Captive

Chapter Thirty Three

They settled into a comfortable routine together as time passed. Juliet moved out of her bedroom and into the bedroom with him and the nightmares that had plagued her for so long seemed to fade with having Bret close at her side each night. He seemed to sense when she was on the cusp of slipping into her darkest memories and would gently kiss her or whisper in her ear that he was there and that was enough to dispel her fears. She worked diligently each day to get the last pages of her book completed and was relieved when it was all sent off well within her deadline. The fact that she was sleeping better at night was a huge help in this as well as she woke each day energised and ready to work. Both had ongoing concerns about their fathers but both kept these to themselves, not wanting to upset one another as they felt almost responsible for the actions of their parents.

"Well I for one am very pleased you finished that book," said Jim, helping himself to another cookie and sighing contentedly as he ate it at the bar. It was the deep clean day and he was stocktaking while Juliet cleaned the tables and chairs in the main bar area.  Juliet smiled across at him, shaking her head.

"Bret doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and I shouldn't eat too many so I suppose you are saving me from myself," she replied, lightly.

"I don't know why you don't make a career of it," he commented and she smiled.

"It's a fun hobby," she replied. "I'm not sure I could do it as a career"

"That's a shame. If you love something you should make it your life. It's what I did, first with the wrestling, then with this. "

"I love writing too," she said, taking the chairs down from the table and he watched her for a moment then shrugged.

"Well, it's your life. Meant to tell you, I've got someone to take on the cleaning. She's starting in the next couple of weeks."

"Oh that is good news," Juliet said and Jim grinned.

"Just think of all that time on your hands not working here... you could be setting up a bakery instead."

"Oh stop," she said, giggling. "This is the calm before the storm. The editors have my book for now but they will send it back to me for final editing and publishing then it will be publicity talks and so on before I need to make plans for the next one."

"Do you have plans for the next one?" asked Jim. She smiled a little and nodded.

"There are the beginnings of an idea," she replied. "More for a text book for academia I suppose; looking at the influence of past writers on modern fiction and exploring those as a deep dive. Most likely it would centre on Jane Austen again as I have become known for being an expert on her life and works. But that will be a discussion with the publishers in the first instance to see if it would be a requirement  before I commit to it."

Jim nodded and there was a comfortable silence as both resumed their work. Jim watched her as she moved about the bar and then went through to the bathrooms and sighed thoughtfully as he enjoyed the last bit of his cookie. It seemed a shame for such talent to go to waste he reflected and then the thought occurred to him that when she stopped working here he might not receive as many cookies and cakes from her, which briefly horrified him before he grinned self consciously, glad nobody else was aware of his train of thoughts. The bar door opened behind him and he turned to explain they were still closed then stopped as he met the gaze of eyes the colour of the ocean and a friendly Texas accent bade him hello.

"Shawn, what are you doing here?" Jim asked, startled by the younger man's presence. Shawn beamed at him and crossed the bar to shake his hand warmly.

"A few of us are touring and I told Mark I'd look up his sister. Saw the lights were on and thought I'd try my luck if she was working. Of course it's good to see you too, Jim. How have you been?"