Page 5 of A Recipe Called Home

“With what?” Jules asked after a beat. It came out a bit rude, but she was too shocked to function properly.

He swept a hand, gesturing towards the mess of cardboard behind her. “Oh, that. I can handle it. Just lost my balance.”

“I guess some things never change.”

Yeah, it was Miles.

“What does that mean?” Jules shot back, suddenly self-conscious and a little embarrassed to be found in this situation.

“You were always a little clumsy, that’s all,” he said, jogging down the stairs to help her pick up the boxes.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s the last of them, anyways. I was just helping Winnie out in the theater,” Jules tried to explain.

“Let me help. Looks like you hurt your ankle.”

That was one thing Jules remembered about Miles; he was always ready to help anyone in need, even if it meant that he’d be late to class, miss band practice, or not show up on time to pick her up. Once, he was late picking her up for a football game because he’d been helping his elderly neighbor search for her missing cat, only to find out from the woman’s daughter that the cat had died a month earlier. Miles still promised his neighbor that they’d look more the next day. Which they did, for three hours.

Jules used to love that about him, but now she knew better. After everything that happened between them all those years ago, she didn’t know who he was anymore.

Before she could respond, he began picking up the boxes and throwing them in the bin.

“Thanks,” she said, watching him.

“No problem. Need some help getting back inside?”

“Sure.”

He wrapped his arm around her back to steady her.

She didn’t want to be close to him, but she didn’t have a choice. Her ankle still throbbed. As they hobbled up the steps, Jules took in his scent, a mix of sweet sandalwood and a musky spice she could never quite place. He smelled like he always had, and it was intoxicating. She caught herself taking another deep inhale and abruptly stopped walking, snapping back to reality.

“I got it from here. Thanks,” she said, hurrying away from him and hobbling down the rest of the hallway, using the wall for support. Admittedly, it wasn’t the sexiest she’d ever looked, waddling away from him like a gimp. But she had to put distance between them, the mix of emotions swirling in her chest made her vision blurry.Why was he here?

“Great seeing you, too, Jules,” he called behind her.

After they cleaned up backstage, Winnie followed Jules back to her grandma’s house for lunch. It had been two years since she'd seen her best friend in person, although they FaceTimed every Sunday night. It was the most consistent date night Jules had since her breakup with Luke. And now, Jules had some questions for Winnie; Miles-related.

Once home, Jules warmed up the goulash and helped her grandma downstairs to the kitchen to eat with them before putting an ice pack on her ankle, which already felt better. She was going to have to tell them both about running into Miles, although part of her still thought she might have imagined it all.

Jules knew it would make her grandma’s day. Rosa always loved Miles. She still tried to bring him up occasionally, even though Jules always shut the conversation down as quickly as it started. Winnie, however, never mentioned him by name anymore. She knew better.

After what happened their senior year, Winnie would go on and on about what an asshole he was for standing her up on prom night, even though that’s not exactly what happened. Jules would never admit it but she appreciated that Winnie had her back. At least someone understood.

Once they were at the table eating, Jules wanted answers.

“So, I didn’t realize Miles was still in town.”

Winnie stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth, thinking for a moment before answering, “Yeah, he’s been back for a little while. I don’t see him much." She shrugged her shoulders.

“Interesting. I saw he was wearing a school staff badge." Jules tried not to sound accusatory.

“You sawMiles?” her grandma interrupted with too much enthusiasm.

Jules told them a quick version of what happened while they ate. As she spoke, she could sense Winnie was holding back. Winnie wore her emotions on her sleeve, so it was easy to know what she was feeling. Normally, Jules loved that about her, but right now it felt like she was on the outside, missing a piece of important information.

“He’s the new band instructor for the high school. He’s been back for about a year now,” Winnie cooly explained, trying not to make a big deal of it.

“Did you know he was back?” Jules asked her grandma.

---