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Twelve
Luke
For the past two weeks, Kane Construction had been doing renovations to the lobby of the Blue Creek Motel and every day, I’d come by to check on my guys and make sure that the job was going to be done on time. The motel was old and hadn’t been updated in decades and it seemed like every time we reassessed the situation, we found more work that needed to be done.
“All this wiring is shot,” Kieran informed me. “Whoever updated it last time probably wanted it done cheaply, so they used this shit. And they didn’t bother ripping out the old ones all the way. This is going to take hours.”
“You get what you pay for, I guess.”
He nodded and started stripping it out. I groaned. This was going to be another full day at least.
We’d sectioned off the part of the lobby we were working on with plastic drop cloths that hung down like shower curtains. Not the prettiest sight, but it was a slow time of year for the motel and there wasn’t much foot traffic coming or going anyway.
I left my guys to head to the front desk to tell the motel owner the bad news about the wiring, when I saw a familiar face passing through the lobby. Cindy.
“Cindy? What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you were staying at your sister’s place.”
“I was. But between the leak and the sex noises… Never mind. It was just time to get out of there.”
“Sex noises?”
“I saidnever mind.”
Okay. I could take a hint.
“So you’re staying here?” I asked.
“I didn’t know where else to go.”
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“Stay at my place,” I said.
“Your place?”
I groaned inwardly. “Ourplace. The house,” I clarified. “Laura’s going to be gone for the summer, so it’s just going to be me and Mom. Actually, having you there might help us keep from driving each other up the wall.”
“I don’t know, Luke. I don’t even know how much longer I’m sticking around town anyway.”
At those words, my stomach sank. No. I couldn’t let her leave yet. Cindy and I… whatever was going on between us wasn’t over yet.
“Why?”
“I just think coming back here might have been a mistake after all,” she answered. “Nothing here is the way I remembered it.”
“I think you’re giving up on this place too fast, Cindy.”
Yeah. The place.
“I don’t. I think I was imagining it to be something it never was,” she said.
Cindy’s eyes met mine, but she looked away. Cindy was giving up on me, but I wouldn’t let that happen.
“Stay with me,” I told her. I wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Whatever you were doing in Blue Creek, looking for jobs or helping Steph with the wedding, do it from my house.”
“Why?”
“Cindy, you were my best friend. You were… I don’t know. You weremyCindy. That’s not nothing, right?” I stammered. “This can’t be it. One night of drinks and truth or dare can’t be it. Right?”
