Page 58 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“Pretty much.”
“Typical man. He doesn’t want to talk about his feelings,” her sister said. “Which is fine because he’s just a fling, right?”
Julie glanced in the living room at Sabrina, who was drifting off to sleep on the couch. “Right.”
“Wrong,” Kat corrected. “If he were nothing you wouldn’t be on the phone worrying about him right now.”
“We’re friends, too.”
“Friends and lovers. Gee, that sounds like a full-fledged relationship.”
Julie walked to the couch and sat, folding her legs under her. “I’m not ready to fall for someone. I haven’t even faced Daren since I left. I’m still figuring out my life. It’s not a good time to go for anything more from anyone.” She was spewing out all the reasons she’d been repeating to herself for the last month as she’d grown closer to Lawson. None of them seemed true anymore, though.
“I never thought I’d be ready for love again,” Kat said. “Then Micah came into my life and boom.”
Julie stared at the soft pink polish on her nails, the same color she’d painted Sabrina’s earlier in the afternoon. “I’m happy for you, sis, but Lawson and I aren’t the same. He’s not ready, either. He’s obviously dealing with stuff, and he won’t talk to anyone about it. It’s not healthy.” She frowned. “The next relationship I get myself into is going to be healthy.”
“We all have unhealthy areas in our lives. Maybe you can help him.”
Julie frowned to herself. “That’s what yoga is supposed to be doing.”
Kat coughed. “No offense, but yoga doesn’t replace talking things through.”
“I know that.” Julie continued to inspect her nail polish. “Speaking of talking things through, I miss you. Let’s go do something sisterly soon. Just us.”
“Sounds like fun. What do you have in mind?”
Julie fanned her nails in front of her. “A mani-pedi?”
Kat sighed dreamily. “You’re on.”
“Great. I’ll set us up for one tomorrow afternoon,” Julie said.
“Perfect.”
Julie hung up the phone and stared at Sabrina, who was lying next to her. Since she was still sleeping, Julie pulled her cellphone out and started Googling news articles. She knew there’d been an article on Lawson’s helicopter crash. She remembered seeing it, although at the time she hadn’t paid too much attention. After the way he’d acted this morning, though, she was curious what exactly he’d been through.
She scrolled through the articles that popped up from her search, and then stopped on one that mentioned Lawson by name.
HERO RESCUES FOUR IN CREW; ONE FATALITY.
She skimmed the article covering the details of what had happened. Lawson was a hero. Four men had gotten out of the helicopter after it’d crashed. One had lost a leg. And one man had lost his life.
She swallowed, reading the details of the crash, her eyes burning as she imagined what Lawson must’ve gone through. The helicopter had come under enemy fire. It’d continued to stay in flight almost to camp, thanks to the pilot. By the time the helicopter had combusted into a ball of fire, all but one had gotten out alive. Julie thought she recognized the name of the man who’d lost a leg. He lived in Seaside not far from where she stayed. She’d seen him at the grocery store once, limping on a prosthetic. Allen Rogers. He was cute. Single. He’d had a friendly smile, and she remembered admiring him for being able to smile after all he’d been through.
But Lawson had been through a lot, too. His scars weren’t physical. He carried them inside and smiled on the outside. He was brave, a hero who’d saved the lives of others.
“Julie?” Sabrina laid a hand on Julie’s lap, staring up at her with angelic blue eyes. “Are you going to cry?”
Julie shook her head, but a tear slipped down her cheek anyway. “Maybe just a little. I was reading a really sad story.”
Sabrina stared at her a moment. Julie could almost see how hard she was thinking, trying to come up with something worthy of a four-year-old to say. “Did you get to the end of the story? Because it’s always a happy ending.”
Julie laughed, pulling the little girl up onto her lap. “You are such a smart girl. I haven’t gotten to the end just yet, but I think you might be right.”
“Read me a story?” Sabrina asked then.
Julie sat her phone down and reached for one of the fairy tales at her side. “CinderellaorPeter Pan?”
