Just a Little Surprise (8 page)

“
Kid, we’ve gotta stop meeting like this,” Luke said, offering me a hand off the ground. This time, instead of rejecting him like I’d previously done, I took his hand and pulled myself up. I wiped the dirt off my pants before looking up to meet his gaze. “You okay?”

“I’ll survive.”

I started to walk past him when he turned back.

“Julie,” he said, stopping me in my tracks.
“I’m sorry.

“I’ve been hearing that from you a lot lately.”

“You’re not toxic, Julie. I didn’t mean—”

“I know,” I said,
turning back to him. “We all say stupid things when we’re hurt.”

“
Hurt?” he asked, almost laughing at the same time. “You had Bruno run a DNA sample, for God’s sake. I wasn’t just hurt, Julie; I was pissed.”

“In all fairness, I didn’t know about the DNA test until he came by with the results,” I said. “That was all him. And I’m not trying to throw him under the bus, that’s just how it was. He was just as suspicious about the time you were spending with Rebecca as I was.”

He took my hand. “What can I do to make this go away? What can I say, Julie?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Sometimes I swear we’re meant to be… sometimes I’m not so sure.”

“And which time is this?”

“I’m not so sure.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

“I chased you for so long, Luke. I waited. Granted, I didn’t wait patiently.
But I waited. And I thought—after everything we’ve been through—that I would’ve earned your trust. I’ve never done anything to make you believe that I couldn’t be trusted.”

“I know
.”

“
And you told Matt.”

“
But only after shit hit the fan.” He turned to face me straight on, taking both of my hands. “I love you, Julie. That’s been a fact since the beginning, and I haven’t changed my mind. My actions were stupid, rash, and I should’ve trusted you; I know that now. I pushed you in the background and let other things cloud my judgment.”

The slightest grin pull
ed on his lips as he watched me.

“And
I can look past the whole Derek thing,” he said, swallowing hard. “If you can. Can you move past it, Julie? Can you put him in the past?”

My
mind went back to the day that Luke and I had shared at the District Café only two weeks ago—the day he’d asked to see me, the day he’d promised to tell me everything that I didn’t know. Then, I thought I was going to learn the truth about his relationship with Rebecca. Then, I didn’t even know Molly existed. But somehow that trip to the café turned into a discussion about something else, something very different.

He’d started with his confession about how he’d helped Matt with something, but his confession was vague and
unrevealing. And then that somehow transpired into a conversation about Derek… and how he’d somehow
taken care of him
.

“You’re not the only one who’s acted rash,” I said, squeezing his hands
, but ignoring his questions. “You tried to tell me something at the café… something
about
Derek. But I left without hearing your explanation.”

“You want to know
what happened?” he asked, seemingly unsurprised.

“
Yes,” I said. “From the last time I saw him, leading up to the day that I walked into his empty house, found his note on his bedroom floor, and discovered he was gone… what transpired? Obviously you know, so fill in the gaps, please.”

Luke dropped my hands and stood
straighter. He paced back and forth on the sidewalk in front of me. After a few minutes of silence, he finally turned back. He rubbed his chin, almost looking as though he wanted to conjure up a lie. But I saw his internal struggle stretching across his face. He knew he had no choice but to tell the truth.

“I came by one night to speak to Charlie,” he said. “It was just before the town parade, just a few weeks after I’d come and talked to him about being with you. I wanted him to reconsider; I wanted him to give us a chance. But when I showed up, he
wasn’t there. Derek, though, was. He’d come to tell you that he wanted to leave town. He wanted your opinion.

“But I
told him that you were in no place to make decisions for anyone but yourself. He needed someone to talk to, someone to hear him out. So, I sat with him. I listened to him talk about his father, mother, Hannah. The longer he talked, the more frustrated he became. I could feel the anger burning in his blood; there was so much pent-up rage that he hadn’t found an outlet for. He was hurt, and rightfully so; but I’d seen it far too many times, Julie. Men with that kind of pain… men that hold on to it for too long… one day they just wake up, and they snap.”

“That’s not who Derek is—”

“That’s
exactly
who Derek is,” he said. “I don’t know what drew you to him. Honest to God, I don’t. I don’t get it.”

“He was my friend—”

“The man’s family has destroyed everything you ever knew and loved, Julie. But you were attracted to his friendship like a moth to flame. He kept drawing you in, manipulating you. You were so convinced he wasn’t capable of hurting a fly—”

“There’s not an ounce of evil in that man’s body,” I said. “You don’t know Derek the way I do—”

“He already had it in his head to leave, Julie,” he said. “He’s the one who brought it up. I didn’t plant that seed; I just gave him a little nudge in the right direction.”

“A little nudge?”

Luke dropped his head. “I couldn’t stand by and wait for him to snap. The Milton family has no business around you—”

“I’m sorry?”

“If he’d stayed, he would’ve only ended up hurting you the same way his father hurt your parents.”

“Derek is—”

“A danger to society,” he said. “And one day, he’ll finally break. One day, he’ll hurt someone. He’ll end up behind bars. But when that day comes, it won’t be
you
that he’s hurt. And I made damn sure of it—”

“
What did you do
?”

“I told him he needed to go,” he
said. “To find himself and discover who he truly was.”

“I don’t believe that. He wouldn’t have listened to you—”

“I told him to get the hell out of Oakland and never come back, okay? I told him I’d kill him if he ever stepped foot near you again,” he said. “And I meant it. Let’s face it, Julie. Look who you’re talking to. After what Hannah did, Derek doesn’t stand a chance in this town; if he turned up dead at my hand, I’d walk away scot-free. Let’s not pretend that’s not true.”

“Ugh
—”

“
He comes from a line of killers, Julie. I’m the freakin’ hero of this damn town. Who do you think a jury’s gonna believe?”

He said it like it didn’t faze him,
as if it didn’t bother him in the least that he’d just said something so heartless, so cold. He’d murder a completely innocent man over nothing? And he wouldn’t lose sleep over it?

This wasn’t the Luke Reibeck I’d grown to love.

“He knew my conditions,” he said. “No sticking around to say goodbye. No phone calls. No text messages. No visits. No—returning—to—Oakland. Period.”

“
You’re a monster,” I said. “How can you say those things?”

“I love you, Julie,” he said. “And because I love you, I had to ensure you’re safety. Derek was a threat, so I took care of it.”

“I’m capable of taking care of myself, thanks.”

Luke looked at me with a look of disgust. He knew it, so did
I. Any chance he might’ve had at rekindling our relationship had just gone down the drain after his simple revelation.

“You know what makes me sick, Julie?”

“
Me
, I’m guessing?”

“
No. The fact that he’s not even here, and I’m
still
fighting for your affection.”

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, not even sure I could muster an argument.
Obviously Luke hadn’t heard about Derek’s arrival, and I saw no point in adding fuel to the fire. Anyway, I couldn’t see where he was coming from. Luke had never had to fight for my affection. In fact, it was always the other way around. I was always the one fighting for him. And now he was trying to pretend that
Derek
had been a threat?

“It’s true,” he said, almost as if he’d just read my mind. “From the moment he walked out, the moment he ran away… you’ve been distracted.”

“That’s not true—”

“You didn’t see it, and that’s fine,” he said, dropping his shoulders. “But you were too caught up in Derek
. You felt more for him than you were willing to admit—maybe more than you really even knew. For God’s sake,
you’re still wearing his key
! You’re waiting on him to come back—”

“He’s going to be part of my life whether
you
like it or not!”

“He won’t. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll stay away—”

“Well guess what, Luke?
You don’t have as much of an influence on people as you think.”

“
Excuse me?”

“He called
—”

“He called you?”

“He’s allowed to call—”

“Like hell he is—”

“Stop!” I yelled. “I never asked you to be my protector, Luke. I never asked for a hero. Quit assuming that I want you looming over my shoulder. I don’t need your guidance, your advice, or your macho-cop-greater-than-thou attitude making decisions for me. I’m an adult. I’m quite capable of making decisions for myself. If Derek wants to call, he’s welcome to call. If he wants to visit, I’d love it—which is exactly why I welcomed him with open arms when he stopped by the house last night.”

Luke’s eyes widened at my outburst. It was the first time I’d ever truly stood up to him. I’d let him push me around
for far too long; I’d let him walk all over me, making decisions that he had no right to make.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into Julie,” he said, softly. He threw his hands in the air and surrendered. “But I’m done. You won’t hear from me again, not on this issue anyway.
If I can’t make you see what kind of man Derek Milton really is, then I guess you’ll just have to wait and see it for yourself. I just hope that—when that time comes—you’ll be alive to realize that you were wrong.”

He brushed past me and went about his way, never looking back.

And for the first time in several weeks, I felt like I’d finally found some sense of closure with Luke.

I wanted to be free to make my own decisions, and he was finally letting go of his control.

Chapter Seven

Saturday, March 09 8AM

“You’re looking quite chipper this morning,” Charlie said, sipping a drink
of coffee as he leaned against the counter. “Good night?”

“I love you,” I said, rushing through the kitchen to wrap my arms around his plump center. “I had no idea
—”

“That was the point,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head, much like Derek had done the night before. After a long, much-needed hug, Charlie took my hand and led me to a barstool at the center island. I sat down, and he took the stool next to mine. “He’s a good kid, that Milton boy.”

I took a deep breath and nodded.

I’d never expected any such thing to come out of Charlie’s mouth. While I’d known that my uncle hadn’t hated Derek quite as much as Matt seemed to, it was only natural for him to harbor
some
resentment toward the son of the man who’d killed his brother.

“I know that it’s a complicated situation,” I said. “I’m not blind to that.” And I wasn’t. I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into with Derek. I hadn’t known it when I met him, but forming any kind of relationship—friendship or something more—with him would be hard to explain to anyone on the outside looking in. Our ties to one another weren’t exactly normal, and no one would ever expect us to get along. But somehow we’d both managed to look beyond that.

“It’s not easy to ignore the facts,” Charlie admitted. “There will always be a part of me that looks at that boy and sees his father. But I also look at him and see the way he looks at you, and I couldn’t ask for something more. I honestly believe that one’s a keeper.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “I don’t mean to hover; I’m not even sure my opinion matters at this point. I just hope that you’ll always remember that I’m here to support your decision, no matter which of those boys you choose. I may not like it, and I may wanna pull my hair out just thinking about it. Hell, if I had my way, you’d just stay a kid forever. But at the end of the day, Pumpkin, it’s your life. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”

I smiled at Charlie, squeezing his hand just a
s tightly as he’d held mine. I couldn’t have asked for a better uncle; if there was any silver lining—any at all—that came from my parents’ death, it was getting the opportunity to find comfort in an unexpected confidant. Charlie had always been there for me, but never like this.