“It’smycar.”
“If you want it to run, back away from it.”
She retreated, palms lifted.
He liked her twenty percent more when she stood on the other side of the room and thirty percent more than that when she wasn’t speaking.
“Fair warning,” Blair murmured. “I can see through the windows that Mom, Dad, and Hailey just parked outside. They’re about to come in here and ambush you.”
Luke’s shoulders sagged as he emptied his lungs in a slow stream.
“Son?” His dad’s voice.
Luke turned.
Bruce Dempsey, now in his late fifties, was bald on top with gray hair shaved close on the sides and back of his head. Measured, thoughtful, and full of integrity, his job as an insurance agent suited him well. He was a Midwesterner who earnestly loved his wife and who somehow came out of every grocery store with more condiments than the family could consume.
His mom held the homemade coffee cake that had been Luke’s favorite when he was a kid. Thick blond hair framed a face that was long and narrow, pretty and approachable. She showed genuine interest in every person she met. She wasn’t competitive and typically lost when their family played games. So when they’d installed a pool table in the basement, the rest of them had been shocked when she’d easily beaten them all.
His parents had hardly changed in years.
The girl standing next to themhadchanged.
Luke’s pulse thumped in his ears at the sight of her.
It was as if he were seeing a ghost. Ethan’s ghost.
She was just a few years older than Ethan had been when he’d died. She had the exact same shade of dark blond hair. The same oval face. Same nose. Very similar mouth. Light freckles. But it was the sight of her eyes that punched him in the stomach. Her warm, friendly hazel eyes were set beneath expressive eyebrows.Ethan’s eyes.
Was this a joke? Blair looked and acted like him. Hailey looked like his brother and, if what Ben had said was true, acted like him, too.
The three of them came forward. His dad hugged him with the same strong arms that had embraced him when he was a kid. “I love you,” he said.
Emotion trapped Luke in a vise.
His mom came next. “Love you, Luke.” She gave him a tight squeeze and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Hi,” Hailey said self-consciously. He didn’t blame her for feeling uncomfortable around him. They were practically strangers. They exchanged a stiff side hug.
“How come I didn’t get a hug out of you during our touching reunion?” Blair asked.
“Blair,” Mom said disapprovingly.
“You didn’t get a hug because you didn’t move in for a hug,” Luke told her.
“I didn’t move in for a hug because you looked like you were going to bite my head off.”
This was the daughter the nicest parents in Misty River had received after one son had died and the other ran away?
“Do you still like cinnamon streusel coffee cake?” Mom asked.
“Yes.” He could smell the doughy scent of it.
“It makes me happy to hear that. I hope you’ll enjoy this.” She set the cake on the counter, then appeared unsure what to do with her hands. Finally, she interlaced them in front of her waist. “You look wonderful. How are you?”
Mom, Dad, and Hailey were all trying so hard that it was difficult to watch.
“I’m doing well.”
