Just In Time: An Alaskan Nights Novel by Addison Fox Read Free Book Online

few moments where I thought things might not go off as planned, but everything did fall into place beautifully.”
    “Sloan’s mother is”—Mary coughed—“unique.”
    “She’s a grizzly bear.” Sophie let out an indelicate harrumph. “But I saw a few moments of real genuineness so I suppose she’s not all bad.”
    “I saw her tears when Sloan and Walker exchanged their vows.” Julia let her thoughts drift to the ceremony. “I suspect she means well; she simply doesn’t know how to show it.”
    “I thought I was supposed to be the diplomatic one.” Sophie took another sip of her champagne. “You know, as mayor and all.”
    Mary let out another cough but Julia didn’t miss the grin she hid behind her hand.
    Or the quick wink she shot Julia when she came up for air.
    Sophie missed all of it as she reached for the champagne bottle they’d set between them on another folding chair. “What is it about a wedding?”
    “The promise—” Mary sighed.
    “The passion,” Julia added at the same time.
    “Are you sure you’re talking about the bride and groom?”
    Julia heard the not so subtle notes of innuendo lacing Sophie’s words. “Of course. They looked so happy.”
    “I meant Avery and Roman. Did you see the way the two of them looked at each other?”
    “It’s electric. Just as it always was,” Mary added.
    Julia understood their need to talk about it. Heck, she’d been more than happy to talk to her friends about their grandsons’ romances, but something felt off and she couldn’t quite define why. “That was a long time ago. I’m just glad the two of them can be in the same room together.”
    “But the way they look at each other.” Sophie’s tone was persistent. “Don’t tell me you don’t see it?”
    It was hard to miss, but she’d be damned if she’d discuss it.
    Her grandson had made some poor choices with Avery. Oh, she’d never begrudge him his opportunity to pursue his dream, but she also knew the pursuit had come with a price.
    And Avery had borne the payment.
    “Come on, girls. They have a lot of history there. It doesn’t mean anything more. He’s headed back home in a few weeks and our girl’s still glowing from her trip to Ireland.”
    A merry twinkle lit Sophie’s eyes. “Sounds like she had a wonderful time there. And the phone lines have been burning up ever since. Maybe it’ll kick Roman’s butt into gear and he’ll do something about her. It’s clear he still has feelings for her.”
    Julia wasn’t sure why the words were so irritating, but she resisted the urge to say anything. Roman and Avery didn’t need their interference. In fact, they’d both be far better off if they were simply left alone.
    She hadn’t missed the speculative gazes and whispered comments that had floated around the room all day. And the denizens of Indigo had turned practically purple holding their breaths and craning their necks watching them dance near the end of the wedding.
    It was no one’s business, but all anyone saw was hearts and cupids floating around their heads.
    And it worried her.
    From the earliest age, Roman and Avery had been compatible, their friendship easy and genuine. It hadn’t shocked her when that friendship turned to something more in high school.
    Nor had it shocked her when her grandson left a few short years later in pursuit of his dream.
    He’d spent his life under a veil of missed opportunity; his grandfather dying before he was born and his own father dying when he was a child. She’d known—even if he’d never overtly said it—that he wasn’t going to let his life go unfulfilled.
    Roman had a dream and it hadn’t been rooted in a small town in Alaska.
    Even if the woman he loved with all his heart was.

Chapter Four
    A very slipped out of her heels as she walked across the parking lot of the Indigo Blue. The July night had grown cool, but the purple twilight above her ensured no one could forget it was actually summer.
    The midnight air