Come Back

Part 5.

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October 17

Two weeks later, both of our schedules were finally open for another Friday night date. I dropped Lily off at Logan’s who insisted on taking care of her, saying they had an awesome time last time. Lily came home with makeup on and her nails painted a light blue color. Her hair was straightened and she honestly looked dazzling. But of course, as her father, I didn’t like the idea of her wearing makeup so early. Luckily, Logan told her it was a one time thing. I agreed with that statement.

Lily was pleased to see Logan and gave her a big hug when we arrived. “Nervous?” Logan asks me after she sent Lily in to pick a book for Logan to read to her. She obviously had a large selection.

I look up at her. “Is it that obvious?”

“A bit.” She winks at me then extends a hand to my shoulder. “She’s crazy about you, trust me. Just be your lovely self.”

“Thanks.” I meet her eyes which are suddenly close to mine again, her mouth just as close, yet so far away at the same time; as usual. Unexpectedly, she leans into me and kisses me on the cheek. I stand there, dumbfounded and stupid until I decide to look at my watch and say, “Well I’d better go,” and stumble down the stairs to my truck. I run a hand through my hair and exhale. I feel her eyes watching me go. Something in her today was different. Something in her touch was more tense than it usually is. Something.

I met Julia at the marina and we had a really good night. First, we just walked around on the docks and threw pebbles as far as we could. Surprisingly, she threw it farther than me on more than one occasion. I smurf kicked her with my finger on the arm and she hit my back. Suddenly, things got serious and she leaned in and then nothing. No kiss, again. She left me hanging, but I guess I was okay with that. I’m not sure I’m ready to kiss anyone yet anyways. We went over and got some ice cream across the street as the sun was just setting. She got chocolate moose tracks and I got plain vanilla. “Why just vanilla?” she had asked me.

I shrugged. “I’m a simple person.”

She laughed, but nodded. We talked a lot. We were just walking around town through a dark parking lot with one single light post on when I spotted my dad’s car. I loosened my grip on her hand. “What is it?” she asked me.

I stuttered. “That’s,” I paused. “My dad’s car.”

She gave me a confused look. “And?”

“He’s supposed to be out of town.” My gaze deepened. That’s when I saw the silhouette of a person inside; two people. We ducked behind another car and peeked around to see who it was inside. Of course it was him, but who was he with? He was kissing someone. Who could he be kissing? Maybe they were just talking....with their lips locked? A door opened from my dad’s car and we ducked even further behind the car we were hiding behind.

A tall blonde woman who I could have sworn I’d seen before stepped out of the back seat, situated her hair and zipped her skirt up the back and walked to another car, getting inside and then she drove away. I watched her go, but soon turned my attention to my dad. He was fixing his tie when he stepped out of the back seat and then got into the front seat. I couldn’t make out the expression on his face, considering the darkness. When he drove away, Julia and I sat there in silence. She broke it eventually. “It’s ten o’clock.”

I snapped out of it. “I’ll drive you home.”

We got into the truck a few parking lots over and drove in silence. When we pulled into her driveway, she reached into her bag and pulled out the same flasque she had been drinking from at that first bonfire. “I think you need this more than I do.”