Eugenia part 29

Read part 28 here!

Luke Gallagher didn’t keep us waiting for long. Two days later, Jon appeared a bit later than usual- Andy and I were already cooking dinner- and he wasn’t alone.

“Hey.” The stranger greeted us. The ruggedness of his voice reminded me of Gruber so fiercely that I almost cried. He was more attractive than I had expected, with his curly brown ponytail and dark, chocolate colored eyes. Those eyes met mine and he flashed an immediate smile, revealing even, white teeth. It was a friendly smile, but a tired one. “Meg?”

“Luke?”

A nod followed by another smile. “It’s amazing to finally meet you. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been causing a fair bit of trouble.”

I blushed, not knowing why. “I figured the time for silence had passed.”

Luke nodded and looked around the kitchen. “Could I grab a glass of water?”

“I’ll get it!” Julie rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a clean glass out of my hands. I raised my eyebrows, but she had her back to me. “I’m Julie.”

“I’ve heard about you. Thanks.” He accepted the water and drank generously. Julie watched him and snatched the cup back when he’d finished, filling it up again.

“You’re drinking like I did when Meg found me. But why’re you so thirsty?”

“Well, I’m not used to the area, so finding water has been difficult. And it’s really hot, here.”

“But weren’t you last seen in Nevada? Isn’t it hot there too?” Julie filled the glass a third time. I couldn’t help but compare her behavior to when she’d first met Decklan; it wasn’t nearly this hospitable.

He chuckled. “Just because I was last seen there when I was thirteen doesn’t mean I stayed there.” Julie blushed. “I actually moved up to Washington. Speaking of Washington, I’m not alone.”

Jon, who’d helped himself to a glass of water as well, did a spit take. “What?”

“Sorry, Jon, I didn’t want to spill all the beans until I’d seen Meg and Julie for myself. I’ve been traveling with Suri Archer since I was about seventeen, and we both just met up with Michael Riggins about two years ago. Suri’s from Washington, and Michael travelled all the way from the Dakotas. I think he was planning on going down the coast into California, but he met up with us first and didn’t end up needing to.”

“How do you just meet people? I’ve never seen anyone that I didn’t specifically go and look for.”

“Well, there are a lot more places to hide in California, but up in the north, it gets cold at night, so you’ll need to find shelter. And there aren’t many of those places. Suri almost shot me when I stumbled into her spot the night we met. That time was pure luck, but Michael we’d seen in town one day and he looked suspicious. So we followed him to where he was staying; some home for sale.”

“Huh. Have any of you ever met anyone else?”

“No. But there are always rumors.”

Decklan came home soon, after a fifth water refilling for Luke by his new biggest fan. They shook hands politely, but there was a stiffness in their posture. At first, I didn’t understand what had come over the two normally amiable men, but when Decklan leaned down to kiss me on the cheek, it all acme together.

When Luke excused himself (“I finally get to use a real bathroom!”) I pulled Decklan aside.

“Are you… jealous?” I asked him in disbelief.

“Wha-? No!”

“Then what was that?”

“What was what?”

“The kiss.”

“I just felt like kissing you.” He said stubbornly. “And I’m sick of hiding… us.”

“Who said we were hiding? And what is ‘us’, exactly?”

“Well… what do you want us to be?”

“Do we really need to talk about this right now?” I glanced at the closed bathroom door, still high on the relief that my radio interview hadn’t been in vain.

“You asked first.” Decklan muttered, but he dropped it.

When Luke emerged excitedly from the bathroom, he declined our offer for dinner. “I’d better get back to Suri and Michael. We’ll plan a meet up sometime.”

“Why not the bookstore?” Julie asked, positioning herself in front of the door as if barring Luke from leaving.

“That’s not a bad idea, actually.” Jon agreed. He gave Luke instructions to get to Malia’s and we agreed on noon the next day. As Luke waved goodbye and slipped smoothly out into the night, I couldn’t help but feel relaxed for the first time in a while.

Continued in part 30