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It was as if it were as natural as breathing, which surprised me later when I thought about it. I reached out and he moved his shoulders so I could balance myself and I hopped down. He had me by the hips and lowered me gently to the ground. He held on to me when I started to step back as if he was worried I had stumbled.
The moment I was stable, he let go of me and turned to walk toward the church, pulling keys in his pocket. It was like he never thought of the moment between us that felt so intimate to me. My family never hugged each other. I barely remembered the last time I even touched hands with one of them. He helped me down from the gym as if it were just the thing to do. Was it normal? So many of the boys had touched me this week that I was feeling a crazy sense of loneliness when they let go.
I followed on his heels toward the front door. My eyes going up to the cross. It felt like it should almost be sacred but would it feel differently once it was converted?
Luke fit the key into the door lock and then held it open for me. I stepped inside, smelling the heavy dust and stale air. The hallway in front of us was in shadow.
He closed the door and moved forward. At a certain point in the hallway, it started getting super dark. I was trying to reach out with one hand for a wall to help guide me but something touched my hand and I jumped.
“Here,” Luke said and he reached for my hand again. “Stay behind me. I’m sorry, I don’t know where the light switch is. It didn’t seem that dark down here when we started.”
I sucked in a breath and held his hand, following behind him. His hand was warm, his fingers interlocking with mine. My heart fluttered. He was just helping, I told myself. Normal people do this when necessary. I needed to get used to it.
Near the end of the hallway, a window provided a little more light. There was a wide, double door to our right. He let go of my hand to open it.
The inside was pitch black.
“Hold the door open,” Luke said. “I’ll find the switch.”
I stood by the door and Luke disappeared into the darkness. Minutes passed. I was worried he might fall or something might happen to him. How could I find him in the dark?
Electricity crackled above my head and the lights flickered on. There were two sets of chandeliers, a couple of the bulbs were missing but it mostly worked. The room was the chapel. The pews were gone and there were a couple of faded green hymnals stacked along the walls. There was a platform on the far end, a podium in front with a cross on it. The carpet was a dull brown, the walls a yellowed off-white.
Luke was standing on the platform near the back wall. He walked toward the front of it, looking around the room and his hands slid into his pockets. “Well? What do you think?”
I swept my eyes across the room, trying to imagine what it would look like as a diner. “There’s a lot of space for tables,” I offered. Still, it was a vast, empty space. You could have used it for anything.
“And this stage could be used for bands on some nights.” Luke stomped on the wood of the platform. “It feels solid.”
I tiptoed through the room. There was a slight chill in the air. At least the air conditioning unit worked. I crossed my arms over my chest and rubbed at goose bumps. There were exposed beams. I could imagine the lights all working, a cozy setting with booths for customers. I wondered where the kitchen was.
Luke’s materialized behind me, standing close with his chest warming my back. I froze. I felt his lips near my ear. “Do you see it?” he whispered.
I swallowed, nervous. I wasn’t sure if I could turn around and look at him. I nodded. “It just needs the right tables.”
“And the door over there could be the official entrance,” he said, moving to my side to stand next to me and pointing. “And the other the entryway to the kitchen. We’ll have to get rid of the podium.”
“You should keep it,” I said. “You could paint it and attach it to something so you could roll it in when you want to. You could rent the place out for meetings.”
His eyes popped open wide. “I hadn’t even thought about that.”
“And I like the garden and outside dining idea,” I said.
“There could be a bar over there,” he motioned with his hand. “A big one.”
“And a case for pies and baked things you’d sell on the side,” I added.
“And a jukebox.”
“With vases of flowers on the tables.”
His breath caught and his shimmering eyes sought out mine. “What’s your favorite flower?”
I smiled. “I like roses. Chrysler Imperial.”
He grinned, showing his perfect white teeth. “We’ll have a rose garden out front. We’ll be able to put roses out on the tables for most of the year.”
I laughed, waving my hand in the air. “What about when the roses die off in the winter?”
His mouth twisted and he turned partially away from me, shifting on his feet. “We’ll light candles. Rose scented ones.”
My heart warmed. His imagination was intoxicating. I could see everything he had suggested. Before my eyes, the dullness of the church washed away and all I could see was a crowded diner. Luke would wear a serving apron and would hold a tray steaming with fresh food. I even entertained the idea of running the counter, serving coffee and helping people with their purchases. I could see Kota and Nathan as customers, Victor playing piano on stage, and Gabriel or maybe Silas helping in the kitchen.
I had turned to look at the large empty space again. I felt Luke next to me. His fingertips brushed at the top of my hand. It was so unexpected that I pulled my hand away before I had a chance to stop myself.
“You see it, don’t you?” he asked. There was a gleam in his eyes, as if he needed me to believe in this as much as he did. Who was I to tell him what he could or couldn’t do?
I willed my own voice to work so he could hear my honest reply. I nodded, agreeing with him. Yes. I could see it. “It’s beautiful.”
With the smile that broke over his face, you would have thought I said he’d just won the secret to eternal happiness.
“Let’s go find the kitchen,” he said. “I think it’s through here.”
I followed him across the chapel and out through the other door. The hallway on this far side was lit up by a few windows. I followed behind him, my hand was on his back to make sure he knew I was behind him. Since I was so close, I could breathe in that sweet fragrance he wore, like vanilla and sugar.
He stopped and opened the door to what was the kitchen. He tried the light switch, only when he flicked it, nothing happened.
“There must be a breaker down,” he said. “Want to stay here? I think I know where it is.”
I nodded. He went off looking for the breaker box and I stepped into the kitchen. There wasn’t much I could see, the window on the other side was covered with a thick curtain.
I crossed the room, being careful as I couldn’t really see the floor. The window was high up above the counter. If I was going to reach it, I had to climb on top.
I put my palms on the
flat top, pushing myself up. It took some effort because the counter was pretty high for my size. I managed to swing a leg over and get up on my knees. I felt for the wall, using it to steady myself as I stood up. I reached for the curtain, grabbing the edge of it and I tried pulling it aside. It was tacked along the edges. I blew out a breath, placed both hands on the curtain and yanked as hard as I could.
“What the hell are you doing in here?”
The voice was deep, demanding, with an edge that caused me to jump at the same time I was ripping. The curtain fell away from the wall.
I fell backward into the dark.
North
I teetered on the edge of the counter, my arms flailing. I only had a split second to move and I was ready to twist my body so I landed on my hands and knees rather than my back.
Hands grab me by the hips, stopping me, then picking me up into the air and putting me down on the floor. I staggered at the suddenness and arms went around me to hold me steady.
I blinked rapidly. The sun was now coming in through the revealed window. It beamed into my eyes. His face was in the shadow but I could see he had dark hair. The light left him in a halo glow. He was tall, not as tall as Silas but almost. He had wide shoulders. I could see a gold circle earring in his left lobe.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. The tone was still sharp, bold, and deep.
I shook my head rapidly. I was too paralyzed by fear to feel if anything did hurt.
He started to let go of me and moved until we were both standing beside each other, the sun light shining over our faces. His eyes were dark, his brows thick, and his jaw broad. His skin was tan. His face had coarse hair from a day or two of not shaving.
Whatever I had thought about Silas being the person I wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley at night, this person was exactly that, only he could scare me in broad daylight.
