Two weeks later, Julie found herself on a plane with Nick on their way to Texas, more specifically the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth where his parents resided. When they had gathered their luggage and exited the airport gate, Julie was wondering if they were going to rent a car to drive to his parents when a high pitched voice yelled out for Nick.
"There you are!" a woman with short dark hair was now hurtling towards them, beaming with open arms as she embraced Nick. This had to be one of his sisters.
"Hey Jess," Nick greeted her.
"It's been too long kid," Jessica said, slightly hurt at the time that had passed since their last visit. "You haven't seen any of my new babies come through the stables."
"I can't wait," Nick said thinking of the horses Jessica had.
"You must be Julie," Jessica said turning her attention to Julie now, shaking her hand with both of hers "Nicky told us all about you, do you like horses?"
"Oh definitely," Julie said with excitement "I've always wanted one but I never really had a chance to be around them, I just remember being obsessed with them when I was a kid."
"You'll love em' Jessica said finally showing that Texas accent in her excitement "come on, mom and dad are waiting."
She helped carry some of their luggage to her shiny pick up truck that was parked in one of the airport lots. Despite the rural vibe she gave off, Jessica had a modern vehicle, I-phone and GPS unit in her car. During the drive she chatted all about Nick's parents and his other sisters who were "too busy" to stop by so it would just be the five of them for the next few days. Julie felt slightly calmer now that she would only have to meet a few of Nick's family members.
The further on they drove, the more rural the landscape got. Until Jessica made a sharp turn and suddenly they were passing through an enormous wooden gate that surrounded a monumental chunk of land. Julie couldn't tell where it ended. She could see a mansion size house, a large barn, the stables Jessica mentioned, a few patches of land for a garden and a swimming pool. Never in a million years would she have guessed Nick having family this rich and the property only enhanced her fears of what was waiting for them inside.
The truck came to a stop, kicking up large clouds of dust as they got out. The house facing Julie was indeed larger than she expected. It had a giant wrap around porch with rocking chairs and benches. There was a flat roof covering the porch and a second floor with windows at the level of the porch roof. Iron décor was placed here and there on the porch and walls of the house. A Texas state flag was perched on a pole jutting out from one of the beams. Julie felt an odd chill go through her body despite the warm temperatures outside. The trio wound their way up the stone walkway, onto the porch and through two large wooden front doors with glass panes.
Just like at the airport, Jessica yelled loudly for her parents. In the brief moment before they arrived, Julie caught a glimpse of a spacious living room to her right filled with two big couches and several large cushiony arms chairs, a large screen TV was perched above a stone fireplace. To her left there was a large modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances; there were pots and pans hanging from a large shelf. Just above the kitchen was an open space and Julie caught a glimpse of a loft space overlooking the space below. She felt overwhelmed by the space until unfamiliar voices called back to them.
"Bill the kids are here!" Nick's mother called for her husband, as she entered the room first. Julie instinctively moved aside so Nick could hug his mother but he held onto her hand so she was awkwardly part of the hug.
"Hi sweetie," Nick's mother Jillian said acknowledging Julie in her greeting "we are so happy to finally get to meet you."
"I'm here, I'm here," Nick's father said, entering the room before Julie could answer his mother.
The entire greeting process was a lot of hugging from Jillian and hand shakes from Bill.
"How's San Diego treating you?" Bill asked Nick.
"It's been great," Nick said "I get tons of vacation time now, more time to spend in Vegas with Jules and Sam."
"Oh I forgot you kids are doing the long distance thing," Bill said "well once you get a bigger space out there son, you can move on out there too."
He nodded at Julie who was torn at what to say.
"I'm good in Vegas, really," she said "I still have work and Sam and our friends."
But Bill just stared at her in disbelief. Julie felt awkward so she let her gaze drop to the shiny red cedar floor waiting for someone else to speak.
"So, who's hungry?" Jillian declared now, breaking the awkward silence at last.
A/N: Awkward doesn't even begin to sum up the way I felt writing this but it's important for the story and puts a strain on what was a smooth, hassle free relationship for Nick and Julie.