Julia's Journey (A Coming Home Again Novel Book 2) (22 page)

Before I can unpack anything Julia asks, “Can we go for a
quick visit to Miss May’s? I really can’t wait to see her.”

“Sure.” I unload a moped and drive us over at Julia’s
directions.

We pull up to Miss May’s and find her rocking away on her
front porch. She looks just as Julia has described her—short, round, and warm.
Her perfectly curled white hair is in stark contrast with her rich brown skin.
She pushes her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose and is squinting at us
as though she’s trying to place us.

As Julia steps from around me, I watch the little lady’s
features light up with unmistakable joy. She slowly stands as Julia bounces up
the steps and pulls her in for a hug. I stay back at the bottom of the steps to
let them have their moment privately. There’s sniffling and murmuring and my
throat thickens with emotion from their reunion.

Miss May whispers in a rich southern drawl, “Honey, you’ve
been healed. Praise the Lord.” The little ole lady raises her wrinkled hand to
the sky and openly praises God. I can only imagine how many prayers she has
lifted up on Julia’s behalf.

They eventually compose themselves and turn their attention
on me—one set of soft blues and one set of warm browns.

“Miss May, I’d like for you to meet my most favorite guy in
the whole world, Greyson Stone. Greyson, this is my most favorite lady in the
whole world, Miss May.”

The little lady pulls me in for an unexpected hug and I
gladly take it.
“Nice to meet you, young man.”

“You too, Miss May.”

“Thank you for bringing my girl to see me,” she says to me,
then
looks over to Julia. “It’s been too long.”

“I keep in touch,” Julia says defensively.

“Hardly.”
Miss May scoffs.

“I do believe that mailman of yours delivers a gift every
few months and you’ve received some surprises in the last couple of months.”
Julia raises her prissy eyebrows.

“But nothing beats the gift I just received,” Miss May
declares and pulls Julia in for another hug. Julia has to stoop way down to hug
back. The little lady eventually releases her and points to the rocking chairs
on the porch. “You young’uns sit down and I’ll get us some tea.” She shuffles
inside, so we settle into the chairs and wait.

Miss May comes back a few minutes later with glasses
brimming with tea, ice, and lemon slices. I gladly take the offering even
though I’m pretty sure I downed at least a gallon of tea at the restaurant. The
south sure knows how to make tea.

We rock in the comfortable chairs, sipping tea, as we fill
Miss May in on the road trip, and she seems so delighted by it. Julia has just
finished telling her about
Rivertown
and how much she
loved it there.

Miss May comments, “Sounds like you found your home.”

I look over at Julia for her response. She shrugs her
shoulders. “I live in New York.”

“You can live anywhere and everywhere, but you only find
your home once. It sounds like you found yours in
Rivertown
,
honey.”

Julia changes the subject quicker than I like. “So what do
you think about our Savannah being a mommy?”

“I think that ole stubborn girl is doing a mighty fine job.
You should see her with them young’uns that hang out around the inlet. She
pretends like she doesn’t like ‘
em
. But you ort see
how she gets all worked up when one of ‘
em
don’t show
up. She near ‘bout pitches a hissy fit ‘til she finds out they okay. She even
adopted two of ‘
em
and wouldn’t take no for an
answer.”

Julia laughs. “I can only imagine.”

“Lucas keeps her grounded. Those two make fine parents.” I
can hear the pride in her words.

Julia looks wistful, but abruptly changes the subject after
stealing a curious glance at me. It makes me wonder if she has any desire to be
a mother. “Okay, Miss May. I need your help on something of dire importance.”

“Okay,” the lady agrees.

“Greyson is on a mission to find the best BBQ the state of
South Carolina offers, and I think you are just the woman to help us out.”

“Well,
y’all
in luck. My cousin
owns Bubba’s BBQ just inland of here. He won ‘Best in Town’ for pulled pork and
his secret sauce. That’s where I’d take the boy.”

After promising to go to church with Miss May on Sunday,
Julia and I set back out to the beach house to unload our bags and to chill out
for a while before heading to Bubba’s for supper.

I take JP’s guest room. After plopping my bags down, I look
at the king size bed and it looks so comfortable. I give in and stretch out.
Suddenly fatigue clamps down and renders me useless. There’s nothing I can do
but give in to it and rest.

The next thing I know I’m waking up to a new day. I’m
shocked I slept that long and then scared. I’ve not slept like that in months.
I head for the shower, hoping it’ll clear the cobwebs away. I get out and towel
off, but before I dress I give my body a good long looking over in the mirror
on the back of the door. I find no evidence of anything peculiar, so I rub my
hands firmly over various spots, anywhere a knot could be hiding. I take my
time, not wanting to miss anything unusual. I find none, but that doesn’t mean
it’s not there. I start to tremble and drop to my knees right here in the
bathroom and claim my verse.

“
Be
merciful to me,
Lord
, for I am faint;
Oh Lord,
heal me, for my
bones are in agony.
Heal me, Lord. Please heal me.” I beg naked and
completely exposed to Him. I press my forehead to the cool tile floor and cry
like a baby. I just don’t feel strong enough yet to go through another round with
this disease. It’s a long harsh fight, and as I lay crumbled on this floor, I
feel like such a frail excuse for a human.

~~~~

It takes me a while to pull myself together, reclaiming the verse
several more times. I splash cold water on my face, hoping to relieve some of
the puffiness and pounding in my temples. I slip on a pair of shorts and am
about to pull my shirt on when I notice which one I have grabbed. I walk out to
my suitcase and toss the Superman shirt back in and pull on a plain one
instead. There’s nothing superhero about me today.

I’m relieved to find Julia on the back deck with Savannah,
so I pull on my shades to hide behind and join them outside. There’s a stack of
to-go boxes on the table along with cups of coffee.

“Good morning, ladies,” I say as I sit down. My voice sounds
rough from crying, but I hope it passes for more on the lines of just waking
up.

“How’d you sleep?” Savannah asks, and Julia seems very
interested in the answer. I guess I was their topic of conversation this
morning.

Without thinking, I answer, “Like the dead.” I wince when I
notice Julia’s beautiful face pales. I wish I could suck the stupid words back
into my stupid mouth. The word insensitive skips through my thoughts. I should
apologize.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

I look at her, and then smile over to Savannah. “No. I’m
starving.” I decide to just play it off.

Savannah smiles and passes me a box and a coffee. I open the
lid and study the food oddly.
It’s
biscuits, but they
are piled with some white lumpy sauce. It doesn’t look appealing at all.

Savannah laughs at me. “That’s the best biscuits and sausage
gravy your Yankee behind will ever have. Now eat up before it gets cold.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answer, taking a cautious bite and finding
it surprisingly delicious. I then dig in and devour all of my plate and most of
Julia’s.

Man, was that stuff good and rich. I
pat
my belly and declare, “That should hold me over until Bubba’s.”

This statement eases the worry off of Julia’s face. It’s
clear her thoughts are in the same place as my own. I have scans already
scheduled for January, but I shot my mom a text after my episode in the
bathroom and asked to see if she could get them moved up a few months. She said
she would get on it and for me to come on home. I sent back,
No worries.
Just wanting
to be precautious
.
She sent
back,
I want you home
. I sent back,
Soon. I promise
. I’m just going to try
to leave it in God’s hands and finish out this journey I started.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Greyson

Bubba’s BBQ did not
disappoint. It is hands down the best BBQ I’ve found this entire trip. So good,
in fact, that we’ve eaten there several times in the last few weeks. We’ve spent
a lot of time with Miss May. She’s fed us just about every night and we’ve gone
to church with her. This woman has one lively church. Now, I’m not from a
stick-in-the-mud church, but I’ve never seen anything like this one. The
preacher dances around the pulpit while he preaches with gusto and the
congregation shouts and sings through the whole service.

I was pretty surprised to
see Savannah and her quiet husband there. Lucas doesn’t say much so I would
have never guessed him to be in such a place full of so much chatter. Miss May
says him and Savannah are there every Sunday with their two boys by their side.
The picture of a happy family is what they are, and that longing pulls at me.

Even though Lucas doesn’t
say much, he is the kind of guy you want to beg to be your buddy. He’s so even
keel all the time. He’s completely opposite from my buddy Crowley, but I
totally see him becoming a close friend.

Today we are stretched out
in lounge chairs on the beach. It’s nice to just take in the salty air and be
lazy. Julia’s been spending a lot of her time with Miss May at the restaurant.
And even more time than that with Savannah. They have shopped and decorated the
baby’s nursery. I don’t mind, but I do find myself missing her quickly.

I reach over now and run my
hands through Julia’s silky hair. She turns her face into my hand and kisses my
palm. She’s not tried to kiss me anywhere close to my lips since that first
night in
Rivertown
. More importantly, she’s finally
learned to keep her clothes on around me and others. Her new reserved behavior
and modesty is more of a turn-on than ever it was when she used to prance
around naked, advertising she was free for the taking.

It’s getting harder to keep
all of my feelings for her held back. I feel myself slipping and anytime she’s
near I just have to touch her hair, or her hand, or her face… I pull my hand
away from her soft face now so I can rein it all back in. Just touching her
innocently sets me on fire.

I’ve promised myself not to
start something on this trip, because this isn’t the real world—as much as I
want it to be. I don’t think I can handle having her now only to lose her in a
few months when we go back to our daily lives. Julia’s life is in New York and
I’ve already decided that mine is not there anymore. I got a text from my real
estate agent just last week, letting me know my apartment finally sold. It’s
official now. I’m homeless. And to be truthful, my eyes are set towards
Rivertown
. And that’s a long way from New York.

After that first night
here, I’ve felt an urgency to wrap this trip up. Mom is texting and calling
daily to check on me. I reassure her that I’ve felt fine and have had no other
episode, but she’s not appeased. So I mentioned to Julia about heading on down
to Savannah, Georgia to see Stan. He called and wants us to stop in for a quick
visit before we head to Florida. I really want to complete the entire
mapped-out trip. I don’t want to leave it undone.

Julia has been hesitant on
leaving. The restaurant always throws an end of the season party and this year
they’ve planned it to be a surprise baby shower for Savannah and Lucas. Julia
doesn’t want to miss it, so I’ve agreed to stay another week.

I really expected her to
only want to stay a day or two to appease everybody before she’d be ready to
hightail it out of here. I never thought she would want to stick around so
long. She discovered her childhood home had burned down earlier this year. As
Savannah was telling her about this, I felt bad and was ready to offer her
comfort, but was totally confused at her reaction. Both sisters hugged each
other and burst out in a fit of laughter. It wasn’t until later that night as I
sat on the back deck of the beach house that it clicked.

I asked Julia and she
confirmed that not only her but also Savannah had been raped in the house. My
gut hurts now just thinking about it and I can’t help but rub my hand through
her hair again. At least the sisters seem to have some sort of closure with the
house gone, but I seriously doubt something like that ever really leaves a
victim. Savannah’s whole aversion to touch makes perfect sense now. Every time
I see her I want to hug her to show that touch doesn’t have to hurt. But then I
see Lucas with her. He always has a protective hand placed on his wife so I
know he’s helped her understand that already. It still doesn’t stop me from
giving her a friendly hug every time I see her. I’ve even talked her into
letting me feel the baby kick. That was tight. That little one can pack a
wallop, too. They’ve decided not to find out the baby’s gender, but I think
they have themselves another boy.

I’m imagining holding my
own newborn child when Julia clears her throat and pulls me back to now.

“Greyson, will you visit my
dad’s grave with me later today?”

“Sure,” I agree.

It seems she has a lot to
face in this hometown and has picked now to do it. I want her to do what she
needs, so I put away my trip notions and the feeling of needing to wrap things
up and support Julia on her personal journey. She’s definitely come a long way.

John Paul
Thorton
II is buried on a sandy hill at the Oceanfront
Chapel. His final resting place is marked by a black granite stone. Julia sits
beside it and drifts away from me. I sit on a bench near her, but let her have
space. She weeps a while and whispers occasionally so softly I don’t catch the
words, but I’m not meant to. Those are words for her dad. I hate to even think
about losing my dad. I can only imagine Julia’s hurt.

She eventually turns and
kneels at the grave beside her dad’s. It’s marked with a vibrant blue stone
that has massive waves carved in it. I get up and kneel by it so I can read the
message engraved on it.

Whispering through the ocean’s waves and the song of the surf, I
am with you always
.

Such
touching words.
My eyes go to the name and
then the timeline of the guy named Bradley
Thorton
.
The years only indicate he was just a young teenage boy when he died.

“Who’s this?” I whisper as
I run my fingers along his name.

“My cousin,” Julia whispers
back. “He lived with us. He was more like a brother.”

“What happened?”

She glances at me then back
to the tombstone.
“Just a freak accident.”
She shakes
her head and stands up.

She doesn’t seem to want to
elaborate so I drop it. I stand too but keep studying the stone. “This
tombstone is pretty incredible.”

“Bradley was an incredible
guy.” Julia reaches for my hand and pulls me towards the moped.

“I’d like to have one like
that. I didn’t know they came in such unique colors,” I comment and feel her
hand stiffen in mine.

“I don’t want to even think
about that, Greyson Stone!” This is the first time she has snapped at me in
weeks.

“You think I can get a
contact number for the church? This would be the sweetest place to be buried.”
I look around and spot several vacant plots.

“Stop it!” she yells.

“We all have to face it at
some point. No need in ignoring it,” I snap back. I don’t know why I’m going
here with her, but it feels like we need to address it.

She’s shaking her head. “I
can’t… I won’t…” She storms off down the beach and strikes out in a run.

“Death isn’t something you
can run from, Julia,” I yell out, but she ignores me. I watch her go until I
can barely see her down the beach. She’s heading in the direction of the beach
house so I head the moped in that direction.

I go straight to her room and add,
Philippians
1:20
to her journal.

According
to my earnest expectation and
my
hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but
that
with all boldness, as always,
so
now also Christ
shall be magnified in my body, whether
it
be
by life, or by death
.

Later tonight I find the page torn out and thrown in the
trash. She’s not ready to face it. But I want her to understand, nothing is for
certain in this world. I leave her alone with her denial and go to bed.

~~~~

It seems like I’ve just
dozed off good when I feel something hard tap my leg. I think it’s just
Fifi
joining me, so I roll onto my back and give her some
room. I’m close to being back to sleep good when that something gives my leg a
firmer tap. It’s not friendly either. I open my eyes just as the dim table lamp
flickers on and all I can think of is,
oh
crap
.

A big rugged-looking dude
is sitting in a chair pulled close to the bed with a baseball bat resting in
his lap. He’s a week past a shave and he looks wild-eyed. Again,
oh crap
.

“What the—” I mutter.

He interrupts me and starts
talking in a gruff voice that sounds grave. “I’m tired. I’ve not showered in
five days.
Had a witch doctor chasing me all over the
Outback.
Says I soiled his sacred land.”
He
huffs and shrugs his shoulder. “Guy’s
gotta
take a
leak sometimes and there’s no stopping it.” He takes a deep breath and taps the
bat on his thigh with aggravation. There’s a tick in his jaw that doesn’t set
well with me. I’m thinking about yelling out to Julia to make a run for it.
This guy is obviously a lunatic.

He holds up a bandaged arm.
“On top of that, a stupid snake bit me in the midst of being chased by a bunch
of naked tribal men all painted up. You ever been chased by a gang of naked
men?” I shake my head no. “Well, let me tell you, that’s one awful something. I
was scared for my virginity. I had no choice but to let them take me on account
of the dang snake bite. The witch doctor did some mumbo jumbo crap and drew the
poison out. But that didn’t stop them suckers from stringing me in a tree
upside down for a couple of days.
Ended up messing myself and
everything.
Still can’t get that stench off…”

He quiets down and takes a
deep breath. “Now, I told you all that to tell you this. I come home after that
nightmare and find a stranger in
my
house in one of
my
beds that I didn’t
invite. I’m slap out of patience, so you can probably understand why I’m just
gonna
welcome you with this here bat.” He stands up and
gives the bed another firm whacking with the bat, merely missing my leg.

I jump out of the bed and
back up to the wall with my hands raised up in surrender. “I’m a friend of
Julia’s,” I stutter out, my heart pounding in my ears. He’s already got the bat
reared back like he’s ready to hit a homerun with my head. He’s shaking his
head and looks vicious.

“Dude, my sister doesn’t
keep good company when it comes to men. You’re not helping your cause. I suggest
you shut up!” He swings the bat and slaps the mattress with a hard whack again
in warning before easing around the bed. I yelp like a pansy.

“Just go ask her. We’re
good friends. I swear! You just need to calm down.”

He walks closer and pokes
the end of the bat firmly to my chest. “I just don’t think I believe you.”

 
I resign to the fact that Julia
Thorton
is going to also be the
cause of
my second ever butt
whooping. Protecting my head with arms, I squeeze my
eyes shut and brace myself for the first blow.

“All right, JP, I think
you’ve played long enough.”

I open my eyes and peek
through my arms and find Julia standing at the door, smiling of all things. JP
lowers the bat and starts laughing.

“I’m just pulling your
chain, man.” He reaches his hand out. I cautiously shake it. The whole thing
has me confused. Both JP and Julia are grinning and I’m seething. I want to
take the bat to both of them.

Julia tries to clear things
up, but I’m not having it. “Honey, that’s just JP for you. He likes to cause
ruckus.” They are both still laughing.

“Okay,” I snap as I keep
eyeing him.

“Another
thing.
Don’t ever believe
anything he says. He’s known for his tall-tales.”

I point to the bandage.
“Snake bite?”

“Nah.
A thorn snagged me during the photo shoot in
Australia.”

“And
the witch doctor?”

“The little dude was my
guide.” JP shrugs. “He
coulda
been a witch doctor,
but he was fully clothed.” He has enough nerve to reach over and punch my arm,
leaving it stinging. “You should have seen your face, dude.
Priceless!”
He strolls out of the room with the bat slung casually on his shoulder, barking
in laughter.