Chapter 24

Julie

Thanksgiving morning came, and both Julie and Jessie were up early. They were staying home and cooking together. It was going to be a great day, at least that was what Jessie said each time Julie mentioned their parents. They were just getting ready to start cooking when Jessie realized they were missing a few things, so she got dressed and headed to the store.

Julie was sitting on the couch, waiting for Jessie to come back, when she heard the ding of her phone.

Cody: Happy Thanksgiving!

Then she heard Jackie's cry, so she got up to go and get her. Once the little one was changed, Julie walked back into the living room. She wasn't even to the couch yet when she heard a knock at the door. If Jessie had gotten back, she would have used her key, so that only left one other person it could be.

Julie walked over to the door with the baby in her arms. Without even looking, she swung the door open and spoke as she turned to walk away.

“I thought I was pretty clear when I told you to leave me alone,” she said, as sternly as she could.

No reply came, so she turned around, and her eyes went wide. Shit! It wasn't Cody at all. It was her parents. Feelings of disappointment and sadness filled her.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked, feeling more nervous than she had in a very long time.

“Both you and your sister have been avoiding us,” was all her mom said.

Julie felt guilty the second her mother spoke. She turned around and walked over to the baby's swing and strapped the little one in. Then she turned back toward her parents.

“Jessie will be home in a few minutes,” she said, as she headed for the kitchen, hoping with everything in her that they would both follow her. “We were getting ready to start cooking and realized we'd forgotten a few things. Gracie always makes cooking look so easy. Coffee?”

“Yes,” her mom answered, as she let out a sigh.

“That's not your baby,” her dad said, more as a comment than a question.

“No,” Julie said, as she continued moving.

She poured them each a cup of coffee before quickly grabbing her phone and sending Jessie a warning message. When she heard a ding come from the next room, she silently cursed her sister for leaving her phone behind.

“How's Gracie and Gavin?” she asked, knowing she'd at least have a few seconds to try and pull herself together as one of her parents answered.

What was she going to do, she wondered, as she looked at her mother? She'd lied to her. That was something she never did, and just thinking about it made her sad.

“They're great,” her mom said, as a smile took over her face. “We didn't even know he was suffering, but she did. I'm so glad they found each other. Jack would be so proud of your brother and his sister. Gavin loves being at the station. I think it makes him feel closer to Jack, and I'm okay with that. I just want him to be happy, and he is.”

“This is bullshit,” Julie's dad snapped out, cutting her mom off. “You're dating him just to piss me off, aren't you?”

“What?” Julie asked, as she looked down at the time on her phone, still thinking about Jessie.

“That asshole Cody,” her dad clarified. “You're just talking to him to irritate me, aren't you?”

“Not everything is about you,” Julie snapped, and she watched his eyes narrow.

“Listen,” he growled out.

“No, you listen,” she growled right back, and that was the moment it hit her.

What if Jessie was right? What if Cody was only thinking about getting to her father when he first met her? What if that had gone away that first day? What if he really did care about her? Shit! She'd done the same thing. When she first met him, she'd thought about how pissed she was at her dad. She'd thought about how upset it would make him to know she was talking to Cody, but that hadn't lasted long. Once she started talking to him, it wasn't about her father anymore. It was about him and the man he was.

“Julie,” her dad said roughly, pulling her from her thoughts of Cody.

“You didn't want me,” she said, in almost a whisper.

“What?” he snapped. “What are you talking about? That's crap and you know it.”

“Is it?” she snapped back, feeling more pissed than she was before. “I did everything I could to prove myself to you, but you never gave a shit. All you cared about was Gavin. He was the one taking over the family business. It had always been that way, and no matter how hard I worked to show you that I was the one for that job, you never fucking noticed.”

“Watch your mouth, young lady,” her dad growled out.

“No,” she said, as she looked down at her phone again. “This is my apartment. I will speak the way I want. If you don't like it, you can turn around and go back home to your son. Where is he now?”

“Julie,” her mom said, as she took a step toward her.

“No,” Julie said. “This has to be said. I can't take it anymore.”

“Okay,” her mom replied.

“Okay?” her dad asked, narrowing his eyes at his wife.

“Okay,” she said again.

“Fine,” her dad let out with a huff. “What do you have to say?”

“Since I was a little girl, I followed you around. I watched everything you did. I'd go to the office and sit in your chair, thinking about the day I'd be sitting there myself. I worked every single day in high school to prove my worth to you, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. I'd show you what I'd accomplished, and you'd say good job or some crap like that. Then you look over at Gavin as if he was the answer to everything.”

“I did not,” her dad said.

“Oh, you did,” Julie said. “I thought college would be the answer, even though I didn't need it. So, I went, and I put in the time. I developed some very cool stuff while I was there. I put every waking moment into my work. While everyone else was partying or dating, I was in my room, working to prove myself to you.”

“Are you working for him?” Julie's dad blurted out.

Julie let out a loud breath as she shook her head.

“Would it matter?” she asked, as her phone dinged in her hand.

“Would it matter?” he snapped. “Of course it would. You were supposed to work for me, for the family business.”

“You mean your business. I came home during the summers to work for you,” she said, stretching out the word for, “but that didn't matter. It was all about Gavin. Even when he wasn't home, it was still about him. When he came back and decided to work with you, you were thrilled. Your boy had finally chosen the path you wanted for him. There was only one problem. He didn't care about the business. He never had. If you'd ever once looked at him for who he was, you would have known, but you didn't. He was always the one that was going to take over your business. There I was, left behind. Oh, I could work for you. You'd said it a million times, but that wasn't what I wanted. What I wanted was to work with you. That was my dream, but no matter what I did, you never saw me, not in that way.”

Her dad opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

“It doesn't matter,” she said, as her phone dinged in her hand again.

“Why not?” he asked. “Is that him?”

“Because I've decided to work for myself,” she answered, ignoring his other question.

“Doing that job you outbid me on?” he growled out. “Did he help you get it?”

“No, he didn't. So don't go getting all pissy and start blaming him. I did it myself,” she said, with pride and a little bit of an in your face attitude in her tone.

“You did it yourself?” he asked, sounding as if he didn't believe that she could.

“I most certainly did,” she said, as she smiled up at him. “I outbid you both.”

Julie looked at her phone again, and her dad snapped.

“What's with the damn phone? Is he on his way over here? You need to knock this shit off. I get it, Julie. I know how good you are.”

“Not good enough,” she said, with a smirk.

“That's not it,” he said, as he reached forward and took her shoulders in his hands.

Julie's phone rang in her hand, but she didn't answer it. When it rang again, he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Can't he leave you alone for one fucking second?” he snapped, looking as if his head was about to blow right off of his shoulders.

“I can't believe you,” she yelled out. “I don't need either of you. I can make it on my own. I'm done with you both.”

“It wasn't that Gavin was better,” her dad said, as he looked into her eyes.

“It doesn't matter,” she said.

“It does,” he replied. “Come and work with me, Julie.”

“You don't think I can do it, do you?” she asked, as she pulled her eyes from his and looked down at her phone again.

“Are you trying to get rid of us?” he asked. “Is that him? What the fuck is going on, Julie?”

“It has nothing to do with him,” she yelled out, unable to take the million and one things going through her mind one second longer.

Just as Julie opened her mouth to speak again, she heard the front door open. Pulling her attention away from her dad, she looked over at her mom and mouthed the words I'm sorry as tears came to her own eyes.