The Slot (Rochester Riot #1)(65)

“Please tell me I didn’t do anything stupid.” Julia felt the desperation in her tone. “I don’t even remember getting home. I just don’t do this.” She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. Man, she felt like crap. And embarrassed.

Her friend set the mug of hot cream and sugar filled coffee in front of her, just how she liked it. SueAnn took Julia’s hands and held them. “No, Jules. Not by a long shot.”

Slowly, she began to tell Julia what happened. Tears brimmed Julia’s eyes, and a chill washed over her. Fear about what could have happened and relief that she’d had a savior.

“Now don’t you start with the waterworks. I’ll start balling too and that will ruin breakfast,” SueAnn said, her own eyes already glassy.

Julia let out a little laugh but then groaned from her splitting head. “So Adam? He really decked that guy, Carter?”

“I’m telling you, Jules, from what I heard, if those two other guys hadn’t jumped in, Carter would still be flat on that pavement beaten to a bloody pulp. Jill St. John happened to be waiting behind the velvet ropes and she called me this morning. It’s all over town how Adam was like some kind of Mixed Martial Arts bad-ass. Jill called it swoon worthy. His already lofty stock is going to skyrocket with the locals.”

Julia felt her heart flutter. She wished she could remember. But maybe it was a blessing that she couldn’t. She felt infuriated and indignant toward Carter and honestly wanted to take a few shots at him herself, but mostly she enjoyed the idea of Adam coming to her rescue. Like a real man.

She wanted to see him … to thank him. But first, she wanted Tylenol, food, and a nap. In that order. Somehow she knew that her actual knight in shining armor would be waiting for her when she felt more like herself.

***

Julia spent most of the day in bed. Later that afternoon, she must have stood in the shower for a good twenty minutes just letting the hot water bathe over her and rinse away the last of her aches and fatigue. And her anger. If she wasn’t so damn tired, she’d be shaking with it. How could she have let herself become so vulnerable? She wasn’t the kind of woman who put herself in the position to need rescuing.

Just after six, she’d decided to microwave some leftover Chinese food when the ding of the doorbell snapped her head forward. She glanced at the screen of her iPhone and it was blank.

Julia looked down at her white cotton robe and pink fuzzy slippers. God, she hoped it wasn’t Adam.

She walked over to the door and peeped through the tiny hole. Seriously? What in the hell could she possibly want? Julia opened the door and the woman smiled wide in greeting, but Julia stayed wary. She really had no idea what to expect because this one had been a snotty loose cannon since high school.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” She stuck out her slender porcelain hand. She was dressed in an expensive black outfit that accentuated her perfect skin, to go with her perfect hair and make-up.

Heather McNeal. You’ve been a boil on my ass since you submitted my photo to Clinton Kelly to try to get me featured on What Not To Wear. Not everyone can afford designer labels in high school.

As if on cue, her cerulean eyes scanned Julia from head to toe and halted on the fuzzy slippers. Then, her lips turned up in a smirk

“Um … yes, I know who you are,” Julia said.

“Listen, I know this might be a strange request, but I was wondering if we could have a little girl talk.” She smiled warmly at Julia. But something was off.

Julia wished SueAnn had stayed the entire day. She could just refuse the request and tell her to leave. But if she were rude to miss fancy pants, that would make the rounds around town and could negatively affect her business. She glanced at Heather’s hand and noticed the absence of Adam’s engagement ring.

Julia opened the door wider and stood aside. Heather bounced in, her glorious blonde hair falling around her slim shoulders.

“Ooh,” she cooed. “I love your place. So small and quaint. Almost … rustic. I know you renovate old barns. What a charming profession. Seems that decorating style has seeped into your home too.”

Heather’s high-pitched lilt sounded like she’d be headed back to her old sorority house after this conversation. Like time had stood still and she hadn’t grown at all. What had Adam ever seen in this woman? After a few minutes in her presence, it just didn’t compute.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Julia asked as she walked into the living room and offered Heather a seat in the re-upholstered wingback.

“No, thank you,” she replied. “I won’t be staying long.”

Julia sank down in the chair opposite her and waited.

“Listen,” Heather began as her dismissive gaze swept the eclectic collection of antiques in Julia’s living room that most considered charming. “I heard that you had quite the night last night. As a friend, Julia, you could do better than Carter.”

“Carter? What are you talking about?” Julia’s heart raced and she clenched her palms into fists.

“Oh, everyone’s talking about it. Everyone always talks about everything when it comes to Adam.”

“I really don’t know what you’re doing here, but—”

“He did the same thing with me,” Heather said as she stared Julia down. As if she’d done something wrong. As if she were stupid.