Read Online Boy from the Woods (9781311684776) by Jen Minkman - Free Book Online

over to catch her
breath, then addressed him.
    “Excuse me.”
S he cleared her throat. “I’m here about
the job. Mr. Haider is expecting me at two.”
    The man turned
around. “Julia Kandolf?” he asked,
jovially extending a hand toward her. “I’m Martin Haider and I’m
the manager. Let’s go to my office.”
    Julia entered
the bookstore and followed her possible future boss to an office on
the second floor. She’d brought her resume, which Mr. Haider
skimmed through while she was sipping the unavoidable ‘job
interview’ cup of coffee. Every now and then he asked her a
question. She liked him – he had a sense of humor and he didn’t
just ask her the dime-a-dozen questions she was used to.
    “Who’s your
favorite author?” he wanted to know, handing her a second
cup of coffee she didn’t dare
refuse.
    Julia smiled. “Stefan
Zweig. He can turn one small slice of
life into something grandiose. He makes you think twice about
common things.”
    Martin nodded
enthusiastically, putting his signature on the form he’d been
filling out as if her answer had sealed the deal for him. He extended his hand once more. “Welcome to the team! Can you
start the day after tomorrow?”
    “Of course!” She beamed at him. “Thank you so
much.”
    “No problem. Happy to have you on board. One of your
colleagues will do the job orientation with you.” Martin slid the
form across the table. “Could you fill out your details and sign
here, please?”

    Once Julia had left the bookstore, she dug up her
phone to send Gaby a text about her successful interview. ‘1 new
message. voicemail,’ the display told her impassively. With
nervously twitching fingers, she closed the notification and
started to type out a message to her friend. After sending it off,
she took a deep breath and called her voicemail.
    “Hi Julia,”
Michael’s deep, sexy voice melted into her ear. “Of course I’ll be
home around three. Come and have tea with me! See you
later.”
    Brilliant move. Julia turned as red as a lobster. In less than
twenty minutes, she’d be having tea with her high school obsession
and ignoring all of Gaby’s warnings. Michael would most likely be
home alone, because his parents both worked full-time.
    Reluctantly,
she made her way off the square, wondering in despair where it had
all gone wrong. She’d been sort-of-ready to move on before she
became his savior in the forest. Why was she so impressed with the
fact he had stammered her name when she found him? So what ?

    When Julia
rang the doorbell of the big house on Giselakai at five to three,
all courage had left her. She had no idea what she was doing here.
Just to be polite, she’d listen to Michael’s expressions of
gratitude and get the hell out the second she could.
    “Grüss Gott ,” she stammered in
surprise when a woman in her fifties opened the door. She had
Michael’s green eyes. Julia thought she recognized the woman from
the graduation ceremony at school. “Is – is Michael
home?”
    “He’s expecting
you.” The woman extended her hand. “I
wanted to personally thank you, Julia. Without you,
things could have turned out quite differently.”
    “You are most
welcome.” She couldn’t stop a hint of
disappointment creeping into her voice. So this was the reason
Michael had invited her over. His mother wanted to thank her, plain
and simple. Julia wouldn’t be here with just Michael for company,
and he probably didn’t count on her staying for very
long.
    “Why don’t
you go and see him upstairs?” Michael’s mother made an inviting
gesture. “He’s in his room. And he’s doing much
better. His amnesia is gone.”
    Julia blinked at
her. “He... he’s got his memory back?”
Then why did he want to see her? He remembered everything about his
life – including the part where she had been completely
insignificant to him.
    The woman smiled
radiantly. “Yes! Isn’t it wonderful? Miraculous, even, according to the doctors.”
    The