Page 79 of A Summer Mismatch
Julia
GoingtoworkonMonday morning was one of the hardest things Julia had ever done. The entire drive, her hand rested on her cell phone, and she debated calling in sick. She’d never called in sick before without actually being sick—and yet, though she wasn’t contagious, she was miserable.
Her head ached, her stomach ached, and worst of all, her heart ached.
Grandma had insisted Julia bring Cameron over instead of finding alternate arrangements. “I’ve been looking forward to watching a movie with him all weekend,” she’d said. Then her voice lowered. “And your grandpa needs him right now.”
Julia could admit that part of the reason she hadn’t wanted to go over there was because she wanted to avoid her grandpa. She still felt so betrayed by him. He’d set Timothy up to come and ruin her date. He’d brought Sweetie over to ruin the gala. And worse of all, he’d worked with Smitty Byrd in order to do that. It meant so much to him that she and Logan not be together that he was willing to work with his greatest enemy to make sure it didn’t happen. What was she supposed to do with that?
The one person to make her the happiest in a while was absolutely abhorrent to her grandpa.
And the one person to make her happiest in the world thought she’d betrayed him with Timothy.
In the shock of Grandma’s collapsing and then following her to the hospital, she hadn’t called Logan. Then, when she finally got the chance the next morning, her calls all went straight to his full voicemail.
She needed to text him, but she didn’t quite know what to say.
Sorry my ex-boyfriend kissed me.
Sorry our grandpas let an alligator loose at the gala.
Sorry, but I don’t know what to do… I want to be with you, but I don’t know if I can.
So until she could figure out what she really wanted to do, it was probably best to just leave him alone. That didn’t keep her from lunging for her phone every time it pinged with a message.
She let out a short breath. “It’s best to get back to normal,” she told herself. She’d work, take Cameron to his doctor’s appointment, and then finish the final draft of her book. She was hoping to get it to her agent by Friday.
Her students were delightful and better-behaved than usual, which was a miracle in itself. They kept her distracted all morning, and when it was time for her to leave to go get Cameron, she found herself in a better mood than when she’d arrived. She loved being a teacher. Most days, anyway.
She popped her head into Mr. Meyers’s office. “I’m heading out.”
He looked up from his computer, his eyebrows drawn close together. “I thought you had after-school activities today.”
She shook her head. “I told you last week. My brother’s got an appointment this afternoon.”
“I’m sorry, but it’ll have to be rescheduled. I’m counting on you.”
Julia was still feeling raw and exhausted from her weekend. She’d been awake nearly all night when Grandma had been in the ER. She’d needed to leave before learning what was wrong so she could go pick up Cameron. Don had offered to let him stay over, but she hadn’t brought any of Cameron’s medications or his CPAP machine, and she wasn’t willing to risk him missing his meds for the night.
Still, even once Cameron was asleep, Julia was awake most of the night, texting Grandpa, who had become surprisingly responsive. He hated texting, and his texts were usually riddled with auto-correct errors, but he was getting better.
Perhaps it was exhaustion, or Grandma’s self-help books, or maybe it took an alligator scare at the gala for Julia to finally learn to speak up for what she wanted, but she straightened her shoulders and gathered her courage.
“I emailed you about this appointment, and I told you about it last week. I do a lot around here, and it’s not too much to ask that someone covers for me when I need it. This is important, and I need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And with that, she turned on her heel and left his office—and his shocked expression—behind, elation and nausea warring in her stomach.
Her hands shook as she put the keys in the ignition. She’d just stood up for herself. And sure, it had been on Cameron’s behalf, but still. It felt good. Like she had control over her life and wasn’t just tugged to and fro by the whims of others.
Maybe it was time to do more of that.
Grandpa was quiet when she picked up Cameron for his appointment. Which was fine with her, because she was still angry enough that she didn’t have much to say to him anyway, even if she hated this disconnect between them.
“How are you feeling?” she asked Grandma as Cameron grabbed his talker and packed his belongings in his backpack. Today, he’d insisted on bringing three movies to watch, which was probably for the best, with Grandma’s health.
“I’m fine. You all are fussing, but I’m doing well. I’ve got an appointment with my doctor set up for next week, I’ve been taking it easy, and I haven’t had any more spells.” Grandma sounded just exasperated enough that Julia could guess how many times she’d been asked that question in the last couple of days.
“Let’s go, Cameron.” She checked her watch. They still had plenty of time to make it to Orlando for his appointment, but with the road construction, she didn’t want to take any chances.
