It's Better This Way(31)

“It’s over between Heath and me,” she said, unable to hide how difficult this was to admit. Julia arrived unannounced at her sister’s because she couldn’t bear to remain in her condo a moment longer. It was torture not to hear from Heath. She needed to escape. Her sister was her best friend, her confidant, the one person who knew her better than anyone.

“You don’t know that,” Amanda insisted, taking her own mug to the table and sitting down.

Julia had come to Amanda at the lowest point in her marriage to confess what she’d held tight inside her heart for months. Eddie was involved in an affair. Amanda had held her while Julia had wept and cried with her. It was Amanda who helped convince her the divorce was inevitable, and it was time to quit trying to save her marriage and let go.

    “Have you talked to Heath?” Amanda asked.

“No…”

“Then you can’t say it’s over until you two have worked out whatever the problem is.”

“That’s just it,” Julia cried. “I don’t know what’s wrong. He’s avoiding me completely and that tells me everything I need to know.” Julia couldn’t understand how everything they had shared, the laughter, the morning coffee times, the promise of finding that special someone, had gone south so quickly. The worst of it was that she hadn’t a clue what had changed his mind or why. The fact that he’d left her completely in the dark was unacceptable. The last she’d heard, he was determined to connect with his son to ask about Michael’s reaction when introduced to Julia. It appeared that whatever he’d had to say had changed Heath’s feelings toward her. That he didn’t have the courage or the heart to come to her about it was unacceptable. Pride insisted she not seek him out after two failed attempts. He was the one with the problem.

“Heath isn’t exercising with you?”

“Not for the last two days,” Julia said. Naturally, her imagination had gone wild. Three days ago, they were on top of the world, dancing around his kitchen with hardly a care. Now this intense, awkward silence.

“Maybe he’s sick?”

Amanda offered a logical excuse, one Julia had considered herself.

    “Too sick to answer a text?” she returned. She’d already sent him two texts, neither of which Heath had responded to. After being blatantly ignored, she refused to send another. Julia was determined to maintain her dignity. She got his message, painful as it was to accept.

Amanda shrugged. “Maybe he’s traveling. He might have been unexpectedly called out of town. Who knows?”

“That’s just it. I don’t know.” It seemed unlikely he would leave without telling her. No, whatever had prompted this silence had to do with something his son told him. Something he now chose to keep to himself, preferring to leave matters hanging rather than clear the air.

Amanda refilled her coffee. When she pointed toward Julia’s mug, Julia shook her head. Over the last few days, she had downed enough coffee to keep a navy fleet afloat. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t work. At this point, she was caught between angst and anger.

Just then her phone dinged, indicating she had a text. Amanda looked at her expectantly as Julia read the text.

“From Heath?” her sister asked.

Julia bit her lip and nodded, reading the note a second time.

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What did he say?” She leaned closer, pressing her stomach against the edge of the table.

“He said he needed space and time to think.”

Amanda released a sigh. “At least he had the courtesy to answer you, even if it took him this long.”

Julia didn’t share her sister’s opinion.

“You know what?” she said, coming to a decision. “I don’t care anymore. If he wants space, he can have it. I’m through.” She knew when she’d woken from that nightmare that it was one of those dreams. She’d felt it in her bones. Heath was going to walk away from her, and she didn’t have a clue as to why.

    “You know? Maybe it’s better this way,” Amanda said, straightening, stating the very motto their father had so often used.

“Maybe,” Julia returned softly. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought that herself over the last few days.

“I mean, if this is how Heath is going to treat you, then maybe it’s time to move on.”

Amanda was right. While Julia might claim she no longer cared, that was a lie. She did care, more than she wanted to admit.

“Meeting Heath has been good for you.” Her sister had a way of looking at the silver lining of a situation.

Julia wasn’t convinced. “I suppose it has.” Since she’d started seeing Heath, she’d felt alive again. Young, and carefree in ways she hadn’t been since Eddie had moved out of the house.

“Heath opened your eyes.”

That he had. She heard music again. Not the songs that played over the radio or that she had on her playlist. The music had come from within. Her feet hadn’t been able to hold still, her heart had beat to a strong cadence. She looked forward to each day with eager anticipation, knowing part of it would be spent with him. They hadn’t known each other long; what set Heath apart was that he got her. He understood her in ways no man had since her ex-husband. And possibly even more than Eddie had.