Mosaic (39 page)

Her father’s blue eyes twinkled just like hers, and he looked down at his hand. “People usually get what’s coming to them, Jules. Just be cool.” Then he lifted her feet into his lap. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around for you.”

She grabbed her wild dark curls in a ponytail at the nape of her neck, and he smiled at the familiar move. “It wasn’t your fault, I guess.”

“You know, I was thinking about asking her to marry me.” His voice was as certain as the way he made the decision.

“What?!” Jules sat straight up, almost dropping her popcorn.

“Would that be okay with you?” He glanced at her. “I know it’s just been the two of you, and we don’t know each other. But I want to know you. I want to be a part of your life.”

Jules’s stunned expression slowly melted into a smile as he spoke. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”

“What would you like very much?” Anna stepped out in a knee-length black cocktail dress, her chestnut waves smoothed over one shoulder. Gabi struck a pose in a leopard print smoking jacket over a velvet, emerald green dress.

“You know I’m loving the drama here.” Julian said, standing.

“I’m loving the two of you so cozy.” Anna stepped forward and caught his lapels, kissing his lips softly.

“Hey dad?” Jules called out from the sofa. He glanced back, and she winked. “Keep her out late tonight.”

Gabi went to the kitchen. “I’d better take the other car.”

* * *

The Phoenician IV was decorated in the same white tulle and twinkle lights as the gymnasium had been the night before, but the only theme was “FHS: Twenty Years Later.”

“We’ve gone from cliché to boring and unimaginative.” Gabi complained.

Anna held Julian’s arm as they entered. “Give Rachel a break. She gets no help with these things, and all she hears are complaints.”

“Well you can’t argue with that banner.” Gabi grabbed a champagne flute off a passing tray shaking her head. “I leave and the whole place falls apart.”

“Who am I going to see at this thing?” Julian’s voice at Anna’s ear sent a whisper of tingles down her back.

“You’ll see me.” She turned and kissed him, and he pulled her into his arms.

“I’d rather only see you.”

“Okay, I’m out of here.” Gabi sauntered off in the direction of her drama friends, waving from a table in the back.

A slow song was playing over the dance floor, and Anna and Julian started to sway in place. His arms were around her waist, and her hands rested on his chest. “Is this going to be like prom, where you want to ditch?”

“I see these people all the time.”

“Because you never left!” She laughed, touching his chin. “I haven’t seen these guys in years.”

“You’re coming back.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Yes. You are.”

Rachel and Brad were the next to arrive, and the swaying couple parted to greet their friends.

“I’m so happy my cutest couple has been reunited,” Rachel said. “The awards presentation is going to be perfect now.”

“You’re not doing all that again, are you?” Anna cried.

“Of course! Every reunion has the revisiting of the class favorites.” Rachel put her hand in the crook of Brad’s arm. “If you two hadn’t gotten together, you were up for ‘Most Improved.’”

Anna’s lips twisted into a frown. “Why does that feel like a back-handed compliment?”

Julian cut in. “You’d better hurry it up. We’re not going to be here much longer.” Anna elbowed him in the side, and he leaned into her ear. “This dress has driven the existing shortage to critical levels.”

Rachel caught the whole exchange. “I’m not sure what that means, but I’m guessing it’s something dirty.”

“It’s not dirty.” Anna tried to cover. “It’s just something we used to say. About being apart.”

“Oh, it’s dirty.” Brad rejoined the group, slipping his phone in his pocket. “What are we talking about?”

The four started to laugh, and Julian pulled Anna away to the dance floor. “I love being in your arms again,” she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. Julian didn’t answer, and her head popped up. “What?” He smiled, but she could tell something was on his mind. “Tell me.”

His smile turned more genuine then. “I have something important to ask you, but first… I have to dredge up the past a little.”

Anna groaned. “No more past dredging. I’m sick of it.”

“Jules mentioned someone named Brandon?”

Anna’s lips poked out, and her eyes dropped to his collar. “Jules and her big mouth,” she breathed. “What did she tell you?”

His expression turned serious. “That you were married.”

She didn’t speak. For a moment her finger only traced a line along the lapel of his suit coat. “I was. For a little while.”

“Did you love him?”

Her head tilted to the side as she considered the question. “I liked him very much.”

“Ouch. Poor Brandon.” Julian pulled her close and kissed her temple. “Five words no guy ever wants to hear from the woman he loves.” They swayed a few moments in silence. “He probably hates me.”

She breathed a small laugh. “He probably does. Sorry.”

“You could’ve at least tried to sugar-coat it.”

“Julian LaSalle, you know I’ve always been completely honest with you.” She straightened up to find him grinning, and her heart melted a little. “I’m just not always incredibly punctual with the news. Why are you grinning like that?”

“I miss hearing you say my name that way. Everybody calls me
Kyser
now. Dad wanted it that way.”

“You’re very good to your dad.”

“He’s been very good to me, and he loves my mom. They’re finally happy, I think.”

“Will they ever get married?”

Julian shrugged. “You know how Mom is.” Then he took her hand, leading her off the dance floor. “Come with me.”

She followed him out of the ballroom to the back patio, down the short steps leading to the soft, white sand. Stopping her, Julian bent down to remove her heels then he slipped off his own shoes and cuffed his slacks.

“What happened to your hand?” She held it up when he stood.

“It’s nothing. I just jammed it moving furniture. Come on.” Her thumb glided briefly over the little dragonfly ink on that hand, and she straightened her ring now securely on her finger.

They walked hand in hand in the moonlight down to the shore, where they stopped right at the water’s edge.

“It’s so beautiful,” she sighed, and he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms over hers, holding her back against his chest.

His voice was low and right at her ear when he spoke. “Anna, I want you to marry me.” He felt her jump, and he pressed his lips against the soft skin at the base of her neck before he continued. “I want you to be my wife. I want you and Jules to move back here and live with me. I want us to be a family.”

Anna pushed against his arms, and he released her. She turned to face him, and he could see her eyes shining. “I can’t think of anything in the world I want more than that.”

Slipping his hand into his breast pocket, he pulled out a small, silver ring. “I made this a while back, when I was still in Savannah…”

A painful knot tightened in Anna’s throat, causing her voice to crack. “Julian… you’ve had it that long?”

“I’ve loved you longer.” He slipped the slim band onto the finger where her dragonfly ring sat, and it fit with the previous piece, adding a sparkling diamond on which the tiny, glittering insect appeared to perch.

Anna gasped. “It’s perfect! Did you know it would be like that before?”

He smiled looking at the set a moment before he shook his head. “I didn’t. I only guessed it might work.”

She lunged forward, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing their mouths together. Lips parted, tongues met, she turned her cheek to hold her hand out in the moonlight as his kiss traveled to her jaw and up, into her hair.

“Lucy is going to be ecstatic,” Anna laughed. “She was right.”

“Let’s get out of here.” His voice was low against her hair, and his tone caused a little shiver to move through her.

“Okay,” she whispered, and they started back for the ballroom, hand in hand.

They were almost there when Brad came rushing out the back doors. “Jules, dammit, there you are. You left your phone on the table.”

“I didn’t want to be disturbed just then.” Then he noticed the strained expression on his friend’s face. “What’s happened?”

“It’s your dad. He’s had a heart attack.”

Chapter 7

The halls of South County Hospital were filled with Kysers when Julian and Anna arrived. Lucy was sitting beside Lexy, and both women’s faces were red and blotched from crying. Julian’s mother clutched a ball of tissues, and she pressed them to her eyes repeatedly. The soft noises of mourning filled the air.

Jack was at the nurses’ station with Robert, discussing his father’s status and plans for treatment. Anna caught sight of Will, alone in a row of chairs on the other side of the waiting area. She pulled Julian’s hand, and he didn’t fight her. But as they got closer, she saw Will’s left cheek was bruised and swollen.

His cold gaze fell on them. “I’m still considering pressing charges,” he growled.

“I’d love to see you try it,” Julian snapped back.

Anna stopped and lifted her fiancé’s hand. “I thought you did this moving furniture?” He didn’t answer, but rather cut his eyes toward his eldest sibling.

She turned and pulled Julian to the side, speaking low. “What happened?”

“Let’s just say he’ll never threaten you again.”

“You probably broke something.” She turned his swollen knuckles over.

“I don’t care… he’s had that coming for twenty years.” His voice trailed off as he scanned the faces of his family. “I need you to go and get Jules. Hurry.”

Anna’s eyes cut to his, and reading his expression, she nodded and took off back down the hall, fear twisting in her stomach. She knew what Julian was thinking, and she feared he might be right. This could be his father’s last night.

* * *

How many times had she made the panicked drive through Fairview to the hospital? At least she was only going to her parents’ home, which was just a few short blocks away. Jules was still on the couch in her black leggings and tunic when her mother arrived to get her. The two were out the door and in the car again without a moment to spare.

“Is he going to die?” Jules whispered from the passenger’s side.

Anna reached over to hold her daughter’s hand. “I don’t know, sweetie. He didn’t live a very healthy life for a long time.”

The girl was quiet a few moments. “I’d hoped when I saw Nana again it would be a happy time, and I would beg her to adopt me.”

Anna pulled her daughter against her shoulder in an awkward hug. “You’ll have plenty of time to beg Lexy to adopt you, and I doubt it’ll take very much.”

Back inside the waiting area, Anna knew they were too late. Julian held his mother tight against his chest, and Anna could see her body shaking violently as they ran up the hall toward the family. Tears were in his blue eyes, and Anna’s instantly flooded.

Jack was holding Lucy, and Robert was discussing a prescription for Ms. LaSalle to help her sleep. Naturally, she resisted.

Lexy shook her head, her smooth dark hair now shoulder length and streaked with gray. “I’m not taking drugs,” she whispered, her voice broken and shaking. “I’ll get through this like I’ve gotten through everything else.”

Her dark eyes lifted, and she saw Anna standing with Jules. Blinking back her tears, Lexy held out a hand to her granddaughter, and Jules rushed forward straight into her arms.

“I’ve been waiting to see you again.” The girl’s voice was broken, and they held each other a few moments. “I can look after you. Let me stay with you.”

Robert handed the small prescription to Julian, and he glanced at his daughter before looking up at Anna.

“I don’t mind if that’s what Lexy wants,” she said.

His mother walked over to Anna and pulled her into a hug. “You’re calling me Lexy now? I’ve always wanted you to do that.”

Anna looked down and smiled. “I guess I feel older these days.”

His mother lifted her hand and studied the engagement ring with the little dragonfly perched on it. She nodded. “This is good. It’s how it should be. I’ll take Jules with me back to Port Hogan.”

Lucy came up behind her, wiping tears from her eyes. “Are you sure? You can stay with us out on Hammond. We want you to be there. I want you there.”

Lexy hugged her goddaughter and a fresh wave of tears filled all their eyes. “I never belonged in that house,” she whispered. “I’d rather stay in my old place. With my lovely granddaughter.”

Julian was discussing the medication with Jules, who nodded. Jack stepped forward, clearing his throat. Anna had only seen tears in his blue eyes once before, and it was when Lucy was lying in a hospital bed in this same building.