The Town of Last Haven: A Zombie Novel

Part 29

Julia had almost been expecting a pregnancy with Luke's child growing in her belly, but it came as a surprise--and a bit of a relief--that she was in fact not pregnant. She could see a vision in her mind that started out vague but was growing increasingly vivid: little Julias and little Lukes running around with smiles on their faces.

The picture brought a tear to Julia's eye, but she kept her cool, hiding her negative pregnancy test elsewhere in her and Luke's bedroom where he wouldn't find it. It took some doing, looking for an unnoticed place, but she hid it behind a shelf of books--what a surprise there, right?

It had been a few days since Julia had Natalie go off on the private mission to find the pregnancy test--that's where she met Jake Hayden--and Julia noticed Jake coming around every so often to check on Natalie. The notion, that care, that protectiveness was noticed--Julia, Austin, Luke, and even Mrs. Wallace knew that Jake was sweet on Natalie.

After a midmorning brunch of rabbit meat and squirrel jerky--of which Austin and Trent agreed their mouths were watering for a nice steak or fresh venison--Austin pulled Julia aside in the living room while the others were still eating in the kitchen.

"What's up, little brother?" Julia asked a growing Austin. He was almost as tall as Natalie now, and growing taller too. Soon he'd be taller than Julia, and she'd have to stare up at him instead of slightly lower than eye to eye with him.

"It's Tanner," said Austin. "He hasn't been around for a while, so I was wondering if you'd seen him. Like, do you know if he's okay?"

Julia shook her head. "No, I haven't seen him."

She swallowed hard, looking at her feet--or so she would have Austin believe. She was really looking down at her stomach. Pretty much everyone in town knew that Julia and Luke were a couple, but Julia thought it was slowly eating away at Tanner. Didn't he understand that she and he were mere friends and nothing more? Julia felt only friendship for Tanner, not love as he felt for her.

"You should check on him." Austin paused, the heat in the room getting to him. Julia looked to him with tense shoulders, and he quickly understood. "Oh, right." Austin chewed on the inside of his cheek.

He saw the way Tanner looked at his sister--everyone knew--and he'd forgotten that Julia was growing more and more uncomfortable around Tanner. The awkward silence, the watchful eye of Tanner and not Sauron, the following at a distance, the showing up unexpectedly--it all was bothering Julia.

"If you don't want to be alone with him, take someone with you." Austin looked to Luke in the next room. He was drinking water from a canteen, handing over his jerky so Clarise could have seconds. "I don't think Luke will want to go with you, though." There was an extreme rivalry between the two elder teens. "Maybe take Natalie's boyfriend with you?" Austin suggested.

"Jake isn't my boyfriend." Natalie smiled as she came into the room, thinking in the back of her mind that she really did want Jake to be that for her--the loneliness surfaced again. "He has said that when I need him, he'll come." Natalie glanced from Austin to Julia. "I don't know the first part of your conversation, but if you need help with something, Jake and I'll be there for you."

"Thank you," said Julia, "and I think I'll take you up on that offer."

"Should we check on Tanner now? We have plenty of time left in the day." Natalie looked to the antique grandfather clock in the living room. It had stopped long ago, but with sun dials in the gardens outside it was barely passed ten.

"Sure," Julia said hesitantly. "Do you know where Jake is now?"

"He should be coming soon. I... told him I wanted to... walk with him." Natalie spoke with a blush to her cheeks, and Julia and Austin glanced to one another with hearts in their eyes. 

And soon enough, there came a knock at the front door. With Julia and Luke in their bedroom--they were relaxing, reading, not hooking up--Opal alerted them with a loud bark. Natalie was at the door faster than Trent and Clarise, running her hands through her hair before opening the door.

"Hi, Jake!" she said with a broad smile. Leveling herself, she cleared her throat. "Good morning, Jake. It's nice to see you," she said formally. Clarise was behind Natalie, offering her a teasing smile. Natalie nudged Clarise with her foot, then Clarise stopped with the looks.

"Good morning, Miss Brown." Jake held out a handful of pretty flowers to Natalie--dandelions and black-eyed Susans, mostly--and watched as she took them and breathed in their lovely scent. "You wouldn't believe how hard it was finding you something other than dandelions." He smirked, then was welcomed into the house by Clarise grabbing his hand and leading him inside.

"Thank you so much, Jake." Natalie's smile bloomed like the flowers.

There was an empty vase on the coffee table, so she quickly arranged the flowers in it. Water was a luxury, so she didn't fill the vase with any--Jake knew that, understood.

"Before our walk--" Natalie tripped on her words. "Jake, my sister and I need your help."

"Name it, and I'll do it." Jake said, his eyes telling Natalie that he would do almost anything for her. It was a silent promise, but Natalie wouldn't ask Jake to do anything for her that he didn't want to do for her willingly.

"Do you remember me telling you about Tanner on our last walk?" Natalie asked, and Jake thought back on it. "He's the socially awkward skinny blonde boy who watches Julia." Now Jake remembered, nodding.

"I've had a conversation or two with him before." Jake definitely took Tanner for the odd type. Always silent, always watching Julia like a hawk--it was just plain strange.

Julia stated her problem. "We haven't seen Tanner in days, and we're getting worried about him." Luke looked to her from the kitchen with an expression on his face that read, 'Really?' Julia cleared her throat. "Well, I'm worried about him, at least."

"You need me to come with you to check on him?" Jake figured it out.

"Yes," said Julia and Natalie together.

"No problem." Jake was so willing to help Natalie, help her sisters and brothers. Jake had that older brother aura about him, that selflessness that Natalie had for Trent and Clarise.