The Last Place You Look, page 16
What bizarro universe had she wandered into? “I think you might be overstating my feminine powers a tad.”
Caroline started to respond, but a group of women walked in and headed right for the bar. She gave Julia a we’re not done here look and headed back to the office. Julia switched into hostess mode and delivered her standard greeting and introduction.
The tasting room remained busy most of the afternoon. Not Saturday busy, but busy enough she managed to avoid Caroline and her weird new role as Julia’s biggest fan. She did catch Caroline giving her pointed looks every time she emerged from the office, but Julia got away with a half-smile and a shrug. Work, after all, came first.
Fortunately, Julia could do her job half asleep. She did a little daydreaming about Taylor and the prospect of spending the night with her again. Taylor made her feel—what was the word?—craved. It made her feel like a goddess. She’d never felt like a goddess before.
And then there was this whole photography thing. Thinking about it as photography and not simply taking pictures was weird in the first place. But if she was going to take people’s money for it, she should probably get used to it. One of Amanda’s friends had called her that morning to request an appointment, making a comment about getting in before Julia’s schedule booked up. It was all she could do not to laugh.
Was it too soon to think about business cards? Or a website? She was big on not getting ahead of herself, especially given her track record in that department. But she didn’t want to come off as unprofessional. Nothing worse than being asked for a card and not even having one.
She pulled out her phone during a lull and researched a few sites where she could get them pretty cheap. She’d need a professional email address, too. It only took a couple of minutes and a few misfires before japiercephotography@gmail.com was hers. That was fun. Oh, and a planner. She loved planners. After shopping for one, she pulled up the notes app and started a to-do list. She loved lists almost as much as she loved planners.
When more customers came in, she didn’t even mind the interruption. Her mind swirled with ideas and possibilities. Maybe she could do some new photos for the winery website. Definitely the tasting room, but maybe some of the production line, too. Even the images of the vineyard could be less generic. She added a note to talk with her dad.
By the time Julia clocked out, she was borderline giddy. She drove to the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner, then stopped at home to pack a bag. She and Taylor hadn’t discussed it, but it was hard to imagine not spending the night. Because she had every intention of having mind-blowing sex again, and she wanted Taylor’s take on her ideas. And given the current state of her list, they had a lot to talk about.
Chapter Eighteen
In the span of two weeks, they went from sleeping together for the first time to spending more nights together than not. A drastic change, but one Taylor had absolutely no problem with. She didn’t think she could get enough of Julia. And even though they weren’t discussing being exclusive at this point, time together meant less time Julia might be off seeing someone else. Not that Julia didn’t have that right, it just made Taylor happy. Maybe she should analyze that, but not today.
Besides, when she invited Julia to join her on a delivery to Lake Placid, Julia hadn’t hesitated. She’d even suggested they stay over before Taylor had the chance. Again, she wasn’t rushing things. She simply liked the direction they seemed to be going. And liked that Julia seemed to be on the same page.
On the day in question, Julia showed up at her place bright and early to help with the loading. Although Taylor was partial to seeing her in dresses, the cutoffs and Winslow Woodworks T-shirt affected her in an entirely different way. “Where did you get that?”
She offered a playful shrug. “Chris gave it to me.”
“When did you see Chris?”
“When I called him and asked him to hook me up with a shirt so I could look the part of delivery helper.”
That she went to the trouble made the whole thing even better. “It looks really good on you.”
“I aim to please.” Julia curtsied. Without a skirt, the gesture proved both endearing and comical.
Taylor had half a mind to take Julia’s hand, take her inside, and take her directly to bed. She wasn’t a horny teenager, though. Even if she felt like one these days. They had a delivery to make. At least said delivery included a hotel room with a tub big enough for two. She settled for a, “You always do.”
They loaded rocking chairs and swings, along with a few indoor pieces. Because of the distance and the profit margin, this store got Adirondack chairs from someone else. It was one of the main reasons Taylor continued selling to them. She got to build more of the interesting pieces, and the owner never hesitated to take something on the funky side, like the spalted maple box shelves she’d cooked up.
Julia provided a running commentary on the items she liked most, and Taylor did her best to commit them to memory. She liked the idea of making something special for Julia for Christmas. Almost as much as she liked the idea of being with Julia come Christmas.
With everything loaded, Taylor secured the final ratchet strap holding the cargo in the back of her truck and double-checked the hitch and wiring for the trailer. “Thank you for helping me load everything.”
Julia made a show of flexing her muscles. “I’m not just a pretty face, you know.”
“Indeed you are not. Although, I must say, you have a very pretty face.” She wrapped both arms around Julia and pulled her close. “The rest of you ain’t so bad either.”
Julia wiggled far enough away to hip check her. “Flattery will get you everywhere. I mean nowhere.”
She loved this playful side of Julia. They climbed into the truck and headed out. “I waited to stop for gas so we could load up on road trip junk food.”
“Ooh.” Julia rubbed her hands together. “I haven’t road tripped since I got here. And that trip was so depressing, I didn’t even snack.”
Taylor reached over and gave her leg a squeeze. “I’m sorry it was hard.”
She shrugged. “At this point, I’m glad I’m home. Do I wish it could have been less humiliating? Sure. But it is what it is.”
Rather than defeated, Julia sounded resolved. Maybe even defiant. It made her happy that Julia hadn’t merely settled into this new version of her life, but owned it. “Sometimes it takes something extra terrible to jolt us out of a rut.”
Julia chuckled. “That’s one way of looking at it. Are you speaking from experience?”
Was she? In the moment, she couldn’t come up with anything that level of terrible. And if it didn’t come to her immediately, it probably wasn’t bad enough to count. “I’m not one for big, bold moves in my life, good or bad.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah.” She hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but now it seemed strange.
“How do you feel about that?”
“I’m not sure. I mean, I like my life, so I don’t have any complaints.” She glanced at Julia and winked. “Especially the last couple of weeks.”
Despite the flirtatious tone, and obvious attempt to change the subject, Julia frowned. “But what if you’re destined for greater things?”
“I have no desire to become president, if that’s what you mean.”
Julia huffed and rolled her eyes. “That is not what I mean.”
She turned into the gas station and pulled up to the pump. “Saved by the rest stop.”
Julia pointed at her. “We’re coming back to this. Maybe not right this second, but don’t be thinking you’re off the hook.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She offered Julia a playful salute and got out.
After pumping gas, they ventured into the convenience store together. There was serious conversation about the need for both sweet and salty snacks, as well as the merits of gummy things versus chocolate things. In the end, Julia scoffed at Taylor’s Pringles and Taylor threw some serious shade over Julia’s Diet Coke.
“You know it’s worse for you than regular soda.”
Julia didn’t even flinch. “Worse is relative and I like the way it tastes.”
Hands full, they returned to Taylor’s truck and got on the road in earnest. Whether adequately distracted or intentionally putting their previous conversation on the back burner, Julia didn’t press the matter of Taylor’s life traumas, or her ambitions. They talked about the Adirondacks, how little time Julia had spent there.
“I think because we went camping a lot for family vacation, it was an obvious choice,” Taylor said.
Julia nodded. “Right. And since we were in the wine business, vacations always happened in the winter. Hence, Florida.”
“It’s funny how, as kids, we don’t analyze where we go on family trips or why.”
“Only how often. I do remember being very pouty about not ever going anywhere.”
Taylor laughed. “We went a lot, but I had major resentment about never going to Disney.”
“Such neglect.”
As they drove north, conversation wound around as much as the roads. Julia talked about getting another call for a senior portrait session and wanting to buy a camera of her own. Taylor talked about Chris and Jack’s forays into foster parenting. Marcus had already come and gone and there was a chance of them getting a newborn in the next week.
Julia made a sweeping gesture with her Diet Coke. “How do you go from an eleven-year-old to an infant? Psychologically, but also logistically? I mean, there’s so much stuff involved.”
“I know. They’ve got a great support network, so they’re hoping to borrow more than buy.”
“That’s good.” Julia shook her head. “Still. I can’t even imagine.”
Something about Julia’s tone gave Taylor pause. “So, no kids for you?”
Julia looked at her like she’d asked if Julia might like to relocate to Mars. “Um.”
“You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.” And from the sound of it, she wasn’t going to like the answer.
Julia methodically unscrewed the top from her soda. She took a sip and screwed the lid back in place. “It’s not that.”
“What is it?” Taylor wanted the answer and didn’t.
“I always wanted kids when I was younger. Erica didn’t. Since it wasn’t a burning sort of longing, I put the idea on the back burner. Now, I honestly don’t know the answer.”
“It seems like a lot went on the back burner when it came to Erica.”
Julia huffed out a breath. “Yeah.”
Don’t badmouth the ex. Don’t badmouth the ex. Don’t badmouth the ex. “But not something to beat yourself up over at this point, right?”
“Right.” Julia squared her shoulders. “I’m in charge now. And I’ll never not be in charge again.”
The speed and ferocity of Julia’s assertion made Taylor smile. They were definitely making progress. “Cheers to that.”
“You’re pretty clever, you know?”
“Thank you?” Where did that come from?
“You’re all subtle, but I see what you’re doing.” Julia angled herself toward Taylor and made little circles with her finger. “Every time we start talking about you, you nudge the conversation back to me.”
“Not true.” Not entirely, at least. She took her eyes off the road just long enough to catch the most withering look possible.
“Seriously?”
Taylor shrugged. “Okay, maybe. But not on purpose. Not really on purpose.”
“Mm-hmm. It’s okay. I won’t torture you. At least not right now.” Julia reached over and turned up the volume on the radio. She made a show of dancing around in her seat and singing along. “Is it weird to say I missed country music?”
Taylor couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not at all.”
* * *
Julia dropped her bag on the bench at the foot of the bed. She used their joined hands to pull Taylor close and press a kiss to her lips. “I can’t believe you’ve never stayed over. As an adult, I mean.”
“I’ve never had such a good reason.” Taylor’s eyes were earnest and she kissed Julia again.
How was it every time Taylor said something like that, her heart did this fluttery thing? “Aw, that’s sweet.”
“Maybe, but it’s true.” Taylor’s arms came around her. “Spend the night with me?”
She looked around the hotel room: nice but not over-the-top lavish, complete with a king-sized bed, massive television, and a jetted tub in the corner. To her mind, it was a thousand times better than the posh and sterile hotels she and Erica usually stayed in. “I could be persuaded.”
Taylor gave her a playful pinch. “I’m not sure you have a lot of choice.”
The thing with Taylor was that she did have a lot of choice. More than any other person she’d ever been with, Taylor seemed able to take charge without losing one drop of respect or consent. Even with her limited experience, she knew it was rare. “You could at least buy me dinner first.”
Taylor made a show of considering her options, tipping her head back and forth. “I suppose that could be arranged.”
“I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Oh?”
Julia nodded, then lifted her shoulder in a casual shrug. “Yeah, dinner’s my treat.”
“I see.” Taylor gave her a look of mild exasperation. But despite the face, the look in her eyes made Julia’s insides go hot. Taylor wanted her, bad. And it seemed to be getting more intense the more time they spent together, not less. What a delightful development.
She offered another shrug. “Totally. Dessert, too. Although I thought maybe we could come back here for that.”
“Deal.” Taylor grabbed her hand and out the door they went.
They meandered through town, poking in and out of shops. She made Taylor take her back to the place they’d delivered the furniture so she could buy one of those bears. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up a second to give to Caroline. They had dinner at this great hole-in-the-wall with the best burgers perhaps in the history of hamburgers.
They watched the sunset over the lake and had ice cream cones from a little stand that barely held the two teenagers working it. Despite having dessert, once they were back in the room, Julia laid it on thick. “Icing on the cake,” she said as she massaged Taylor’s neck and shoulders.
She didn’t let Taylor reciprocate, but Taylor managed to turn the tables and what Julia got was way better than a neck rub. They fell asleep tangled up together and woke the same way. Showering together led to shower sex, which led to another round in bed and the need for second showers.
They finally managed to make it downstairs to check out and have a late breakfast. If Julia hadn’t been scheduled to work in the late afternoon, she was pretty sure they would have just stayed in the room. She took consolation in knowing going home didn’t mean they couldn’t still spend the night together.
“That was fun.” Julia looked at her from the passenger seat as they started the trek south.
“Agreed.” Taylor reached over and squeezed the back of her neck.
“I meant the whole trip. The delivery. Everything.”
She did, too. “I enjoy deliveries, especially at this time of year.”
“But your profits are way less with wholesale, right? Is it as bad as regular retail?”
Kind of a weird turn of conversation, but Taylor went with it. “Yeah, but then I don’t have to think about the retail side of things.”
“Half your revenue bad?”
Taylor raised a brow. Were they really discussing profit margins? “What are you getting at?”
Julia shrugged and did this sideways glancing innocent thing. They hadn’t been dating long, but Taylor knew enough to know Julia had an agenda. “Your work could sustain a retail space. And if you worked for yourself, you could do more custom pieces and fewer Adirondack chairs.”
Oh, that’s where they were going. She had a flashback to their conversation the day before, the one where Julia asked her about being destined for greater things. “It’s not that I haven’t considered it. But I don’t want to spend my time running a shop. I want to spend it making furniture.”
“You wouldn’t have to be open all the time. And you could totally hire someone to manage the floor and the register. Hell, that’s what I did in the city for years. For like twelve bucks an hour.”
“I still don’t like the math.”
Julia folded her arms, clearly not ready to let this go. “Is it the math?”
“And the people.” She didn’t want to insult the work Julia had done, but the prospect of running a store sent a shiver of discomfort through her.
“What if it wasn’t just you?”
Where was she going with this? “Like what?”
“Like, what if we opened a shop together?”
“Seriously?” It came out more incredulous than she might have hoped and, judging by the look on her face, Julia agreed. “I mean, not that I doubt your abilities, I just—”
Julia lifted a hand. “Don’t backpedal. I’ve worked retail, but I’ve never done anything close to owning my own shop. I get it.”
“It’s not that.” Taylor wasn’t sure she would have wanted to open a shop with even the most experienced businesswoman in the state.
“What is it then?” She seemed more curious than offended.
Taylor took a deep breath. “You may not believe this, but I’m not the biggest fan of change.”
Julia let out a snort, followed by an apologetic look. “Sorry. Go on.”
“I’m not completely risk averse, but if something works, why would you change it?”
Julia sighed. “Six months ago, I would have said the exact same thing. But here’s the thing. Saying something works is relative. Maybe it does and it’s really awesome. But, sometimes, I think we tell ourselves things are working because they’re not terrible and we’re scared of rocking the boat to try for something better.”
