Dancing in Circles (Circles Trilogy) (23 page)

Her mother tugged Julie's coat sleeve. She stood and followed her parents to the car. The weather changed to miserably bitter as they crossed the parking lot. A raw wind whipped past their faces and chilled the end of their noses. "Bundle up good, Sandra. We don't want frostbite on the future Andersons."

"Yes, Mom. It would be bad for you to get a cold now."

"Thank you all for your consideration. My, it's cold. It feels like it's well below freezing." She sighed. "I guess this will be the end of the fall flowers. No more blossoms until spring. Time to get ready for the long cold winter."

As they neared the car, the wind whistled through the trees and made the branches creak and groan. "It even sounds cold," said Mr. Anderson as he clicked the unlock button.

"Ah, but winter means December and December means babies." Julie laughed as she held the front passenger door open for her mother.

"Only if I don't deliver early." Her mother settled onto the car seat.

"You wouldn't dare." The wind howled. Julie snuggled inside her coat then sat in the back.

As Julie's father started to back out of the parking spot, Mrs. Anderson asked, "Does anybody else have a craving for cheesecake?"

"Birthday cake, cheesecake and Swan Lake, this is the best birthday ever. Drive on, Dad."

***

After Julie chased the last crumb around her plate, she glanced at her parents. "How do you know to trust somebody?"

Her mother wiped the corner of her mouth and placed her napkin on her plate. "What brought this up?"

Julie shrugged. "Just a question. How do you know to trust me?"

"Love." Her mother patted her arm and smiled. "Parental instinct."

"Okay, poor choice." Julie glanced around the restaurant. "What if someone you didn't know told you something and you can't really check on him, how would you know to trust him?"

"You and Robert having problems?" Her mother tilted her head.

"What do you mean are she and Robert? Are you two dating?" Mr. Anderson signalled for the cheque.

Julie glanced at her plate.

"Has he done something? Said something?" A look of concern crossed her mother's face.

Other than made love to me?
Julie shook her head.

"Then why not trust him?"

"Doesn't it seem strange to you that we have a gang member in the house?" She tried to keep her tone neutral.

The creases on her mother's forehead became evident. "What's gotten into you?"

"Everything he said about his criminal record is true as far as I know." Mr. Anderson tucked the credit card receipt into his wallet and stood. "You're the one who brought him to us. You're the one who instinctively trusted him. Has he done something to break that trust?"

"No. Not really." Julie pushed back her chair.

Her father helped his wife stand then glanced at his daughter. "What happened last night?

Julie puzzled on her answer for a moment. "It's not that, really. But, well, Francine said—"

"I don't care what Francine said." Her mother buttoned her coat. "From what I've seen Robert's just a good kid trying to make something out of a bad situation. What he needs is a mother. I wish he were younger, so we could adopt him. Let's go. You have school tomorrow and I'm tired."

Her father and Julie walked side by side to the car. "Snickerdo, I love you so listen before you get angry."

Julie giggled. "I can never get angry when you call me that."

"Robert is a different kind of person. He's led a violent life and that tends to warp a sense of values. I want you to think very,
very
seriously before getting romantically involved with him. I don't dislike Robert, but I don't know if he's the right person for you. I think you could do better." He clicked unlock on the car, slid in and started the engine.

Mr. Anderson pulled into their driveway and parked next to Robert's motorcycle. Julie didn't feel a rush of joy at the thought of seeing him. She wanted him to go away – far, far away.

"Good heavens." Her mother's gasp startled Julie. She looked out the back passenger window. Robert sat huddled in the front doorway. They exited the car and walked to the front door.

"I got locked out." He stood, dug himself deeper into his jacket and stepped back from the door.

"You could've slept at the club house." Julie's tone was harsh. Robert looked at her but said nothing.

When they stepped through the front door into the brightly lit living room, Robert lowered his head attempting to hide the bruise on his cheek. "You've been fighting." Mr. Anderson's voice held a hint of disapproval.

Robert remained silent while switching between staring at the floor and looking at Julie.

Sensing his need to talk to her daughter, Mrs. Anderson said, "I'm going to bed. Coming Bill?"

"Right behind you. Good night, and happy birthday, honey."

"Thanks, Dad. I had a great time."

"Don't stay up too long," her mother called over her shoulder. "School tomorrow."

"Have fun with your parents?" Robert stared at the floor. He preferred it to the back of Julie's head.

Julie glanced out the window into the darkness. "Yes, we went to a ballet." She waved the program. "I'm pretty tired. Guess I'll go to bed. Good night."

"Can we talk?"

"I'm really tired. Good night." She faked a yawn while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Why won't you…?"

Julie turned and scurried up the stairs. Robert stared at the empty place where she'd just stood. What had he done wrong? Everything was fine twenty-four hours ago – before he made love to her. He walked to her room, knocked on the door then opened it.

Julie turned. "What?"

"I wanna talk."

"Later."

He stepped into the room. "Now."

"Whatever it is, it can wait until morning."

Robert exited the room, and ten minutes later, he exited the house.

***

Monday after school, Julie found her mother sitting in the living room with a fresh pot of tea. Julie plopped on the chair beside her. "Hey. How are you?"

"Feeling like a very pregnant mother. But I'm fine." She poured a cup of tea and offered it to her daughter. "Good day at school?"

Julie shrugged and accepted the teacup.

"Was Robert at school today?"

"No, why?"

"His room's clean, the bed's made and his clothes are gone."

Julie took a sip of her drink. "He came in last night and wanted to talk. I told him to go away that I wanted to sleep. I didn't mean for him to take me literally."

"What did he want to talk about?"

Julie shrugged.

Her mother frowned. "A friend has a problem and wants to talk and you tell him to go away. Here I was worried about you."

Julie crinkled her forehead and pursed her lips.

Her mother warmed her hands on her teacup. "I was worried he'd break your heart. Why are you suddenly pushing him away? He was opening up to you. He was starting to trust us. What did he do?"

Julie's bottom lip trembled. "I'm scared of him."

"Scared? Why?"

Julie blinked a couple of times to hold back the tears. "Because I don't know how to act around him. I don't know what to say or do when he looks at me. I don't understand what's going on. I'm scared he'll get hurt or something will happen, and I'll never see him again."
Because I fell in love with him.

Mrs. Anderson sipped her tea while she waited to see if her daughter had anything more to say. Holding her teacup in her hand, she said, "Saturday night, he charged in here, but you'd already left for your rehearsal. You missed each other by five minutes. He never even ate supper. He turned around and went to the studio so he wouldn't miss your class. Did he make it?"

Julie nodded.

"Did you two have a fight?"

"Far from it."
Very, very far from it.

Her mother pursed her lips. "Then I don't understand. I thought you cared for him."

"That's the problem, I do care, more than I want to. I'm so scared. I don't know what to do." She fought back the tears. "Yesterday, when I came downstairs and saw him, I just panicked. I couldn't stop myself."

Her mother patted Julie's arm then lifted her cup to take a sip. "He'll probably be back tomorrow."

***

By Thursday, Robert still hadn't come home or shown up at school. Julie kept finding him creeping into her thoughts. She'd be concentrating in math class and would suddenly hear his voice inside her head explaining how to do the problem. While the English class discussed love poems, she relived the evening in the dance studio.

Last period, in biology, she'd given up trying to concentrate on what Mr. Parks was teaching. She looked over at Robert's empty desk. Why did she miss him so much? Sunday, when he was near her, she couldn't stand the touch of his gaze or of his hands, but now she longed for him. Why?

The sound of the end of day bell snapped her back to reality. She picked up her books and left. As Heather's car neared her house, Julie saw a black leather-jacketed figure with a dark helmet, perched on a motorcycle.

"Look who's parked in Julie's driveway." Heather giggled.

The car had barely stopped when Julie said goodbye and jumped out. The biker took the helmet off. She stopped short. It was Paul. A dark bruised marred his cheek and a fresh cut under his eye dribbled blood.

"Hi." He looked around. "Do you know where Robert is? He never answers his cell, and I've left a hundred messages on his voice mail."

"No, I haven't seen him since Sunday. I hoped he was with you guys."

"He was. That means….Shit." Paul pulled on his helmet.

Julie grabbed his arm. "What's up? Where did he go?"

Paul sat for a moment then removed his helmet. "He went into Blood territory. The council's declared war. I was hopin' I could find him. You were my last guess."

A tightness gripped Julie's throat. "Have you tried the ranch?"

"Not today."

She turned towards her home. "Come on in. I'll call Carl."

Paul shook his head. "No. I'll sit here."

"Don't be stupid, Paul. Come on."

The overwhelming need to know where Robert was made Paul tuck his helmet on his handle bar and followed her into the kitchen. Julie pulled her cell phone out of her purse. "Hi, Mom. This is Robert's friend, Paul. Has he come home?"

Shaking her head, Mrs. Anderson checked the cut on Paul's face. "Pleasure to meet you, Paul. Please, have a seat. A cup of coffee? Coke?"

While Paul shook his head, he settled on the chair closest to the exit. Mrs. Anderson bit back a smile. Paul's uneasiness reminded her of Robert the first few days he was there. She wet a cloth and walked over to him. "Look up. May I?" She reached to wipe the blood off Paul's cheek.

He stopped her hand.

Resting her hands on her hips, Julie's mother said, "Look, I've had it with you macho Shoresmen not letting anyone tend to your wounds. Now you let me clean these."

Paul chuckled. "Bob was right. You are tough."

"He said that?"

"Yea. He talked about you and Julie a lot."

"What's happening in Shore?" She wiped the last of the blood then picked up a tube of ointment.

Paul looked at the floor. "It's not good. Robert tried. He had them under control – 'til he disappeared. If he don't show up soon, there's gonna be a lot of killin's."

"What do you mean disappeared?" Julie placed her cell on the table.

"Bob decided to go into Blood's turf and talk with'em. We wasn't to do nothin' 'til he come back. No one knows where he is. Blood says they don't know, but I think they's lyin'. It's startin' to get bad. Tonight's the night, we either find Bob…."

"Or what?" Julie clenched her fists as cold fear flooded her veins.

"If Bob was in Blood territory, he'd contact someone to come and get'im." Paul lowered his voice. "If he's still alive."

Julie closed her eyes and held back a moan.

Paul met Julie's gaze. "The chances of that ain't good. He's been gettin' a lot of grief cause he's hangin' 'round here. The guys've been sayin' he's not one of us no more. Knowin' Bob, this is his way of showin' he's still Shoresmen."

"By putting his life on the line?" Julie's voice cracked.

"Yup."

From the sadness in his face, eyes and voice, Julie knew Paul was deeply concerned about his friend. Almost as much as she was. She paused. Five days ago, she wanted nothing to do with him, but now she yearned for him to be back safe within her arms. Did she want him back? Her body said yes. Her soul agreed.

"Well he hasn't been to the estate. Carl has no idea where he is."

"Then I think Blood has him. If they do, he's dead." Paul glanced at the floor.

"No, Paul." Julie shook her head. "He's hiding somewhere. Maybe this just got to be too much for him."