opinion into the mix.
She closed and locked the door behind her mother then sagged against it. She’d done a lot of reckless things in her life but wondered if this time she’d gone off the deep end.
The baby monitor made a noise. Charlie gave a short cry before silence descended once more. Her gaze caught on a framed photo on one end table, taken minutes after his birth. She’d known as soon as the nurse had placed him in her arms that Charlie was the best part of her. She’d vowed that day to make something of her life, to become worthy of the gift she’d been given. While she had a difficult time tamping down her self-doubt, she never questioned how far she would go to protect her son. She’d do whatever it took to keep him safe, even this ridiculous charade with Sam. If it helped her custody case in the least, Julia would become the most devoted fiancée Brevia had ever seen.
* * *
That commitment was put to the test the next morning when a posse of angry women descended on the salon. Two to be exact, but it felt like a mob.
She’d swung by her mother’s after breakfast then dropped Charlie with Mavis Donnelly, the older woman who watched him and one other toddler in her home. She’d gotten into town by eight-thirty, thanks to Charlie’s propensity to wake with the sun. She wanted time to look over the monthly billing spreadsheets before anyone else arrived.
No one outside her immediate family knew about her condition, and she intended to keep it that way, afraid of being taken advantage of or thought too stupid to handle her own business. She put in the extra time she needed to get each financial piece right. Sometimes she studied the numbers until she felt almost physically ill.
When the knocking started, she straightened from her desk in the back, assuming it was one of the stylists who’d forgotten her key. Instead the front door swung open to reveal two pairs of angry eyes glaring at her.
“How’d you do it?” Annabeth Sullivan asked, pushing past her into the salon without an invitation. Annabeth had been in the same high-school class as Julia, a girl Julia would have referred to as a “band geek” back in the day. She hadn’t been kind, and Annabeth, who now managed the bank reviewing Julia’s loan application, hadn’t let her forget it. Annabeth’s younger sister, Diane, followed her inside.
“Morning to you, ladies.”
“He never goes on more than three dates.” Annabeth held up three plump fingers. “Never.”
“Can I see the ring?” Diane asked, her tone gentler.
Reluctantly, Julia held out her hand. “It’s perfect,” Diane gushed.
“Kind of small,” Annabeth said, peering at it from the corner of one eye. “I figured you’d go for the gaudy flash.”
Julia felt her temper flare. “You don’t know me, then.”
Annabeth took a step closer. “I know you, Julia Morgan. I know you had your minions stuff my locker with Twinkies the first day of freshman year. And made my life hell every day after that. I spent four years trying to stay off your radar and still you’d hunt me down.”
The truth of the accusation made Julia cringe. “I’m sorry. I tried to make amends when I came back. I was awful and I’m truly sorry. I offered you free services for a year to try to repay a tiny portion of my debt.”
“A year?” Diane turned to her sister. “You never told me that.”
“Be quiet, Diane. That doesn’t matter now. What I want to know is how you cast your evil spell over Sam Callahan.”
“I’m not a witch. No spells, no magic.” She paused then added, “We fell in love. Simple enough. Is there something else you need?” She took a step toward the front door but Annabeth held up a hand.
“Nothing is simple with you. Sam is a good man. He went on three dates with Diane.”
“Almost four,” Diane added. “I thought I’d made it past the cutoff. But he got called to a fire and had to cancel our last dinner. After that, he told me he wanted to be just friends.”
“So, how come you two are all of a sudden engaged when no one even knew you were dating?”
“Even Abby was surprised and she knows everything about Sam.” Diane clamped a hand over her mouth as Annabeth leveled a scowl at her.
As Julia understood it, Abby Brighton had moved to Brevia to take care of her elderly grandfather. She was the police chief’s secretary and dispatcher. She didn’t know about Abby’s relationship with Sam, but the way Annabeth was looking at her sister, there was more to the story.
“Plus, you’re a little long in the tooth for Sam,” Annabeth stated, getting back to the business at hand.
Her mom had just said she was no spring chicken and now this. Lucky thing she’d chucked her ego to the curb years ago. “I’m thirty-two, the same age as you, Annabeth. We’re not quite over the hill.”
Annabeth pulled a small notebook out of her purse. “That’s old for Sam. He usually dates women at least four years younger than him.”
“And how old is that?”
“Don’t you know how old he is?” Diane asked.
Julia met Annabeth’s shrewd gaze. Calculated error on her part. “Of course. What I don’t understand is why you carry a notebook with Sam’s dating stats in it.”
Annabeth snapped the notebook shut. “I don’t have his dating stats, just a few pertinent facts. He and Diane seemed closer than any of the other women he dated. I want my sister to be happy. She had a chance before you came into the picture.”
Julia studied Diane and couldn’t begin to picture the dainty woman and Sam as a couple. “Did Sam break your heart?”
Diane scrunched up her nose. “No,” she admitted after a moment. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s supercute and such a gentleman. But he’s a little um...big...for me.”
Julia’s mouth dropped open. “Big?”
“Not like that,” Diane amended. “He’s just...with the uniform, all those muscles and he’s so tall. It’s kind of intimidating.”
“I know what you mean,” Julia agreed, although Sam’s size appealed to her. She was five-nine, so it took a lot of guy to make Julia feel petite, but Sam did it in a way that also made her feel safe.
“You have real feelings for him.” Annabeth interrupted her musings.
“I... We’re engaged. I’d better have real feelings.”
“Frankly, I thought this was another one of your stunts to show up the other single women in town. Prove that you’re still the leader of the pack and all that.” She glanced at Diane. “I didn’t want my sister to fall prey to you the way I did.”
“I’m not the same person I was. I can apologize but you’ll need to choose whether to forgive me. I don’t blame you if the answer is no, but it’s your decision. My priority is Charlie. I want to live a life that will make him proud. I don’t intend to re-create the past. You’re married now, right?”
