“Remember what I said. I won’t let you hurt Ben—not without consequences.”
Luke left. She went to the divider and squinted through a crack in the boards. No one there to overhear, thank goodness.
Did Frankie steal something from the country club? He’d looked uncomfortable when she entered the coatroom. Not just uncomfortable, sneaky. She didn’t know if he’d stolen anything, but wouldn't be surprised if he had.
Ben came home. He smiled, but his eyes were sad.
“You look tired,” Juli said.
“I am. I’m going up to take a nap.”
“What did the doctor say?” Did she want to know? No, but she should ask.
He hung his keys on the wooden hanger by the door. “No change. He’s happy with how I’m doing, considering. He says you’re good medicine for me.”
She responded with a polite laugh. Her presence wasn’t some fast-acting miracle cure. Ben was hearing what he wanted to hear.
Should she mention Luke? It might seem odd to Ben if she didn’t and Luke did. “Luke dropped by while you were gone. He didn’t stay.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” She’d told him so that was done. “I think I’ll run some errands while you’re resting?”
“Have fun.”
Two weeks since she’d been proposed to, and a week married, Juli borrowed the car and drove back to Morehead City. She didn’t trust this deal with Ben. Whether too good to be true, or too weird to work, she didn’t trust the arrangement to go as well as he thought it would.
In fact, given Luke’s animosity and knowing the sentiment was likely shared by the rest of the family, Juli decided the marriage and a prenup might truly be the best way to ensure the contract terms would be honored—as Ben had suggested.
Regardless, when Ben was gone she’d need her own place again. Her apartment wasn’t fancy, but it was affordable. It was locked up tight, too, all of the locks, including the ones she’d added to the door on the ground floor out of her own pocket.
The stairs were steep, narrow and dark, but she liked the second floor because it was harder to break into. Not impossible, just less convenient. She had nothing worth stealing, but her stuff still meant something to her. She’d only taken a few things to Ben’s house, mostly clothing and personal items, half-expecting to bounce right back here instead of actually saying ‘I do’ with Ben.
“Hey, Jules.”
Frankie had crept up quietly. It annoyed her. All the locks in the world didn’t work if you were careless about using them.
“Hey, yourself.”
Frankie lived on the first floor, front left unit.
“Where’ve you been?”
“With a friend. A sick friend. I’ll be away for a while longer.”
“Sam was rabid over how you left. I tried to smooth it over, but it didn’t work. Maybe give him a little time.” Frankie fidgeted, hands in pockets, hands on hips, leaning into the door frame, shifting his feet….
“I don’t plan to work for Sammy again.”
“I went by Singer’s looking for you.”
She grabbed her backpack from the corner and set it on the counter. “What did they say?”
“That you’d quit.”
“I asked to take leave. They refused.”
“Asked for leave so you could take care of a sick friend? Must be a really good friend.” He leaned against the counter and toyed with one of the backpack straps.
Juli shrugged and dropped a bag of clothing next to the backpack.
Frankie moved in closer. “Seems kind of out of nowhere. You never mentioned a good friend like that. Must be one with money, huh?”
She wanted to say, ‘not your business,’ but knew it would only feed his curiosity, so she deflected with, “Did you steal anything during the Hammond’s party?”
Frankie slapped the countertop. “Nice. Very nice. Why would you say that?”
“Just something I heard.” She grabbed a paper bag from under the sink and popped it open. She threw in a sweat jacket and an old pair of sneakers. Morning jogs on the beach sounded like the height of luxury.
“From the police?”
“What?”
“You all but accused me of stealing.”
“Oh. Well, you said you didn’t.” She grabbed the milk from the fridge. It was out of date so she poured it down the sink drain.
“Who asked? The police?”
“No.”
“Who, then?”
“No one special. Someone mentioned something got stolen and I remembered how you acted when I came into the coatroom. If you didn’t, you didn’t. Forget it.” She set the bag by the front door.
“I’ll help you carry your stuff down.” He reached for the backpack.