“I’m fine,” I interrupted, a hint of a growl in my voice this time. “Look, I think I’m going to head home for the night. Get some rest. It’s been a fun night, but I’m not really in the mood for any of this.” I shook her off, realizing as I did so that I had never even bothered to ask her name. Not that it really mattered. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I stalked out the door, ignoring the questions I left in my wake.
Chapter Two
Vanessa
It didn’t take long to find Julie when I walked into the diner. We hadn’t seen one another in over a year, but she looked the same as ever, there at the counter, kicking her feet a little as she sat on a stool chatting with Pat, the owner of the place.
She squealed when she saw me and hopped off her stool, pulling me into a big hug. “God, you look great!” she said. “Plus, it’s just so good to see you! I can’t believe you’re back here. I always thought you were going to… I don’t know, go off with some rich dude from New York City or Paris or somewhere and…” She trailed off, giggling a little. “Well, I’m just glad to see you. Come on, sit down. Pat, you know what we like.”
Then, she turned toward me, her eyebrows drawing in close. “I mean, I used to know what you liked. Do you still-”
“The usual is fine,” I interrupted, smiling at her. Same old Julie. She was ever consistent, thank God. Someone had to be.
“Congrats again on the college graduation,” Julie said. “I wish I could have been there, but with Danny teething and Liam being Liam, you know? I don’t want to say he’s inept, but there’s no way I’m leaving him at home with Danny on his own!”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I still can’t believe Danny’s getting old enough to be teething already,” I said.
“You’re going to love him,” she said. “He’s the sweetest thing. I know you never really wanted kids, but-”
“A lot has changed,” I said before I could stop myself. Julie looked surprised at first, and then her eyes narrowed a little in a way that made me wince.
“Did you come back just because of Trethan?” she asked.
I forced myself to laugh. “Of course not. We were just friends, remember? I haven’t seen him in ages, and I don’t know what he’s even up to.”
“Bullshit,” she said succinctly. “He’s working over at your dad’s ranch. Don’t pretend you don’t know what he’s up to.”
I blushed and ducked my head. “I mean, other than that,” I clarified. “Of course, Dad mentioned that Trethan was working out there, ever since his incident.”
“His incident,” Julie said flatly. She rolled her eyes. “God, I hope you didn’t come back just because of him. You can do so much better.”
“I know, I know,” I said, even though, to be honest, Trethan had been on my mind a lot since I decided to come back home. “I’m not here because of him. Dad’s been really supportive of me.”
“Supportive of what, though?” she asked. “I mean, you have a degree in art history. There’s not that much art in this town, let alone history. We’re just White Bluff, Montana, remember?”
“I know,” I said again. I sighed. “Look, I don’t know exactly what I want to do, but when it came down to signing a contract with one of the big corporate places in the city, it just didn’t appeal to me. There are a lot of interesting art institutes out there and a lot of interesting galleries, places that are trying to use art to make an impact on places and people. I’m not really into the political side of things, but I can’t help holding out for something where art would be more than self-expression, where it could really change things. Does that make sense?”
Even as I said it, I knew it probably didn’t make sense to Julie. She had never been interested in art, and now she had her family. She was probably more focused on them than broadening her horizons with art.
I didn’t think less of her for it. Most people didn’t have the time for anything but what was directly in front of them. Work, family, and just getting through the day took precedence over everything else. I assumed it was the same with Julie.
Still, the thought made me sad. We’d always been so close during school. But ever since I’d gone off to college, and she’d stayed in White Bluff, we’d grown further and further apart. We’d kept in touch, of course, but things were different now.
But Julie was nodding along with me. “That makes sense,” she said. She smiled crookedly at me. “I know you probably think I’m just saying that, but honestly, having a kid changes you. You start thinking about legacies and what kind of world that kid is going to grow up in. Things like that.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I never thought I’d hear anything like that from you.”
“Me neither,” she admitted, also laughing. Then, her expression sobered. “But seriously, what do you think you’re going to do around here? I mean, I know you always hated the ranching lifestyle, and as much as you want to tell me that everything’s changed and that you’re maybe thinking about having kids and whatever else, I know you. And I know that you’re not back here to take over your dad’s ranch.”
“Definitely not,” I sighed, staring down into the mug of coffee Pat had put in front of me. I couldn’t help grinning a little. “Sounds like the ranch is probably going to pass over to Trethan, eventually. If not in land ownership, then at least in terms of functioning and work.”
“That’s going to be really awkward if you end up owning the land and he ends up running everything,” Julie said.
“Again, it’s not like anything ever happened between the two of us,” I reminded her. “We were never high school sweethearts or anything.”
“You might as well have been,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“We weren’t,” I maintained, glancing toward Pat. Julie knew the full story there, but that didn’t mean I needed the whole town to know. I was long over whatever Trethan and I had been, but still.