All Due Respect by Vicki Hinze

Julia.
    Something hard went soft in his chest. Hell of it was, he still had no idea why or from what or whom she had been protecting him.
    Determined to find out, he walked toward the Lexus. Julia bounced her backside softly against the car door, rubbing at her left arm and staring up into the night sky, as if seeking divine intervention or the devil’s reprieve. From the look on her face, she would welcome either, so long as it bailed her out.
    Seth’s footsteps sounded on the concrete. She swerved a startled gaze at him.
    “It’s me, Julia.” He sounded like a damn fool, but the fear on her face was real.
    She relaxed and stepped away from the car. “I thought it would be better if we talked at my place. It’s more private. Is that okay?”
    Considering he had about given up on their talking at all, anywhere was fine with him. “Sure.”
    They retrieved her car from the office, then drove south of the base to her apartment. Light from the outside lamps glinted off the two-story white stucco building and spilled onto the patch of grass between the parking slots and her front door. The place looked as inviting by night as it had in full sun. He had driven the realtor crazy, looking at seventeen apartments before finding the right one, but this was for Julia. It had to be special.
    And it was. A huge kitchen and living room with a stone
    fireplace downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs, all decorated in soft pastels that suited her. Julia loved to cook, and the apartment’s gourmet kitchen had settled it. As soon as he’d seen it, he had known that this was the one.
    Julia dropped her keys on the kitchen bar and her purse on the bar stool’s flowered seat pad. “Can I get you something to drink?”
    Solemn. Serious. She dreaded what she was about to tell him. He couldn’t imagine why. They had always discussed anything and everything—except her marriage and his childhood. Both were topics she had never brought up, and both were facts Seth would rather forget. “Something cold would be good.”
    She walked to the fridge. “Beer, cola, or juice?”
    He’d had several glasses of wine. Any more alcohol and he would have to restrict himself from driving. Julia bent to retrieve the cola from the fridge. Her skirt hiked and hugged her hips. The idea of being stuck here had merit, but she wouldn’t appreciate it. “Cola.”
    She passed the can and a glass filled with ice, poured herself some water, and then motioned to the living area. “Let’s sit down. This is going to … take a while.”
    The tension in her was impossible to miss. He wanted to put her at ease, but if he did, then he’d never learn anything. A comfortable Julia was a reserved Julia.
    He sat on the far end of the sofa and stared into the empty fireplace grate. It looked dark and cold, and outside it began to rain. At first, just light drops tapped against the window. But then the rain grew heavy, like feeder bands in hurricane squalls, beating against the glass, and Julia just sat, as silent and wary as a guilty defendant standing in the courtroom, awaiting a judge’s verdict.
    HE’D hate her. Consider her a fool. A loser. There would be no more camaraderie, no more joint ventures, no more feeling connected. There would be no more respect.
    She had to accept it, to expect it—now, before she saw it in Seth’s eyes and heard it in his voice. Before he
    couldn’t bear to look at her, or showed only disgust.
    Thunder crackled. Julia shot a glance at the window, saw the raindrops splatter against the pane and then run down the glass in snaky rivulets. How in heaven would she ever get through this?
    One demon at a time. One challenge at a time.
    One breath at a time.
    Sitting at the other end of the sofa, she smoothed down her skirt. Whatever happened, she would not cry. Regardless of how bad it got, or how much it hurt, she would not cry. “First, I’m sorry I used your name without your permission. At the time, I didn’t know what else to