Just a Little Sequel (8 page)

“Things got real,” I giggled into the pillow.

“Yeah,” he said, “Julie, I was naked—”

“
Yes, you were!
” I rolled over onto my back and propped my hands up under my head. “Congratulations, by the way. Because…
wow!
”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Have you… have you
seen
yourself? I mean, have you just stood in a mirror and just… wow.”

“
Julie
.”

I tried to restrain a laugh because I was certain that I’d just seen Luke blush for the first time since we’d met. His cheeks actually turned so red that he could’ve been mistaken for a giant tomato. He covered his face with both of his hands, hiding his obvious embarrassment.

“Oh, stop that,” I said, sitting up. I reached forward, grabbed his arm, and pulled him toward the bed. He sat down, and I cozied up next to him. “If you want me to apologize, I’ll apologize.”

“Are you sorry?”

“No.”

“Then don’t waste your breath,” he smiled.

“I just… I don’t know, Luke,” I ignored his smile. It was fun to joke for a moment, but the last thing I needed was for him to start looking all cute and victimized. It would make it a lot harder for me to concentrate on the seriousness of my feelings. “I meant what I said in there. I really think it’s time for us to sit down and talk. I mean, really, really talk about what we want from here on out. We’ve never really done that, and I don’t want to risk losing you just because you and Charlie can’t see eye to eye.”

“Hey,” he lifted my chin. “Are you kidding me, right now? That’s
never
going to happen, okay? You’re
never
going to lose me, Julie.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“Good,” I half-smiled, “good to know.”

Chapter Nine

Sunday, October 26 | 7:45 a.m.

I slept at the new house.

Luke and I never got around to having that important conversation. My mind was just too littered with other things, and I couldn’t focus long enough to get a coherent sentence out. We both agreed that a good night’s sleep might be a better idea for the both of us, but sleep failed to find me for the second night in a row. Curled up in bed, snuggled under all of the warm blankets, and holding on to the man of my dreams, I still couldn’t quit thinking about the things I’d said to Charlie.

It was cold, the way I’d talked to him.
I didn’t want the burden of protecting his lonely heart?
What the heck? After everything he’d done for me, especially since my parents died, I went and said something like that? He had every right to hate me.

He’d probably dumped everything I owned on the front lawn by now. He would probably stand on the porch, waving with glee as I loaded up the car, drove away, and moved on to a new place with a new future in sight.

And I deserved it. I deserved every terrible thing that came my way. How could I have said something so… so… so…
awful
?

“Where’s the rest of your furniture?” I surveyed the house for the first time in the daylight. Luke was in the kitchen making breakfast while I wandered around. It took a moment for it to dawn on me that, while his bed and the rest of his bedroom furniture were already at the house, none of his other furniture had made the move.

“It’s still at the apartment.”

“I thought you moved from the apartment? I thought you were done there? Too much back and forth, remember?”

“Right,” he said, “but I barely used any of that stuff. I’m probably just going to leave it there for whoever sublets.”

“For whoever sublets…?”

“I’d just renewed my lease right before I found this place,” he said. “I’d been searching for a house for months, but I hadn’t found one. I thought I’d have to stay at the apartment for another year, so I signed on the dotted line again in the spring.”

“How long are you locked in there?”

“Without breaking the contract? Seven months.”

“And you’re allowed to sublet?”

“No rules against it.”

“Great,” I said, jumping up on the counter to watch as he scrambled the eggs and flipped the bacon. “I might know the perfect tenant for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“And who’s that?”

“Mattie dropped out of the university,” I said. “He showed up on Friday before the party to drop that bomb.” Luke’s mouth gaped open, but I continued, “he was actually
at
the party, and he’s been hiding up in his room since he got home. Charlie doesn’t even know he’s there. He doesn’t want to go back to school; of course, he’s not saying why. He doesn’t want to crash at the house, but he doesn’t really have any anywhere else to go right now.”

“And you’re sure he’s not going back?”

“That’s what he says,” I said, “but I don’t know. It just seems weird, right?”

“Really weird.” I saw that same familiar look cross Luke’s face that had crossed mine a hundred times before. It read a lot like
but it’s Matt
!

I watched as he finished making breakfast. Once the eggs were scrambled and the bacon was crisp, I jumped down from the counter and grabbed two plates from the cabinet.

“If you leave all of your furniture at the apartment, what are we going to use here?”

“I thought that was something you’d want to do together, pick out furniture and what not.”

“Right, but you didn’t think I’d want to give my input during the house hunting process?”

He looked over his shoulder and grinned, and I winked at him.

“We’ll eat and then head over to the house to get your things,” he said. “How’s that sound?”

“Good,” I said, “and maybe you can drop a bug in Matt’s ear about the apartment. I seriously think he’ll be interested.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said, and as Luke went to pluck silverware from a drawer, something very interesting dawned on me: we were just there, both of us, in
our
kitchen having a normal conversation. It was the first of many times when we’d share moments like that. It was the first of a lifetime of boring, irrelevant, breakfast talk. But no matter how boring or irrelevant, I couldn’t ignore the magnitude of that moment.

For the first time since I’d met Luke, I finally felt like there was something promising about our future. We were in the same place at the same time.

And I loved that.

I loved him.

I was
so
ready for our happily ever after to start unfolding.

Sunday, October 26 | 10:00 a.m.

We arrived at the house an hour after breakfast. Luke wasn’t in any big hurry to find my uncle, but I searched every room until I finally found Matt upstairs. He relayed the message that Charlie had been working at the station since the previous night. I didn’t like hearing that. Charlie only overworked himself when he had to, or when he was so stressed that he was about to snap.

Matt didn’t seem to mind his father’s absence. Walking around the house in nothing but his boxers and a pair of socks, he sat in the living room watching TV and messing with his phone. It’s not that Charlie’s heartache didn’t faze him; it was simply that he enjoyed having a little extra freedom without his father even knowing he was home.

Luke had stopped off and picked up dozens of discarded cardboard boxes from local grocery stores, but I doubted I’d need that many to pack; my room wasn’t necessarily spilling over with personal belongings. The bed, along with all of the other furniture, belonged to my Uncle. It was there when I moved in. I folded up my clothes, wrapped my pictures, and packed the rest of my things, and little by little I managed to get everything arranged into their own respective boxes.

Luke took the opportunity to show me space-saving tips on packing, and I took a moment to remind him that I didn’t really give a hoot. I knew he meant well, but I couldn’t find his OCD too endearing at that moment; as much as I looked forward to living with Luke for the rest of my life, I didn’t look forward to leaving Charlie behind.

Luke retreated downstairs about one hour into the packing to finally ask Matt about the apartment; I started down the stairs just as I heard the two of them start talking. I set a box aside on the floor and sat down to eavesdrop.

It was silly, yes, but I’d sat on that back staircase so many times and listened in on so many conversations, what was one more?

“Oh, come on, what are you doing?” I heard Luke ask. After what sounded like a brief struggle, I heard the distinct sound of something going in the garbage can.

“Dude, what the—”

“Frozen pizza, Matt? Seriously?
Who are you?
” Luke asked. “Why aren’t you at school?”

“I dropped out.”

“Right, but why?”

“The details aren’t necessary, man,” Matt said, and then I swore I could hear him rifling through the garbage.

“Yeah, well, they’re necessary to us,” Luke said. “You know Julie is worried sick about you.”

“That’s her problem,” Matt said. “I never asked her to worry about me.”

“Why—are—you—here?” Luke asked, and I could hear the frustration mounting in his voice.

I stood from the middle step, reached back and grabbed my box, and continued down to the first floor.

“Hey, boys,” I stepped in before there was any chance that Luke snapped Matt’s head off. “You guys ready to help me start loading up? I’m all packed and ready to go.”

Luke looked between both Matt and me, and with a long, slow breath, he turned for the stairs. I watched Matt with the most disappointed look in my eye, and he shrugged a single shoulder.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he mumbled, and he turned back to the few slices of pizza Luke hadn’t tossed in the garbage.

He didn’t want to talk about it—popular excuse. And I didn’t press it any further. I wasn’t going to force him to have a conversation that he didn’t want to have.

“Listen,” I turned back to him before I started outside, “I’m not saying that you have to tell Charlie you’re home, but I don’t think it would be such a bad idea, Mattie. He’s in a really bad place right now, with me leaving and all. I think it might be comforting for him to know that you’re back, if even for a little while. He might enjoy the company.”

Matt nodded once, but it was noncommittal; I couldn’t tell if he was nodding to shut me up or nodding because he agreed. Either way, I left him alone in the kitchen.

“I thought you’d have more than this,” Luke shut the trunk twenty minutes later. “That’s really everything?”

“Yep,” I clapped my hands once. I only had a half-dozen boxes, some of Mom and Dad’s stuff from the attic, and a couple of bags. “That’s it.”

“Great, you ready to hit the road then?”

“Not just yet,” I said, “I left something upstairs I need to grab, and then I’ll be right down. You can come back in or wait out here, whatever works for you. I won’t be long.”

Luke turned back and settled himself in the driver’s seat, and Elvis hopped from the back to the front seat to lick Luke’s face. He was such a smart dog.

I ran inside, up the stairs, and back to my bedroom.

It was heart-breaking to walk in on something so empty. Nothing left but a bed, a dresser, and an empty closet. Sitting on the mattress was one box I hadn’t yet decided what to do with. Take it or leave it? Keep it or give it away?

I sat down on the corner of the mattress and took the small cedar box in hand. I ran my fingers across the engraved letters on the front, closing my eyes as I imagined my father doing the very same thing over the years. I savored that moment before opening my eyes and propping the box lid open to reveal the golden key—the key to the city of West Bridge, an honor that had been given to my father for his brave acts of service on the force.

Just last year, I’d gone on a frantic hunt through the attic to find my father’s most prized possession. I’d suffered a fall, a black eye, and a few painful days because I wanted to find his cedar box, and then I learned that it wasn’t even in the attic. Charlie had been keeping it all along. I hounded my uncle for days about giving it up;
it was mine, after all, and mine to do with whatever I pleased
. With a great deal of reluctance, he finally passed it over. He’d known I wanted to give it to Luke, and I’m sure he didn’t appreciate that one bit.

But it was mine… shouldn’t I decide where it ended up?

I reached up and took Luke’s necklace in my hand, and I held it tightly between my fingers. I owed it to Luke to reciprocate such a grand gesture, didn’t I? He’d trusted me with something so precious to him; maybe I should trust him with something equally precious to me.

I dropped my hand back down to the box, closed the lid, and rose to my feet. I carried it out of the room, not turning back to take one last look. I was tired of saying goodbye, and I knew this would be one of the hardest goodbyes I’d ever have to say. That room had been my safe haven against the worst times of my life. I’d cried many tears in there, learned to cope with loss and heartache, and I grew into a whole new person in the nights that I’d spent there.

I just couldn’t bring myself to turn back.

I stopped at the end of the hall, just outside Charlie’s room, and then I cracked the door to let myself in.

It was weird when I realized that, after living there for so long, I’d never actually gone into my uncle’s bedroom. I didn’t linger long; the curtains were drawn, the room was dark, and I just felt like I was breaking a million rules by walking in there. I simply stopped at the corner of the bed, sat dad’s box on the corner of the mattress, and nodded once.

Charlie had wanted that box more than I ever had, and—if possible—it meant more to him than any material possession in the world. I didn’t want to take it away from him, and it felt like the right thing to do. It’s what Dad would’ve wanted, and Luke would understand.

I stood at Charlie’s door and stared back into his bedroom.

“Bye, Uncle Charlie,” I said, hoping that I’d cross paths with him again very soon. Leaving a present behind, no matter how sentimental would ever be enough. I needed to come face-to-face with my uncle, apologize for all the terrible things I’d said to him. I needed to tell him that I loved him.

I turned out of the bedroom, shut the door, and walked back downstairs.

“I guess I’ll see you soon,” Matt raised a brow.

“Yeah,” I said, and he opened his arms. I accepted Matt’s hug and held him tight. For the first time since he’d come home, I finally felt like part of my cousin was really there with us. He wasn’t completely gone. He was there; he was just a little damaged, and his spirit was broken. I wasn’t sure I’d ever know why.

“See you around, then,” I backed away. I thumped him on the arm and winked, and then I turned back to headed outside.

I slid into the passenger’s seat of Luke’s car, buckled my seat belt, and then turned to meet his stare.

“You ready to go home, kid?”

I looked back at the house for a moment, took a deep breath, and then turned back to Luke.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “Let’s go home.”