But you’ve had them all along.”

Natalie smiled sweetly, but didn’t deny the accusation.

“Now you want me to clean up your mess. But I’m not going

to do it.”

Natalie laughed. “Oh yes, you are.”

She looked at the screen again, making a show of bringing it

close to her eyes. “God, your tits are small.”

75

Sylvain Reynard

“Did you know that Senator Talbot wants to run for President?”

Julia blurted.

Natalie tossed her hair behind her shoulder. “Of course I know.

I’m going to work for the Senator’s campaign.”

Julia gave Natalie a long look. “Now I understand. Simon’s re-

cord will be a problem for the Senator, so you need it to go away.

You screwed up.”

“How’s that?”

“If you release those photos, Simon will dump you so fast your

head will spin. And you’ll never get out of this town.”

Natalie waved a dismissive hand. “He won’t dump me. And the

Senator will never know about the pictures.”

Julia felt her heart beginning to race. “If I’m in those pictures, Simon is too. What will the Senator think of that?”

“Haven’t you heard of a little program called Photoshop? I can

edit Simon out and edit someone else back in. But I won’t have to

because you’re going to be a good little girl and do the right thing.

Aren’t you, Jules?”

Natalie flashed a patronizing smile as she placed her BlackBerry

back in her purse and stood to leave, but Julia stopped her.

“He’ll never introduce you to his parents. He told me that. You

can do better than being Simon’s dirty secret.”

Natalie’s expression faltered, then hardened. “You don’t know

what you’re talking about,” she snapped. “He’s going to give me exactly what I want and so are you. If you don’t fix this problem today, I’m posting the pictures online. Enjoy your Christmas.”

She started to walk away but Julia called after her. “Wait.”

Natalie paused, looking at her former friend with undisguised

contempt.

Julia took a deep breath and gestured to Natalie to come closer.

“Tell Simon to make sure the Senator renews his subscription to The Washington Post.”

“Why?”

“Because if you release those pictures, I’ll call Andrew Sampson

at the Post. You remember him, don’t you? He wrote an article last year about Simon’s DUI arrest and how the Senator intervened.”

76

Gabriel’s Rapture

Natalie shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”

Julia clenched her fists stubbornly. “If you release the pictures, I have nothing to lose. I’ll tell the newspapers that Simon assaulted me, then sent the girl he keeps on the side to blackmail me.”

Natalie’s green eyes grew very wide then narrowed into serpen-

tine slits.

“You wouldn’t,” she breathed.

“Try me.”

Natalie stared in furious surprise before setting her teeth. “People have been walking all over you for years and you’ve done nothing.

There’s no way you’re going to call up a reporter and spill your guts.”

Julia lifted her chin, fighting to keep her voice steady. “Maybe I’m tired of being walked over.” She shrugged dramatically. “If you release the pictures, you’ll never work for the Senator’s campaign. You’ll just be part of an embarrassing scandal they’ll sweep under the rug.”

Natalie’s ivory skin flushed a deep, dark red.

Julia took advantage of her silence and continued. “Leave me

alone, and I’ll forget about both of you. But I’m never going to lie about what he did to me. I’ve lied to cover for him too many times, and I’m not doing it anymore.”

“You’re just angry that Simon chose me over you,” Natalie spat,

her voice becoming louder. “You were this pathetic, weak little girl who didn’t even know how to give a decent blow job!”

In the awkward silence that ensued, Julia realized that the other

restaurant patrons had stopped talking. She looked around the room, utterly humiliated, as the townspeople stared. Everyone heard Natalie’s crude revelation, including the Baptist minister’s wife, who sat with her teenaged daughter in a quiet corner drinking tea.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Natalie hissed.

Before Julia could respond, Diane suddenly appeared at the

counter. “Natalie, go on home. You can’t come into my restaurant

and talk like that.”

Angrily, Natalie withdrew a few steps but not before muttering

a few choice curse words. “This isn’t over.”

Julia lifted her chin. “Oh, yes, it is. You’re too smart to jeopardize your future by doing something stupid. Go back to him and leave me alone.”

77

Sylvain Reynard

Natalie stared daggers at her before turning on her heel and

storming out.

“What’s going on?” Tom suddenly appeared behind Julia. “Jules?

What’s wrong?”

Before she could respond, Diane told him an extremely sanitized

account of what happened.

Tom cursed and put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Are

you all right?”

She nodded reluctantly before running to the ladies’ room. She

wasn’t sure how she’d ever be able to face the townspeople after what Natalie had shouted. Fighting nausea, she grabbed the top of the

vanity for support.

Diane followed Julia into the washroom. She dampened some

paper towels with cold water and handed them to her. “I’m sorry,

Jules. I should have slapped her upside the head. I can’t believe she’d talk that kind of trash in my place.”

Julia was quiet as she slowly wiped her face.

“Honey, nobody heard a thing that girl had to say. It’s noisy out

there and everyone is talking about how the Santa Claus over at the mall got drunk on his lunch hour yesterday and tried to make out

with one of the elves.”

Julia cringed.

Diane smiled at her sympathetically. “You want me to make you

a cup of tea or something?”

Julia shook her head and inhaled deeply as she tried to compose

herself.

If any god is out there listening, please give all the people in Kinfolks restaurant amnesia, just concerning the past fifteen minutes.

A short time later she reassumed her place at the counter, next to her father. She kept her head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. It was too easy to imagine the entire restaurant whispering her sins and judging her.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” she said in a small voice.

He frowned and asked Diane for a fresh cup of coffee and a jelly

doughnut. “What are you sorry about?” His voice was gruff.

Diane served them, patting Julia’s arm sympathetically, and

moved to wait on some tables in order to give them some privacy.

78

Gabriel’s Rapture

“This is all my fault — Deb, Natalie, the house…” She didn’t want

to cry, but somehow the tears welled up and she couldn’t stop them.

“I’ve embarrassed you in front of the whole town.”

Tom leaned toward her. “Hey, I don’t want to hear that kind of

garbage. You have never embarrassed me. I’m proud of you.” His

voice broke slightly and he began coughing. “It was my responsibility to protect you, and I didn’t.”

Julia wiped a tear away. “But now your life is ruined.”

He snorted. “I wasn’t that attached to my life anyway. I’d rather

lose the house and Deb than lose you. There’s no contest. None.”

He pushed the jelly doughnut in front of her and waited until

she took a bite. “When I met your mother, I was happy. We had a

few good years together. But the best day of my life was the day you were born. I always wanted a family. I’m never going to let anything or anyone separate me from my family again. You’ve got my word

on that.”

Julia smiled up into her father’s face, and he leaned over and

ruffled her hair.

“I’d like to swing by Deb’s place to talk to her about what just

happened. She needs to explain to her daughter how to behave in

public. Why don’t you phone that boyfriend of yours and ask him

to pick you up? I’ll see you at Richard’s house later on.”

Julia agreed and wiped her tears away. She didn’t want Gabriel

to see her crying.

“I love you, Dad.”

Tom cleared his throat roughly, without looking at her. “Me too.

Now finish your doughnut before Diane starts changing us rent.”

79

Chapter 8

Gabriel was only too glad to cut his Christmas shopping short.

When he and Richard arrived at the restaurant, they walked

over to the counter to join the Mitchells.

Julia stood up and hugged Gabriel tightly.

“What happened?” He frowned. “You’ve been crying.”

“It’s just the Christmas blues.” Julia noticed uncomfortably that

some of the restaurant patrons were still staring.

“What Christmas blues?”

“I’ll tell you later.” She began to tug him toward the door.

Richard took a moment to greet Tom, and while the two old

friends were talking, Gabriel gently swept Julia’s hair behind her ear in order to whisper something sweet.

A sudden flash caught Richard’s attention — Grace’s earrings.

Clearly, he’d underestimated his son’s new relationship. He knew

that Grace would be happy that their son gave her earrings to Julia.