Second Chances(75)

"Sorry, I...forgot to grab my clothes before...umm" She didn't finish, just walked to her suitcases.

Nathan did his best to look away, though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He grabbed a couple of the bags from the shopping trip the day before and walked to the bathroom door. He stopped before entering and said, "Your drink is over there bubbles..um Paige. I mean your bubbles are...your soda is on the nightstand."

Her laughter filled the room as he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him, his face almost as red as hers had been.

When he finished showering and dressing he exited the bathroom and found her standing by the window, soda in hand. She was dressed in faded blue jeans and a pink button up blouse with her hair being held in a ponytail by a matching pink ribbon. She turned and saw him staring at her and began to blush when he said nothing.

"You look fantastic," he finally said.

"You don't look so bad yourself." And she had to admit that was the truth. Their jeans almost matched and his green and white striped Polo shirt looked great on him, but then she had to admit she thought he likely looked good in almost anything. She shook her head. What was she thinking? How could she be letting herself fall for him? Just how many shades of wrong could that possibly be?

"Are you ready?"

She frowned, but nodded. "I guess we better get this over with."

He returned her nod, grabbed his laptop bag and held the door for her. He looked back at the room and was struck by a feeling that they might never see it again. He tried to dismiss the thought, but couldn't. He felt a bit queasy and was thankful Paige had suggested they skip breakfast.





CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE



Julie wondered how Jason's night had been. She resisted the urge to drive over to him as soon as she woke. She wasn't ready yet. She still had things that needed to be done. She finished packing her small gym bag.

She looked around her bedroom and frowned. So many memories. She wished she could take it all with her, but there was too much. Of course there was. There was nearly her entire adult life in the rooms around her, but she was going to have to leave it all behind.

She made a circle of the bedroom once more looking at everything. Was there anything she hadn't already packed that she simply needed to have? Not that she wanted, but really needed. More importantly, was there anything she was leaving behind that might somehow tip off any pursuers on where she might be going? She didn't think so.

She repeated the same steps in each room of the house. She did not find anything else she needed to take, but she stopped several times to touch or hold objects and recall the memories associated with them. She fought not to let her emotions overwhelm her, but it was a hard battle and she was forced to pull tissues from her purse on more than one occasion.

She finally decided she either had to leave now or she would lose her nerve. She went down the hall and stopped before reaching the bedroom. She pulled the framed picture of her and Jason from the wall. Behind it there was a small hole. She reached in and pulled out a key ring before returning the picture to its rightful place. She fussed with it until it hung straight. She knew it was foolish since she wasn't planning to ever return, but she couldn't help herself.

As she left the house, she turned on her alarm and doubled checked the locks on her door. It was her usual routine. She did not know if anyone was watching her, but wasn't willing to risk acting suspicious if someone was.

The trip only took a few minutes. She had started to make routine trips to the bank quite a while back, almost a year now, when she'd first come up with the plan. She always went into the bank, never the drive-thru.

She had come to know several of the employees quite well, so when she had phoned earlier and asked that someone be waiting for her, it hadn't drawn any extra attention. Douglas Mills smiled at her when she entered.

"So good to see you Ms...Julie."

She smiled. "You finally got it."

"Yes ma'am, only took six months."

"Now, if we could only get rid of the ma'am part."

Douglas' laugh was polite. "Of course."

"Shall we?"

Douglas nodded and motioned for her to follow him. They passed the teller area and moved down a hall into the vault area. They stopped a short ways down the hall. A guard was stationed outside the door. He nodded to them and then unlocked the door and moved aside to allow them entrance to the safety deposit box room. The sole piece of furniture in the room was a metal table in the center of the room. They crossed to the far wall to where Julie's box was located. Douglas inserted his key into one of the locks and waited for Julie to do the same, before they both turned their keys and the lock on the box released. Douglas slid the box partially out of the wall and then stopped and addressed Julie.