The Naked Truth (The Honeybrook Hamdens)

After a minute, her mom sat a hot cup of coffee and a bowl of fruit in front of her, and then joined her at the table. With a glance at the clock, Julie breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't quite the crack of dawn when Amy got up, but not so late that she should be ashamed.

"I guess I'm going to have to start getting up earlier to keep up with you." Julie smiled, and then pushed a few pieces of fruit around her bowl.

"Nonsense. We just keep different schedules. You're young. You should be out late."

"I wasn't out that late."

Mom shrugged, and then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, but maybe that will change. You'll want to catch up with old friends. Chase, for example."

Her mother had said the name as casually as ever, but Julie knew better than to let it slip by unnoticed. Still, it wasn't exactly like she could blurt out "I have a boyfriend, Mom."

First, because, well, she didn't.

Second, because she didn't want her mom to know she didn't.

And third, because saying something like that would only acknowledge the fact that she had, indeed, considered him as a romantic entity.

Which, of course, she hadn't because he was a low-down spineless ass.

So, as usual, she opted for the safe route. "Right."

"He's been such a help around here. He comes by almost as often as Luke."

"That's great." Julie shoved a strawberry in her mouth.

"Yeah, I always said he was a good boy." Mom toyed with the corner of the newspaper in front of her, then looked up again and added, "He must have been pretty put out when he heard about your boyfriend."

"Mom, please." She placed a blueberry between her teeth, and then popped it into her mouth. "It was never like that."

"Of course." Mom spread her hands out in front of her in that usual I-meant-nothing-by-it way she always did when she was laying her best subtext. "Well, anyway, I want you to know how proud I am of you."

"I know, Mom."

"No, really. I know you didn't have to come all the way out here to help us. It's a lot of work, especially with that big event you have coming up."

Julie stopped chewing mid-kiwi. "I didn't think I mentioned--"

"Look, I know you've always been modest. I don't know what that's all about, but you've really come so far. I wish you'd tell me these things. But, anyway, I read about it in the paper today, and I just wanted to say that you deserve this success. You're going to be great."

Suddenly, the desire to eat had completely vanished, and it was quickly being replaced with the burning need to suck on the end of a cigarette.

"Um, thanks, Mom," she choked out. "But what did you see in the paper?"

Her mom picked up the gray pages sitting in front of her, then handed them to Julie. It was only when she reached for them that she realized her hand was shaking.

Then, when she turned to the Arts and Leisure Section, it was all she could do not to scream.

He’d set her up. Troy Wilcox.

Not only had that dirty bastard stolen her designs and killed her dreams, but now he was setting her up for an even bigger fail while having the nerve to make it sound like a good thing.

“He must really like you to give you all that credit.” Julie glanced over the paper to see her Mom beaming at her with something that looked stomach-twistingly like pride. Almost the same as the way she looked at Amy when she talked about redecorating her bedroom.

“Yeah, he’s something.” Julie tried to smile, but had a gnawing suspicion that it looked more like bared teeth than anything else. “Hey, Mom, do you mind if I make a couple of phone calls? I’ll be back down in a while.”

“But I wanted to talk about your big success. I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned it.”

“Well…there’s been a lot going on. I promise I’ll tell you everything. Later.” She chewed on her bottom lip.