Page 46 of Our Unexpected Beginning
His words caught her off guard and she gasped. Her cheeks reddened and her core clenched at the memory of the fiery flogger welts he’d left on her the night they played with Claudia at the club.
Graham playfully smacked her ass. “C’mon, let’s set up, there’s bags in the back.”
Julia looked at him suspiciously. “What on earth did you do when I was sleeping? How do you have the energy?” She hastily gathered her hair and pulled it up into a haphazard bun, wrapping it with the black band she kept around her wrist.
As if he felt her unease, Graham pulled her toward him and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I can be resourceful.”
He turned her to face the campsite, his arms hugging her from behind. “We’re going to see the universe.”
The realization of what he planned for them brought tears to her eyes. Julia placed her hands over his arms in support. “Graham.”
“Bucket lists are important.”
You’re important.
Filled with emotion, Julia tipped her head against his chest and closed her eyes to the setting sun. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Tell me how you like your s’mores.”
*
Joking that the bed of the truck was a clown car of surprises, Julia was amazed at everything Graham had put together without much notice.
Upon further inspection, Julia discovered beside the double tent and fire pit was an inflatable mattress complete with several oversized pillows and two folded blankets in the corner.
It didn’t take them long to settle in and as promised, Graham opened up to her about his childhood. While they shared the same history of parental entrapment and an absent father, his was more complicated.
He’d shared that since the news of his fathers passing he’d been inundated with calls and letters from various news stations about his standing in the family. It unearthed his connection to the deceased politician and brought to question what he could gain.
While Julia knew some of the history between his sister Kat and Wes, he filled in the missing pieces about how she’d left one night when Sarah was six months and never looked back. He’d tried countless times to initiate conversation and connection, but it wasn’t something she was interested in.
Despite his sister’s transgressions it was never held against him and Wes encouraged Sarah’s relationship with her uncle and his Grandmother.
Graham started a fire while she finished putting together their ‘star-nest’ as he called it. They bundled in and she taught him her version of the constellations.
“We had trouble remembering the real names, so my brother and I would make them up.” Julia leaned against his chest, sitting between his thighs, and pointed at a small cluster of stars. “Goldfish.”
Graham ducked closer and followed her gaze. “I can see that. The five on the end look like a fish tail.”
“Yes!”
“What else?” Graham’s arms tightened around her middle and gave her his undivided attention.
She laughed and scanned the sky and spotted another familiar cluster. “See how that one splits into a Vee with the three stars behind it?” He nodded. “Tuning fork.”
Graham pointed toward the direction of the truck. “Those zig-zag, like mountains. Those to the left of the moon is a bucket truck.”
Julia laughed, grabbing marshmallows from the bag and stabbing three onto the metal skewer. “You can tell you’re the older sibling.”
“How so?”
She gestured around their site and smiled fondly. “All this is very big brother coded.”
“Julia.”
“Sorry! I wasn’t calling you my brother.”
“Julia.” His tone was serious.
