Homecoming

Chapter 6

The entirety of the situation with the officers was enough for my sister to lose her cool on me regarding my want to stay on the job. I had argued my case since the fake charges that had been pinned on me were lifted. After my mother did some digging, she got a confession from Giles himself and he stepped down. He admitted that he was trying to rid the trash of the town, but my mom wouldn't have it. Hating your own family is one thing, but no one intervenes if they themselves are not family. Mama grilled him so hard he went running with his tail tucked between his legs. Jenson was quickly promoted to Sheriff, achieving that dream that had always seemed so far from his grasp. I had to sit through his apology then too.

"I'm sorry, ma'am." He said through gritted teeth.

I had thought about the ray of light this had been for me, so I had done him a favor by turning my nose away and saying nothing. It was a ray of sunshine in a weak moment, and I clung to the warmth. Nevertheless, Rachel was holding a massive grudge and had me do paperwork in the back of the firm's offices. It was quiet and enjoyable, but the best part about it was people couldn't stare at me. I was left alone to do paperwork in peace and then go home to the motel.

As it pushed forward into 2 weeks, Rachel nagged about the cost of the motel and I had rolled my eyes casually as she nagged on the phone. I wasn't in her house anymore, but she still treated me like I was a menace to her family. I bit my tongue as she berated me for a minute longer and then ended the call with a cold goodbye. I was already losing Jason, being mocked by his family, being mocked by my own family, and losing my sister. It felt like the wind was consistently getting knocked out of me and as I lowered my head, I noticed a posting for an apartment. It had 3 pictures advertised with heading and I admired how cozy the small, two bedroom looked. It had wooden floors that gleamed even in the black and white ink. The counter space was vast, but the living area looked tiny. Plenty of room for a crib. I snatched the paper and called but was shattered as I was told the apartment had just been taken. Another dark hole appeared in my vast wasteland.

Desperate, I decided to make an appointment to meet with someone who could simply find me a house. I didn't want the help, but I would have been stupid to say I didn't need it. As the week pushed on I worked and called about apartments. The search dragged on with endless "no's" and apologies. They seemed interested up until the point I had to tell them my name and income status. This is when the conversation was frozen in a thick frost and ended quickly.

I nodded as I pumped myself up to go inside the agency door and as I walked in, I noticed the stale scent of stationery and ink pens. Everyone was wearing some sort of professional attire and I felt severely underdressed in my old leggings and large blouse. I sat down in the hard plastic chair across from the gaudy, tan desk I was pointed to and sighed as my nerves jittered higher and higher. I looked around and tried to focus on the countless calendars with different circled dates or the colored sticky notes everyone seemed to have on their outdated computers. It was like our town was stuck in the past still. This county probably doesn't know what an MacBook is.

"Hello!" A husky voice greeted from behind me, rounding towards the desk.

I looked up and was slammed in the face with bricks from the past, "Fynn Harper?"

Fynn looked at me with a mixture of surprise and shock, "Julia? Holy cow! I ain't seen you since we were shot gunning bears at Malloy's graduation party. Back in the woods for a visit?"

I fidgeted with my fingers in my lap nervously, "I recently moved back."

"Not with Jason anymore?" He brought up as he took a seat and leaned forward, elbows on his desk. He clasped his hands in front of his squared, tanned face.

"Um," I cleared my throat and shifted, "Not exactly, no. I left him and moved back to have my daughter."

He looked down and I watched as he suddenly realized there was a big belly between us, "Oh, congrats! What're you doin' down here then if you moved back? I thought you'd be stayin' at your Ma's."

"Things aren't exactly calm on the home front." I said through gritted teeth.

Nodding, he cleared his throat and looked down at my paperwork, "Ya know, I don't need to look at your papers. I know you'd be an amazing homeowner and I know an opening for an apartment."

I blinked and pinched the back of my arm to see if I was dreaming, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, of course." He wrote down an address and slid a bright blue sticky note across the desk towards me. Next to the address was the number 1,250.

He tapped the number, "This is the down deposit. Do you have this right now?"

I felt as if things were moving slow around me as I calculated my bank account in my head and then felt my heart flutter with excitement, "Yes!"

"Meet me here Wednesday and we can catch up and get the paperwork signed and done with. We will take a look over that apartment together on Wednesday. Sound good?"

"I don't care what it looks like. I am simply happy enough someone is helping me." I admitted, cheeks turning beet red.

He shifted nervously in his seat as he clasped his hands together on the desk, "I have heard things being mumbled by those old crones. I didn't know who they were gossiping bout. Damn, Julia. Hopefully this is where the tables turn, huh?"

I looked at Fynn and smiled as I felt the warmth of a ray of hope shine across my face. I wanted to hug him. Hell, I could kiss the man right now. I was amazed as he walked me out to my car and kept bringing up old high school shenanigans. I thought I had packed away most of my young tragedies, but it was nice to reminisce on something that wasn't Jason.

"Then you shot a potato at Fleming's car with that potato launcher." He laughed, slapping his knee as he opened my car door for me.

I grinned and got into the car, "I made that myself, ya know."

He patted the top of the car door and I sighed in relief as he walked away. It was 15 minutes into the drive before I realized I hadn't quit smiling. I had been facing so many challenges these past few weeks I wasn't sure if I had the ability to crack a grin, let alone a smirk. I mostly kept my schedule of work, search, and sleep. Now I didn't have to search!

I clapped my hand on the steering wheel and cheered loudly, "Go Julia!"