He shined his phone’s flashlight at the engine. “Sorry, I thought you heard me coming. Is it the battery?”
“No,” I answered. It was the starter, and the plugs, and the muffler, and the way overdue oil change, and Lord knew what else. I had spent the money I got from selling Nana’s purses on a new battery. It was probably the only thing in the car that functioned correctly, and probably the only way I had been getting the El D to run at all.
Stupid car. Stupid car! I leaned in and fruitlessly turned the key again. I felt like screaming. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners…
“I can give you a ride,” Luke called from behind the open hood. “You can get this towed tomorrow.”
So that’s how I ended up in his pristine Chevy Tahoe, dirty from my shift and probably stinky, worried as anything about Charlie, my paycheck, my car, and everything else.
He drove in silence out of the parking lot. “Where do you guys live? Your grandma’s house, still?”
I nodded, then realized he couldn’t see me in the dark. “Yes,” I croaked out, my voice suddenly hoarse. What if Charlie was really sick? Stop it, I sternly ordered myself. Charlie didn’t have cancer. He would be fine.
“Was that your grandma’s car, too? I think I remember Cassie driving it in high school.”
My God, what were we going to do without a car? I cleared my throat. “Yeah, I mean, yes. Her Eldorado,” I added needlessly, then paused. “Thank you for driving me.”
“My pleasure,” he answered, which was very hard to believe. His family lived in the absolute opposite direction in a beautiful house on the lake.
The first few miles passed in silence. “I remember you,” he said suddenly. “Everyone called you…a different name. Right? I didn’t recognize you at first.”
“My grandma was named Emma. They called me Lou a lot for Louisa, my middle name, to keep us straight. And I hope I’ve changed a little since sixth grade,” I answered. Why would I be hurt that he didn’t recognize me? Who cared?
“You were really tall for your age, and really blonde, and really quiet,” he said. “I don’t know if I ever heard you sayanything except ‘hello’ and ‘I’ll get her’ when I came over.”
Yes, that was about the sum of it. I had hidden in the upstairs bathroom when he came over, and spied on him and Cassie making out in the front seat of his pickup when he dropped her off after their dates. They had done more than just make out, I knew. I remembered her giggling with her friends about driving all the way to Big Rapids to the Planned Parenthood there so they could get on the Pill and not be recognized. When you’re quiet, even if you’re already 5’5” in the sixth grade, people tend to forget you are there. What I had heard from Cassie and her friends had made my ears burn and made me absolutely sure I would never, ever do those things with a boy.
“How long have you been back in town?” Luke asked me.
I picked at an unknown food stain on my jeans. I was contaminating his car with my gross self. “About seven months. I came home when Cassie got sick.” I looked at his dark profile, straight nose and strong jaw. “How about you? Where do you live now?”
“I’ve been in Florida for the last several years, on the Gulf side, working down there, but my dad needs me closer. He’s too stubborn to move.”
“He’s not a snowbird?” It seemed like half the population of Michigan migrated south for the winter.
Luke huffed a little laugh. “He doesn’t like Florida. I can run the business from anywhere, really, so I came home. It’s nice to see the family again.”
“This county is crawling with Whitakers,” I blurted out. Idiot! “Sorry. That came out wrong.”
But he laughed louder this time. “No, you’re right. There are a lot of Whitakers. And even more people interested in what we’re all doing. When I was younger I dreamed about changing my name.”
“You’re lucky to be a Whitaker,” I said. “People are paying attention to you for good reasons. Not because you’re…” I trailed off. I had almost said “an embarrassment.” I was too tired and needed to watch what was coming out of my mouth.
He sighed now. Maybe it was catching. “I know, you’re right.”
“Well, I’m sure that doesn’t make it easier sometimes. I would probably get sick of seeing my name on every building I drove past.”
Again Luke laughed. “It can be a little overwhelming. And embarrassing.”
What? Luke Whitaker was the epitome of confidence. I couldn’t imagine him being embarrassed or overwhelmed. Even when my Nana had woken up and shined a big flashlight into his pickup window one night, catching him and Cassie half-dressed, he had been as cool as a cucumber.
He’d had a six pack and a thin line of dark hair that led down his stomach past where the top button of his jeans had been open. You could really get an eyeful from that bathroom window when the porch light was on. Especially with your grandpa’s old birding binoculars.
We continued in silence. After living downstate, I had forgotten how dark it could get up north. Without streetlights and houses and other cars, we speed through pitch blackness.
“This is where my cousin Alex hit that deer,” Luke saidsuddenly.
“I remember that! It was really bad.” His younger cousin had totaled the car and had to be medevacked downstate to a bigger hospital. I wasn’t sure that he had ever completely recovered.
