When Nick, Julie and Jessica got back to the house, Jillian was waiting for them, smiling.
"I hope you guys are hungry," she said eagerly "we're all going into town for dinner tonight so go wash up."
"Where are we going?" Nick inquired.
"Oh that BBQ place your father likes," Jillian explained "the old fashioned one with the bar and those fancy butter rolls."
"What's so special about that place?" Julie whispered to Nick as they started up the stairs to get ready.
"Remember when you said my sneaking out to go to the river was "so Texas it hurt?" he echoed their conversation from yesterday "well this restaurant is gonna really pack a punch."
Nick was right. After showers and dressing up in her favorite green dress and high heels, the five of them drove off the property, passing through the large wooden gate and onto the main road into the closest small town. The restaurant was only a few miles from the road and looked like a run down shack with its peeling painted letters welcoming guests, its loose wooden boards on the side and it's large, loud crowd with booming voices carrying from the doorway out into the parking lot. Inside there was a large bar to the right but round tables to the left. An old jukebox was propped up in the corner playing some twangy music she couldn't indentify. There were flat screen TV's mounted on the walls near the bar displaying some sort of football game even though it was out of season. Nick's father got a table right away and Julie wondered if he had some sort of influence on the people here in town since he had been a judge for so many years.
They ordered food and had small talk about the weather, having spotted some darker clouds rolling in on the horizon when they left indicating an impending storm. Jessica raved about Julie's hard work with the horses today and Nick tried to make the work he did on the fence seem interesting but Jessica just rolled her eyes. When a familiar song came on the jukebox, Julie lifted her head, surprised but happy.
"I love this song," she told Nick "we should use this one on our playlist at the reception."
Nick paused to catch the song over the roaring dinner crowd but when he recognized it, he smiled and said "Oh yeah, good catch babe."
"So you kids got a date set for this thing?" Bill asked gruffly now.
"Not yet," Nick said "we were thinking sometime in May."
"Oh good," Bill said to their surprise "we can speak to reverend Franks at the church and get them set up with some sessions."
Julie glanced at Nick, worriedly.
"We're not doing that dad," Nick explained "Jules and I just want someone to officiate it, nothing fancy or churchy."
Bill just stared at his son in disbelief.
"That's not how we raised you," he said "people get married in churches, not Vegas drive through windows."
"There are plenty of nice places to get married in Vegas," Julie piped up defensively.
"Well you'll still need to speak to the reverend about pre marital counseling," Bill continued to push religion on them.
"I've been through them, twice," Julie chimed in "they really don't help."
"Your sisters did it, and so will you," Bill said to Nick, completely ignoring Julie "it's how you make sure everything's good you know, you discuss important stuff like money and kids, you can have kids can't you?"
He directed his question to Julie now who immediately felt her face grow hot with embarrassment.
"I can," she snapped "we've never talked about it, but if Nicky wants kid's then-
"I don't," Nick insisted "we're perfectly happy just the three of us, let's just talk about something else."
The silence that followed made the entire awkward discussion even worse. Julie picked at her food, not feeling hungry instead feeling her stomach churn unpleasantly with nervousness, anger and embarrassment.
After the awkward meal, when the waitress had cleared their table, another song Julie recognized came on the jukebox.
"I love this song," she whispered to Nick, leaning in close "let's go dance."
He glanced at the small dance floor near the jukebox where a few couples had meandered over to throughout the evening. He was silent as he offered Julie his hand which she enthusiastically took, dragging him out of his chair and onto the dance floor.
She felt at ease whenever they danced like this, swaying steadily with the rhythm, wrapped up in each others embrace, it took away the tension from dinner but she could still feel his parent's eyes on them as they moved.
After a few songs, they decided to call it a night. Bill paid the tab for the meal and they ambled back to the car. It was dark now, the low grey clouds no longer visible on the horizon but instead had mixed with the darkness to create a darker than usual sky. Back at the house, Jessica went upstairs to her room. Julie was still feeling playful, dancing her way into the kitchen still holding Nick's hand, leaning in, kissing him once then letting him spin her playfully around the kitchen. Despite her energy, she covered a yawn and rubbed her eyes.
"I'll be upstairs," she said now as Nick sat down at the kitchen counter looking at something on his phone.
"I'll be up there in a minute," he told her and she meandered up the large wooden stair case, gathering up her pajamas from her travel bag, passing through the open loft area to the bathroom to change. She slipped out of her heels but realized she forgot her toothbrush so she doubled back through the loft to retrieve it. Loud voices caught her attention.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure, why are you questioning everything we do?"
"She just doesn't seem right, married twice already, doesn't even want kids, that's not exactly a catch son."
Julie stopped, feeling her breath catch in her chest. Nick and his father were talking in the kitchen below, talking about her. She sank down onto the floor, peering cautiously through the railings, holding her breath, listening.
"None of that matters to me," Nick defended them "she's not like any one else I've ever been with, she listens, she understands me, she cares about every single person she meets, why isn't that enough for you?"
"Marriage isn't all the honeymoon phase," Bill explained "this fairy tale stuff won't last long, you know how many divorce cases I presided over, I just don't want that to happen to you."
"It won't," Nick insisted firmly.
"You can't be sure," Bill snapped back "come on son, wake up, you just felt sorry for her after that coma business, that's all, there's no future with that girl."
Julie couldn't stand it any longer. She crawled away from the railing, her heart shattering into a million pieces over what she just heard. She had to get away from here, right now. She glanced around the loft space, her eyes landing on the open window that lead to the covered porch roof. Quietly, she slipped back into her heels, grabbed the clutch bag she had used to carry her phone, wallet and smaller personal items, propped open the window, and slid right out of it and onto the porch roof. Her heels made tiny clicks on the roof top as she carefully slid over to the edge.
Glancing down, she made note of the distance between the ground and her current position, one story, no big deal. In one motion, she jumped, landing hard on the gravel surface below. Her ankle gave out from under her, sharp pain shooting up her leg but she bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. The pathway off the property was a few feet away so she started to hobble towards it, slowly but determined. After a few agonizing minutes she reached the entranceway, guarded by that ridiculous wooden gate. It was locked like Fort Knox but she blindly found one of the latches, shoving it hard with the palm of her hand, it wouldn't budge.
Frustrated and hurt, she kicked at it once, hard, her knee crashing against the wooden frame. The gate thrust forward, open at last but she could feel something sharp pierce her right knee, the warm blood running down her leg but she pressed on into the darkness, limping down the road and out of sight.