Moon, Bitten

Chapter Three

Bright, cerulean eyes peeked out from beneath blonde hair, all the while popping and snapping gum in a mouth coated with pink lipstick. "You uh, a relative?" the girl asked a bit curiously.

Kate, certainly not wanting to reveal more than necessary, hesitated.

Another popping and snapping of her gum and a few pointed stares from the two fedoras, she asked a bit more gently, "Mae Channing passed away a few weeks ago." She added with a tinge of sadness, "She was well liked among the community."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable as more stares turned her way, she shifted from one foot to the other.

Her eyes settled on the tag pinned to the girl's uniform which read 'Julie'.

"She was my great aunt." She blurted inadvertently, realizing her first mistake.

Julie beamed another perfectly white smile, "Oh how rude of me! I did not know that Mae had any relatives. She never spoke of any."

"Were you two acquainted?" Kate asked curiously.

Julie's smile broadened all the more, "Oh yes, she frequented the diner often, always ordered the special. She was a pleasant woman." And then, her smile dissipating all at once and saying in a tone Kate believed so unlike this lively girl, "I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

Kate managed a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She wasn't sure what to say to that so she said nothing.

Julie stepped away from the corner, her eyes surveying the clock propped on the opposite wall, "My shift is over, I can take you there myself if you'd like?"
Sensing some panic rising at the girl's obtuseness she hastened to say, "Oh no, that's not necessary-"

"Please, I insist." She waved a hand in the air as if to dismiss her objection. Unraveling her apron from about her curvy waist she tossed it aimlessly to the counter, "I'll see you tomorrow, Larry." She called to a man in the back, presumably the manager.

And she was ushered outside.

Julie's straightforwardness was a bit unnerving but aside from that the girl appeared very much harmless and all the more likeable.

Kate settled a bit reluctantly into the leather seat of Julie's Jeep Wrangler as they treaded the trails that led them further from town and deeper into the forestry that lengthened before them.

"So tell me-" Julie started, blonde curls bouncing freely about her oval face, "-are you here to stay?"
Kate clutched tightly onto the side of the door, every sudden jarring causing her injuries some discomfort. She attempted to conceal her pain with a grim smile.

"I inherited my great aunt's home."

Too much, Kate. Her rational mind scolded silently.

Julie dodged fallen branches as they climbed the mountain as if it were a sport she excelled marvelously at, her Jeep bouncing precariously all the way.

"I'm at a disadvantage, you know?"

The random question through Kate for a loop and her brows knitted with uncertainty.

Julie's smile which was becoming infectious brought down some of Kate's defenses, "I wear my name on my sleeve, just like my emotions." She flicked the little tag still attached to her uniform. "You have a name?"
"Kate." She blurted rather shakily as they hit a rough patch of protruding rocks.

Second mistake! Her wary mind exclaimed in a chiding manner. She was revealing too much to this overzealous, blue-eyed, gum-favoring Julie.

"What happened to ya?"

And brash, she added mindfully as Julie surveyed the visible coloring of bruises that marked her face.

Falling silent, her thoughts hastened for a logical excuse to explain the obvious signs of tragedy written all over her.

"Car accident." She disclosed a bit unconvincingly.

For the first time since meeting the peppy waitress, Julie settled into a silence that made her uneasy. She could see her weighing that possibility around in her pretty blonde head, questioning it, but then she asked, "How are you enjoying the southern hospitality so far?"

Kate smiled tentatively, grateful for the change of topic. "Southern?"

Julie chuckled, it was a pleasant sound, "Eh, not so southern I suppose with a neighboring city but we small-town folks like to think so." She said this with a delightful wink.

Kate confirmed in that moment that she quite liked Julie.

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