Finding Julian (8 page)

I slipped inside my room and closed the
door. Feeling guilty for not telling Seven about his cheating father, I plopped
down on the bed and buried my face into the pillow. No. I absolutely could not
stay. Yet I couldn’t run away without taking care of this inheritance problem.

Tomorrow, I’d meet with Mr. Cornwell
again and get him to turn everything over to Mackenzie at least. There was too
much drama in this place. I wanted nothing to do with it.

Chapter Eleven

I got up early the next day
so I could leave the house before Aunt Bev came looking for me. After taking a
shower, I rifled through my travel bag and groaned, remembering I only brought
a few items of clothing with me:

The navy blue dress for the funeral, the
romper I was wearing on Sunday, and the sleeveless blouse and jeans I wore from
New York, which I also wore yesterday when Aunt Bev brought me to the office.
The only thing left in the bag was underwear and the shoes I’d worn to the
funeral. Everything else was in a laundry bag in the bathroom because I’d asked
Claire not to do my laundry.
Great
.

I went into the bathroom and got the
romper. It would have to do. I slipped into it and grabbed my purse and cell
phone off the table, dashing out the door afterwards.

As I walked out of the guesthouse, the
eye-catching colors of red, yellow and orange slowed my steps and I stood there
watching the awe-inspiring masterpiece of a sunrise. It wasn’t the only thing
that caught my attention. Seven was running up from the beach towards me.

As he got closer I noticed his t-shirt
was drenched in sweat. No wonder he was in such good shape. Seven was a devoted
jogger it seemed.

Trying to keep my cool and not let his
hotness steer me away from my mission, I continued walking towards the side
steps of the main house.

He called out to me, “Julian…hey.”

Once I stopped, Seven slouched over,
trying to steady his breathing. “Where are you going this early?” he managed to
ask in between pants.

“Just wanted to catch a bus to
Wickford,” I said in a hushed tone, peering over at the guesthouse and hoping
Aunt Bev was still fast asleep.

“Oh, well, if you wait a sec I can take
you wherever you want to go.”

I could use the free ride, especially if
I wanted to save the little money I had. And I had to admit, I also liked being
around him. Seven was refreshing air I could never get tired of breathing in.

“Okay,” I accepted. “I’ll wait by your
car.”

Not long after getting to the front of
the main house and reaching Seven’s car in the driveway, Mackenzie came
strutting out in a loose-fitted, graffiti t-shirt, knee length jeans shorts,
tennis shoes, and a tote draped over her shoulder. Her hair was also let down,
flowing freely down her back. This was the second time I’d seen her appear so
dressed down, more subtle than the way she looked at the funeral. She still
looked beautiful though.

Spotting me, Mackenzie slowed in her
tracks then picked up her pace again as she came over to the car.

“What are you doing out here?” she asked
with a questioning look on her face. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t wearing
any makeup either.

I straightened and answered boldly,
“Waiting for Seven.”

Mackenzie snorted. She leaned her weight
on one side and fiddled with her cell phone. I was curious why she was just
standing there so I asked, “Is there something else?”

She scowled and looked down her nose at
me. “If you must know, I’m waiting for my cousin, too.”

Wonderful
.
He should have mentioned he was going to take Mackenzie somewhere. I would’ve
refused his offer.

“Don’t you have a car? Why are you using
him as your chauffer?”

Her eyes shot up at me. “Not that it’s
any of your business, but my car’s in the shop.
And
, he’s my cousin. Who
the hell are you?”

Crossing my arms, I scoffed and looked
away.
What a bitch
.

Not a moment too soon, Seven appeared from
around the side of the house. He took his keys out of his pocket as he walked
over to the convertible.

“Why is she driving with us?” Mackenzie
snapped.

Seven brushed her off, coming around to
where I stood by the front door to open it for me. I wanted to shoot a mocking
grin at my sister before getting in the car.

“Relax, Kenzie.” He walked around the
car and opened the back door for her. I winced, wanting his courtesy to be only
for me. “She needed a ride too,” he added. “Besides, you get out first.”

Fuming, Mackenzie collected herself and
climbed in. Seven blew out a breath of relief as he hopped in around the
steering wheel, backing out of the driveway shortly after.

I couldn’t help glance in the rearview
mirror at Mackenzie and at myself, regarding every feature of her face and
mine. We looked so much alike, except her blonde was shinier and healthier,
while mine was like a frizz ball brushed up into an unflattering bun.

When I was in high school, I used to
wonder what it would be like growing up with her, sisters sticking together.
We’d talk about boys, clothes, and maybe even share makeup tips. There were
sisters in the apartment building where my mom and I lived when I was growing
up in downtown Manhattan. They were so close. Seeing them always made me think
of Mackenzie in spite of how much she detested me.

Sometimes I’d ask Aunt Bev about her
when she’d call me. Like, whether or not she did well in high school and what
she was studying in college. Truth be told, I was very impressed when I heard
Mackenzie was majoring in Theatre.

Seven finally drove out of the
waterfront community, running over a bump as he turned onto Boston Neck Road.
The car rocked and Mackenzie looked up from her cell phone, frustrated. She
caught me staring in the rearview mirror. I quickly peered away.

 “What?” she jeered.

“Nothing,” I said, turning to stare out
the window.

She didn’t say anything else, only
sighed a few times.

Seven laughed. “You know, maybe you two
should try having a decent conversation. Who knows, you might actually end up
liking each other.”

“I don’t think so,” Mackenzie hissed.
“What she needs to do is hand over what belongs to me and go back to wherever
the hell she came from.”

I peered around the seat at her in the
back. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Happy?”

Boasting a smug grin, Mackenzie crossed
her arms and said, “Thrilled.”

“What?” Seven asked, cutting in.

Settling in the seat again, I stared
ahead as I explained to him, “I’m going to see Mr. Cornwell at his office in
Wickford, to see if I can get the legal papers to turn over the estate to her.”

I looked over at him and met his
disappointed gaze. He brought his eyes back on the road and sunk into his seat.

Several minutes went by before Seven
pulled over in front of an animal shelter. I wondered why we were stopping
here.

Then unexpectedly, he glanced behind at
Mackenzie and asked, “Do you have a way to get home or do you want me to pick
you up later?”

“I’ll get a ride with Mom when she’s on
her way home from the gallery.” Mackenzie stuck her phone in her bag and opened
the back door, stepping out of the car and walked over to the shelter.

After she went inside, Seven pulled onto
the road and took off again. I couldn’t help but ask, “Why’s Mackenzie going
into that animal shelter back there?”

He smirked before answering, “Believe it
or not, Julian, Kenzie spends the summer volunteering at the shelter.”

Something told me Mackenzie wasn’t the
type to actually scrub a dog. She was too posh to get down and dirty.

“I guess that’s kind of her,” I said
sarcastically, still having my doubts.

“She’s really serious about it, Jules.
You should see her, washing the animals, pens and all.” His tone proud.

That
was
pretty nice of her.
Still, it didn’t obliterate the fact that she wasn’t kind to me. I guessed we
would never be like those sisters from my old apartment. Mackenzie and I would
never be close.

Chapter Twelve

When Seven finally got to Mr.
Cornwell’s
office in the village of Wickford, he
insisted on coming in with me after finding a spot to park.

We approached the door and I tried to
push it open but it was locked. Glancing over at the window, I noticed that the
shades were still closed. I guessed it was still early.

“Want to go get breakfast and come
back?” Seven suggested.

I nodded. We walked down the street and
around the corner to a café. Sitting down at one of the tables, we ordered
coffee and pancakes.

While we ate, he pressed me about my
decision. “I still think you should stay a month, like your father wanted.”

I sipped my coffee and peered up at him
from behind the mug. “I can’t. I have to get back to—”

“What exactly is in Manhattan?” he
questioned, shifting on the chair.

“Reality.”

“And what do you call this, Julian?”

“I don’t know…a place where I don’t
belong. Look,” My level of frustration rose, “They don’t want me here. I have
to turn it over. If not, I’m going to just sell it.”

His brows shot up and he eased forward
abruptly. “I can’t believe you’d even consider selling the estate. Aunt Bev
loves that place. Your father…” he paused, shaking his head slowly. “Don’t do
that. There has to be another way.”

“Right, which is to give it to
Mackenzie,” I retorted, settling the mug back on the table to finish my
pancake.

His shoulders slouched. “I don’t think
you should do that either. There has to be something else. If you want to leave
so bad then why not just leave it in Aunt Bev’s care.”

I stayed quiet for a minute then said,
“How about you?”

Seven snorted, thinking I had to be
joking. “What, you want to leave the estate for me to take care of?”

“Not only that,” I added. “How about I
turn it all over to you?”

“No!” he snapped. I peered around to see
if the few other customers overheard.

“Sorry,” he calmed down. “But you can’t
do that, Julian.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” he said breathily. “I just
can’t take it from you. It wouldn’t be right, and I don’t want you to give it
to Kenzie or my aunt.”

I fell back in the chair, eyeing him in
wonder. My father was right about Seven. He was indeed modest.

Silence nestled in between us, leaving
the muffled sounds of pots and utensils clinking in the kitchen, and soft
chattering from the other customers.

We continued eating breakfast without
looking at each other, when a loud, ear-splitting bang took us by surprise.

Seven and I stopped eating instantly and
began looking around. Everyone else was just as alarmed as we were.

“What was that!?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”

I looked behind and out the door of the
café. “It sounded like a gunshot.”

“Maybe hunters in the woods nearby,” he
concluded.

“But it sounded closer than that.”

Getting up from the table, I walked
outside the café and saw that there were a few people coming out of their
businesses and homes nearby. They wandered about and questioned each other, but
after a while they gave up on trying to figure out what the sound was.

I went back inside the café. Seven
finished paying then walked up to me. “Let’s go see if Cornwell is in now.”

We made our way back towards Mr.
Cornwell’s office. We were almost there when two police cars pulled up in front
of the building, an ambulance right behind.

Seven’s arm slipped around my waist,
drawing me closer to him and slowing my footsteps. I yelped as police officers
bounded out of their cars and eased their way up the steps, guns in tow.
Another officer secured the area.

“What happened?” Seven asked a
spectator.

“I’m not sure,” the startled man
replied. “I think someone fired a gun in there.”

Our heads whirled towards the building
as the police officers came back out of Mr. Cornwell’s office, escorting a
rather shaken up lady with them. She stood by the ambulance as the officer
questioned her about what happened.

Seven and I gathered around with the
other individuals living or working in the area. One of the cops put up a
yellow tape and just as he finished, another car pulled up.

A man in a plaid shirt and dress pants
came out. He spared no time after talking with one of the officers, before going
over to the lady. Tears streamed down her face the more he pressed her for
details.

He went inside the building. Sometime
later he came back out and gave the paramedics the go ahead. They came down the
steps carrying a gurney with someone concealed in a black body bag.

“Oh my God,” I covered my mouth in
shock. I’d never witnessed this before.

Seven walked up to the yellow tape and
called out to one of the officers. “Tell us what happened here. I’m a friend of
Mr. Cornwell.”

The man that wasn’t wearing a uniform
heard him and came over to us. He told the officer to let us through.

“I’m Detective Walters,” he introduced
himself. “You said you know Mr. Robert Cornwell?”

Seven and I glanced at each other then
back at the detective. He regarded both of us with caution.

“Yes, what happened?” I asked, my lips
trembled as the words came out.

He observed our reactions as he
continued, “I’m sorry to tell you this, but, Mr. Cornwell was just found dead.”