I shot her a skeptical look. “This small town has a long memory.”
“Perhaps, and there will always be those who flake. That’s a them issue, not a you issue.”
I nodded, knowing she was right but also finding it hard to let it roll off, particularly in light of…
“I didn’t tell you about yesterday.” I hopped up, unsettled just thinking about the meeting at Luke’s barn and also realizing I needed to check dinner.
“What happened yesterday? Does it have anything to do with Presley and West getting engaged?”
“They’re hiring me as their planner,” I said.
“Naturally. They’d be stupid not to.”
“They’ve already picked out their venue.”
“That was fast.”
“Luke Durham is renovating his barn to host events like weddings and parties.”
“That big, pretty, red barn?”
“That’s the one.”
She sat back in her chair, watching me. “You and Luke aren’t buddies.”
I laughed at that innocent understatement. “Luke hates me with a passion.”
“Does Luke even really know you?”
My brows shot up as I pondered the irony of that question. There was a time when I’d thought he knew me better than anyone. That wasn’t saying much, really, because to this day, I wouldn’t say many really knew me. According to Dotty and Jolene, my therapist, I didn’t make it easy for people to know me because I didn’t like being vulnerable. I couldn’t argue with that. I absolutely had trust issues, but I was trying to learn how to open up so I could make meaningful connections.
I took the pan off the burner, determining the chili mac was done, then added grated cheese as I considered how much of my Luke history to share with Dotty. I’d never told a soul about it, with the exception of Jolene, and she didn’t really count. I’d intentionally chosen a therapist in Nashville to ensure she wouldn’t be familiar with any of the people involved.
Being in the same room with Luke, talking to him, finding myself in the position where I had to work with him… I was aching to spill it. It felt like a weight I carried around, a part of my past that I couldn’t let go of as long as I kept it secret.
It was just like Dotty to sit there quietly, patiently, letting me wade through my thoughts.
I emptied the pan into a serving bowl, grabbed two smaller bowls and forks, and carried them all to the table.
“When I was in high school, Luke’s mom cleaned our house every week,” I said once I’d sat and we’d both filled our bowls. “Spring of our junior year, Luke started picking her up each week when she was done. One of those nights, I found him in his car in the driveway, waiting for his mom, who wasn’t quite finished working. We started talking, just the two of us out in the driveway in the dark.”
I shoveled a bite into my mouth, allowing myself to remember in a way I hadn’t for years. My curiosity upon seeing him idling there in the partial glow of our security light, watching me with unhidden interest. His slow, handsome, unsure smile as I walked closer. The way my name rolled off his lips when he said, Hey, Magnolia.
“I’d known Luke since grade school, but I didn’t really know him. Just that he was on the football team, he lived on a farm, and his family wasn’t well-off. The two-dimensional ideas you have about most of the kids in your grade, you know?”
Dotty nodded, her mouth full of food, her expression telling me she was engrossed in my story.
“Talking to him had felt exciting and a little forbidden that first night. If anyone from school had seen us, they would’ve thought what an odd pairing. The rich girl and the farm boy. But there was nobody around. We could let our guard down and maybe be ourselves a little more easily. We just…talked. For maybe thirty minutes, until his mom came out.”
“Ahhh,” Dotty said, as if everything was falling into place in her head. But there was more.
“It sort of became a thing,” I continued. “Every Wednesday night, Luke would show up a little earlier. I’d watch for him and sneak outside. There was a part of our driveway that couldn’t be seen from the house, not that my parents were looking. They were too wrapped up in their own drama to worry about what I had going on.”
Dotty watched me intently as she ate. I took a bite, giving myself time to remember.
“He wasn’t like the other guys who just wanted, well, you know what high school boys want,” I said. “He seemed to see me as a real person, not a conquest and not just a spoiled rich girl. Anyway, we had a secret thing going for a few months. He was there for me when my mom took off. I listened to him as he debated whether to apply to colleges or dedicate himself to the farm. Our conversations were real, you know?”
“Indeed,” she said. “But something must have happened to make it end badly?”
