Chapter 24.

To say Luke's parents were overjoyed to see him walk into the gym carrying both of my suitcases would be yet another understatement.

There were hugs and tears and some shouting. In the end, his parents were just happy to see us safe, and I could tell his dad was a little proud his son would risk his neck to save a damsel in distress. Having never been a damsel, I wasn't quite sure of my role in the drama unfurling.

"Amy! I put a cot at the end for you. And then Rachel said your dad might need one and so we put another one there, but even if he doesn't get here, you get to be an unofficial Parker this weekend, so it's like having a sister. How cool is that?" Tom's breaths came out in little gasps by the time he was finished.

"That's very cool. You want to help me unpack?"

Tom took charge of my hamper, spreading sheets, blankets and pillows and generally making a mess of a small area quicker than the water had covered the bridge. I sat on the extra cot, trying to pay attention to Tom but watching Luke behind him talk with their father. As Mr. Parker continued talking, Luke nodded his head and studied his feet a lot.

"Finally." Rachel collapsed on my freshly made cot. "I was getting really worried. Where's your dad?"

"I haven't been able to reach him. Luke's convinced he doesn't exist."

"Did you try calling him?"

"Yeah, but you know. Circuits and all." I searched for my phone in the pile Tom had thrown on the floor. "I left him a note at the house in case he made it home, but I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

"By the time we got past the bridge, it was completely flooded. We were lucky Luke's truck is so heavy so it didn't get pushed into the rails."

Rachel perked up at that. Her hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist.

"Wait. Luke came to get you? Like rescued you from a flood most likely saving your life and perhaps finally winning your heart in the process?"

I could feel the heat rushing up my neck and over my cheeks.

"Yeah, he was totally knight in shining armor guy. He even got my mom's chair upstairs before we left." I glanced over my shoulder at the Parkers where Mr. Parker was still lecturing Luke. "I think he's paying for it now."

"You totally need to marry him. You can be the two percent of high school relationships that end in successful marriages. It's too romantic a story to waste."

"I'm not marrying him. I'm just not mad at him anymore. There's still Chris. I haven't talked to him, and I still need to make sense of everything. You know, the fight and stuff. Luke is a really good friend and he did rescue me and it was really cool, but he's still Luke."

Okay, even I knew most of that was a lie. But, if you can't lie to your best friend, you certainly can't lie to yourself. For some reason, no matter how badly Chris had treated me, I had to do the honorable thing and talk to him first. Tell him I wasn't interested. End whatever we had before being able to make a clean start. Hopefully with Luke.

"And..." Rachel jerked her head at a spot behind my right shoulder. "More interesting happenings in the land of the soggy."

I shifted to glance where she'd motioned toward, wondering what had gotten her attention, thinking it was probably just some teen drama to fill her time while Jared played basketball.

Unfortunately, the drama unfolding had nothing to do with the overdramatized teen version and everything to do with adults... and Chris.

Chris stood between his parents, his hand on his mom's shoulder, body turned as if she needed protection from his dad. Beside him, his mom had lowered her head as her hand made angry stabbing gestures where his dad stood dripping wet with a suitcase in each hand.

But it wasn't his parents who drew my attention. It was the younger bottle-blonde woman standing next to Mr. Kent. Before I could pull everything together in my mind, Mr. Kent stormed off, suitcase and blonde in tow, leaving Mrs. Kent to collapse against Chris, her shoulders shaking in quick, snapping shudders.

I should go over there and see if there's anything I can do.

"Don't even think about it." Rachel's hand had already landed on my knee. "That isn't your deal. You haven't even met his mother. And, G.o.d forbid you be a girlfriend when he needs you, but not when you need him."

She had a really great point about not having met his mom. Plus... my gaze slid back to Luke. Luke. Yeah, that was the "plus". Plus I had no interest in being near any guy but Luke.

And that was suddenly very okay with me.

An hour later, I still hadn't heard from my dad.

I pushed the speed dial, hoping for the best. When nothing went through, I set an auto ring-back and shoved the phone in my pocket. It wasn't like he'd called me either.

Early evening came and the parents were treated to a hands-on experience of what the school fed us every day. Good to know that those square, frozen pizzas stayed "fresh" all summer... or not.

I'd almost forgotten the dial-back and was giving up on seeing him ever again. Maybe he'd notice when I left for college.

"Amy!" My dad's voice managed to drown out the entire Parker man-clan. Oh, and the entire Red Cross and displaced Ridge View populace.

As I scanned the crowd, part of me... okay, a lot of me... feared I wouldn't recognize him outside our house. Like when you run into someone you kind of know somewhere you'd never expect to see them. How could this person who'd become a stranger be so eager to get to me?

But, the moment the crowd parted, I knew him.

He had the same short haircut, with the gray around his temples. The black-rimmed gla.s.ses he'd had so long they'd gone out of style and come back in slipped down his nose unnoticed as he rushed toward me.

A woman grabbed a mop-top child out of his way as he stormed through the gym, his briefcase swinging wildly in step.

"Amy," he called again, stepping over Tom and Mr. Parker's card game. By now, my cloak of invisibility had been completely pierced by his sonic boom. He drew up short, halting before me where I'd risen at his first shout. Had we always seen almost eye to eye?

I stared at him, this man who had pushed me aside, refused to see me, and drifted away day by day over the last six years until he was nothing more than a stranger wearing my father's face. His eyes narrowed as he studied me. I held my breath and worried at what he saw. At how much he saw.

The gym came alive around us again, and I still waited until the silence between us pa.s.sed uncomfortable and exploded into agonizing. I curled my hands into tight, finger-pinching fists behind my back.

A warm hand alighted on my shoulder and slid to where my hands clasped at my back. It stabilized me, centered me. I glanced over my shoulder at Luke who hadn't deserted me in the awkward situation. At that moment, he was even more of a hero than when he'd rushed up the front stairs with a river rising behind him.

In front of me, my father still stood there, briefcase handle clasped between both hands.

"I packed you a bag." I glanced down at the case and wondered if there was anything I could have brought for him he would rather have had. "You know, clothes and stuff."

"That's good." He nodded. Awkward. Stilted. "Thank you."

Behind me, Luke cleared his throat, probably wanting to give me an excuse to let all of us out of the most uncomfortable situation since that time on The Bachelor the guy changed his mind after proposing. I threaded my hand through Luke's and pulled him around beside me. When he squeezed my fingers, I glanced down and saw we held hands, and that I'd grabbed him and was holding tight. Again.

I dropped that hand faster than I'd rushed at him earlier when he'd appeared in my drive.

"Dad, this is Luke Parker."

I could see the confusion on my dad's face. Boyfriend? Friend? General guy?

"He came and got me. The Parkers saved us two cots with them."

The whitening knuckles around the briefcase handle loosened as Dad reached out to shake Luke's hand. Just like with everyone else, Luke's manners and laid-back demeanor calmed my dad.

"It's nice to meet you, Luke. I look forward to meeting your parents later. But, do you think you could give me and Amy a moment?"

All the panic of the day washed over me again. I had no idea what my father wanted to say. I wasn't even sure we knew how to talk to one another any more. I mean, look how well "h.e.l.lo" had gone. Yeah, not so great.

Luke gave my shoulder a squeeze before he walked away, scooping Tom up and tucking him under an arm as he went.

I tried to do that waiting thing Luke always does that makes me want to spill my guts, but I didn't have the knack. I wondered if he practiced it in the mirror. The perfect stance, tilt your head just the right way, quirk your eyebrow but not too much... Just when I was about to give up, my dad dropped his briefcase and hauled me into his arms, clasping me to him till I couldn't breathe.

He kept my hand trapped between his after he eased away, a vise grip as if he thought I'd flee. And, to be honest, I might have. I felt hot and itchy, like I was breaking out in hives from some type of allergic reaction to time with my dad.

He must have realized, or felt the same uncomfortableness, because he released my hand and dropped his head into both of his, shaking it slowly.

"Amy." His voice came a little m.u.f.fled before he raised his gaze to me again. "Dear G.o.d, Amy-girl. I came down the last hill and saw the bridge submerged. I thought I'd..." He collapsed onto the cot my sleeping bag covered, groping for my hand and pulling me down beside him. "When I saw the bridge washed out and the water flooding up the hill... and there was no way out to the cottage... and the phone kept saying no lines available. I thought-I thought I'd lost you too. I thought you'd both left me."

I looked at him, trying to meet his gaze but realizing he stared at me and through me at the same time. I thought of all those mornings he was gone before I got up and the nights when I'd first laid in bed waiting to hear his car drive up until I learned to sleep in an empty house.

My hand tingled under his. I didn't know whether to be happy or upset that it took scaring the snot out of him to maybe get him back.

Chapter 25.

In the far corner the generator kicked on. The low buzz of the lights was lost under my internal voice screaming that I was an idiot. I rolled on my side and scooted to the edge of my cot till Luke's face became clear in the dim light.

With his eyes closed and the hair flopping over his forehead, he looked almost as young as Tom, his perfectionist streak and stubbornness both hidden by the lash-framed lids closed in dreamland. That's when it finally dawned on me how lucky I was this perfectionist may just be perfect for me.

I hadn't realized how badly I'd messed things up until then. I'd seen all the mistakes and moments scattered as little puzzle pieces. But lying there, watching him sleep after he'd braved a flood to rescue me, I learned one of those lessons I'd wished my mom had been around to teach me.

There's a huge difference between your dream guy and the real deal. If you're a lot lucky and a little smart, maybe-just maybe-you'll find both.

Those dark lashes fluttered and Luke's eyes opened, adjusting his sleep-heavy gaze. He stared at me with that word-searching look, unsurprised to see me so close, to see me awake in the middle of the night.

He reached across the three-inch canyon between our cots and pushed my hair out of my face so he could see me too.

"My G.o.d," he whispered. "You're so beautiful."

His hand slid down and cupped my cheek as he shifted quietly toward me.

"You really are," he said, as if he knew I was arguing with him in my head about it, even if I hadn't said a word.

He rose up on his elbow until he seemed to hover just over me, his hand still cupping my cheek, his thumb rubbing softly against my skin.

Before I could start thinking, he shut my mind off completely. His lips brushed over mine once and then returned to kiss at my lips as if learning them, studying them.

I forgot we were in a gymnasium with half our town sprawled around us in the middle of a natural disaster. The fact that my father slept on the cot behind me, or Luke's entire family was just beyond him, was so unthinkable it never dawned on me to be appalled for falling into his kiss. He leaned away and slid his hand down my arm until he held my hand in his larger one. Pulling them toward him across the gap, he kissed my palm and wrapped it in his own before tucking both our hands under his head.

And fell back asleep.

"Luke?"

Seriously. Asleep.

"Luke?"

I totally don't get guys.

I'd cheated on my secret-kind-of-could-be-but-I'm-not-so-sure-anymore boyfriend.

Somehow in the middle of the night I must have reclaimed my hand because, when I shot up nothing tethered me. Nothing held me to Luke but a sweet memory that, for all my deluded mind knew, could have been a dream. It certainly felt like one.

I had to tell Chris. Not because confession was good for the soul blah, blah, blah. Because, let's be honest. I was over it-over him. I'd finally realized that through this entire thing, there was only one guy who saw me, who knew me, who would drive over a bridge about to collapse to rescue me. And it wasn't Chris.

Part of me-a big part-doubted he'd really care. Even now I struggled to see which Chris was real. But the reality was, it didn't matter. Because, the truth of the whole thing was, being with Luke had nothing to do with whether Chris was lying or not and everything to do with deciding what-who-I wanted.

And that was a no-brainer.

Okay, so it took me a while to get to the no-brainer part, but once I was there, I was so there. But, honor said I needed to say the words to Chris first so I could start fresh with Luke. I could start right with Luke.

On the far side of the gym, a bunch of smaller boys played a miniature game of dodge ball. Luke stood by, jumping in occasionally and watching his little brother. A shudder of self-realization rocked through me as I watched him. I'd known Luke less than two weeks, but if I spent senior year learning anyone, I wanted it to be him.

Grabbing my toiletry bag, I made my way to the girls' locker room and showered away the gym sc.u.m that seemed to float in the air. Heading back to stow my stuff and search for Chris, I slowed as I heard voices coming from one of the cla.s.srooms.

It wasn't the voices or the laughter that got my attention. It was the conversation.

"So, you didn't start seeing Rick until after you'd dumped Chris?"

I could have kept walking-I should have kept walking-but the voice that answered drew me up short.

"Yeah. Plus, he was getting weird. Like he didn't want to be around me all the time. He'd get distracted and stuff."

"So, seriously, you aren't, you know, considering getting back together with him? I mean, like after last night and all?"

Cheryl's voice floated out all light and airy like those little white wispy things you blow off dandelions. Footsteps echoed behind me, but I didn't move away. I was too curious. Nosy. I was too nosy.

"No, don't be silly." She laughed again and lowered her voice. But not enough. "That was just s.e.x."