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“Huh.” Alex walks over to his loveseat and sits down, having abandoned his effort to button his shirt. “Well, I have no idea whether that’s true or not. But Julia… it’s none of our business. You have to know that.”
Despite his rational and well-intended reaction, I’m not willing to let it go. “Aren’t you going hunting tomorrow?” I ask him, knowing full well that Sebastian might be there. After all, he and Alex run in the same social circles.
My brother’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “So what if I am? How does that have anything to do with all of this?”
There’s this feeling of anxiousness in me that has my heart pounding, but I try to keep my cool. I’ve already shown Alex how worked up I am by barging in without knocking, so I don’t want him to think I’ve lost all common sense. Slowly, I join him on the loveseat, keeping my tone casual as I say, “I’m sure Seb will be there, is all.”
“How can you be so sure?” Alex demands, clearly still unsure of what I’m getting at. “Julia, I’m not going to harass this poor man while he’s trying to relax on a hunting trip. He’s been through enough.”
“I know that!” With my heart in my throat, I turn to look my brother full in the face. “It’s not Sebastian I want to talk to. It’s his dad.”
Alex huffs. “Julia–”
I hold up a hand to stop him. “I know you think it’s a bad idea, but please just make sure he is on the hunting trip. I need to speak to his dad without Sebastian finding out.”
“Why exactly? What are you up to?” Alex asks, his eyebrows furrowing.
Frustration threatens to make me snippy, but I keep it under control. Alex has every right to be suspicious of me. “I’ll tell you after, but I need you to promise me that Sebastian will be with you, and if he doesn’t show up, that you will let me know. Okay?”
After some insistence, Alex finally agrees, but he reminds me to be careful. I know there’s no turning back now. I'm going to confront Sebastian’s Dad, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
Grabbing my hand before I can leave his room, Alex lowers his voice, his tone serious. “I know you’re tired of hearing this, but please don’t do anything crazy. You might care for Sebastian, but blowing up his family even more than it already is certainly isn’t the way to go.”
Swallowing, I nod. “I know what I’m doing. I finally see a way out of this mess that Mom has gotten me into, and I plan on attacking the problem head on.”
He tells me that he loves me, and then I’m back in the hallway, walking back to my room with all sorts of thoughts cascading through my head. So much has happened in the last hour that I barely know how to comprehend it, but I’m still not going to back down.
My heart is racing as I lie in bed later that night, unable to sleep as I think about what’s to come. It would be so easy for Sebastian’s dad just to turn me away, but I don’t think that he will. There’s the fear that he might be too sick to talk to me, or that showing up might shock him and be a detriment to his health, but I know that I have to be brave. I have to face this head-on, no matter what the outcome may be.
24
Julia
“He’s here,Julia. I just pulled in and I see his car.”
I blow out a relieved breath, holding my cell phone to my ear. “Thank you so much, Alex. I owe you.”
“You always owe me,” he responds, amused. “But I’ve got to go. The deer aren’t going to wait on me.”
We tell each other goodbye and I hang up, tucking the phone back into my small purse and gazing out the window of the car. Once again, I had to call a cab, since I don’t want my mother tracking my movements all the time, but it’s becoming tedious. I make a mental note to have Alex take me car shopping and help with some driving practice.
It’s early afternoon and I’m already parked across the street from the Van den Bosch estate. A single cab sitting so close has to look suspicious, and with all the horrible things that have happened to the family lately, I know I won’t go unnoticed for long. The iron gates are obviously closed and the only way to get them open is to speak to the security on the intercom.
After heaving a long sigh, I get out of the car, and press the intercom button, not having much of a choice if I want those damn gates to open for me.
“Good afternoon,” I hear from the speaker. “Who are you and what’s the reason for the visit.”
“I’m Julia Van Dieren and I’m here to speak to Johannes,” I answer just as mechanically.
“Very well. Do you have an appointment, Miss?”
I pause for a moment, an answer forming in my head. “No, but kindly inform him that I am aware of the true reason why he asked Sebastian to break up with me. I’m sure that information will trump any potential appointments.”
I don’t hear any other sound coming from the intercom, but after a few instants, to my surprise, the gates start slowly opening and I waste no time in getting back into the cab so that the driver can get me all the way to their house.
Sebastian’s family estate is beautiful in the daytime–-the sun is high overhead, casting its warm golden rays across the front lawn. It’s in stark contrast to what the inside of the home must be these days, with just Sebastian and his father inhabiting it. The house is now empty, for sure devoid of the usual commotion and laughter that once echoed through its halls when his mother and siblings were alive.
My legs feel frozen, and getting out of the cab seems impossible, but I don’t have forever. The hunt has begun, and I need to seize this opportunity. Today, I will confront Johannes van den Bosch and uncover the real reason behind Seb's sudden departure from my life.
