I spent the better part of the week focusing on nothing but the parade. Without Derek, I found myself drowning. I thought I could do it without him, and I probably could have if I still had Grace on my side. But I hadn’t heard from her since the day I confronted Lonnie at the diner, and I honestly wasn’t too surprised. Why would she want to have any kind of contact after all the horrible things I’d said to (and about) her husband?
I’d promised the Oakland Celebration Committee that I could handle the finer details alone, and I wanted to stay true to my word. But there was always this little voice in the back of my head that criticized every move I made. The voice, strangely enough, always sounded like Charlie’s.
“Kara,” I motioned for her to climb aboard the float. “Can you take your position for just a second? I need to get an idea of where we’re at.”
Kara, Matt’s new girlfriend, was the sweetest girl I’d ever met. She was Oakland High School’s Junior Class President, dance committee chair member, and a diplomatic representative in the Model UN. I still don’t know how their relationship sparked, but there’s no secret why she’d caught Matt’s eye. She was beautiful—5’6”, brunette hair, amber eyes, and a smile that could knock any guy off his feet. Furthermore, her amazing personality added to her charm. Just last spring she was voted the Oakland City Festival Queen. That, I’m sure, came with its own set of duties and obligations, which included being a participant in the holiday parades.
Kara climbed aboard her float and sat down on the throne. Bundled in her coat, scarves, gloves, and hat, she waved at the imaginary audience.
“How’s it look?” she called down.
“Perfect,” I gave her a thumbs up.
Grace stood on the float next to Kara’s throne, strategically placing flowers on either side.
Grace and I had been at the parade line-up since seven. It was now eight, and neither of us had spoken a word to the other.
Twenty minutes after I’d given Kara’s float the green light, the marching band stepped into place. The flautists were adjusting their mouth pieces to tune their instruments in the cold wind. The drummers were goofing off, shoving each other in the back of the line. The rest of the band warmed up their instruments with a melodic scale.
I glanced to the front of the line where the Grand Marshal float sat, and I watched as Luke climbed aboard. I finished giving instructions to the last of the group around me, and rushed over to greet him.
“Hey,” I said, calling up to Luke, “lookin’ great!”
“The float or me?” he jiggled his eyebrows. He offered his hand to help pull me up. I accepted his gesture, cupping his hand in mine, and jumped up on the wagon-turned-parade float. Standing next to him, he draped his arm over my shoulders and glanced back at the long line of cars and floats. “You’ve done an amazing job, kid.”
“Thanks,” I tried to tune out the marching band directly behind us. “I can’t stay. I have so much to do at the end of the line. Derek was supposed to….” I dropped my head and shrugged. “It’s chaotic; no one knows what’s going on.” Luke nodded as though he understood. “But I wanted to stop by real quick and say hi and thanks.”
“For what?”
“Doing this,” I said. “It means a lot to me… and… well, everyone else. You really deserved this—”
“Hey,” he spoke louder as the band behind us warmed up in unison. He watched as my stare lingered behind him, and he could obviously see that my mind wasn’t where it needed to be. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, “Just stressed.”
“About the parade, or Derek?”
I shrugged again for a second time. I didn’t know how Luke had found out that Derek was gone. I’d never told him. But in a town as small as Oakland, news traveled fast. I could only imagine the whole town knew he was gone within 24-hours of him pulling out.
He wrapped his arms around me, pulled me close, and brushed our noses together.
“Julie,” he nearly yelled, still trying to talk over the band. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine—”
“I know,” I matched his volume. As much as I wanted to stay and talk about how much pain I harbored at Derek’s sudden disappearance, I couldn’t neglect my duties as a member of the Oakland Celebration Committee. There were things that needed doing, and they wouldn’t get done without me. “I have to go now. They need me at the back of the line—”
“Go,” he said, letting me slip away. But before I could jump off the float, his hand wrapped gently around my wrist, and he twirled me back to him. Our chests pressed together, and I found myself breathing far too heavily. I didn’t know if it was Luke’s warm body against mine, or the freezing cold wind, but something left me numb and frazzled.
He leaned down and whispered something, but I couldn’t make out the words. Even that close, the band was far too loud to make out Luke’s whispers.
“What?” I yelled. He smiled, shook his head, and whispered again. “Luke,” I yelled again, pointing to my ears, “I can’t hear you, it’s too loud—”
“I love you!” he yelled, and this time everyone heard him. The band had stopped at the most inopportune moment, and everyone in the line-up—and even a few members of the gathering crowd—watched us with wide eyes and stupid grins.
I took a long, deep breath as I looked around, failing to meet his gaze.
“Julie,” Luke said, his voice much quieter now. He lifted his hands to cup my face. “Did you hear me?”
I couldn’t help but smile. Of course I’d heard him. The whole town had heard him.
“Julie!” Grace yelled from two floats over. “The 4-H float is overcrowded. They want help arranging their second unit—”
“I’m on it,” I nodded, but never looked at her. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Luke’s. “I’ll be right there.”
“Jules—”
“Can you just… hold that thought? I have to—”
“Go,” he smiled. “Do what you have to do. I’ll see you after the parade.”
With a quick and unexpected kiss, I took a step away from him and jumped to the ground. The warmth from his lips still tingled on my skin as I stumbled back to the end of the line.
It felt like a dream. I almost couldn’t catch my breath. My heart pounded inside my chest, louder with each passing second.
Luke… just… said… he… loved… me….
“Eh, Romeo!”
Charlie’s voice snapped me out of my trance. I whipped around to find him pushing through the crowd toward the Grand Marshal float.
“No,” I said under my breath, fighting to get back to Luke before my uncle made it there.
But Grace intercepted.
“Chief,” I barely heard her say, “glad you made it on time.” Charlie tried to push by Grace to reach the front of line, but she kept a firm grasp on his arm. “You’re representing the Oakland PD, sixth in line. Please get back to your patrol car.”
Charlie’s face was as red as I’d ever seen it, but he seemed to know better than to mess with Grace. He pointed up to Luke, not saying a word, but communicating a pretty clear message. Luke had crossed a line. But, minding Grace’s authority, Charlie turned on his heel and marched back to his car.
Grace turned and nodded to me with a slight grin. “Go get the 4-H kids squared away, sweetheart. I’ve got this end covered.”