There was a time when Julia had laughingly called her former friend Jolene, for her beautiful and voluptuous features perfectly matched those described in the song. But that was before Natalie had betrayed her. Now her beauty seemed harsh and cold.

As Julia stared at her, she noticed something painful about the way she was dressed-the vintage designer coat with the slightly frayed cuffs, the expensive boots that were worn and second-hand. On first glance, she looked rich and well dressed. But Julia glanced twice and saw what others could not see-the small town girl who was ashamed of her blue collar roots and wished to leave them far behind.

"Merry Christmas, Natalie. What can I get for you?" Diane, the waitress, leaned over the counter.

Julia watched as Natalie transformed from cold and sullen to cheerful and sunny, slipping into the local accent.

"Merry Christmas, Diane. I'll just have coffee. I can't stay long."

The waitress smiled and poured coffee, then moved to wait on a group of Tom's fellow volunteer firemen at the far end of the counter. As soon as her back was turned, Natalie's demeanor changed. She glared at Julia with hate-filled eyes.

"I need to talk to you."

"You have nothing to say that I want to hear." Julia moved to stand, but Natalie subtly gripped her wrist.

"Sit down and shut up, or I'll make a scene." Her voice was low, barely above a whisper. She smiled artificially. No one would know by looking at her that she was threatening Julia, who swallowed noisily and sat back down.

Natalie released her arm with a punishing squeeze. "We need to talk about Simon."

Julia's eyes darted toward the men's room, hoping that her father would reappear.

Natalie continued. "I'm going to a.s.sume that your recent misunderstanding with Simon was unintentional. You were upset; he said some things he shouldn't have, you called the police.

"Because of that misunderstanding, Simon now has a criminal record. I'm sure I don't need to explain why that record needs to disappear before he runs for state Senate. You need to fix the misunderstanding. Today."

Natalie smiled and flipped her hair behind her shoulder, acting as if she and Julia were engaged in a friendly conversation.

"There's nothing I can do," Julia mumbled. "He's already plea-bargained."

Natalie took a sip of her coffee. "Don't treat me like I'm stupid, Jules. I know that. Obviously, you need to tell the District Attorney that you lied. Explain that it was a lover's quarrel gone awry, you got your revenge, and now you feel bad about having made the whole thing up." She laughed a little too loudly. "Although, I don't understand how anyone believed that Simon could be interested in you. Look at you, for G.o.d's sake. You're a mess."

Julia bit back a harsh retort, deciding prudentially that silence was best.

Natalie leaned toward her, pulling the crewneck of Julia's sweater away from her throat with icy fingers. She examined Julia's neck carefully.

"There isn't a mark on you. Show the D.A. your neck and tell him you lied."

"No." Julia moved out of Natalie's reach, resisting the urge to show her the bite that she'd slathered with concealer that morning. She pulled her sweater further up her neck, pressing a hand over the place where Simon had bitten her. It was a phantom pain, she knew, but she could still feel where his teeth had broken skin.

Natalie dropped her voice to a whisper. "I'm not asking-I'm telling you." She pulled her BlackBerry out of her large handbag and placed it on the counter between them. "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this, but you leave me without a choice. I have pictures of you that Simon took. They're very...colorful."

Julia's eyes darted to the phone. She tried to swallow, but her mouth went dry. With a shaking hand, she lifted her gla.s.s to her lips, frantically trying not to spill her drink.

Natalie smiled, clearly enjoying the torture she was able to inflict on her former rival. She s.n.a.t.c.hed up the cell phone eagerly, scrolling through the pictures. "I could never figure out how he set up the shots without you knowing. Or maybe you knew but didn't care." She tilted her head to one side, narrowing her eyes at Julia. "Do you care if everyone in Selinsgrove sees these pictures on the internet?"

Julia scanned the eyes of the townspeople around them, hoping they hadn't heard Natalie's threat. At least no one was looking in their direction. Her first instinct was to run, to hide. But that strategy hadn't saved her from her mother when she was younger. Her mother always found her. It hadn't saved her from Simon, either. He'd been stopped only because Gabriel hit him back.

Julia was tired of hiding. She felt her spine stiffen.

"Simon's record is your fault. He came to see me to get the pictures. But you've had them all along."

Natalie smiled sweetly, but didn't deny the accusation.

"Now you want me to clean up your mess. But I'm not going to do it."

Natalie laughed. "Oh yes, you are."

She looked at the screen again, making a show of bringing it close to her eyes. "G.o.d, your t.i.ts are small."

"Did you know that Senator Talbot wants to run for President?" Julia blurted.

Natalie tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "Of course I know. I'm going to work for the Senator's campaign."

Julia gave Natalie a long look. "Now I understand. Simon's record will be a problem for the Senator, so you need it to go away. You screwed up."

"How's that?"

"If you release those photos, Simon will dump you so fast your head will spin. And you'll never get out of this town."

Natalie waved a dismissive hand. "He won't dump me. And the Senator will never know about the pictures."

Julia felt her heart beginning to race. "If I'm in those pictures, Simon is too. What will the Senator think of that?"

"Haven't you heard of a little program called Photoshop? I can edit Simon out and edit someone else back in. But I won't have to because you're going to be a good little girl and do the right thing. Aren't you, Jules?"

Natalie flashed a patronizing smile as she placed her BlackBerry back in her purse and stood to leave, but Julia stopped her.

"He'll never introduce you to his parents. He told me that. You can do better than being Simon's dirty secret."

Natalie's expression faltered, then hardened. "You don't know what you're talking about," she snapped. "He's going to give me exactly what I want and so are you. If you don't fix this problem today, I'm posting the pictures online. Enjoy your Christmas."

She started to walk away but Julia called after her. "Wait."

Natalie paused, looking at her former friend with undisguised contempt.

Julia took a deep breath and gestured to Natalie to come closer. "Tell Simon to make sure the Senator renews his subscription to The Washington Post."

"Why?"

"Because if you release those pictures, I'll call Andrew Sampson at the Post. You remember him, don't you? He wrote an article last year about Simon's DUI arrest and how the Senator intervened."

Natalie shook her head. "I don't believe you."

Julia clenched her fists stubbornly. "If you release the pictures, I have nothing to lose. I'll tell the newspapers that Simon a.s.saulted me, then sent the girl he keeps on the side to blackmail me."

Natalie's green eyes grew very wide then narrowed into serpentine slits.

"You wouldn't," she breathed.

"Try me."

Natalie stared in furious surprise before setting her teeth. "People have been walking all over you for years and you've done nothing. There's no way you're going to call up a reporter and spill your guts."

Julia lifted her chin, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Maybe I'm tired of being walked over." She shrugged dramatically. "If you release the pictures, you'll never work for the Senator's campaign. You'll just be part of an embarra.s.sing scandal they'll sweep under the rug."

Natalie's ivory skin flushed a deep, dark red.

Julia took advantage of her silence and continued. "Leave me alone, and I'll forget about both of you. But I'm never going to lie about what he did to me. I've lied to cover for him too many times, and I'm not doing it anymore."

"You're just angry that Simon chose me over you," Natalie spat, her voice becoming louder. "You were this pathetic, weak little girl who didn't even know how to give a decent b.l.o.w. .j.o.b!"

In the awkward silence that ensued, Julia realized that the other restaurant patrons had stopped talking. She looked around the room, utterly humiliated, as the townspeople stared. Everyone heard Natalie's crude revelation, including the Baptist minister's wife, who sat with her teenaged daughter in a quiet corner drinking tea.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Natalie hissed.

Before Julia could respond, Diane suddenly appeared at the counter. "Natalie, go on home. You can't come into my restaurant and talk like that."

Angrily, Natalie withdrew a few steps but not before muttering a few choice curse words. "This isn't over."

Julia lifted her chin. "Oh, yes, it is. You're too smart to jeopardize your future by doing something stupid. Go back to him and leave me alone."

Natalie stared daggers at her before turning on her heel and storming out.

"What's going on?" Tom suddenly appeared behind Julia. "Jules? What's wrong?"

Before she could respond, Diane told him an extremely sanitized account of what happened.

Tom cursed and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

She nodded reluctantly before running to the ladies' room. She wasn't sure how she'd ever be able to face the townspeople after what Natalie had shouted. Fighting nausea, she grabbed the top of the vanity for support.

Diane followed Julia into the washroom. She dampened some paper towels with cold water and handed them to her. "I'm sorry, Jules. I should have slapped her upside the head. I can't believe she'd talk that kind of trash in my place."

Julia was quiet as she slowly wiped her face.

"Honey, n.o.body heard a thing that girl had to say. It's noisy out there and everyone is talking about how the Santa Claus over at the mall got drunk on his lunch hour yesterday and tried to make out with one of the elves."

Julia cringed.

Diane smiled at her sympathetically. "You want me to make you a cup of tea or something?"

Julia shook her head and inhaled deeply as she tried to compose herself.

If any G.o.d is out there listening, please give all the people in Kinfolks restaurant amnesia, just concerning the past fifteen minutes.

A short time later she rea.s.sumed her place at the counter, next to her father. She kept her head down, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. It was too easy to imagine the entire restaurant whispering her sins and judging her.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said in a small voice.

He frowned and asked Diane for a fresh cup of coffee and a jelly doughnut. "What are you sorry about?" His voice was gruff.

Diane served them, patting Julia's arm sympathetically, and moved to wait on some tables in order to give them some privacy.

"This is all my fault-Deb, Natalie, the house..." She didn't want to cry, but somehow the tears welled up and she couldn't stop them. "I've embarra.s.sed you in front of the whole town."

Tom leaned toward her. "Hey, I don't want to hear that kind of garbage. You have never embarra.s.sed me. I'm proud of you." His voice broke slightly and he began coughing. "It was my responsibility to protect you, and I didn't."

Julia wiped a tear away. "But now your life is ruined."

He snorted. "I wasn't that attached to my life anyway. I'd rather lose the house and Deb than lose you. There's no contest. None."

He pushed the jelly doughnut in front of her and waited until she took a bite. "When I met your mother, I was happy. We had a few good years together. But the best day of my life was the day you were born. I always wanted a family. I'm never going to let anything or anyone separate me from my family again. You've got my word on that."

Julia smiled up into her father's face, and he leaned over and ruffled her hair.

"I'd like to swing by Deb's place to talk to her about what just happened. She needs to explain to her daughter how to behave in public. Why don't you phone that boyfriend of yours and ask him to pick you up? I'll see you at Richard's house later on."

Julia agreed and wiped her tears away. She didn't want Gabriel to see her crying.

"I love you, Dad."

Tom cleared his throat roughly, without looking at her. "Me too. Now finish your doughnut before Diane starts changing us rent."

Chapter 8.

Gabriel was only too glad to cut his Christmas shopping short. When he and Richard arrived at the restaurant, they walked over to the counter to join the Mitch.e.l.ls.

Julia stood up and hugged Gabriel tightly.

"What happened?" He frowned. "You've been crying."

"It's just the Christmas blues." Julia noticed uncomfortably that some of the restaurant patrons were still staring.

"What Christmas blues?"

"I'll tell you later." She began to tug him toward the door.

Richard took a moment to greet Tom, and while the two old friends were talking, Gabriel gently swept Julia's hair behind her ear in order to whisper something sweet.

A sudden flash caught Richard's attention-Grace's earrings. Clearly, he'd underestimated his son's new relationship. He knew that Grace would be happy that their son gave her earrings to Julia. Grace loved Julia liked a daughter and always considered her part of their family. Perhaps someday Gabriel would make Julia part of their family officially...