a few hours?” Will asked. “I’ll be our night watchman.”
“Absolutely,” James said. “I’ll show you to a quiet spot and then, Eli—you’re with me. Looks like your head needs a few stitches. After that a hot shower and dry clothes. You look to be around the size of one of our two sons, and we’ve got some boxes with his old clothes that we never got around to donating. Won’t be perfect, but at least something better than what you’re wearing.”
“And you’re with me,” Laura said to Julia. “In the master bath. Big Jacuzzi tub waiting for you and then a nice hot meal.”
Her generosity brought more tears to Julia’s face, and she allowed Laura to take her like a child anywhere Laura wanted her to go.
Up the curved staircase and into a master bedroom that filled half the top level. A two-sided fireplace was situated between the master bedroom and the bathroom, and Laura had turned it on to warm the bathroom.
Laura motioned to the things that she had set aside for her. A lush navy blue towel. Several options of body washes and shampoos. She laughed to herself. “A girl can never have too many choices, right?”
Julia smiled. She’d met Laura on a few occasions during parties that the emergency medicine doctors would host at Christmas. Laura was the epitome of a soft place to land. Julia yanked a tissue from a nearby box and covered her eyes.
What a mess I am! The first ounce of kindness that someone shows me and I’m ready to fall to pieces. I’m an ER nurse. I’m used to handling a crisis without being so emotional. What’s wrong with me?
Laura motioned to have her sit with her on the side of the tub, and she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Julia, do you need to talk?”
At first, all she could do was cry. How could she explain what she felt? Was this what her life was going to be like from now on? Never being able to have a place she could call home again? Was the existence she’d had before, depending only on herself and living completely isolated from everyone except her grandfather, really living?
“Things are such a mess,” Julia said.
Laura rubbed her shoulder. “If even half of what James told me has happened, then you have every reason to be crying your eyes out. Has someone really put a hit out on your life?”
“I can’t help but believe it’s true because ever since I was taken into protective custody, all these strange events have been taking place.”
“Did you know Eli before this happened?”
Julia tapped her heels against the side of the tub, her feet still wet and sticky from her dunk in the river. How to answer that question? It was clear that Eli had been significantly involved in her past as far as the Hangman’s case was concerned. Did it go beyond that? The flashes she began to have seemed like memories cresting the surface of her consciousness. Was Eli the trigger? Or was it just the trauma of what she had lived through that caused her normal defense mechanisms to break down and the events to surface?
“He was the detective on my case after my accident.”
“It was hardly an accident. You were almost murdered.” Laura sighed. “It’s just this look he has in his eye whenever he glances your way. Even in the few moments I saw him with you, I could tell he didn’t want you out of his sight.”
“He’s doing a job. It’s nothing more than that.”
A coy smiled played on Laura’s lips. “Julia, it’s so much more than that. It’s the same look James gave me when I knew he fell in love with me.”
Julia’s heart skipped a beat. The word so foreign in her mind when all she’d felt was lost love over the past couple of years. Her parents. Nearly losing her career.
“We can contemplate all that when you’re rested.” Laura reached behind Julia and turned the water on. “I’m slightly more round and shorter than you are, but this pair of sweats should get you through the night at least. When you come down, leave what you’re
“Absolutely,” James said. “I’ll show you to a quiet spot and then, Eli—you’re with me. Looks like your head needs a few stitches. After that a hot shower and dry clothes. You look to be around the size of one of our two sons, and we’ve got some boxes with his old clothes that we never got around to donating. Won’t be perfect, but at least something better than what you’re wearing.”
“And you’re with me,” Laura said to Julia. “In the master bath. Big Jacuzzi tub waiting for you and then a nice hot meal.”
Her generosity brought more tears to Julia’s face, and she allowed Laura to take her like a child anywhere Laura wanted her to go.
Up the curved staircase and into a master bedroom that filled half the top level. A two-sided fireplace was situated between the master bedroom and the bathroom, and Laura had turned it on to warm the bathroom.
Laura motioned to the things that she had set aside for her. A lush navy blue towel. Several options of body washes and shampoos. She laughed to herself. “A girl can never have too many choices, right?”
Julia smiled. She’d met Laura on a few occasions during parties that the emergency medicine doctors would host at Christmas. Laura was the epitome of a soft place to land. Julia yanked a tissue from a nearby box and covered her eyes.
What a mess I am! The first ounce of kindness that someone shows me and I’m ready to fall to pieces. I’m an ER nurse. I’m used to handling a crisis without being so emotional. What’s wrong with me?
Laura motioned to have her sit with her on the side of the tub, and she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Julia, do you need to talk?”
At first, all she could do was cry. How could she explain what she felt? Was this what her life was going to be like from now on? Never being able to have a place she could call home again? Was the existence she’d had before, depending only on herself and living completely isolated from everyone except her grandfather, really living?
“Things are such a mess,” Julia said.
Laura rubbed her shoulder. “If even half of what James told me has happened, then you have every reason to be crying your eyes out. Has someone really put a hit out on your life?”
“I can’t help but believe it’s true because ever since I was taken into protective custody, all these strange events have been taking place.”
“Did you know Eli before this happened?”
Julia tapped her heels against the side of the tub, her feet still wet and sticky from her dunk in the river. How to answer that question? It was clear that Eli had been significantly involved in her past as far as the Hangman’s case was concerned. Did it go beyond that? The flashes she began to have seemed like memories cresting the surface of her consciousness. Was Eli the trigger? Or was it just the trauma of what she had lived through that caused her normal defense mechanisms to break down and the events to surface?
“He was the detective on my case after my accident.”
“It was hardly an accident. You were almost murdered.” Laura sighed. “It’s just this look he has in his eye whenever he glances your way. Even in the few moments I saw him with you, I could tell he didn’t want you out of his sight.”
“He’s doing a job. It’s nothing more than that.”
A coy smiled played on Laura’s lips. “Julia, it’s so much more than that. It’s the same look James gave me when I knew he fell in love with me.”
Julia’s heart skipped a beat. The word so foreign in her mind when all she’d felt was lost love over the past couple of years. Her parents. Nearly losing her career.
“We can contemplate all that when you’re rested.” Laura reached behind Julia and turned the water on. “I’m slightly more round and shorter than you are, but this pair of sweats should get you through the night at least. When you come down, leave what you’re
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