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“Okay, boy, we can go inside.”
10
Luke
After waving goodbye, Luke felt the noticeable quiet without Riley’s lively bark. He smiled knowing Riley was back with Emma, a woman who radiated love and kindness. She also was easy on the eyes.
When Emma’s car disappeared around the bend, Luke walked back inside a house that seemed to hold its breath, mirroring the tension hanging in the air.
Things are worse than I thought.
While Luke unpacked several untouched boxes, Jeremiah stayed put in his room. Even as he emerged briefly for bathroom breaks, the distance between father and son felt as if it stretched wider and wider, with no end in sight.
As evening settled and the house grew quieter, Luke prepared dinner. The soft clatter of cutlery echoed through stillness as he set a tray with food outside Jeremiah’s door. Standing there, he hesitated, his hand hovering over the doorknob. He felt the cool metal under his fingertips alongside the weight of words left unsaid, of apologies and conversations that had happened years too late.
With a heavy heart, Luke let his hands fall to his sides, then retreated to his room. He grabbed his battered copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius from the nightstand before collapsing onto the bed. Tonight, the normally grounding words swam hazily before his eyes. Despite his fight against sleep’s pull, he drifted off with the book resting on his chest.
The following day, Luke woke up early to prepare breakfast, hoping the aroma of freshly cooked pancakes would entice his son downstairs. To his delight, it worked, but only long enough for Jeremiah to fix himself a plate, pour a cup of juice, and walk back toward his room. Still, Luke thought it was progress as he trailed him out of the kitchen.
“Hey, I’m heading out for a haircut. Want to tag along?”
Jeremiah shook his head. “No. I don’t need a haircut.”
“Need anything while I’m out? I can swing by the market. Or the diner?”
Jeremiah ignored him and continued up the stairs without looking back.
“Okay then. Text me if you need anything.”
Luke looked toward the staircase, only hearing the latch of the door click shut. Letting out a deep sigh, his mind filled with thoughts of what could go wrong before he came back home. He downed his coffee in one desperate gulp, hoping the caffeine would calm his nerves, but the knot in his stomach remained.
As Luke drove away, his grip on the wheel tightened. Visions of Jeremiah plagued his thoughts.
What if he gets into something he can’t get out of this time?
A wave of guilt crashed over him; his career had always come first, and now he was scrambling to be the father he should have been years ago. The world was a complicated place, fraught with dangers and temptations he knew all too well, and he wondered if he had already failed Jeremiah beyond repair.
Turning onto Main Street, his attention was drawn to the bustling townspeople, moving in an almost constant stream. After circling around the block a few times, he finally found a parking space in front of the salon. He waited almost an hour for a trim that took mere minutes. But the hairdresser did a good job, and under her careful, practiced hand, his shaggy hair fell away from his face. Now with a fresh cut, he started to feel human again.
After leaving the salon, Luke looked up and down the street, catching sight of the ocean at the far end. Although he had lived in Hadley Cove for over a week now, he still hadn’t set foot on the beach. Curiosity nudged him, and he slipped his car keys back in his pocket and headed toward the stretch of water, crossing the road on the way.
At the entrance, he removed his shoes, feeling the warm sand beneath his feet, and fixed his gaze on the ocean waves lapping against the shore. Listening to the rustle of the palm fronds in the breeze, he soaked up this moment with no hurry—a luxury he hadn’t often had back in Chicago.
Despite the number of people out and about in town, there was hardly anyone at the beach, except for a young family playing in the water nearby. Memories swept Luke away as he watched them, remembering how summer lake trips used to be a family ritual. Jeremiah would rush into the water, kicking up sprays of laughter, while Luke tried to keep up. Kate would be on the dock, camera in hand, capturing each precious second. Her voice, cheering them on, now played like a distant melody in his mind. He made a mental note to look for those photos, thinking it would be a good idea to frame some and put them around the house. Maybe, just maybe, they’d remind Jeremiah of happier times, of a family that once was.
Luke was yanked out of his daydream by a familiar bark to his left. Startled, he turned, and smiled upon seeing Riley and Emma walking down the beach toward him.
“Hey, stranger!” Emma called out as she waved.
Grinning, Luke waved back. “Hey there!”
Riley pounced onto Luke’s leg, wagging his tail and licking his hand.
Emma tugged on his leash. “Sorry about that. I’ve never seen him take to someone so quickly.”
Luke shrugged and squatted to Riley’s level before reaching out to give him a scratch behind the ears. “No need to be sorry. He’s a good boy.”
“Most of the time he is,” Emma said, her eyes scanning the horizon before settling back on Luke. “How’s Jeremiah doing?”
