Finding Julia. Desiree Holt

      FINDING JULIA

      By DESIREE HOLT

      LYRICAL PRESS

      An imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp.

      KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

      Dedication

      To David, who made it all happen.

      Acknowledgements

      Writing may be a solitary adventure but no book comes to life without a lot of help. First and foremost to my wonderful dedicated beta reader, Margie Hager. Huge thanks to my friend and writing partner, bestselling author Cerise Deland. Where would I be without our intense brainstorming sessions? And finally to my children who put up with my frantic craziness as deadlines near and talk me down off the ledge. I love you all.

      Chapter 1

      Julia Patterson put her suitcases in a precise alignment in the front hall and, through the narrow window, eyed the trickles of rain dripping down the pane of glass. San Antonio, Texas might suffer droughts but when it rained it most definitely poured.

      Damn.

      She hated flying to begin with. Now she worried the flight would be delayed taking off, or worse, they’d run into bad weather en route. Well, nothing to be done for it. She had to make the trip. The anticipated contract was too lucrative to pass up, and her partner in Bright Ideas was tied up on another project.

      For the tenth time, she looked at herself in the powder room mirror. Navy slacks sharply creased. Check. Tweed jacket hitting the hips at the perfect spot. Check. White silk turtleneck draped just so. Check. Even the gold hoops at her ears hung in symmetry. If there was one thing she’d learned from Charles, it was to be precise and exact. “Details, Julia,” he repeated ad nauseam. “In our circles it’s the details that count.” Sometimes she felt as if her entire life was a series of checklists.

      Charles. His name sent a tiny shiver the length of her spine. One more stroke of a pen and she’d be rid of him altogether. These weeks of torturous haggling and draining telephone calls were coming to an end and his methodical, dictatorial presence in her life would finally be finished. She and the twins, seven-year-old Andy and Beth, could finally move ahead. Luckily, though sadly, Charles had never made himself an integral part of their lives.

      There was just today to get through and Thanksgiving, three days from now. The reminder made her stomach cramp. That damn dinner. She was irritated to have it hanging over her. In a moment of total insanity, she’d agreed Thanksgiving would be here at the house. Her house, now. Or almost. The dinner from hell with Howard and Elise Patterson, Charles’s parents who made ice cubes look hot, and his sister Evelyn, her husband Mark and their ten-year-old daughter. If Charles was bad, the rest of the Pattersons were worse.

      “We have to be civilized about this, Julia.” Charles had delivered the pronouncement in his usual clipped voice, still focused on the holiday. “Until you come to your senses.”

      “I have come to my senses,” she’d insisted, forcing herself to be calm. She couldn’t let him bait her the way he always did. “Dinner. Fine. Nothing more.”

      “It’s the least you can do,” Charles had argued. “You’re the one who insisted on this ridiculous divorce. Don’t you think you owe something to me? To my family?”

      How about a hit man?

      His voice gave her the same feeling of discomfort as a hangnail. Too bad she couldn’t just clip him away.

      Shaking off the anger always lurking beneath the surface, she turned into the kitchen. Miranda Black, her indispensable housekeeper, stood at the counter, making notes on a pad of paper. The woman had arrived a week after the twins were born, agency reference in one hand, suitcase in the other, and she’d been there ever since.

      At first Julia had been so grateful, pleased that Charles was thoughtful enough to get her help. Still stunned that a man like Charles from such a rarified privileged environment wanted her. But then the charming prince who’d swept her off her feet turned into a frog. No, a dragon. It was unfortunate she’d gotten pregnant in only the second year of their marriage but he had no intention of letting children upset his life. It was time now for her to involve herself in appropriate community and social activities. Perform in a way demanded by his position in the community.

      All Julia had wanted was a stable home and family environment. Her own certainly hadn’t fit that bill. Secretly she’d been happy to be living far away from her dysfunctional parents and hadn’t argued when little by little Charles cut them out of her life. With Charles she’d been so sure she had her dream, the chance to create a secure family environment. Instead, the courtship, wedding, and honeymoon now seemed as if they’d belonged to someone else. She was left with the villain of the piece.

      Without Miranda, she wasn’t sure how she’d have survived. She was more family than employee, an anchor in the turbulence of her life.

      “I’d like to check the lists again.” Julia reached for the pad of paper.

      Miranda grinned. “Julia, you’ve checked them five times today already. I have everything on there for tomorrow’s grocery shopping and everything to prepare on Wednesday. This won’t be the first holiday dinner I’ve helped you put together. Let your mind rest, okay?”

      But they both knew Julia’s mind seldom rested.

      She inhaled slowly to center herself. By tonight, she’d be in Boston. Tomorrow she’d be making a key marketing presentation to Hot Ticket, a major sports apparel company, on the proposed plan for their new line. This was the largest bid yet by Bright Ideas. She and Claire worked hard for opportunities like this. As important as this meeting was, she didn’t want to leave anything behind because she’d been careless.

      What a rage Charles had been in when she’d opened the agency with Claire. But she was no longer the vulnerable young college student swept off her feet by the handsome and privileged prince. It still shocked her to realize he’d married her for that very vulnerability, assuming he could mold her into the wife he expected her to be. She’d certainly tried, despite the fact she began to hate every minute of it. But somewhere along the line, trying to be someone she wasn’t, she’d lost herself completely.

      Until her friend Claire Westbrook had quite literally dragged her into the partnership.

      Somewhere she’d found the strength to deal with Charles and defy him. She was sick and tired, at last, of being little more than his puppet. And angry with herself for allowing it to happen. Even his threats to use his influence to damage the agency, destroy its reputation, hadn’t stopped her. Its growing success only angered him more.

      And now she was moving on with the rest of her life. Each day was still a struggle but she was getting there, slowly but steadily. If he would just sign the damn papers. She wanted to avoid a three-ring circus in court, if possible. Meanwhile she had to focus on her trip. This account would be a launching pad for Bright Ideas, solidify them, so she had to nail it down.

      Yesterday, going over everything one more time in the office, Claire had been full of encouragement. “You’ll nail it. I have every confidence in you.”

      “You have to say that. You’re my friend.” And one she gave thanks for every single day.

      “Have you seen my briefcase and computer?” Julia asked Miranda now, mentally running down her last minute checklist.

      “Right by the back door with your luggage. I wanted to make sure you had your things together.”

      “Oh, thank God.” She exhaled in relief. “The car service will be here any minute. It’s starting to rain and you know what San Antonio traffic is like in bad weather. This whole