“I see.”
Giving him all the details about Sean, I use the word ‘we,’ a lot and never name Luke aloud. I finish with, “So, that’s it. We warned him he’d have to pass a lot of tests if you decided to try him out, and that everyone would vote. Is that how it would go down?”
Dad sucks air through his teeth, thinking. “Yeah, that’s about right. Been a long time since we had fresh blood in this house. I’m interested.”
“Yeah?” I hit Luke’s thigh and smile. “Dad, I said you’d call him if you were going to give him a go. That it would be you personally, since you’re our President. And you’d give him a password so he knew it was really you, that the first stage was in motion. You have a piece of paper?” I really want him to start writing because I can just picture his pause as I hit him with Luke’s joke.
“No, but I can remember it.”
Bummed, I mutter, “Ah, alright…you ready?”
Luke covers his mouth, silently laughing.
“I’m ready.”
“Tickles.”
Silence, then. “I’m going to kill you for that.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t love our cat?”
“You’re getting back at me for sending Luke away.”
My smile wavers, volume dropping. “That’s the password.”
“Fine. I’ll pay my dues,” he grunts. “His name is Sean? We’ll have to change that. Too soft for a Cipher.”
“Agreed. I’ll text you his number now.”
“Soph, we okay?”
Glancing to Luke, I mutter, “Of course we’re okay.”
“You know I love you, right?”
Swallowing I stare into an image of my father, can see the look in his eyes as if he was right here. Hurts to be mad at him, but it’s my fault. “I love you, Dad. I’m uh, sorry about all of this.”
“Me too. I’ll wait for that text.”
“Bye.”
“Bye baby.”
We hang up and Luke pulls out his phone, thumb hovering as he realizes the text can’t come from him. He hands me the phone, eyebrows drawn as I copy down the number and send it.
“You said we were there, but he doesn’t know you’re with me, does he?”
“He thinks I meant Tyler.”
“Ah,” Luke mutters. “Great.”
“Can we just enjoy our day?”
He tears into the bag, and hands my club sandwich over. “Yeah, nothing’s changed. I just hated the reminder.”
Something has changed.
For me.
Luke chows down on his roast beef the same way I eat my club, big bites and messy fingers. I asked for extra mayo and mustard, the way we both like it. That stuff squishes out in all directions, and it’s delicious.
He pops the top on a new bottle of water and hands me the first one, opening his next. I’m settling into the awkwardness of spending time with someone I wish I could sit closer to, touch his leg against mine, but can’t. Feels like Luke is miles away, not a foot and a half.
“I was thinking about what Santosh said about a divorce. What’s going on with your cousin that you think it’s him?”
“Who knows if what she said is real.”
“If it is.”
Drinking a few gulps, I set the bottle between my crossed legs. “She described his place, vaguely, sure, but it’s only him I could imagine when she said those things. And I know he got married to his wife without telling anyone he was going to do it.”
“Your parents did that. You always loved that they eloped.”
And your father was my Dad’s best man.
“Yeah, but Ben isn’t like my Dad. He’s tight with everyone in Atlanta, always at the events, and they do weddings mostly at my grandparents’ house. It’s a big deal. Uncle Jaxson and Aunt Rachel live away from the city on a ranch, too, but even they did the big hoopla, Cocker-style. So that makes me wonder.” Taking a bite and chewing it down, I think about the situation and explain, “I was talking with Hannah after Ben eloped, on the phone, and she told me that all of the cousins who are closest to Ben, our group, don’t like it. They think it’s fishy, but he tells them they’re crazy and that he loves her. Which he might. But that doesn’t mean it’s the type that lasts. Could be other reasons? I don’t know.”
“No other divorces?”
“Aunt Drew was divorced before she met Uncle Jake, I think? But that’s it. My family marries for love, real love, not some have-to-get-married-to-matter bullshit. I don’t think my dad or his brothers ever yearned for a ball and chain,” I smirk, knowing them. Luke and I chew for a bit, watching the forest simply exist, the way it does every day for centuries. Suddenly I remember, “Oh, you know what, maybe Uncle Jaxson wanted to be married early on. He knew my Aunt Rachel since they were eight-years-old. Loved her all the way since back then, but she moved away.”
Luke drinks down his water, and gasps for air with a satisfied smile. “Ben’s parents?”
“Yeah…wait. That’s right. Holy crap! It just came back to me how when we were little, playing at their ranch—that’s where I always stayed when we visited Atlanta—Ben used to say, when I find my wife…and then launch into these grandiose plans. Where they’d live. How they’d have a ton of babies. He’s been looking since he was a kid. Probably bought into the romance of his parents’ love story.”
“Wanted that for himself.”
I wipe my mouth on my arm, “Mmmhmm.” watching Luke finish his sandwich. He’s staring off, eyes distant as he thinks about my cousin, and what Santosh predicted. My eyes drop to the faded scar on his elbow. He fell the second time he rode his motorcycle—a 135 engine he could handle at age ten—it’s almost invisible now. But I’ll always know it’s there.
“Never thought I wanted to get married,” Luke confesses before taking his last bite.
“You say that like you’ve changed your mind.”
He locks eyes with me and his chewing slows. The stare narrows, dark fringe of lashes flickering once before they drop to
