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My lips parted as I tried to come up with a reply. Less friendly? “But...”
“I know you’re friends with him,” he said, “but you’ve got to understand. You’re a pretty girl. North’s very particular about girls and you’re one of the few he tolerates. You spend a lot of time with him.”
This made me question North and what other girls he tolerated on a regular basis. I smothered the thought. “We’re friends,” I said. What else could I say? It’s not like I could explain the new plan, or what it might mean. It was hard enough to comprehend within our group. Would Uncle ever understand it, if we chose to make it a reality? I needed to talk to North.
“I get that,” he said. “He’s also a young man full of hormones. Spend your time with Luke. North will find someone else if you leave him alone long enough.”
I tried to hide my tension with a small smile and a nod. He wanted North to find another girl. It made sense. Or it would if things were different for us. It made me consider how this whole situation would work. Uncle could run into North and I one day, or even one of the others. Maybe what we were thinking was impossible. Good in theory, but no one else would understand and accept it.
Uncle tapped a finger on the table, the metallic sound echoing. “If you like Luke, that is,” he said.
I lifted my head and nod more. “Yes,” I said. “I do.” That wasn’t the problem.
He smirked and rubbed a palm across the bandana on his forehead. “Save the I dos for when he asks.” He turned from me toward the stove and started cleaning up his area.
I shifted from foot to foot, considering what he might have meant. Then I considered leaving to find Luke, but I didn’t want to go out front alone. I considered going back for North, but given the circumstances, I wasn’t sure if I should.
Uncle shouted over his shoulder. “Hey, Tony!”
“Yeah?” said the guy washing dishes.
“Go find Luke.”
Tony was a lanky guy with dark hair and an olive complexion. He looked at me once, wiped his hands on his apron, turned off the water and walked out of the room.
He didn’t ask why. Then I realized the two other people in the room had probably heard the conversation. Heat washed over me, until I was sure my whole face was red.
I was flustered and embarrassed that they thought I’d been getting too close to North and needed a reminder of who I was dating. Why did Uncle have to say all that in front of them? Maybe he thought it was innocent enough…It was my own circumstances that made me uncomfortable. If they only knew…
I considered washing dishes if I was just going to stand there anyway. Uncle turned back to cooking. The other cook finished up his sandwich, walking it out to the hallway, where a waitress took it to the dining room.
Nathan came through the door into the kitchen. He still had on his jeans, but had traded the red shirt for one of the blue Bob’s Diner T-shirts to match with everyone else. The chest was a little tight, showing off his muscles.
He approached the silver table that separated the sink side from the stove and oven side and spotted me. His reddish brown hair shone a bit redder under the fluorescent lights of the kitchen. He stopped mid-step and turned with a puzzled expression in his blue eyes. “Something wrong?” he asked.
“I came to see Luke,” I said carefully, unable to give him the full answer. I made my eyes go wide, letting him know there was more to it and I needed him to go along with it. “I was going to take him out.”
He slid a look from me to Uncle and back at me. “You thought he might be here? I thought he was still at Kota’s. I’ve been waiting for him.”
I pressed my lips together before I could utter the surprised sound that had started in my throat. I forced a smile at him. “He said he was headed here, to relieve you from work, but...” I wasn’t sure what else to say in front of the others. This wasn’t good. Luke wasn’t here. What was I supposed to do?
“He’s probably run off again,” Uncle said. He hadn’t turned around, still cleaning up. “You should call him. Make him come pick you up.”
“Right,” I said. “I’ll do that.” I pressed my teeth together, grimacing at Nathan. I needed to talk to him, but away from Uncle.
Nathan’s face shifted from curious to something much more serious. He frowned and then took off his blue apron. “Is anyone else here?”
“North’s in the office, or he might still be.”
“Let’s go find him.”
Uncle made a noise, and I put my head down, feeling guilty but unable to help it. Did he expect me to avoid North completely?
I followed Nathan out into the hall, right on his heels. Even on the short walk, I wanted to reach out to him, to hold his hand or touch him in some way, but I feared Uncle would see it, even through the walls.
Nathan opened the door to the office. I stood on my tiptoes to peek around his wide shoulders.
North was still inside, looking at the computer but then picked his head up with a dark eyebrow lifted as we came in. “Don’t complain to me. It was her idea to give Luke the night off. But don’t worry. I’m not going to keep you. I’ll take over...”
Nathan ignored him, waving a hand through the air. He stepped inside, giving me room to enter. When I did, he closed the door and hit the lock. He turned to me, his hands on his hips. His shoulders rounded out and his blue eyes took on that serious expression again. “What’s wrong?”
I hoped no one was listening in on us. I needed to talk to someone about Uncle, but finding Luke seemed to be more important right now. “Luke left us not too long ago to relieve you from working,” I said. “But if he’s not here, then…”
“Well, then he’s run off a
gain,” Nathan said, wiping his hands on his jeans. “I haven't seen him. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“But now there’s a problem,” I said. I checked in with North, who shrugged but then nodded. “Volto might be back.”
Nathan’s face reddened, and he turned toward North. “Are you serious? Where?”
“Just wait a second,” North said, raising his hand. “We don’t know if it’s really him yet. Now that Luke’s not here, I’m wondering more if it was him playing a prank and then realizing he needed to hide because it was too over the top. So you haven’t seen him at all?”
“No,” Nathan said. “I’ve been working since I left Kota’s. I was waiting for someone to show up. Tony said she was here looking for Luke, so I came back to check it out.”
“We need to find him,” I said, feeling the panic in my heart. What if Volto had taken him? He’d done the same to me. Luke had been alone on his way here. I turned to North and Nathan, my finger fluttering to the base of my throat. “What if he’s got him?”
“Calm down,” North said, standing and pulling out his phone. He pushed a button and then held it to his ear.
I eased closer to the desk. “Who are you calling?”
“Him,” he said. He waited and then held it out so he could look at the screen. “He’s not answering.”
“Track him,” Nathan said. “We should find out where he is. I don’t think he’s on any Academy assignment. Kota would have known.”
“Should I call him?” I asked. “Maybe he’s thinking you’ll yell at him. I could try.”
“Yeah,” North said, and then pressed at his phone. “I’ll track him. You call him.”
I came deeper into the room to distance myself from the door, and then sat on the couch again to steady my shaking. I pulled my phone out but before I called Luke, I looked at Nathan for a brief second, feeling strange about the situation. I just hoped it would work.
Nathan pressed his lips together in a grim expression. “Do it.”
I looked at my phone, finding Luke’s icon—a stack of pancakes—and pushed the buttons that would call him.
