Neither Ken nor Julia answered the door. Stephanie did.
I stared. She didn’t really look like Julia. She looked like what I’d always wanted in Julia. She was a younger, idealized version of the same girl, but there were subtle differences in the way she stood, in the frankness of her eyes and voice, in the completely genuine smile that parted her lips and lit up her whole face.
“Jason,” she said. “This is a wonderful surprise.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Now, don’t get upset. It’s because of what happened. Maybe you shouldn’t have said what you said, but Pop was to blame mostly. I let him know that’s what I thought, and here I am.”
“What about Emma? She didn’t let you go, did she?”
“Pop didn’t either. I just packed a bag and walked out. I’m not saying it’s permanent or anything, but
