Free Spirit

by Andi Bremner

  “Well, you rang,” she pointed out.

  “I’ve called plenty of times,” he replied, “but this is the first time you picked up.”

  “Okay.” She paused, picking at some grease on her overalls. “How are you?”

  “I miss you,” he said, his voice heavy, “a lot. Do you miss me?”

  She shook her head. “Harry…”

  “Don’t answer that then,” he replied, his voice tight. “You obviously don’t. I don’t get it, Juliette. What went wrong? I thought we were good. Solid.”

  “We were friends, Harry,” she replied, turning her back and heading outside so Toby couldn’t overhear. She trusted that he wouldn’t eavesdrop, but still, she didn’t want to accidentally say anything that might give him the wrong idea. “We weren’t in love anymore.”

  “I love you.”

  “No, you don’t,” she told him with a heavy sigh. “You love me like a friend maybe, but not like a lover. Not like a girlfriend. It was fun, we had a great time together, but it was time to move on.”

  “Have you,” she could hear him struggling to ask the next question, “have you met someone?”

  “I have,” she told him honestly. “I’m sorry.”

  Harry sighed. “I should be furious. I should be jealous as all hell, but I can’t be. Only because it’s you, Juliette, and I wish you nothing but happiness. And health.”

  There was something in Harry’s voice that bought a frown to her face and sent a cold shiver down her spine. “Harry? What is it?”

  “You’ve got mail, Juliette. It’s piling up here. I need to forward it to you.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t expected that. “Of course.” She rattled off the address of Renee’s guest house for him.

  “I’ll get it in the post today,” he told her. “Some of it looks important.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Hey, Juliette?”

  “Yes?”

  “If you are ever back in Lexington, no matter if it’s next week or in twenty years, look me up okay? I’d always be happy to see you.”

  Juliette smiled. “I will. I promise.”

  “And, Juliette?”

  “Uh huh?”

  “Take care okay?”

  “I will. You too, Harry.”

  She hung up and stared at her phone for a long moment. That had gone better than she’d expected, but then Harry had always been a sweetheart. That was what had attracted her to him in the first place, his sweet, gentle nature. Well, that and his killer body and infectious grin. Harry had been like her, lighthearted and carefree. He looked on the bright side in everything and saw the good in everyone. As a result people were naturally drawn to his charming nature. He couldn’t be further removed from Noah if he tried, she mused, not that Noah doesn’t draw people to him. He’d drawn her in after all. It was just that he spent the majority of his time not only drawing them in but erecting walls to keep them from getting too close.

  The past two weeks she’d spent with Noah had proved that. They spent time together, they shared the best sex she’d ever had, and they laughed. But he kept her at arm’s length, didn’t discuss anything too intense, didn’t speculate about the future or mention the past. And they never spent the whole night together.

  “Everything okay?” Toby called as she made her way back into the workshop.

  Juliette looked up and nodded, tossing her phone back on the workbench. “Just an old friend.”

  “From Lexington?”

  She nodded.

  “Boyfriend?”

  Juliette made a face. “Ex-boyfriend. He has some mail and needed a forwarding address.”

  “He’s not going to show up here, is he?” Toby asked, looking slightly bewildered. “And make a scene or anything?’

  She laughed. “No, not at all. It’s all good.”

  “Phew, that’s a relief,” he said. “’Cos I’d hate to see Noah go all macho jealous possessive man on us now.”

  Juliette arched an eyebrow. “I cannot imagine Noah going all macho jealous possessive man at all. And besides, we don’t have that type of relationship.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well,” Juliette said carefully now, “we aren’t serious.”

  Toby gaped at her. “Are you kidding? Does Noah know that?”

  Juliette laughed. “Of course he does. It was Noah who set the parameters of our relationship. We’re exclusive sure, but not serious. I understand that. I know what he’s been through, and I understand that he can’t love again.”

  Toby narrowed his eyes, watching her carefully. “He tell you all that?”

  She shrugged like it was no big deal. “Of course.” It was sort of true, she told herself. Noah had told her some of the story and Renee and Ryan had filled in the rest. Noah didn’t talk about the past and she didn’t push. She might not understand what he’d been through but she understood not wanting to talk or think about the past.

  “And you’re all good with that?” Toby said, his voice lowering a bit. “With a semi-serious relationship. A relationship going nowhere?”

  Juliette shifted between her feet. I am okay with that, she told herself, because it was what she wanted to. Look at the breakup she’d had with Harry. The relationship had run its course, she’d left, and just a few weeks later he was okay, even inviting her to visit whenever she was back in town. That was how she wanted all her relationships to end. And end they would. She could never promise to be with someone forever. She couldn’t give them the things that went with forever. Things like kids, things like growing old…

  She swallowed over the tightness in her throat, the same tightness that now squeezed her chest. “Sure. It’s the best type of relationship. We get to hang out, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company without the pressure of wondering where it’s all heading.”

  “And what then?”

  “Huh?”

  “What happens then?” Toby asked, genuinely curious

  “Well,” Juliette spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “We go our separate ways.”

  “Does going your separate ways involve you leaving Myrtle Beach?”

  “Sometimes that’s the best way.”

  “Is that why you won’t start the training to be a mechanic?” he wondered out loud. He’d asked her several times over the last couple of weeks, but she’d been vague and noncommittal.

  “I don’t want to put down too many roots in one place. You just never know what’s going to happen…”

  Toby tilted his head to regard her. “No. I guess you don’t.”

  ****

  After work Juliette made her way to the grocery store. She’d told Noah she’d cook dinner and needed to collect a few items. She planned on making beef Wellington and apple pie after scouring through Renee’s extensive collection of recipe books.

  “Juliette?”

  She glanced up to see Kelly and Ava approaching, the friends of Noah’s she’d met at the Oak a few weeks ago. Ava’s face was stretched in a broad smile whereas Kelly regarded Juliette warily. She wondered briefly why Kelly didn’t seem to like her, before she decided to focus her attention on Ava, who seemed genuinely warm and friendly.

  “Hey,” Juliette replied in greeting, jostling her shopping basket between arms. “How are you?”

  “Cleaner than you,” Kelly observed, looking Juliette up and down. “So, it’s true you’re working in Toby’s workshop?”

  Juliette lifted her head a notch. She had grease under her fingernails and smudges on her face, too, but she didn’t care. She loved working in the shop. She loved working with Toby, who was fast becoming a very good friend and was proving to be an even better boss and teacher, and she particularly loved working with engines. Working out what was wrong, then planning to fix it, working with her hands, body, and mind until she heard the sweet ripple of a motor. She’d loved hanging out and watching her foster brothers work on their cars, and it felt like she had her dream job with Toby.

  “I am,”
she said proudly, “and I love it.”

  “You look like you love it,” Ava observed, her mouth twitching. “You’re positively glowing. Although maybe that has something to do with Noah?”

  Juliette flushed. “Maybe a little.”

  Ava giggled. “It’s so great to see him happy again. It’s about time.”

  “He loved Charlotte,” Kelly added abruptly, “loved her a lot. I don’t think he’ll ever really get over her, no matter what.”

  “Kelly!” Ava hissed.

  Kelly merely rolled her eyes before muttering something about finding tampons and heading down another aisle, leaving Juliette and Ava alone.

  “Sorry about that,” Ava said, her voice just above a whisper. “She’s had a thing for Noah for years, but he…”

  “Didn’t know?” Juliette offered.

  Ava gave her a rueful smile. “Noah can be rude and grumpy, but he isn’t stupid. I’m pretty sure he knew she had feelings for him, but he just didn’t reciprocate them and is too much of a gentleman to ever mention it.”

  “Oh.”

  Ava smiled. “Hey, what are you guys doing tomorrow night? Do you want to come on a double date with me and Gavin?”

  “That would be great,” Juliette replied. The basket was very heavy in her arms, and she juggled it again, feeling a little lightheaded. “I’ll have to check with Noah…”

  “Juliette!”

  Ava cried her name, but it sounded to Juliette like she was calling from a faraway distance. She felt herself sway, dropping the basket and barely noticing the contents rolling away as she wobbled on her feet. Then something cold and hard hit her head and everything went black.

  ****

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Juliette nodded, pressing the ice pack the store clerk handed her against the egg sized lump she could feel already forming on her skull. “Yes, I’m fine. My ego is a little bruised though.”

  Ava bit her lip. “You fainted. We should call an ambulance or something.”

  Juliette paled. “No! I just got a little lightheaded that’s all. I didn’t eat a lot for lunch today.”

  “Maybe I should drive you to the hospital. People don’t just faint, Juliette.”

  “I have low iron levels,” she told Ava, keeping her tone as reassuring as possible. “It’s nothing really.”

  Ava hesitated whilst Kelly frowned. “I should call Noah,” Kelly announced.

  “No! Don’t call him,” she said quickly. “He’s busy. And besides, there’s nothing he can do. It’s over now. I fainted. I hit my head, but I’m okay.”

  “Do you want me to drive you?’ Ava asked. “Where are you headed? You probably shouldn’t drive in the state you’re in.”

  Juliette purposely looked Ava up and down. Ava shifted between feet, her face drawn up and anxious, clearly panicked and worried. “I don’t think I’m the one who’s in a state. Ava, calm down. I’m fine.”

  Ava nodded but didn’t really calm down. “Do you faint often?”

  “It’s happened before. Like I said, I have low iron. Google it. It’s quite common, especially for girls.”

  “She’s right,” Kelly stated. “I worked with a girl who had anemia and was fainting all over the place. She had to eat copious amounts of red meat.”

  “See,” Juliette said, “no big deal.”

  Handing the ice pack back to the store clerk, hovering anxiously close by, Juliette climbed to her feet. Ava had already put her grocery items through the checkout and they were neatly packed in a bag waiting for Juliette to collect them.

  “Okay?” Ava asked, watching her carefully.

  Juliette forced a smile to her face, ignoring the pounding headache she was developing thanks to thumping her head on the hard floor of the grocery store. “Fine.”

  Heading out to her car she made a mental note to take a Tylenol as soon as she was at Noah’s house. That would make her feel better.

  It was just her iron levels, she told herself as she turned her car through the increasingly familiar streets, nothing more.

  She didn’t dare let her mind think what else it could possibly mean.

  ****

  Noah

  Noah parked his pickup up out the front of his house, his heart racing as soon as he spied Juliette’s car parked in the driveway. He loved the thought that she was in there waiting for him. At the same time though he couldn’t help but feel guilty that he loved having her in his house. That he loved being around her, that he looked forward to seeing her every day, that he loved being with her, having her in his arms, kissing her. He was beginning to feel things he hadn’t felt in a long time, and he felt as if he was betraying Charlotte, betraying her memory and what they’d had.

  But Juliette was doing things to him, changing him. Everything about her was sunny and light, and he couldn’t wait to see her. Every day, when he woke up, she was the first thing he thought of, and he’d race over to his mom’s house to crawl into bed with her. She refused to spend the entire night at his house, and she also wouldn’t let him stay with her, even though he pointed out that they were both grown adults and his mom really wouldn’t care. But Juliette stayed firm, insisting they not spend the whole night together, when he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with her in his arms and wake up in the morning with her still there.

  He shook his head. He was falling bad for this girl. He liked her more than he’d liked anyone in a very long time, and he found it hard to believe he was even capable of feeling this way for anyone after Charlotte. He knew he’d never love again, not the way he’d loved Charlotte, but a little part of him started to believe, started to hope that he could have a future with someone. Someone like Juliette.

  Not that he was seriously considering a future with her. Juliette deserved someone who’d love her unconditionally, who’d love her and only her, who wouldn’t be pining for a girl who was long dead. Juliette deserved all that he couldn’t give her, and it pained him to think that at some stage he was going to have to let her go. When things got serious, when he thought she might be in danger of falling in love with him, when she needed more from him than what he was capable of giving, he’d have to let her go.

  His heart constricted at the thought, and he pushed those ideas away. Right now, he didn’t need to worry about that. And right now, she was inside waiting for him.

  As he made his way up the short path to his house the sounds of Bruno Mars singing “Uptown Funk” drifted out to meet him. He grinned. Intermingled with the smooth sound of Bruno Mars’s voice was the high pitched, out of tune voice of Juliette. The girl couldn’t sing to save her life, but he had to give her kudos for trying. But what she lacked in musical talent, or the ability to recognize tone, she more than made up for in passion.

  As with everything, Juliette gave singing one hundred percent.

  Pushing open the door he found her in the kitchen, singing and dancing to her heart’s content, an oven mitt in one hand and a wooden spoon in the other. That’s right, he remembered her declaring that morning that she was cooking for him tonight. His grin widened as he quietly enjoyed her performance, watching as she bounced on the spot, thrust her butt out and gave each movement everything she had. She might not be able to sing—or cook from the smell of whatever bubbled and burnt on the stove—but she sure could move. He felt himself harden instantly, his jeans tightening, and his pulse beginning to race.

  He waited until the song finished before he pounced, wrapping his arms around her and jerking her back to him. She screamed, her body instantly alert to being attacked, before she recognized him and melted back into his arms.

  Licking kisses down her throat he reached a hand up to cup and squeeze her breast as she wiggled her ass against him, giggling.

  “Hey, kiddo,” he murmured, as he nibbled at the curve of her throat. “What are you cooking?”

  Immediately she lurched out of his arms, running over to the stove to stare dismally down at whatever bubbled away. Something sweet burn
ed his nostrils.

  “It’s ruined,” she said, her voice betraying her disappointment. “Does it look right to you?”

  Noah peered over her shoulder at the dark brown caramelized mess. The bottom of the pan was black. “Um, no. What is it?”

  “It was meant to be the filling for apple pie,” she mumbled, “but I guess I’ll have to throw it out now.”

  “Throw out the whole pot,” he told her. “It’s ruined as well.”

  Juliette’s shoulders slumped. “Well. Dessert is ruined, but hopefully dinner is good. Why don’t you go and get a shower while I dish up?”

  He snaked a hand between her legs and ran his fingers over the seam of her jeans. “Why don’t you join me?” Pulling an earlobe into his mouth he sucked. Hard.

  She drew in a sharp intake of breath and softened in his arms for a moment before she wiggled, breaking free. “I have to cook dinner. You don’t want that to be ruined, too, do you?”

  Noah sighed and ran a hand through his hair, feeling suddenly very sexually frustrated when it had only been about twenty hours since he’d last lost himself in her body. “Juliette…” He reached for her again, but she ducked out of the way, flashing her eyes at him.

  “Shower,” she ordered. “Go!”

  With a frustrated growl, Noah trudged off towards the shower, hoping the whole time that she’d change her mind and join him. But she didn’t, and he was forced to shower by himself, washing the sawdust and splinters from his hair and body before changing into jeans and a t-shirt. Leaving his feet bare, he made his way back to the kitchen.

  Juliette had dished up dinner and was grinning at him proudly.

  Noah stared at the food on his plate. He had no idea what it was, but it was severely overcooked. Dark meat with dark pastry curling off it and gravy with discernible lumps in it. Mashed potatoes were piled on the plate, but they weren’t the fluffy ones he was used to. These were runny and oozed into the other vegetables, which looked like they’d had the color drained from them. Weren’t carrots meant to be orange? Not this pale wishy-washy beige color.

  Juliette though smiled proudly like she was serving up a gourmet meal, and he didn’t have the heart to hurt her. Instead he planted a huge kiss on her cheek, thanked her warmly, and slid into his seat, slicing into the meat and taking a bite.