Chapter 31:

He opened the door to his compartment and smiled. Finally, he was happy to return here. He liked his compartment, he felt really good there. It was much smaller than the rooms in the hotel they had stayed in, but he preferred it. As soon as he put his bag on the ground, he heard the engine of the train start up and a whistle sounded. He quickly looked at his watch: 7:06 p.m., the train was surely going to leave any minute.

He thinks quickly. He knew he should not, but he could not help but worry. He got out of his wagon, which he locked, and walked quickly towards Julia's. He absolutely wanted to check that she was on the train.

He met the Savard couple – once again – he had the impression of meeting them everywhere. They tried to say a word or two to him, but he walked past them so quickly he could see their offended looks.

When he was finally in front of Julia's compartment, he knocked on the door. It opened to the young woman who immediately gave him a big smile.

"William!"

"I just came to see if you were okay." he smiled at her too.

"Well, I'm settling down. Would you like to come inside?"

"Oh, I…I didn't mean to bother you."

"But not at all. Enter, please." she said, throwing open the door to her compartment.

He walked past the young woman and tried to stop himself from reacting to her proximity. Her scent was so intoxicating...

Julia closed the door behind them and went back to her bed where she had put her things.

"Do you need help?" he asked politely, again trying not to react to her figure, hunched over her things by the bed.

"Please, that would be lovely."

Thus, for a good twenty minutes, the two young people put away Julia's belongings in the various cupboards. As he watched her put away her last dress, he smiled. They were not doing anything exceptional, but he liked it. He found it fun and relaxing. He sat on the couch and looked out at the Alaskan landscape.

"I don't understand..." Julia suddenly got angry.

"What's going on?"

"The train still hasn't left!" she actually got annoyed.

"But Julia… It doesn't matter."

Julia sighed and closed the wardrobe door before sitting down next to him.

"I hate that…"

William could not help but laugh, under the murderous gaze of the young woman.

"Finally, Julia… Why does this make you so angry? You had exactly the same reaction when the train left." asked the young man seriously.

"Yes… Besides, I don't think I apologized about that…"

"Yes, you already did." he teased her with a small smile. "So…?"

"I… I don't know… Well… Actually, when my mother got sick, my father sent my sister Ruby and me to my grandfather's house – rest his soul." she began. "When it appeared that she would not heal, he asked us to come back. My grandfather put us on the train, and it was three hours late. When we arrived… My mother… had been dead for over an hour."

William listened to her carefully, gradually understanding her reactions, his heart sinking. He looked at her sad face and gently stroked her cheek.

"If the train hadn't been late, we could have said goodbye." Julia finished before looking away, trying not to show William her watery eyes.

"Nothing happens by chance…" he finally whispered.

Julia turned her face to him in surprise, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What do you want to say?"

"Maybe it's better that way." he ventures. "Perhaps if you had arrived before your mother died, you would have seen her in a different state. She probably wouldn't have wanted that. She had already said goodbye to you when your father sent you to your grandfather. If you had seen her before her death, you would surely have kept a not very flowery image of her... An image can even be traumatic?"

The young woman looked him in the eyes, without saying anything, her face expressionless. William grimaced. He really should not have said that. She was going to get angry, that was for sure…

"I had never seen things from this angle…"

Unexpectedly, she approached William and rested her head on his shoulder and grabbed his arm, as she had done on that bench during their first outing together in Sitka.

"Thank you…" she whispered.

William nodded in amazement and finally put his arm around her shoulders before resting his own head on Julia's. He perfectly remembered telling himself that he would let her take the first steps now. But it felt like she had just made one, right?

They stayed like that for several minutes, until the train began to vibrate again with more force. They both lifted their heads and looked at the large windows of the compartment. The landscape began to move as the train finally started.

"Well, there it is. The train leaves and it is 7:59 p.m." William smiled.

"Definitely." the young woman scoffed.

Note: Julia and William learn more and more about each other... How will things evolve? Thank you for the last comment :)