The Weight of Words (The WORDS Series) (34 page)

“What kind?”

“Your favorite.” He smirked, turning around to face the doors, his back to Penny and Brad.

“Guinness?” I asked. “You know, that’s my favorite as long as
you’re
drinking it. In fact, I’m considering buying shares in the company. Say, do you know if there are any pool tables in Brennan Hall?”

“Careful, young lady,” he warned, his voice low. “No PDEs tonight, okay?”

“Don’t you mean PDA?” I’d heard of public displays of affection referred to as PDAs, but I’d never heard of the acronym “PDE.”

“No. While they’re inadvisable too, PDEs are
strictly
prohibited this evening.”

I frowned. “Public displays of
emotion?”
I whispered.

He shook his head. “No. Think physiological reactions, Miss Price,” he said, speaking out of the side of his mouth, his eyes darting down to his crotch.

“Oh, PD
Es!
Gotcha!” I laughed. I was going to have to disagree with him, though. I’d always been quite fond of
those
kinds of displays.

“What are you two nattering on about?” Penny asked, nosily leaning in between us.

“Nothing important,” Daniel told her.

“I had a small bone to pick with Daniel, Penny. That’s all,” I said.

Daniel shook his head. “I guarantee there’s nothing small about it,” he whispered in my ear before grinning in a self-satisfied way.

Well, I should certainly hope not
.

The line finally moved, and we were admitted into the hall. As we entered, I stopped to take a look at the MADD display. A large screen showed slides of Mary with her friends and family in various locations and at different events. Off to the side there was a table with fliers and information packages provided by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Two middle-aged women stood behind the table giving out red ribbons and pamphlets.

“Is this the kind of thing your mom would normally organize?” I asked Daniel.

“No, not usually. She’s more involved in the higher-end events,” he explained. “Galas and that sort of thing.”

“She knows about this fundraiser, though,” Penny said. “She was talking about it today. Got a little weepy, bless her. That’s how Brad and I found out about it. No thanks to Daniel.”

Penny looked at Daniel disapprovingly. He shrugged.

“How was I to know you’d be interested in something like this? It doesn’t seem to be your cup of tea, Penn,” he said unapologetically. “Anyway, we’re here now, so quit bitching and let’s grab a table.” He led us as far away from the makeshift stage as possible. “You don’t mind if we sit at the back, do you?” he asked me.

“No, that’s probably a good idea.”

We reached a long table against the cushioned benches at the back of the room. An attempt had been made to create an atmosphere. Red tablecloths were placed on all the tables, and a small votive candle glowed in the center of each. Organizers were distributing bowls of chips and pretzels.

“Have you heard from Julie?” Daniel asked as he scanned the room.

I checked my phone for messages. “Nope. Nothing.”

“I was hoping she might have texted you by now,” he said.

“Daniel, love, you’re an eternal optimist,” Penny said, rubbing his back affectionately.

Daniel pulled a chair out for me. He and Jeremy moved to the other side of the table, sliding into the padded bench. He unzipped his jacket, shrugging out of both his coat and the dark hoodie he wore underneath. His black T-shirt hugged his chest magnificently and allowed me to see his toned biceps for the first time.

I smiled as I settled in, taking off my own coat and mitts.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” I assured him as I tried to tear my eyes away from his arms. “Can you toss these on the bench?” I handed him my gloves, and he tucked them behind him. This was a small thing, like the subtle pressure of his hand on my back when we walked, or the gentle sweeping of my hair from my collar. Nonetheless, it made me feel like we were a couple. I began to realize that in a relationship like ours where discretion was key, the tiniest gestures were going to seem so much more intimate.

Brad sat beside me, and Penny moved around to sit next to Daniel. That struck me as odd. I’d thought for certain Penny would sit with me. Brad leaned on his hand and looked at me. “We’re glad you’re giving my brother a chance, even though he probably doesn’t deserve it and he’s got some serious baggage, right, beauty?”

Penny nodded. “He can be a right prat sometimes. But you’ll get used to it.”

Daniel made a great show of being highly offended. “Hello? I’m right here.”

Penny tweaked his chin playfully, but he batted at her hand, moving it away from his face as his eyes locked on the doors across the hall. I turned to follow his intense gaze, and there, inside the doorway, was Julie. She was standing still, her arms crossed as she surveyed the room.

“See?” Daniel said. “She needed some time to think, that’s all.”

Jeremy sat up a little taller to get a good look at Julie, a small smile tugging at his mouth. Julie’s eyes finally landed on us, but she didn’t move.

Daniel bobbed his head at me. “I think maybe she’s waiting for you to go over there.”

“I think you’re right.” I stood and took a deep breath. “Wow, head rush,” I said, feeling woozy all of a sudden. I put my hand on the chair to steady myself.

“You okay?” Daniel asked, leaning forward.

“Yeah, I’m good. I probably stood up too quickly.”

Oh, and have I mentioned I boat-raced three mojitos about thirty minutes ago, handing myself the baton at the end of each round? No? Oops. Small oversight.

“Wish me luck,” I said. Daniel smiled at me encouragingly.

I crossed the room to join Julie. When I approached, she left the hall, indicating that I should go with her. I followed her into the women’s washroom. As the door closed softly behind me, she leaned against the counter by the sinks, her arms crossed. She didn’t exactly look conciliatory.

“Hey,” I said. I didn’t move toward her. My legs felt rubbery.

“Hey.”

“Did you want to talk?” I asked, prompting her.

“Yes, I did. But now you’re here, I’m not sure what to say,” she admitted.

“Okay, well, maybe you can let me explain, and then you’ll think of something?” I offered.

I took a shaky step toward her. “Julie, not telling you about what happened this week was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, not just because I was excited and wanted to share, but because you’re a great friend and I hated hiding the truth from you. He’s not a bad person. This thing between us just kind of happened. It wasn’t planned. He never intended to put himself in this kind of compromising situation.”

Julie listened intently, not reacting, but at least she was giving me her full attention.

“I
really
like him. He’s…well, he’s amazing. He pleaded for discretion and asked for my word. I couldn’t deny him that. We didn’t mean to hurt you, or make a fool of you in any way. I know that’s the way it seems, but that was never, ever our intention. Can you forgive me? Forgive us?”

Julie sighed and smiled wistfully. “I already have, Aubrey. I shouldn’t have overreacted earlier, but I was hurt. No one likes to be made a fool of or considered untrustworthy.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. He needed some time to figure out what to do. I wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t my decision to make.”

Julie stepped toward me with arms outstretched. I gratefully wrapped mine around her and squeezed hard. Within seconds, we were both crying, and then, just as quickly, laughing at ourselves and our ridiculous sentimentality.

“Sorry,” I said, catching my tears to stop the flow of mascara down my face. “I’m a mess.”

“Same.” She sniffed and pinched some color into her cheeks.

“Let’s head inside. His brothers and his best friend are here. They’re great. You’ll love them. They’re all excited to meet you.”

Especially Jeremy
. Julie was in for quite a surprise. Hopefully it would be a better one than the shock I’d dealt her back at Jackman.

“Okay, but promise me we’ll make time for some girl talk this week? Just you and me, promise? I mean, you and
Daniel?
I need deets!”

“There honestly aren’t many deets to share, but don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

We both gave ourselves a quick once-over in the mirror and then headed back into the hall, squeezing past the groups of milling people to our table, where everyone was waiting expectantly for our return. Jeremy looked like he was going to burst with excitement.

“Okay. Julie, this is Brad, Daniel’s older brother, and this is Brad’s fiancée, Penny. Guys, this is Julie Harper.”

Julie gave a little wave to Penny and Brad. They both welcomed her warmly.

“And this,” I said, gesturing with a hand, “is Jeremy, Daniel’s
younger
brother.”

Jeremy stood up, bashful all of a sudden as he reached out to shake her hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Julie,” he said. “I was at the indie music revue a few weeks back at the Revival, and I think we stood in line at the bar together. You probably don’t remember…” He trailed off awkwardly.

“No, I’m sorry; I don’t remember. It
was
pretty crowded.”

“Yeah, no worries. It was packed.”

Jeremy was being gracious, but I could see that he was disappointed. I gave him a quick reassuring smile.

Don’t give up too easily.

“Hi, Julie,” Daniel said, smiling apologetically. “I’m sorry about all this.”

“That’s Ms. Harper to you, Daniel,” Julie chirped sweetly. “And please don’t mention it again. I’ll take an A-plus on my first paper and we’ll consider it water under the bridge.”

Daniel chuckled. “Right. Well, we’ll see about that.”

“Okay, enough shop talk, and no more bloody drama,” Penny said, taking command of the situation. “I’ve just eaten enough salt to sink a small river barge.” She gestured to the pretzels. “I’m going to grab drinks. Jeremy, come with me, love.”

Brad started to get up. “I’ll grab them with you, beauty.”

“No, no, you stay. Jeremy?”

Jeremy stood reluctantly, and he and Penny made their way to the drinks table.

“What’s that all about?” Brad asked.

“My guess is she was removing Jeremy for a moment in case there’s anything else we need to get Julie up to speed on,” Daniel surmised.

“What do you mean?” Julie asked.

“What he means,” I said, “is that Jeremy hasn’t talked about anything but you since the moment he saw you at the Revival.”

“Seriously?” Her eyes widened.

“Seriously,” I said. “Smitten kitten, bun-head.”

“Huh.” She took a quick peek over her shoulder. “He
is
pretty cute.”

“Wait until you get to know him, Jul. He’s amazing.”

Julie turned to look at Daniel. “How do you feel about all this?”

Daniel threw his hands up in the air in mock exasperation. “What the hell. Keeps life interesting, right? But I don’t want to hear details if you hit it off. Not from either one of you.”

“Dude, they’ve barely spoken to each other,” Brad pointed out.

“I just want to make sure my position’s clear from the get-go,” Daniel said. “I’m sure you understand my concerns, Julie. This complicates things—that’s why I was so reluctant to let Aubrey tell you everything.”

“I get it, Daniel. I thought about it and I understand,” she assured him. “Man, it’s so weird hearing you call me
Julie
. You sound
way
less uptight.”

“Well, thank you—I think,” Daniel said hesitantly. “Don’t blow my cover, though. I kind of like the uptight TA bit.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.” Julie smiled at me wryly. “All of your secrets are safe.”

Daniel nodded. “Aubrey trusts you implicitly, and I trust her judgment.”

“If there’s anything I can do to make things easier or more comfortable, I’ll do my best to help.” Julie squeezed my hand under the table and smiled at Daniel. “I wasn’t joking about the A-plus,” she added.

He shook his head and laughed, but then his smile disappeared as he squinted across the room. I looked over my shoulder. Penny and Jeremy were in line for drinks, and Penny was in the midst of an animated conversation with Matt. I’d had no idea Matt was planning to come by.

Brad turned to follow Daniel’s dark gaze. “Who the fuck is that?” he asked with a scowl.

“That’s Aubrey’s
roommate
, Matt Miller. Apparently he made a bit of an impression on Penny when we were at Canoe a few weeks back.”