Chapter II

"So… what are you going to do now, Jules? Will you start your career as a nurse?" Rose asked her cousin.

Just after the birthday cake for Walt and Merry, the older generation drifted away to the garden of Ingleside, leaving the young ones to themselves, although still having an eye on each of them.

Three groups had been made. Julia, Rose, Cilia, Leslie and Luna were lying underneath the Tree Lovers; Walt, Merry, Gil, Jake, Blythe, Owen and Marshall Douglas were, of course, near the table with snacks; and eventually Cee, Cordelia, Nancy and Tom, being the youngest of them all, played in 'Pirates' together while screaming at the top of their lungs. They always devided themselves into groups at the parties especially when friends from the "outside" were coming over and the girls and the boys wanted to talk over things girls-with-girls and boys-with-boys.

"No, I won't… I mean not yet at least. I decided on staying at home for another year or so, just to get some peace and quiet after this long year and a half in a loud Toronto." Julia replied with a small grin.

Rose, Cilia, Luna and Leslie sighed in relief.

"But do tell us, how did you find Toronto? Did you make any friends that you didn't tell us about?" Leslie chuckled and gave Julia a naughty wink.

"No, I didn't make friends with anyone, or rather no one made any friends with me. I could see that other girls didn't care as much about the theory as I did, they were all covered in make-up and looking out for the boys - that's all they really did. So I focused on my studies, instead of focusing on making friends." Julia grinned "Besides, Gil was visiting me once or twice a week, for he too, as you know, was lonely in his college."

"And what about Toronto itself?" Luna questioned, playing with a small flower in her hand.

"I liked Toronto at first; you know how I always fancied living in a big city, but after a while, I just couldn't stand it sometimes. I missed being alone once in a while and in such crowded city like Toronto, it is impossible to be alone, even in the middle of the night." Julia explained "Not that I tried it." she smiled and so did the girls.

"But you had fun, right?" Cilia questioned with a raised brow.

"Of course, I did. After all, I have never been to so many clubs and dances in my whole life that I did during this past year." Julia laughed "And oh, that was fun! I learned so many new steps with Gilly! And girls…" she leaned towards the centre of their little cirlce with a cheeky smile on her face "The Toronto-boys… You would love them!"

Girls laughed light-heartedly over the way Julia said this last line. She really had a gift of making people laugh and smile wherever she went.

"You mean, that you eventually got your first kiss?" Rose whispered as if someone could overhear them.

Julia chuckled quietly "Of course not, silly! I said that you would love them. You all know that I have no intention of getting my first kiss from just anyone."

"And what about Troy Rogers?" Cilia giggled and pointed at the tall young man who was coming over to the boys-group. Julia blushed heavily and looked over Luna's shoulder to see that Troy was giving his presents to Walt and Merry.

Troy, a boy three years older than Julia, was a real handsome English boy. Five years earlier, he moved with his parents from Brighton to Glen St. Mary when his father's brother died and left him his big mansion along with his huge farm.

At the age of seven, Julia vowed that she will never get married and that she will dedicate her life to people in need. But she couldn't ignore her feelings for Troy. He certainly was the handsomest of Glen St. Mary's boys with his coal-black hair and almost as black and dangerous eyes with very majestic nose and chin.

Troy always liked Julia and had a soft spot for her. They were really good friends from the beginning but surely not as good as Julia was with her brothers or cousins.

Troy had a reputation of a 'heartbreaker' and wasn't very well thought of by the older generations in Julia's family. There was something in him that just wasn't in other people who were of the race that knows Joseph. But Julia, being a silly girl of seventeen, didn't notice this little fact, and her mind was set up on getting her first kiss from no one else but Troy.

"And what about you, girls? Are you starting sweethearting already?" Julia changed the subject slightly.

Rose rolled her eyes, knowing her cousin's little tricks but answered sweetly: "Well… Cilia, here, certainly is."

Cilia's cheeks turned red and she tried her best to hide the shadow of a smile forming on her small lips.

"Why, Cilia! You didn't tell me!" Julia exclaimed and grabbed her friend's hand.

"You know that I don't like discussing such things, especially through letters or long-distance calls. But…" she looked at Julia and smiled in a way only person in love can smile "Two weeks ago, Marshall Douglas... kissed me." Cilia couldn't help but to let out a small giggle.

Julia, not knowing why, started laughing as well and Luna and Rose quickly followed their tracks. They got so hysteric that Faith, Una and Nan looked at their daughters with glistening eyes of the past.

"I have never seen my girls in such state before! I'm sure one of them must have said something terribly funny." Una said to her sister, her own eyes laughing at the image in front of her.

Faith didn't answer and only chuckled herself, remembering the old days when both she, her siblings and the Blythes spent their time in Rainbow Valley, laughing and joking under the Tree Lovers just like their own children did in that moment.

"What are we even laughing about?" Julia was the first to ask when she wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

"I have no idea..." Cilia replied and opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted.

Merry put on his tap shoes and turned on the radio causing Julia to jump as if something pinched her.

"Sing, Sing, Sing! My favourite song of all time!" she gasped and looked over to Gilly who immediately stood up and took Julia, 'his little dancer', in his strong arms and gently stepped with her nearer the radio.

Everyone started dancing. It felt almost like a sin, not to dance, especially on this beautiful day, down in Rainbow Valley. Jem took his wife in his arms and so did Shirley, Carl and Ken. Even Gilbert Blythe couldn't resist and both he and Anne, danced in the very middle of a not-small crowd of people to this fast but very enjoyable song.

Only Reverend John Meredith, his wife Rosemary and their son Jerry Meredith, with his wife Nan and their children Jake and Rose had to sit down and watch how others dance more or less gracefully. They didn't mind at all, for the view that they were watching was almost just as much fun as dancing itself.

Blythe stayed as well. He was never quite entertained by dancing and always claimed that others were much better dancers than himself. Not even Julia's beggings could make him to enter the dance floor.

It has to be said that even though the Blythes, Merediths and Fords were all really good dancers, it was Julia with Gilly who were the stars of the afternoon. Although Merry was a born tap-dancer, it was Julia and Gil who brought a new fashion of dancing into their family.

Their fast and hasty moves were unstoppable resulting in their cousins called them the "Masters of Swing Dance" just the day after.

"How can you learn to dance like this?" Dr Gilbert Blythe questioned, looking almost astonished.

Eventually the song ended. Julia and Gil, who were both breathing heavily, gave each other a kiss on a cheek and then the rest of the family started clapping after their spectacular 'performance'.

"You will always be my best partner for dancing, Sheba." Gil said and grinned at her.

"I don't know that, but I'm sure that you will become a dancer one day. A world-known one! And then everyone will want to have an interview with me, the very first girl to swing-dance with Gilbert Ford." Julia replied and patted him on the shoulder.

Before he could say anything, his sister Leslie grabbed his hand quickly and started dancing with her brother. Julia chuckled when she saw how Gilly rolled his eyes and then winked at her. They were always the best of chums ever since they were small roly-poly babies.

"Bathsheba!"

Julia turned around and saw that Rose was calling her. She was just about to make her way to her cousin but then realised that Rose was pointing at something. It was Troy, who was walking through the gate to the Ingleside's garden, looking around and glancing at Julia meaningfully.

Julia's eyes widened in surprise but she immediately ran after him. He looked so… cool, she thought when she saw him standing next to a cherry tree. And yet, why did he want to see her? Alone? Julia shivered at the very thought of it and felt how her heart started to beat faster and faster.

"Welcome back." Troy said when he saw her walking through the gate as quietly as she could.

"Thank you. And… how's life?" Julia replied trying to hide her excitement and rosy-red cheeks burning from emotions.

"So far, so good. Especially because you came back. I've missed you. I've never realised how good friends we are until you left, you know." Troy said in his low tone which always gave every girl in Glen a thrill.

Julia stood quite still, partially realising why Troy wanted to see her alone and feeling more and more unsure of keeping her own balance with her shaking legs.

"Well, of course we are, always were, I suppose." she replied decidedly after the moment of silence.

Troy took her hand gently and looked deeply in Julia's eyes making her blush even deeper. She didn't allow her hands to tremble but she couldn't hide how her eyes started to gleam. Only by then she really and truly realised (to her biggest surprise) that she was in love with Troy. How much she longed for him to kiss her and put his strong and big hands around her slim waist. It was her very first love and certainly a very exciting one too.

"Julia, can I ask you something?" he whispered, putting a strand of Julia's hair behind her ear gently.

"It depends." she whispered back and shivered under his touch and they both chuckled.

"Do you have a sweetheart somewhere?" he asked her with a serious look in his pitch-black eyes.

"No, I don't."

"But there has to be someone who tells you that you're the most beautiful creature in the world." he winked at her.

Julia's heart started to beat twice as fast when she was dancing with Gilly. She was positive that it will pop out of her chest in less than ten seconds.

"Not really, no." she whispered finally.

"Well then there has to be someone who tells you how lovely it is to kiss you." he continued.

"No because I've never been kissed. Why all of those questions?" she breathed out eventually, trying to concentrate on her own thoughts which seemed completely blank at the moment.

"Because…" he leaned towards Julia's face so that their foreheads could almost touch "I'm in love with you."

There, he said it! She wasn't quite sure if she just imagined it or whether she was dreaming or not. Whatever the case, she decided that she truly didn't care and that the only thing she was sure about was that she would get her first kiss any second now. And from no one else but Troy Rogers, just like she wanted.

"You are?" Julia smilled and raised her brow playfully.

"I'm afraid so." Troy replied and their lips met.

It was a very romantic but yet gentle kiss. There was something about it that it made her feel as if the whole world was just a product of her own imagination and that indeed there was nothing else in it except for that kiss. It was Julia's first after all, something you couldn't tell about Troy's experience with kisses. In this moment Julia thought that she couldn't be happier, that life couldn't get any better nor any worse. Her face was radiating with this belief.

Blythe was behind the apple tree at the back of the garden the whole time. He was listening to their every word and watching their every move with a mournful expression on his face. He couldn't believe that Julia could be so foolish to let Troy kiss her! Blythe knew Troy and never liked him for that matter. He was ready to jump out of his cache and punch the man in the face. Although he wouldn't admit it, even to himself, but his heart was breaking and his hopes were becoming more and more invisible as if they were behind a fog of uncertainty.

But Blythe wasn't the kind of man who liked violence. So he stayed where he was and whispered in a helpless tone: "Please, Lord, don't let him break her heart.", and he was right to say that, only neither him nor Julia was aware of that… yet.