "You're leaving?" she asked.

  He gave her a long, sad look. "Yes, Julianna. I'm leaving. I never cared that much about this job, but I stayed because my parents started the store. I'm going to do what I really want to do."

  The bravado sounded good, but Julianna had her suspicions about his real reason for leaving. "Good luck, Mr. Taylor," she said, her wishes genuine.

  "Thank you, Julianna." He hesitated, then spoke with a little more strength. "You're a good employee. You deserved the assistant manager's position. I know that. But I didn't have the final say. I'm sorry for that."

  "Just out of curiosity, who did? Who really hired John?" John had settled into his position like a big dog in a small bed, but he was trying to make it work.

  "I shouldn't say. But," he said with gusto, "since I'm no longer an employee, you might as well know. Stacy Grant is the owner of Charlie's."

  Julianna took a step back. Stacy was her real boss? "I can't believe it. How in the world could she afford to buy the store?"

  "Apparently her ex-husband bought it, and it was part of her divorce settlement."

  "Well, I'll be...probably fired soon." Julianna said in a loud whisper and wondered how it was that Stacy had allowed her to work at the store. Then she remembered Stacy's divorce had only been final for about a month before J.R. had come home. It hadn't been all that long.

  Brad gave a half-hearted laugh at Julianna's attempt at a joke, which wasn't really a joke to Julianna, and continued his walk out of the store. Within half an hour, the buzz in the store suddenly stilled as Stacy Smith Geiger Ashworth Grant entered the store wearing a suit that could have held its own in court and strutted her way to Brad's office. Her office, now, Julianna supposed.

  "Julianna!" Stacy called from the back of the store. "Come here!"

  Julianna finished with her customer and called Bobby to open his station. Once her drawer was locked, she made her way back to the office.

  Crossing her arms, she lingered in the doorway, watching as Stacy threw open and then slammed drawers shut in Brad's old desk.

  "You wanted to talk to me, Stacy?"

  "You will address me as Ms. Grant."

  Julianna couldn't stop the guffaw from exploding from her mouth. "What?"

  "I'm not kidding. Everyone who works for me will call me Ms. Grant."

  "Stacy, we've known each other since we were in grade school."

  "I don't care. I own this store. If you want to keep your job, you'll do as your told."

  Julianna thought for a minute, taking in Stacy's fancy clothes, and held her tongue, like Mama had taught her. She needed the job. Especially now that she was losing her trailer. Using immense control, she decided she'd play nice and give Stacy whatever she wanted. "Yes, ma'am, Ms. Grant." She'd have to work at keeping the sarcasm out of her voice.

  Stacy glared at her. "Now, bring me a cup of coffee."

  "Coffee? You drink coffee now?"

  "Since five a.m. this morning when Brad resigned!" she yelled. "Now bring me coffee!"

  Julianna almost bowed before she headed to the lunchroom and filled a plastic cup with the morning's brew. John made the coffee, and she had no idea how it tasted. She didn't know whether Stacy was planning to drink it black or add cream and sugar. She grabbed two creamers and five sugars. Returning to Brad's office—she would need to get used to calling it Stacy's office—she deposited the cup and condiments on her desk and turned to leave.

  Stacy's voice stopped her at the doorway. "What time do you go to lunch?"

  "Usually around noon. Bobby covers for me and he goes afterward."

  "Effective today, that changes. Bobby will go at noon and you will go when he returns."

  Julianna swung around, preparing to demand to know why when she met Stacy's narrow, beady eyes. She stopped herself just in time. "Yes, ma'am, Ms. Grant," she said between her teeth as she turned back around and headed for her station.

  How had she ended up in hell, working for the devil?

  "You'll be here for my wedding."

  "Of course, Mama," J.R. said, running his hand over his face. One more final inspection and he could leave. But the inspector had asked for a couple of changes—ridiculous changes as far as J.R. was concerned—and he needed to pick up some parts. "I'll be there Friday. I've almost got things wrapped up here. I didn't want to have to come back. I don't even have my apartment anymore. It's not like I want to be here."

  "The wedding is Saturday."

  "I know, Mama." J.R. rolled his eyes. He'd known the date of the wedding since they first announced their engagement. He couldn't help that subcontractors didn't show up and ins
pectors liked to pull power plays, especially when the general contractor was young and inexperienced, and in their mind, needed to be taught a lesson. Working in Cooper Springs would be a great deal easier. Phil Woods was the inspector for everything from foundations to the final and didn't seem to be nearly as concerned with throwing his weight around as the guys in the bigger counties.

  "What about Julianna?"

  J.R. swallowed. He had no intention of discussing that woman with her. "There's nothing to say, Mama."

  "James Robert Bentley!"

  What was it about mothers when they said your full name? It turned every kid in the world into a quivering mass of glutinous fear. He took a deep breath. "Mama, I don't want to talk about her. I thought we had something special, but J...Junior's actions said different. I can't deal with that." He had finally related to Mama what Julianna had admitted, and he thought that would be the end of it.

  "Who made you judge and jury?"

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "What gives you the right to judge her actions?"

  J.R. could feel his hackles rise and tamped down his anger. "I have every right. What she did affected me, too."

  "I didn't say anything before because I thought you would figure this out, but I want you to think about her situation for a minute."

  J.R. could hear Mama wind up and braced himself for the tongue-lashing he knew was coming.

  "She thought you had cheated on her with Stacy, who was not just her best friend, but her only other friend, since she spent all her time between the two of you. Earl and Maureen had kicked her out of the house. She was lost. She had a part time job at the grocery store and no way to continue her education, if she even knew what she wanted to do.

  "No one had talked to her about right and wrong. No one had taught her the ways of God, the importance of morality. She was alone and scared, J.R. I did the best I could, but she wouldn't call you. If she had asked me, I would have guided her, but she didn't. She left town without telling anyone and fell in with a young woman who seemed to know more about the world. That girl convinced her to run away instead of taking responsibility for her actions. Yes, it seemed like the easy way out, but it wasn't. Julianna is paying that price now. Now and forever."

  J.R. grunted, unable to get out of his mind what she had done, plus the fact that she hadn't told him years before.

  "I know you're angry, son. I know this hurt you. But she's changed. She learned about right and wrong. She accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. He forgave her. She was even at a point where she had forgiven herself. I know she had, because otherwise, she never would have told you about it. She got herself on the path to God and even though she still slips up, letting her anger get the best of her occasionally, she tries every day to be a good person."

  Mama's words were turning into oatmeal in his brain, soft and bland. He started tuning her out when her next words caught him in the gut.

  "Are you better than God that He can forgive her, but you can't?"

  "You know that's not how it is."

  "Well, that's the way you're acting. What else am I to think?"

  "I'm working on it."

  "Liar!"

  "Mama! How can you say that?"

  "Because if you were working on it, you would be reaching out to her, asking to hear more of her side of the story. You would be willing to realize that you can't change the past, but you could have a future with her if you still loved her enough."

  "I do—did—love her."

  "But not enough. She's worth more than fair-weather love, J.R. She's experienced a lot in her young life, and she's come through with her head held high, an upstanding member of our community. Did you know she volunteers at the hospital?"

  "Since when?"

  "Since about ten years ago."

  "What does she do there?"

  Mama paused, and he could have sworn he heard Mama sniff. "She..." she began, and he knew for certain she was keeping back tears, "she holds babies."

  "At the hospital? Don't they have parents for that?"

  "Sometimes the mothers are ill or injured or just sleeping. Sometimes the infants are isolated because they're struggling to stay alive and they need extra holding."

  "She just holds them?"

  "The nurses try to do what they can, but like most places, they're short-staffed. She fills in when the nurses can't. She doesn't go all the time. But when they call, she drops everything. She'll sit for hours, holding one baby or trading off and holding more than one. She told me it's her penitence because of her horrible choices. Oh, J.R., hasn't she suffered enough? Do you really think she doesn't agonize over her actions every day?"

  "She said as much." J.R. tried to envision Julianna sitting in the hospital holding a patient's baby as a way of proving her repentance.

  "She doesn't lie. After all the lies Earl and Maureen told her, she said that was the one thing she learned from them; not to lie."

  J.R. couldn't say anything. His anger had disappeared with his vision of Julianna holding babies in the hospital. "I have some thinking to do, Mama. I'm going to go now."

  "And praying, J.R."

  "And praying, Mama."

  "I'll call you in the morning to see when you're coming."

  "Okay, bye, Mama."

  The next morning, his phone rang uncharacteristically early and he jumped. Expecting Mama's call, he swiped his phone and said, "Good morning, beautiful."

  "Well, now, J.R., that's just the nicest way to greet me." Stacy's saccharine sweet voice dripped through the wireless lines and J.R. gagged, irritated with himself for not checking his caller ID first.

  "I'm sorry, Stacy. I was expecting someone else."

  "Yes, well, I can't help that I'm not one of your many girlfriends, but I have a business proposition to discuss with you. Your mama said you'd be back in town this week, seeing as she's getting married and all on Saturday."

  J.R. ignored the comments about girlfriends and focused on the last part. "A business proposition?"

  "Are you available?" She paused, and J.R. was certain she was waiting for him to take the bait. "To meet with me?" she added, with a sigh.

  J.R. couldn't help but find innuendo in everything Stacy said, but he didn't follow her lead. "I'll let you know when I'm back in town. We'll set up a meeting then."

  "I can hardly wait to see you again, J.R.," Stacy purred.

  "This is business, right, Stacy? Not some convoluted way for you to seduce me?"

  Stacy's laugh sounded shrill and plastic. "I only wish, darling."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  T he invitation to Mama and Henry's wedding glared at Julianna as she got ready for work the Wednesday before the big day. She knew J.R. was coming back. Mama had talked about nothing else when she bought her groceries for the reception the day before. The chill in the air between them finally related only to the weather. Something had changed, but Julianna couldn't ask what. She was simply grateful that she and Mama were back on better terms. Wondering if that would change when J.R. came home, she drove the ten minutes to work and punched in.

  The vision of Stacy sitting in Brad's chair in the office still felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone to Julianna. Stacy hadn't held down a full-time job since her summers between college semesters when she was married to Devon. Poor, sweet Devon. Stacy grabbed onto him like a snake as soon as the ink was dry from her divorce from Steve. But Devon was still in school, and Stacy had to work in order to have all the clothes, shoes, and other junk she required. Then, when Devon had been working as an engineer for the plastics manufacturer in Springhill for three years, she served him with papers and took half his assets, citing irreconcilable differences, if Julianna remembered Edna's information correctly. Seeing Stacy glued to her computer as she knocked on the door didn't fit with the flighty character she knew.

  "Knock, knock," she said, as she tapped an echo on the door frame.

  "What?" Stacy looked up from her work.

  "I've come for
my drawer."

  "Oh, of course." Stacy got up and opened the safe where the cash drawers were housed.

  Julianna counted out her drawer in front of Stacy. They both initialed the cash sheet and Julianna set up shop at her normal station. Greeting her regular customers throughout the morning, she decided working for "Ms. Grant" wasn't as bad as she had imagined. Stacy spent most of her day at her desk. John wandered the store with a clipboard and barcode scanner, and everyone settled back into their normal routines. Stacy mentioned hiring another cashier and Julianna hoped she would, considering how short-staffed they were. As it was, Julianna would barely get off work in time for Mama's wedding on Saturday.

  The hubbub in the air the day of Sharon Bentley's wedding to Henry Johnson sounded like a flock of geese headed south for winter. Everyone who came into the store talked about the decorations at the church, the beautiful dress Sharon was going to wear, and the fact that J.R. had finally returned to town. Julianna couldn't help the excitement that grew as she thought about seeing J.R. again. Mama had said he was better, not as angry, and Julianna had spent a great deal of her evenings on her knees talking to God about it. She understood that J.R. couldn't marry her anymore, but since they would be living in the same town, they should be able to be friends, right?

  "Julianna." Stacy's voice rose above the chatter in the store.

  "Yes, Ms. Grant?" Julianna still wanted to laugh at Stacy's insistence that they all call her that. After days and days of saying her name that way, Julianna was finally getting used to it.

  "There's been a change in the schedule for today."

  "Oh?" As though a thunderhead cloud suddenly appeared on the horizon, Julianna felt shivers run down her back.

  The chatter died down, and Julianna realized everyone was listening to their conversation.

  "Yes, I need you to work late tonight. Joe, the relief cashier wanted time off to see his kid play basketball. I said you would cover for him."

  "Joe?"

  "Yes."