Page 41 of Julian

If she hadn’t watched cartoons before being taken by Jim and Sandra, she might have thought he was a little nuts. But since she’d seen both cartoons while still with her birth parents, his suggestions made her laugh. She wasn’t sure she liked any of them for their baby, but she appreciated getting a glimpse of Julian’s sense of humor.

The letter hadn’t been as long as previous ones, and after she was done reading it, she felt a bit let down. He hadn’t talked about how he’d been doing personally, except for sharing that he’d been making use of the hiking trails around the center and the weight room.

Kiara was concerned for him, so she’d hoped that he would update her on how he was feeling physically and mentally, and maybe share his thoughts on God. But instead, it had been a more lighthearted letter.

Maybe that was good. Maybe it meant that he was beginning to have a more upbeat approach to life now that the alcohol was out of his system, and he was feeling better physically.

She left the letter on her desk to reply to later that day and made her way downstairs. When she reached the main floor, she spotted Duncan walking with Elizabeth toward the wing where his office was located.

He’d left the previous day on the helicopter, though she hadn’t known where he was going. It must have been close however, since he was back already.

“Good morning, Kiara,” Elizabeth said. She gave Kiara a smile, but it was a mere shadow of the woman’s normal smiles.

“Good morning,” Kiara replied, then looked at Duncan. What she saw made her frown. The man looked like he’d aged a decade in the past twenty-four hours. “Is everything okay?”

“Would you mind finding Angela and meeting us in my office, please?”

Kiara’s stomach clenched in a way that had nothing to do with her pregnancy. She wanted to demand an answer to her question, but she just nodded and hurried back upstairs as quickly as she could.

“What’s up?” Angie said when she opened her door.

“I think something’s happened, but I’m not sure what. Duncan wants to see us in his office.” She paused. “He doesn’t look good.”

“What?” Angie went to her bed and grabbed her phone. “He wanted to see us both?”

Kiara nodded. “But he didn’t say why. And when I asked him if everything was okay, he didn’t answer me.”

Together, they went back downstairs, then turned in the direction Duncan and Elizabeth had been headed.

“Come in,” Elizabeth said when they arrived in the open doorway to Duncan’s office.

Duncan was seated behind his desk, but he didn’t look at them as they walked in. Elizabeth ushered them over to thecluster of furniture they usually sat in when meeting with Duncan.

“We’re just waiting for Jude,” she said as they sat down together on the couch.

Angie reached out and took Kiara’s hand as they exchanged a worried look. Duncan had never looked so… not himself. He’d always appeared in control and polished.

When Jude stepped into the room, he took in the scene with a frown. “Is everything okay?”

“Come in, Jude,” Duncan said as he got up from behind his desk. “Have a seat.”

Kiara and Angie shifted over so that Jude could sit beside Angie. She kept hold of Kiara’s hand while also reaching out for Jude’s.

Elizabeth sank down on the loveseat, then took Duncan’s hand, forcing him to sit beside her. The concern on the woman’s face was as alarming as Duncan’s demeanor.

“What’s going on?” Jude asked.

“I got a call from the treatment center yesterday letting me know that Julian wanted to speak to me.”

“Is he okay?” Kiara asked before she could stop herself.

Duncan looked at her for a long moment, which only served to ramp up her anxiety. “He’s… okay.”

That was hardly reassuring, but Kiara had learned enough about Duncan to know he would say what he wanted to say in his own time and in his own way.

Biting her lip, Kiara tried to keep from pressing for more information.

“Why did he want to speak to you?” Angie asked, clearly not having the same reservations. “And why do you need to speak to us?”