Just a Little Series (Parts 1 - 4) (18 page)

“While she took the time to sort out her
feelings, it would’ve been best for me to keep my distance. But I
couldn't. Knowing she had interest intrigued me even more...
because deep down, I may’ve felt something, too.”

Charlie’s groan filled the room for the
second time.

“Time passed,” Luke continued without
prompting, “and the more time I spent with Julie, the more I wanted
to see her again. And when Derek and Hannah moved to town, I knew
something wasn’t right. Hannah took to Matt too quickly, and Derek
always kept Julie in eyeshot.” He paused, and I heard him shift in
his chair. “I’d promised you on day one that I’d take care of
Julie, and that’s just what I intended to do. So, I started making
calls; I even visited a few cops down in West Bridge. And the
moment I knew Julie was in danger, I busted my ass to get back here
to Oakland and get her out of harm’s way. I knew what I was walking
into that night. I didn’t even have time to prepare for it, but I
didn’t care. It wasn’t the cop in me that cared about her safety. I
legitimately
cared that she walk away unharmed. I was ready
to die for her, sir.”

“Luke,” Charlie said, his voice low and
stern, “don’t make me regret the decision I made to put you in
charge of my niece—”

“When I took that bullet,” Luke continued,
ignoring Charlie’s warning, “the only thing I could think about was
Julie. And it killed me because all I could think was… if I die...
someone else will end up with her. Some other guy would walk in,
win her heart, and she'd forget I ever existed.”

“Luke—”

“I should’ve died,” he kept talking despite
the fact that my uncle had tried to cut him off. “The doctors will
tell you that; but it was the thought of losing her that kept me
breathing. Julie was the only thing that kept me holding on.”

“
Luke—”

“I’m not here to make you regret your
decision, sir,” Luke said, still refusing to give Charlie a chance
to speak. “I’m not here to make you uncomfortable or angry. I just
respect you too damn much to lie to you. I’m crazy about your
niece, Chief. And I came here tonight to ask you for your
permission—”

“
Permission for what
?” Charlie asked.
“For crying out loud, Luke,
she's a child.”

“She is,” Luke agreed. “By age, Julie is a
child. She's seventeen, I'm twenty-three. And I know that's a
problem, but you know as well as anyone... Julie isn't a typical
teenager.”

“What do you want with her, Luke?”

“For tonight,” he said, “I just want to take
her to her dance.”

“No. I’m sorry, Luke,” Charlie said. “The
answer is
no
. There are a million other girls out there; go
pick one of them. But not my Julie.”

“Sir—”

“No,” Charlie said again. “Julie is destined
for a wonderful life, but it’s not in this town. And it’s
not
with you.”

Nothing but silence filled the air. When two
long minutes passed without even the tiniest sound, I stood tall on
the fourth step and slowly descended down the rest. I wore my best
poker face, pretending to have no idea that Luke was there (let
alone that I’d heard his entire conversation with Charlie).

When I reached the kitchen, Luke was seated
at the table, but Charlie was standing against the center island.
Neither of the men looked at the other, but they both turned to
me.

“Hey,” I let my eyes bounce from one man to
the next. “What’s going on?”

Luke pulled himself up and stared at me, and
his mouth hung ajar. He managed a simple smile and nodded, but then
he bit his bottom lip as I turned in a full circle.

“You guys like my dress?”

“It’s nice,” Charlie said, his eyes darting
to Luke.

Luke returned the stare and then nodded once
in my direction.

“Yeah,” Luke said, obviously worried that
his response would inevitably upset one of us. “It’s … it’s
nice.”

I smiled at both of them before turning my
full attention to Luke.

“Look at you all dressed up,” I walked over
to straighten his brown tie. I let my hand fall gently on his chest
as he watched me with a keen eye. “What’s the occasion?”

“Just another Saturday night,” he cleared
his throat. He let his stare linger on mine for a moment, but then
he cast a sideways glance at Charlie. He gently took my wrist and
lowered my hand from his tie. Taking a few steps to back away, Luke
suddenly stood at the threshold that separated the kitchen from the
front of the house. He looked past me and stared at Charlie without
a single blink.

“I’m going to hit the road now,” Luke let go
of a sigh. “Chief, I’m truly sorry we couldn’t reach an
understanding. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to reconsider.”
He turned back to me. “Have a great night, Julie.”

As he disappeared to the foyer, Matt came
down the staircase and joined us in the kitchen. Moments later, we
heard the sound of the front door opening and then closing. Luke
was gone as fast as he’d arrived.

“You ready to go?” Matt asked, adjusting the
cuffs on his jacket. “I have to pick Kara up in ten minutes.”

“Sure,” I said, staring across the kitchen
at my uncle (who still refused to make eye contact). He kept his
arms crossed at his chest and his eyes fixed on the floor. “Good
night, Charlie.”

“Night, Dad,” Matt called as we walked out
of the kitchen. As we reached the foyer, Matt took my arm and
stopped me. “You okay?”

“Yeah, why?” I tried to mask the range of
emotions surging through me. I didn’t know how to interpret
everything that had just happened, and I knew the confusion was
written all over my face.

“I know you heard everything,” Matt said,
still holding onto my wrist. “I was right behind you on the
stairs.” He caressed my arm as if I were a wounded child. “You’re
holding up better than I—”

“I’m fine,” I pulled my hand away to smooth
my glove. “Let’s just go.”

CHAPTER SIX

Saturday, November 03 | 8:40 p.m.

May I have this dance?

It was a question I’d heard a thousand times
that night. Every boy in the freshman, sophomore, and junior class
had approached me with bright eyes and hopeful stares; the senior
boys showed no interest. And while their offers were flattering, I
couldn’t imagine spending my evening in anyone’s arms but Luke’s
(no matter how innocent it would’ve been).

I somehow managed to wear a smile. The
gymnasium had survived an incredible transformation. It had taken
hours to turn something so bland into something spectacular, but
we’d pulled it off; I was proud of what we’d accomplished.

“May I have this dance?”

I turned to decline yet another youngster,
but I turned right into Luke’s arms. I stared at him in disbelief,
yet there he was. I couldn’t even muster a surprised
why are you
here?
I simply eased into his embrace, resting my head against
his wounded chest. I closed my eyes as he led me into a mass of
dancing couples. And there, in that moment, we shared the beginning
of our first dance.

I lifted my chin and held his gaze, but it
took a few jagged breaths before I could find my voice. “Why…are
you here?”

“You don’t have to understand,” Luke rested
his head on top of mine.

“But I want to understand.”

“Julie,” he whispered, tucking a curl behind
my ear and brushing my cheek with his thumb. “Not every action has
to come with an explanation.

“With you it does,” I tried to fight a
smirk. “If you don’t explain, I may misinterpret.
I
may
think we’re having a moment, and then
you’ll
accuse me of
having irrational expectations.”

A small smile crossed his lips before he
lowered his head to mine. Without a word, he pulled me closer, and
we swayed quietly to the music, neither of us taking any notice of
the couples nearby. It was a moment of complete serenity; I
couldn’t remember ever feeling so loved and protected.

But then I was quickly reminded that every
time I let Luke get this close, he bolted without explanation. I’d
spend days trying to figure out why he was running. It was a game I
just couldn’t play anymore.

“Is it safe to assume that as soon as the
clock strikes midnight… you’ll be on the run again?”

“Don’t assume.”

“Based on past experiences,” I said, “that’s
what you do best. The moment we get close—”

“Julie,” he said. “Can’t you just enjoy one
night? No questions? No strings attached?”

“No,” I said, “not with you. You have too
much of my heart, Luke… enough of it to break it, if you wanted to.
And I want to know what’s going on.
Why are you here?
Why
did you tell Charlie all those things?”

“What things?”

“I heard every word you said to him back at
the house,” I said. “I was sitting in the stairway the entire
time.”

Luke pulled back for a moment. I caught a
brief glimpse of disappointment in his eyes, but it soon faded with
a simple nod.

“It’s not polite to eavesdrop, Julie.”

“Yeah,” I said, nearly whispering. “But I’ve
had to develop a roundabout way of learning things about you.
You’re not exactly the
least
cryptic person I know.”

He pulled me closer to him again. We danced
in silence for the remainder of the song, neither of us wanting to
waste our time together. I’d convinced myself that one wrong move
could end the night, and the last thing I wanted was to spend my
evening chasing after him.

A half-hour into the night, Luke hadn’t said
much else. He nodded, shrugged, smirked, and laughed at the
appropriate times, but he simply listened while I carried on (story
after story) about anything I could think to talk about. It was a
rare opportunity to spend this kind of close, personal, one-on-one
time with him, and I didn’t want to squander a moment.

With only one song to go before the evening
came to a close, I snuggled in close to Luke, preparing myself for
one last trip across the dance floor. I stared at him intently,
watching as his brown eyes reflected the overhead lights. I traced
his jaw line with my finger, admiring his incredible, God-given
beauty. When I reached his mouth, my finger stopped short of the
inch-long scar on his upper lip. He pulled his head, looking away
from me, and tried to avoid meeting my stare. I turned his head
back in my direction, but I no longer looked at his scar. “You’re
worried,” Luke rested his forehead on mine. “Why?”

“
You
,” I took a deep breath to fill
my lungs with his unnaturally fragrant scent.

“What about me?”

“What happened between you and Lonnie?” I
asked, remembering the tension and animosity that had filled the
room earlier that morning. “I know I only met him the one time, but
he seemed like a pretty great guy.”

He grumbled and diverted his stare, so I
continued.

“It…makes me think that something pretty bad
must’ve gone down to make him so… angry at you.”

“I didn’t go to his wedding,” Luke said as
if that should’ve answered all of my questions. “He got remarried
five years ago. I didn’t go. End of story.”

I nodded, knowing Luke was only sharing what
he felt was necessary.

“Why didn’t you go?” I asked. “Was it
because of your mom?”

“No,” he bit his lip. “No, it wasn’t. She
would’ve wanted Lonnie to move on. She wouldn’t have wanted us to
sit around, dwelling, hurting, or crying over her loss. Of course,
that’s
exactly
what we did for months.” He took a deep
breath and closed his eyes. “But I, unlike Lonnie, knew that
time
healed all wounds.”

“Was it his choice of bride?” I asked, still
trying to figure out what had caused the rift between father and
son. “You don’t like Grace?”

“I
love
Grace,” he said, and a gentle
smile crossed his lips. “She’s a godsend. You know she’s Bruno’s
sister?”

“Yeah,” I said. “So, in a weird way, you and
Bruno are family.”

“He’s my step-uncle,” Luke shook his head at
the idea. “And sadly, he’s the closest thing I have to family right
now.”

I rested my head on his shoulder, nuzzling
into his neck.

“You know,” Luke’s hand caressed my bare
back, “Bruno’s been pulling for us since the day you walked into
the station, kid.”

“Maybe at first, but he’s changed his mind
since.”

“Yeah?”

“He told me; earlier this week… I was at the
station, and he said that I was in too far over my head. He said
there was no hope for us, no love, no chance.” I shuddered at the
memory. “He told me to stop pursuing you. I… I didn’t know what to
think.”

“He was only doing what he thought I’d want
him to do,” Luke said. “He was the only person who knew about my
feelings, Jules. When I was in the hospital, I asked him to help
me. I didn’t want to drag you into this life; you had your own
problems, you didn’t need mine, too. So, he agreed to help me keep
my distance. And if he saw me slipping, he’d pull me away.”

The memory of the Halloween party flooded my
mind. Bruno hadn’t seemed too happy when Luke showed up at the
bonfire. It was only when we were about to share a kiss that Luke’s
cell phone rang, a call from Detective Bruno, interrupting our
moment.

“What problems could you possibly have that
you don’t want me dragged into?” I kept my head low. “Does it have
anything to do with why you keep running from me?”

“I’m not running, Julie,” Luke said, shaking
his head. “I’m… sorting.”

“Sorting?”

“My thoughts, my feelings, my intentions…”
He took a deep breath and continued, “I thought we were heading in
a good direction. I
thought
we were making some kind of
progress, but I was afraid of slipping up. I wasn’t ready for
Charlie to know anything, not when
I
didn’t know what was
really going on. So, I did my best to keep you at a distance. But
then I screwed up, and I’ve been so humiliated by that mistake that
I can barely stand to face you.”