Once Burned by Margaret Watson

Author:Margaret Watson [Watson, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonfly Press
Published: 2021-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Twenty minutes later, Julia stood on the sidewalk, her arms tight around her waist, staring at the house that had replaced the one she’d grown up in. The extravagant faux French chateau was twice the size of her old house and took up almost the entire lot.

“Big house,” Nico said, no inflection in his voice.

“Yeah,” she said on a sharp exhale. “Hillman City was an upscale neighborhood when we lived here. Looks like it’s gotten even more exclusive.”

Her gaze touched on the place behind the house where the block-long tangle of trees and bushes used to be. Their old playground had been replaced by several equally big houses. “We had a lot of fun in that tiny patch of wildness,” she said, a ball of tears forming in her throat.

Nico curled his arm around her shoulders and squeezed, then let his arm drop away. “I can’t imagine losing your whole family like that. There one moment. Gone the next.”

Julia stared at her shoes. “I wish they were still here,” she said, knowing she sounded wistful. “My mom would be so excited and proud that I started Madeline’s. And I’d like to think that my father would have eventually accepted my career, even if it wasn’t what he wanted me to do.

“Jeff?” She sighed. “He’d be forty-two. Maybe growing up would have softened him. Made him a nicer person. He’d probably be married by now, maybe have a kid or two. I might’ve been an aunt.” She bit down on the inside of her lip to keep the tears at bay.

“C’mon,” Nico said, touching her shoulder. “We have an appointment with Detective Gorowski at the police station.”

“I know,” Julia said quietly. “I’ve been watching the time.” She got into the passenger side of her car, and Nico slid into the driver’s seat. As he pulled away from the curb, she noticed him glancing in the rear-view mirror. But she didn’t turn around to look. Her old life in Hillman City was nothing but ashes and memories.

* * *

Two hours later, they walked out of the police station into a cool day and got back into Julia’s car. She’d been subdued this morning. She had to be shaken by everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours -- Carole’s arrest, their lovemaking, the trip to the site of her old home. He hated that she’d gone silent and pliant. But he wouldn’t take back the night before, even if he could. The memory of their single night together was burned into his memory.

Their visit to the police station had produced a bit of good news -- the detective in charge of the investigation of the fire that had killed Julia’s family was still on the job. He was in another district now, but Detective Gorowski had given them Detective Petersen’s phone number. She’d give him a call and set up an appointment to talk.

As he drove, Nico glanced at Julia and found her staring out the windshield, her expression hard to read.

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