Rock My World

by Lauraine Henderson

  "Joe, the guy who's been here for six months, who only works evenings and weekends because he has a day job at the factory, and who has been late for work every day for the last three months? That Joe?"

  "Yes, he asked. I said it was okay. Do you have a problem with that? Because if you do, you could always look for work elsewhere."

  Julianna stared at Stacy's cold, hard eyes and understood immediately what she was doing. She never realized exactly how much Stacy hated her until that moment. Stacy's moniker of the Wicked Witch fit like her too-tight pencil skirt. Julianna tossed around the idea of quitting right then, in front of everyone, without notice. But Mama's words filled her head with comfort and advice. She needed the job. She wouldn't stoop to Stacy's level and make a scene. The silence in the store was deafening, and Julianna could hear her heart beat out the seconds until she replied. Finally, she said, "No problem, Ms. Grant. I'm happy to get the overtime."

  Stacy looked a little surprised at Julianna's acceptance of her schedule change. Julianna gave her a big, fake smile and went back to scanning Greg Feinstein's groceries. Stacy looked around at the angry looks on the faces of those who witnessed the exchange and backed up, fear replacing the surprise.

  Greg's agitated voice revved up even before Stacy was all the way off the floor. Like a slow starting race car, he gained momentum. "That's not right, Julianna! You're going to miss Sharon's wedding. Joe could see his kid play basketball another time. The season has just started. You have more seniority, and you're a much better worker!"

  Julianna looked around at the nodding faces showing their concern. She was touched by their defense of her. She never thought she had many friends in town, but maybe she was wrong. "I appreciate that Greg...everyone. Hey, just make sure someone takes a video, okay? And make sure Mama knows I didn't plan it this way."

  Murmurs of agreement wrapped around Julianna's heart.

  "Maybe we should start shopping at the IGA just outside of town," Greg said, looking out over the crowd.

  "Oh, no, Greg, please. If business drops off, I'll lose my job."

  Greg looked at Julianna for a long moment. "Okay, honey. Right everyone? As long as Julianna works here, we'll keep coming."

  A shout of solidarity reverberated throughout the store and Julianna smiled with tears in her eyes, grateful for the wonderful community where she lived. As much as she toyed with the idea of leaving once J.R. returned, she looked around and knew she couldn't do it. Cooper Springs was her home, the people here her family, and she would stay. Nursing her broken heart had become a familiar pain. It seemed like heartache was her destiny. Maybe it was time for another visit to the hospital.

  J.R. kept looking for Junior. Mama's words had penetrated his thick skull, and his prayers had convinced him that forgiveness for Julianna was the only course of action he could possibly take. It wasn't easy and he wasn't there yet, but he felt a hundred percent better since he started thinking of her as Julianna again and praying for help to forgive her. He knocked on the bride's door, wondering if Julianna was in there helping Mama with her dress.

  "Yes?" Mama said.

  "It's almost time, Mama. Is Julianna with you?"

  The silence from the other side of the door started worrying him. "Mama?

  "She's not coming. Mathilda Bonner told me Stacy announced in front of the whole store this morning that Julianna was going to have to work late to cover for another employee who wanted the time off."

  "Are you kidding me?"

  "I wish I was. I'll be ready in just a minute. Is Henry ready? The pastor? Is everyone just waiting on me?"

  J.R. was still so caught up in the fact that Julianna wouldn't be there that he missed the other questions. He wandered down the hall and peeked into the chapel. It was filled to capacity, a murmur of chit-chat floated about the room. Henry was standing at the front of the church, Pastor Doug next to him. Stacy's bright blonde hair stood out in the crowd, and he thought about why she hated Julianna. Fed up with her manipulating machinations, he walked down the side aisle and whispered to the two men. With their nods, he turned and marched up to Stacy.

  "Well, well, J.R. Don't you clean up fine." Stacy said, admiration clear in her bright eyes.

  J.R. didn't exchange pleasantries but went straight to the heart of the matter. "Do you really want to do a business deal with me?"

  Stacy's eyes darted around the large room. "I...I don't think this is the time to discuss it, J.R. Your mama's about to get married."

  "Do you?" he demanded.

  "Well, of course, darling," she rested her long red fingernails on his jacket sleeve, "but this just isn't the time."

  "Then you will go back to your store and close it for the rest of the day."

  "I'll what?"

  "I can't think you'll have much business. I'll tell Mama. We'll wait for you to come back, if you wish."

  "You think I'm going to go back and close the store just because you said so?"

  "I think you'll do as I ask, or you can do business with someone else. It is about selling the store, isn't it, Stacy?"

  "You don't know that."

  "I know you don't have any other business. I know you're bored to death sitting in Brad's office. And I've done a little digging. You're up to your eyeballs in debt, the store is on the brink of failing, and I know the only reason you made Julianna work late is because of your ridiculous jealousy."

  "Wh...why would I be jealous of Julianna?"

  J.R. thought it was especially interesting that of all the things he mentioned, that was the one thing Stacy grasped onto. "Because she's kind, caring, helpful, and something you'll never be: beautiful inside and out."

  Stacy stuck her chin out, her eyes turning as cold as the wind in January. "You should be nicer to me, J.R."

  "Go close your store." J.R. stood still and waited. He could feel a communal breath being held as Stacy stared at him.

  In a huff, Stacy slipped out of the church pew and stormed out the front doors of the church.

  "If everyone doesn't mind waiting, I need to let Mama know there's been a delay and then go pick up Julianna. She needs to be here; don't you all agree?"

  A rousing cheer came from the congregation, and J.R. smiled for the first time in weeks.

  "I'll be back as soon as I can."

  J.R. ran down the hall to the bride's room.

  "Mama?"

  "J.R., what's going on? The wedding should have started five minutes ago. Isn't Henry here?"

  The worry in her voice broke his heart. "Everything is fine. Stacy decided to close the store, and we're going to wait until Julianna can get here. She needs to be here, Mama."

  "Oh, J.R., thank you. Why don't you send in Sylvia Sutter to keep me company while I wait?"

  "You bet. I'll be right back."

  J.R. worked his way through the chapel until he spotted Mrs. Sutter. After arranging for her to sit with Mama, he ran across the parking lot to his truck and high-tailed it to the store, hoping he could catch Julianna before she went home.

  When he arrived at Charlie's empty parking lot, he was gratified to see the neon "open" sign had been turned off and the "closed" sign illuminated. Julianna was walking to her car as he pulled in beside her.

  "Julianna!" he called from his open window.

  "J.R.?"

  "You were planning to come to the wedding, weren't you?"

  "Well, yes, but I missed it. I had to work. And now Stacy came in and said she's closing the store until tomorrow morning. I don't get it."

  "You didn't miss it. Mama's waiting for you." J.R. wasn't sure she would want to come if he asked.

  "You mean the wedding was stopped?"

  "It never got started. Please get in the truck, and I'll explain on the way there."

  Julianna looked down at her jeans and polo shirt with Charlie's emblem on the pocket. "I'm not dressed for a wedding."

  "Mama's waiting. Get in."

  "You mean, she's waiting just for me?"

  "Yes. Do
you want her to have to wait for you to put on a dress?"

  "Well, no. I guess not. What about my car?"

  "It'll be fine. I'll bring you back after."

  Julianna walked around to the passenger side of his truck and hopped in, muttering about how important it was to dress properly for the occasion.

  J.R. patted her hand. "It's okay. It's more important to have you there, than what you're wearing."

  "Mama always told me to dress for the occasion. I hated wearing dresses when I first started going to church, but she insisted, and I started to understand. I feel dumb coming to the wedding like this."

  "Mama won't care. She just wants you there."

  "Couldn't you swing by my place and I'll grab a dress really quick?"

  J.R. glared at her.

  "Okay, okay," she said with her hand up. "I'll go like this, I guess. It's more important to be there than what I'm wearing," she repeated under her breath. After a minute, she looked him up and down. "I didn't know you were talking to me again."

  "Yes, well," he swallowed hard, "there's a lot you don't know yet. But there's no time to get into it now. Right now, we've a wedding to get to."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  S haron Bentley-Johnson's smile couldn't compete with the look of love in her eyes as she gazed at her new husband. Julianna's heart surged for the happiness she saw there. Who would have believed that the devastation of a fire would bring the two sixty-somethings together to find love in the autumn of their lives? When Julianna had arrived for the delayed ceremony, she spied numerous nods and smiles as she took her seat at the front of the chapel. Twenty minutes later, Pastor Doug pronounced them husband and wife and Julianna thought Henry's big smile would circle around his head. The congregation applauded and the bride and groom walked each other down the aisle.

  She wasn't sure how it all came about, but several attendees filled her in on J.R.'s confrontation with Stacy—who had not returned for the ceremony—and how he had demanded she close the store so Julianna could be there.

  Julianna spied J.R. across the room, standing beside his mother and new stepfather, greeting well-wishers. A bittersweet wave swept past her and left a lingering melancholy. Pushing to the side what could never be, she pasted on her own smile and chatted with people she had grown to love.

  When the time came for the traditional bride and groom events, they cut the cake, danced the first dance, and Sharon threw her wedding bouquet...right at Julianna, who laughed, embarrassed at the pointed display. She would have to explain to Mama later that what she obviously wanted to happen simply couldn't.

  The newlyweds took off in Henry's old pickup, preferring to honeymoon at his cabin instead of leaving town. With Christmas on the heels of the wedding, Julianna couldn't blame them.

  J.R. took her back to her car, as promised, but their conversation was stilted and spotty. She told herself to be satisfied that he defended her attendance at the wedding.

  Sharon called her on Christmas Eve and asked her to come celebrate with them, but she assured her she was needed more at the hospital, her usual haunt over the holidays. Christmas never did mean a lot of presents, food, or other stuff to Julianna. She celebrated the birth of Christ by being of service to people away from their families and that brought her great happiness. She thought J.R. might try to convince her to come over, but he never did. She saw little of him, and she almost forgot about the cryptic comments he made before the wedding.

  Julianna wondered if J.R. would be more hands-on with the rebuild of the farmhouse since he was back in town, but she never saw him there. After another week, she rang in the new year and went back to work as usual, although Stacy soured more each day. She watched the framing, the roofing, and the siding go on the new house, the crew pushing to get it closed in before winter hit full steam. Every day, she went to work; every night, she went home to the trailer alone. The community had stood beside her when Stacy had tried to humiliate Julianna, but she knew they had their own families to care for. She couldn't expect anyone to pay her more attention than the friendly visits while they made their grocery purchases.

  Around the middle of January, the temperatures dropped and snow occasionally fell. Winter had arrived in earnest. Julianna was helping Mrs. Roberts, cooing over her new baby, when J.R. came in, walked past her, and headed straight for the back of the store. Temporarily frozen, since he didn't even acknowledge her at her station, it wasn't until Helen cleared her throat that Julianna blinked her way back to scanning food items. Bobby was working the station next door and she raised her eyebrows to him to see if he knew what was going on. The shrug of his shoulders gave way to disappointment, and she refocused on checking out the next customer in line.

  Bobby took his lunch at noon, and J.R. came out from the back just after he left. Standing in her line to buy a pack of gum, she smiled to herself, remembering when he did that so he could talk to her. As she scanned his gum, she looked right at him.

  "Can you go to lunch?" he asked.

  "Bobby just left. I can't go for another hour."

  "Oh." The regret on his face helped soften the letdown. "Maybe another day, then."

  Julianna nodded and watched him leave the store, confused at his clipped words.

  The next day, J.R. arrived again mid-morning and sequestered himself in Stacy's office. Julianna didn't know what to think, but everyone else seemed to take it in stride, as though J.R. Bentley seeing Stacy Grant came as no surprise.

  By the fifth day in a row that J.R. spent the morning hours with Stacy in her office, Julianna was ready to scream. He still hadn't talked to her. He still hadn't told her all the things she apparently needed to know. Seeing him make time for Stacy and completely ignore her boiled her blood. She began to rethink the idea of staying in Cooper Springs.

  Bobby had a dentist appointment early in the day and decided to take that time as his lunch hour. This allowed Julianna to go to lunch at her old scheduled time of noon. She was tempted to text J.R. and suggest they have lunch together but hesitated. She didn't want to intrude on his and Stacy's meeting—whatever that entailed—and she certainly didn't want to risk Stacy knowing she was in contact with J.R. Julianna forced herself to stop thinking about it and left for lunch when Bobby returned.

  An hour later, she had barely entered the store when she saw J.R. leaving from the back office. Following right behind him, Stacy, with her blouse untucked and her skirt twisted, ran up to J.R. from behind and wrapped her arms around him. Julianna stopped cold.

  "J.R., honey, I don't know what I'd do without you. You're my hero." Stacy's sugary words crystallized Julianna's breath.

  When J.R. turned around, Julianna couldn't see his face, but the fact that they were kissing couldn't be mistaken. J.R. held Stacy by her upper arms while she clawed at his side.

  A gasp from Mr. Peterson broke them apart and Julianna caught a glimpse of Stacy's sultry smile. "Oh, honey, that was even better."

  Julianna didn't stay long enough to discover "better than what." She threw her keys at J.R.'s feet and ran out the door.

  "Julianna!" J.R. watched the back of her feet as the front doors to the store closed. He bent to pick up the register keys that had landed at his feet, then turned on Stacy.

  "Stacy, I'm going to say this once and you're going to listen carefully. You have thirty minutes to exit these premises. If you're not gone by then, I will call the police and charge you with trespassing. If you make a scene, cause a problem, or in any way approach me, my family, or Julianna, I will do everything in my power to ruin you. Do you understand?"

  Stacy stood stock still, her previous smug expression gone.

  "Do. You. Understand?" J.R. yelled in her face.

  She reached for him, but he back away quickly. "Don't ever touch me again."

  "But, J.R., we're doing business together now."

  "If you don't follow my instructions, Stacy, I will cancel this sale. I will broadcast to everyone in town what you've done, even if I have to e
nlist Edna's help, and you will lose every customer you ever had. Your business will fold in a week. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd demand you leave town, too."

  "You don't mean that."

  "More than you could know. By the way, I spoke with Jim last night. If this deal doesn't go through, you can't sell the store for two years according to your divorce agreement. He gave you one shot at selling. And believe me, he's watching to see what happens. Two years, Stacy. There won't be anything left after two years except an empty building."

  Stacy swallowed and backed up. "J.R., I was just kidding. You can't mean to actually call the cops on me."

  "Twenty-five minutes."

  Stacy ran to her office.

  J.R. turned and reached for a towel under Bobby's register, wiping his face of Stacy's attention. "John!" he called.

  "John is at lunch, J.R.," Bobby said.

  J.R. threw the towel behind the counter and rubbed his hand through his hair. "Okay. Bobby, I've got to find Julianna. You're in charge of the store. I'll be back as soon as I can."

  J.R. ran to his truck, his phone on speed dial to Julianna. When she didn't pick up, he called Mama.

  "You've got to help me. She thinks she saw something that wasn't true." J.R. explained the situation, and Sharon whistled.

  "That's quite a predicament, J.R."

  "Tell me what to do, Mama. How do I get her to talk to me?"

  "I thought you were going to talk to her right after the wedding."

  "I was waiting until this deal with Stacy concluded. I thought it would be better if I waited until the sale finalized before actively pursuing her again. I worried that Stacy would blow the deal." He hung his head as he started the truck. "I was wrong."

  "Okay, think it through. What would Julianna do?"

  "She would probably go home, right?" He could hear the desperation in his voice.

  "That would be my guess. Try the trailer. If that doesn't work, call me again."

  "Okay, thanks Mama." J.R. hung up and put the truck in gear.

  The ten-minute drive to the farmhouse was the longest of J.R.'s life. As he pulled into the driveway, he noticed Julianna's car parked next to the garage and sighed. She was here. Now he just needed to get her to talk to him. But before he could approach the back of the house, the general contractor, Jason Sperry, called him over.