Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 77

Julian

I call my mom immediately after the text arrives on my phone. I hold up a hand to Isla, signaling to her that I'll be just a moment away. I walk off the dance floor, and as the phone rings in my ear, I head out of the room. Once I have stepped out of the hallway, I can hear my phone better. The phone line finally stops ringing, and my mom's voice comes through.

"Julian," she says immediately. "Don't panic."

I'm breathing harder than usual, but I still say, "Not panicking." Taking a deep breath in, I brace myself for what's to come. "So what did the versus decide?"

"Oh, honey," my mom starts, and for a second I let the panic set in. We were done. The triathlon had ended, and everything that we were working towards had been gone. Nothing would ever be the same again, and in the end, my dad got out of it with no functioning legs and even less justice. But then my mom adds, "We won't know until tomorrow's court date. Final court date."

"Can I come?" I ask, and I hear footsteps approaching from behind me. Turning around, I see Isla walking towards me, worry on her face. "I'd like to come to this one."

"You will, honey," my mom says quickly. "And Jack. It's your dad's last court date, and we all need to be there in support of him."

"So we just have to wait until tomorrow?" I ask. My mom sighs, "Yeah. We just have to wait now."

I sigh along with her before hanging up the phone. Slipping it down my pocket, I turn over to Isla with a thin smile. She walks closer to me now and places her hand on my arm. "So what did they say?"

I reach out and run a hand down her arm, finding that doing so eases me down. Moving my hand up again, I say, "They don't know. I mean, they can't know until tomorrow's court date."

"And you'll be going?" she asks, and I knew she heard me on the phone a moment ago. I nod and place my head against the wall. "Ill go to the court, dare, and it's until then that we will figure out the verdict."

"I hate waiting games," Isla sighs. She stands next to me now and then looks over at me. Her hair falls into her eyes, and she asks, "Can I come?"

I haven't thought about that. So I reach over and grab her hand. "I'll see about that. Ask my mom."

"Even if I cannot go," she says with a little shrug. "I'll still be here supporting you."

"I know you are," I tell her earnestly. I look over at the room across from us and then look back at her. "Want to go back inside?"

She shrugs, "Depends. What do you want to do?"

I play with her fingers individually, finding myself smiling as I say, "We can go out to my boat. Spend a little time in the water."

Her eyes widen at the spontaneous idea. "Wait, right now?"

I shrug. "I mean, we wouldn't go in the water, but we would ride off to the middle of the ocean and then look at the sky. Just spend a little moment away from everything."

She gives me a larger smile and says, "I'd like that."

"Okay," I say with a brighter smile. Grabbing my keys out of my pocket, I look over at her. I kiss her head and say, "Okay, go grab your purse and say goodbye to your friends. I'll be waiting out here for you."

She grins at me, quickly giving me a peck on the lips. She heads to say goodbye. I look at her and smile, knowing that was enough to keep me content.

•

"So in under an hour," Isla repeats the information I give her. I nod and grab her hand. "It'll be a brief court date because the jury has already decided," I say. "We will get the answer, and regardless of what it is, the trial ends." I sigh, "After seven long months."