"What's going on here?" she asks.

"Whaddya mean?"

She raises her eyebrows and waves her arm around indicating Will, Tommy, Maria.

"Oh, Will comes in here all the time now, don't ya handsome?" Maria says flirtatiously, a twinkle in her eye. Will leans down and kisses Maria on the cheek, making the portly fifty-year-old waitress blush.

Julia opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. She's absolutely stunned by this turn of events, and begins to laugh. Nothing could've surprised her more!

"What?" Will grins.

"How long have you been coming here?"

"Oh, a few months now. I work at the boatyard and usually stop here for breakfast."

The boatyard?

"When did you start working there?"

"In April," he says, the corners of his mouth turning down a fraction of an inch.

"Oh."

"What will you two loves have today?" Maria seats them by the window, "The usual?" They both nod. "Got it."

"Jules, I really am so sorry for your loss. I only met her that one time...I'm glad I did. She must've been very special."

Her eyes fill with tears remembering how her tiny grandmother pointed her finger at Will when she brought him to the house, telling him to treat Julia right, then reached up, pinched his cheeks and winked before shoving a bowl of meatballs into his hands.

"Thanks, Will," she pauses, "You know, my conversation with her, last night..." her voice trails off...was it really last night? She turns away from him, her eyes unfocused. "Our last conversation was about you."

Will takes her hand in his and raises his eyebrows, expectantly. She hesitates, then smiles and shakes her head, wrinkling her nose. She doesn't want to share what Gram said with him yet, and resting her head in her free hand, looks out the window at the boats bobbing in the harbor.

The funeral home is overflowing. Julia's grandmother was a beloved woman in the community and the line of mourners extends out the door and around the corner.

Will still doesn't know what her grandmother said to Julia, but it brought her back to him and he'll always be grateful.

Thank you, Gram.

Beside the coffin are pictures of her family, the photos her grandmother had hanging in her tiny parlor. Will smiles when he notices the photograph of Gram and Joe Montana displayed prominently by her side.

When he went to her grandmother's for meatballs, Will saw the picture and questioned Julia. Someone had pasted her grandmother's face on a much younger woman's body in the picture. Julia said her uncle made it and explained her eighty-five year old grandmother was desperately in love with the thirty-year-old pro quarterback. He burst out laughing and Julia said, "Hey! Joe could return the feelings. You never know!"

Tonight, Julia is standing beside her cousins in the receiving line, wearing a plain black dress, hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face pale. She's anxious about spending time with her father and stepmother tonight and asked him to stay until the end of the wake. Except for once at the hospital, this is the first time she's been in their company since before their falling out last Christmas.

Will still can't believe her father, any father for that matter, would call his daughter and tell her to not come to Christmas dinner, explaining that it would make his new wife uncomfortable. He's been watching the interaction between Julia and her dad all night. There's no warmth there, even in this time of sorrow.

He wants punch her father in the face and make him feel real pain, then wrap his arms around Julia and protect her from his cruel indifference. She once said she'd never forgive him for leaving her mother or for siding with her stepmother, but he can see the hurt in her eyes. If her father showed remorse and tried to make things right, Julia would forgive him. She's stubborn, and can hold a grudge, but she's also forgiving. The fact that he's here is proof.

"You know, you really hurt her." Gabby takes a seat beside him in the back of the funeral parlor.

"I know," Will says and cringes, waiting for the verbal onslaught. He's always appreciated Gabby's candor, she reminds him of Ellie that way, but tonight he steels himself for her wrath. She must hate him after what he did to Julia. He deserves whatever she throws his way.

"How do I put this delicately?" she pauses, contemplative. "Sorry, not possible. Your friends are assholes."

"I know." He nods his head, contrite.

They sit in silence for a minute.

"I don't think you're an asshole," she says, elbowing him.

"Thanks Gabby," he smiles, taken aback. That's a good sign.

"Don't get me wrong, Will, I think you're an asshole around those people you call friends, but not deep down. You know what I'd do if I were you? Cut the cord. Those people are only going to drag you down to their level."

Will looks at his hands, and nods. He's been thinking the same thing and wants to put as much distance as possible between himself and Poppasquash.

"You want to know what I think?"

His eyes grow wide, he's not sure he wants to know, but Gabby continues.

"I think she makes you a better person. And I think you know that."

"Yeah. She does." He bobs his head in agreement. What's Julia's nickname for Gabby again? Buddha?

"Everyone is entitled to make a mistake. That wedding was yours. You don't get to make another one of that magnitude." Gabby pauses, "Look...I know this is none of my business, but I love Julia and she cares about you. In all the years I've known her, Julia has never let her guard down for any man. Only you."

"Is that true?" Tears prick the back of his eyes and he quickly looks down.

"I've never seen her as happy. Or as sad," she says, solemnly.

He rests his head in his hands, and discreetly wipes a tear away.

"You made a huge mistake at that wedding, Will. She was finally ready to open up to you that night. Did you know that?"

Will closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and shakes his head. He felt it, but he didn't know for sure.

"Do you have any clue how hard that was for her? As I'm sure you've noticed by now, trust doesn't come easily for Julia. She thought she knew you, but after the wedding she felt like she didn't know you at all. She doesn't trust herself or her judgment, which is really sad."

They sit together in silence while Will rubs his throbbing temples.

I hurt her. Julia doesn't trust me.

Gabby isn't saying anything he doesn't already know. But hearing it from someone else, her best friend, is painful.

"So, Will...what's your plan? I'm trying to help you, but...I don't know..." she hesitates, "It might be too late."

"Why do you say that?" he asks, startled. Too late?

"She started dating someone when she went back to New York."

Will gasps, his eyes wide. Gabby knocked the wind right out of him.

"She's dating someone?" he whispers.

"Oh, Will..." she smiles and pats his knee, "Did you think she'd always be available? Julia's the real deal, but you already know that. I think you two could have something special." Gabby looks directly into his eyes, "Don't fuck it up."

She stands abruptly and walks away.

She's dating someone... Of course he knew it was a possibility. Lots of men have probably asked her out, but she never talks about that part of her life, and he doesn't like to think about the men she meets in New York.

He's been in denial.

He's had the opportunity to date other women over the past year, but hasn't wanted to, especially since April. Julia's been on his mind constantly, and the few women he's met don't interest him at all.

He wants to know about the guy she's seeing. Is it serious? He can't ask her, but the question is gnawing at his stomach. He can't stand the thought of another man touching her. His heart aches knowing he's responsible for this, he pushed her into someone else's arms.

Gabby seems to think he still has a chance with Julia. That's promising, but if he has to settle for friendship, he has only himself to blame.

Ellie's home for the holiday weekend and Will pulled her aside almost the second she walked through the door, and lead her down to the dock near their parent's house. This has always been their spot, where they share confidences and dispense advice to one another.

He needs to come up with a plan to gain Julia's trust. Since the wake, he's spent a lot of time with Julia, but she's kept him at arm's length.

"What should I do, El?"

"I'm not sure what you're asking, Will. She's forgiven you, which makes her a better person than me! Or is it 'than I?' I can never remember..."

"Nice Eleanor. Way to make a guy feel good."

"William, it's going to take time for her to trust you again. If she didn't care about you she wouldn't have shown up at the house the morning her grandmother died. She wouldn't have asked you to stay with her after the wake. She wouldn't take the time to see you at all after that nightmare wedding you took her to. Time. Just keep doing what you're doing!"

"I'm moving to DC next week," he sighs, lying down on the dock, "That doesn't give me much time."

"Did you think you were going to win her heart in a week?" she laughs, "And then what? Disappear for weeks at a time?" Ellie lies down beside him, her arms behind her head, "The situation is different now."

"How so?"

"You two had a fire raging and you doused it pretty good. Is the spark still there?"

"For me, yes. I'm not sure about Julia. We get close, then she pulls away."

"Sorry, brother, I don't have any words of wisdom for you. If it's meant to be, it'll be. You can't force this to happen. You can't make her trust you."

He sits up and grabs a rock, throwing it forcefully into the water. That's not what he wanted to hear. He thought Ellie would be able to help him.

"I'm curious, why are you so anxious to turn this into a relationship now?" she asks. "You weren't in any hurry over the past year. Why now?"

He pauses, considering whether he should tell her, then sighs.

"She's seeing someone in New York. At least, she was. I'm pretty sure she hasn't seen him since May."

"How do you know this?" Ellie sits up, her eyes narrowing, "Did Julia tell you?"

"No, she hasn't mentioned him at all. Her friend Gabby told me at her grandmother's wake."

"And now you're desperate to declare your feelings to her?" Ellie lifts an eyebrow, "Because you're afraid she's going to run off with another guy?"

He stares at his sister, his brows drawn together and Ellie rises, shaking her head.

"Fucking men!" she hisses, and walks back to the house.

Julia's floating on a raft in her pool beside Gabby and looks at the sky, watching the clouds transform as they drift by. She studies the billowing white shapes above her. I see a mermaid...I see a horse. She spent hours playing this game when she was little. There goes a shark and a monkey...

It's been a month since her grandmother's funeral and she's seen Will almost daily since then, but she doesn't want to think about him right now. All she wants is to relax, but Gabby is making it impossible.

"Jules, Will is crazy about you. What do you want to do?"

"Right now? I want you to close your mouth and leave me alone. Let me float in peace in my sea of tranquility."

"Sea of tranquility?" Gabby jumps up and down in the pool, making waves, and splashing Julia, "How's that for tranquility?"

"Okay, okay! Stop!" Julia shouts. With resignation, she realizes there will be no peace today, at least not until Gabby gets some answers. "I don't know what I want. I enjoy his company. How's that?"

"An unacceptable response." Gabby's lips are pursed, a furrow forming between her brows, "Julia, your grandmother's last words, Follow your heart! What does your heart tell you?"

Julia raises an eyebrow. She doesn't trust her heart. She let down her guard, and opened herself up to Will, only to have him prove she may have been right about love all along.

"My heart says it's confused and to leave it alone. Why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Are we back there? Really, Julia? Sweetie, you're gonna have to open your heart to someone, sometime," Gabby sighs, "Why not Will?"

"Because of the Montagues and the Capulets."

"Who?"

"From Romeo and Juliet. We're star-crossed lovers, from different worlds, just like in Romeo and Juliet, and look how that turned out!"

"Oh my god. You're comparing your situation to Romeo and Juliet? Your families are not at war! Julia, please take this seriously," Gabby begs. "Please? For just one minute?"

"Why does this matter so much to you? We're talking about my love life here, not yours! Ever since Gram's funeral you've been pushing Will on me. Why? You hardly know him!"

"I want you to take a risk for once! Tear down the goddamned wall you've built, like they did in Berlin, one cement block at a time."

"Nice touch, Gab. Trying to lure me in with a history reference. Can't you see that I don't need a man to be happy? I'm quite content on my own, thank you."