Read Online A Message for Julia by Angel Smits - Free Book Online

admit it.
    â€œTwenty. Yeah, I know. Not much older, and I’ve been married almost two years. But I—”
    â€œFeel older?”
    â€œYeah. Especially right now. When Rachel and I first got married, I thought we were on top of the world and could do anything we wanted.” Linc remembered that feeling. Suddenly his mind filled with memories fromhis own wedding day. He couldn’t remember a time in his life he’d been that nervous. That had scared him even more than being stuck down here did.
    â€œBut? What happened?”
    â€œLife happened, man. We didn’t exactly plan to have kids so soon. She’s been going to college at night. She wants to be a nurse.” Mike’s pride exploded in the cavern. “She can’t do that if I’m not there to help her.” His pride vanished and fear took its place.
    â€œDon’t sell her short.” Linc had always thought Julia couldn’t survive without him. That damned male ego she was always accusing him of having. Okay, he was a guy. He knew that. He liked it. She was disgustingly right, though. She’d apparently done fine without him this week, as she hadn’t come home, and that knowledge made him ache.
    â€œWhen Rachel got pregnant she was actually mad at me for a week.” Mike didn’t sound like that bothered him too much. “But she got over it once she realized we were actually going to have a baby.” His voice hitched.
    â€œUntil the morning sickness hit,” Linc offered, then realized what he’d just confessed.
    â€œDidn’t know you had kids.”
    Linc swallowed the pain in his throat. “We…we don’t. Julia miscarried. Five months along.” They’d never discussed it with anyone outside of her family.
    â€œMan, that’s tough.” Mike’s voice came out way too soft. Linc had to change the topic or Mike was going to fall back into that depression he’d felt earlier.
    â€œDo you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Linc asked, knowing that wasn’t what he’d meant to say. “Boy.”
    â€œThat they’re going to name after me,” Ryan yelled from the other side of the cavern.
    â€œQuit eavesdropping, brother.”
    â€œI can’t help it.” Ryan reappeared. “We’re sorta stuck here together.”
    The brotherly banter made Linc smile. His own brother had left years ago, and he hadn’t heard from him since. He missed it, he realized, thinking back on the years before his dad died. When they’d played together, teased each other, been a family.
    Was that what Julia had wanted? The thought surprised him. He’d never bothered to ask her. And she’d never bothered to tell him. Or maybe he hadn’t been listening.
    He closed his eyes and, for the first time since the cave-in, let himself picture her as she had been back when he’d decided to act on his longtime attraction to her. He remembered it all so clearly. They’d been walking across campus that day. Tiny snowflakes had fallen from the leaden clouds and landed softly in her hair. He’d been fascinated by the sight. Even now his fingers itched to reach out and touch the thick copper-gold curls.
    At that point, Julia hadn’t seemed to even notice him and he’d been doing his best to ignore the attraction he felt for her.
    Attraction. Hell, he’d been besotted with her. Did anyone even use that word anymore? His nights incollege had been populated with hot dreams and cold showers. He remembered their first kiss. After a successful tutoring session, she’d launched herself at him in a thank-you hug that had quickly turned to something else. Something sweet and hot that had kept them close for long, endless minutes. He could still taste her and his body ached to hold her, touch her again.
    Looking back, he realized that in all the years they’d been together, that day was probably the only time he’d