Lucas
“Lucas… but how?”
“Yes, it’s me. I thought you’d recognize me, but I might’ve put on some pounds since you last saw me. And I have a tan. I spend a lot of time in the sun working on cars.”
“You—you do look different. How did you know I was back?” She talked fast as her hands flitted through the air. She never did hide her nervousness that well.
“I—I work here. I mean at the resort. Car maintenance mainly. I never really left.”
“You didn’t? My mother told me she tried to get hold of your family and that you’d moved away to who knew where. She said she never could find you guys again.”
I furrowed my brow. “Your mother said that? Why would she tell you that? I was here the whole time. You never called me after you left… why? I thought maybe you just didn’t want to have anything to do with me ever again.”
“My mother told me to not call you. That, and she said that she would break the news to your family herself so that I wouldn’t get yelled at by your mother or father. I gave her your number, and after she told me it was disconnected and she called the resort and they told her your family had left, I never tried to call again. I just figured you were gone for good.”
“But… why would you need to break the news to me? What news?”
It was her turn to pale. She pivoted on her feet and headed toward the kitchen. “I’m sorry, moving makes me really thirsty. I had a headache to start with anyway. I—I need some water. Would you like some? Excuse me.”
I heard her clank around in the kitchen as I stood in her living room, confused. She’d obviously gotten a lot done already; there were boxes everywhere. I wondered if anyone had helped her move some of them in or if she’d just stormed in with whatever she could carry before the urge to decorate hit her. I’d left Ms. Ansley about an hour before I went walking along the path. Jennifer was either super hyped to move her stuff or she’d had helped. I was betting on the latter.
“Um, are you all right?” I shook my thoughts out of my head and headed for the kitchen to find her on the floor, her head between her knees and the glass of water sitting on the floor beside her. “Jen? What’s the matter?”
“I’m so sorry.” She rocked back and forth, sniffling. I could tell she was crying, but she didn’t want to look up to show me.
I peered around and found a box of tissues on the bar counter. Snatching it, I pulled a few tissues free and held them out to her. “Here. Jen, it’s okay. Whatever you want to tell me, it’s going to be fine. You can’t even believe how thrilled I am to see you. Never in a million years would I have guessed I’d meet you here again. Why’d you move back?”
She shook her head but took the tissues I gave her. Blowing her nose noisily, she wiped her face with the other tissue. “I had to move here. It’s all my family had left, and I inherited it. My father gambled away everything else right before he and my mother died in a car wreck… about a few months ago. It was a mess. I had so many lawyers at my doorstep. After selling everything, this is all we had left after their deaths. I had to sell my own house to pay off some of the debt. So here I am. I decided I’d live here for a few months until I get my next few royalty checks and then get back to the city and rent this out for the summer season to make some money. No one will want to live here in the winter, and the utilities are cheap, so I figured I could save money by just living here for a few months.”
Her rambling stopped as she hiccupped. I reached over to grab her glass of water and held it out for her. She took it and gulped down large swallows of water, dribbling some down her chin. She wiped it off and groaned.
“Sorry. I just never expected to find you here.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry. I should’ve waited until you were more settled to introduce myself. I just couldn’t help myself when I saw a moving truck sitting out front. I had to know who was moving into your cabin. Just knowing it could possibly be you had me on edge.”
“It’s good to see you, Lucas. I’m a mess. Sorry, been driving all day. I sold my car so driving up here would be easy. Just drove the rental truck.”
“I hear ya. If you need to run any errands, let me know. My truck might be old, but it’s faithful.”
She smiled and peered at me with her wide, dark blue eyes. They reminded me of that summer so long ago when I’d kissed her and she’d been all mine. My insides twisted as the memory hit me like a freight train. If only she felt the same way. Old emotions slid through me as though time had not kept us apart.
“Thanks. That’s very kind of you. I just need to empty my truck and return it to the rental place before eight tonight. Not even sure where the rental company is here in town.”
“I can follow you there and drive you back. It’s not far. But it’s already six-thirty; you might need help unloading the rest of your stuff if you’re to get it back on time.”
She nodded, staring off into space, lost in her thoughts. “Okay,” she muttered. “Thank you, Lucas. I really could use some help. Not sure what I was thinking doing this all alone. Driving across the country and all. I’m exhausted.”
“Hey, you know what? What if I help you out? I can take the truck down there myself while you rest. It’s not far, and I’m used to walking all over this town. I’ll even grab some dinner for us on the way back. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”
“Really?” She wrinkled her nose at me. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Trust me, T.L. Wong’s Chinese food is to die for.”
“You’re like a guardian angel. You’d really do all that for me?”
“You bet. Just make sure you tell me everything you’ve been doing since we last saw each other. I’d love to catch up.”
She smiled, and her face lit up with it, something I didn’t even know I wished to see. It was as though the years hadn’t passed us by. It felt natural to stand there before her, help her back up to her feet, and console her. Memories flooded my head as we made our way out front again and began the arduous task of tugging out the heavier boxes and pieces of furniture she’d tucked into the moving truck.
Each one held a piece of the life she’d had without me, and I was determined to be there while she unpacked each one and revealed the bits of herself I’d missed along the way. I was hoping she felt the same way about me, but in contrast, there were niches of darkness I wasn’t sure I’d be able to reveal to Jennifer anytime soon, or maybe ever. Hopefully we could take this slowly and become friends once more. It was more than I could ever ask for.