Chapter 95. Best Friends
At 5:30 on Wednesday evening, Julia and Nathan entered Gustave's, for a meeting with Alex and Gustave and a tasting of hors d'oeuvres, for their wedding reception. Not many patrons were present yet, so both Alex and Gustave could sit and talk with them for a little while. Then Gustave went back into the kitchen, and a short time after, plates began arriving for Nathan and Julia to try.
It was an enjoyable time of trying new things and even learning about each other. For example, Julia learned that Nathan didn't like horseradish, and Nathan learned that Julia didn't like liver. And neither of them liked mussels.
Each time a new dish would arrive they would try to figure out what it was before Alex could explain. And more often than not, they were way off in their guesses, which made for a lot of laughs. On her notepad, Julia took note of what they liked and didn't like. And they built a pretty robust and elegant menu, together.
As they were tasting, the restaurant began to fill up with patrons, as well as many of Nathan's trainees. And, when Nathan and Julia were almost finished with their sampling, to Julia's surprise, Faith and Fiona came in again.
They approached Nathan and Julia's table. "Wow, look at all these plates." Faith said, surprised. "How is the tasting going?" Julia had mentioned their meeting to her colleague earlier in the day.
"Everything was really good." Nathan told them.
Julia crinkled up her nose, "Except the mussels, and the liver."
"Oh, can't blame you there." Fiona told them.
"You guys wanna join us? We just finished the last dish, so we're all done." Julia told them.
Fiona and Faith happily sat down and asked about some of the remnants of certain dishes still present on the table. While Julia and Nathan were deep in their explanations, Jake and Ben came in, and started hanging out with some of the trainees. Though, the two fellas made their way around the tables, and eventually...ended up with Nathan and Julia, and Faith and Fiona. The table became too small though, so the guys pulled up a second one.
"Did you just finish your rounds, Jacob?" Julia asked her handsome big brother.
"Sure did. Everything is in order, sis." He said with a cute little mock salute.
Julia giggled and offered him a taste. "Would you guys like some mussels?"
Jake turned up his nose. "Julia, you know better than anyone. You can tempt me with fish, or crab, or lobster. Or even clams…" He trailed off hungrily with a glance toward the kitchen. "But I'll pass on the mussels."
"Me, too." Ben said with a wave of the hand. Though Jake did grab clean forks off the table behind them, and they went to town on some other things that were left from the tasting.
Jake started his cute, clever antics, by making up names to dishes, "I like this…cold roasted aubergine stew in a fancy little glass."
Julia giggled, "That's ratatouille!"
Then Ben ventured, with a his own mischievous smile. "And these little black-eyed onion pizzas…so chic."
Julia giggled again. She looked on her notes and told him, "That's called Pissaladière. Like pizza, but with caramelized onions, olives, and anchovies."
"Tasty." Ben said. Faith and Fiona tried it too.
Fiona picked up a cute little open-face sandwich. "And, this cheese walnut decorated toast."
Nathan smiled and shook his head. "I think that's about the only thing on this table that doesn't have it's own name. It's simply baguette with goat cheese, fig jam, and half a walnut."
Fiona laughed, but she liked it. "Yum."
They each tried a few more things, and gave their opinions. Julia was glad to hear their feedback, about the dishes.
Soon, Sarah came around and took everyone's dinner order. Julia and Nathan didn't order anything else, they were stuffed already. Though, Nathan ordered two nice glasses of red wine, for he and Julia to drink with their friends.
Over dinner, the conversation was bright and interesting with this lively group, and everyone enjoyed themselves. Nathan looked around the table, thankful for these friends. It wasn't all that long ago, about a year to be exact, that he had felt all alone. Back then, his only confidant had been Elizabeth, and his only true friend, Bill. But now, Nathan was a fiancé, an almost brother-in-law, a comrade, a mentor, and a friend.
To Julia's surprise, a friendship seemed to be developing between both Fiona and Jake, and Faith and Ben. Both of those pairings had come out of nowhere, but somehow made sense. Julia had only one concern, and it was for Faith. What would happen when it came time for Ben to return to Benson Hills?
At the end of the evening, Faith and Fiona said good night, and walked home. Ben headed upstairs to his room at the hotel. And Jake, Julia, and Nathan walked out together. Jake said his good night at the corner and headed up the back stairs of the mercantile, to his apartment. And, Nathan happily walked Julia home.
When they got there, Julia made herbal tea and they sat under the stars again, and talked. Each of these two people were a faithful place for other, to confide and share and bloom. And tonight, it was Nathan who confided. He told her everything about the last few days with his training class. For a guy who was supposed to be short on words, he always shared easily and thoroughly with Julia. He poured it all out, and Julia soaked it all up. She thought Nathan was like an oyster shell. Guarded and strong. But once cracked open, revealed a beautiful pearl, a treasure of great price. And she felt privileged to be privy to its beauty.
Nathan sat back in his chair, looked over at Julia, and realized something very significant. He had known it for a long time, but somehow it hit him more profoundly tonight: he could share anything with Julia. He, who had often found it hard to put feelings into words, and who sometimes found it difficult to express himself, never had an issue in Julia's presence. With her he felt safe, and loved, and accepted. And with her, he could be himself. He could share, and share freely. How wonderful it felt after so many years of keeping things bottled up, of having no one to talk to.
He realized something else in that moment, sitting on her little back porch, sipping tea under the stars. Not only was Julia his true love, she was also his best friend. The best friend he'd ever had, in fact. And this friendship, which was so precious to him, was special. It could be all at once sweet, strong, abiding and supportive, like right now. Or it could be many different things at many different times: one instant, loving and endearing, at another, fun and playful, or at a completely different moment, loyal and steadfast.
And then, in the blink of an eye, their love could light on fire and burn bright with emotion and attraction. Deep abiding friendship could turn passionate and fan into flame. It was a mystery, a beautiful amazing mystery.
When the hour was late, Nathan stood. He turned and moved to Julia, and wrapped her in his arms. He held her fast and was overwhelmed with emotion, after such contemplation. He pulled back just enough to look intensely at her. "Jules, thank you for listening."
Julia loved these times of talking. "It's my pleasure, my love." She told him low. "It's a treasure to share things with each other. And I love when you share with me."
"I realize something and I want you to know." Nathan placed his hand tenderly on her cheek and looked deep into her eyes. "You are my best friend, Jules. My best friend."
Julia felt her pulse pick up at his sweet confession. Butterflies took flight and went clear to her toes. She felt exactly the same way about him. He was also her best friend, her closest confidant and the very first person she wanted to tell, when anything happened in her life. Nathan was the first person she wanted to lay eyes on in the morning, and the last person she wanted to see as she closed her eyes at night.
So she tried to answer, wanted to requite his confession. But her emotions were running high, making her tongue thick, and making it hard to express what her heart was screaming on the inside of her.
"Nathan." Her voice cracked as she said his beautiful name. "You are…my everything. And my best friend, too."
On Thursday afternoon, Julia and Faith closed up early. They had a date at the barber shop with Fiona. Julia was going to try some different hairstyles for the wedding, and Faith was going to try out a whole new way to wear her hair. And most importantly, they were going to spend some fun girl time, together.
Though, when Faith and Julia arrived at the barber shop, it was all locked up. And that was strange. Faith knocked and they waited, but there was absolutely no sound from within. Julia looked through the windows, and didn't see any movement inside either. Fiona was nowhere to be found.
Julia had a feeling in the pit of her stomach. She and Faith apprehensively turned back towards the infirmary, but first, made a bee-line for the Mountie office. Both ladies thought it best to alert Jake. The door was open, so they walked right in.
"Hi Jake." Julia said as they entered. He looked up from his paperwork and smiled.
"Hi, sis. Faith. How's it going?" He asked, but his face soon fell as he read the concern on his sister's face.
"It was going very well, until just now. Faith and I were supposed to meet Fiona down at the barbershop about 15 minutes ago, but she didn't show up." Julia told him, the concern growing now.
Jake stood. "That's not like her." He asked them, "Do you think she got held up at the oil rig?"
Faith answered, "Perhaps. But as you said, it's really not like her. If she was going to be late, she would have called. They have a phone out there."
"Well, let's call out there now. See if we can get her." Jake told them. He went straight to the phone, picked it up, and asked Allie to connect the call. It rang and rang out at the oil rig office, but no one answered. Jake thanked Allie and hung up.
Jake looked worried. Julia peeked out the door of the Mountie office and looked up and down both sides of the street. And there, crossing the street towards the cafe, was Mike. "Oh, there's Mike, I'll ask him." And off she went to inquire after Fiona.
"Mike!" Julia called out and stopped him in the street. "Have you seen Fiona?"
Faith and Jake were hot on Julia's heels. Faith added, "She was supposed to meet us at 4 o'clock." It was now almost 4:30.
"Yea sure, I saw her, just before noon. She was working in the office out by the oil rig. She mentioned meeting you girls, and had her day all planned out so she could finish early." Mike told them.
"Is there anything going on out there that would have detained her?" Jake asked, the concern growing.
"No. Henry is working in our town office today." Mike told them. "When I left her, Fiona was alone out there and supposed to close the rig office at 3:30. From there, she was going drop the payroll list to Henry for approval, and then meet you girls."
Jake's heart clinched in his chest. He went into Mountie mode. "Let's go ask Henry, then. Maybe she was detained in the town office?" Jake told them. And off they walked, towards Henry's office.
Julia and Faith waited outside while Mike and Jake went in to talk to Henry. They came out five minutes later, with worried looks.
Jake had a bad feeling deep in his guts. He reported back to them. "Fiona never showed with the payroll list. She hasn't been seen all afternoon, and still doesn't answer the phone out there." He paused and looked at Julia and Faith. "I'm gonna ride out to the oil rig office and look for her."
Mike spoke up. "I'll come with you, Jake."
"And Faith and I will stay by the phone in the infirmary." Julia was thankful for her brother. He was strong and level-headed, especially in times of stress. "Call us as soon as you can, Jake." Julia told him, and he and Mike hurried off towards the livery.
When Mike and Jake arrived at the oil rig office, the door was standing wide open. Jake pulled out his handgun, peered carefully around the doorframe, and slowly proceeded inside. A lamp was on its side and papers were strewn across the floor. Evident signs of a struggle, and Mike looked at Jake.
A disturbing aura hung thick in the air. Jake's heart was in his throat.
He continued farther into the office, and Mike followed. The room was clear, so Jake holstered his handgun.
But when Mike moved over behind the desk, he realized something very serious, something very, very alarming…
He motioned Jake over. Neither said a word.
The safe was standing wide open, and had been emptied completely. Not a cent was left inside.
Jake glanced back again at the lamp. The room told tale of a struggle.
And there was utterly, gut-wrenchingly, no sign of Fiona…