Luis was halfway home Sunday when his phone started ringing. At a light he checked it, and then did a double take when he saw it was his mother.
He pulled over just in time to get the next call.
“Luis?” Her voice across the line was soft. Luis felt his chest squeeze.
He shouldn’t have answered. He knew it immediately. He was supposed to be closing this door, not leaving her a crack in which to hurt him again.
“Hi Mama.” His throat was dry.
“I thought we could talk. If you’re free?” She sounded careful, sweet. Luis hated the stupid hope that fluttered inside him. She was always sweeter after a fight. It was a honey to lure him back.
Hadn’t he and Cassie talked about this time and time again?
“Yeah, yeah I’m free,” The words slipped out before he could stop them. Part of his head was screaming at him not to do this.
But he had to know if she meant it. If this was just another manipulation or if she truly felt bad about what had happened.
If it was just a way to get him back and she wasn’t willing to change, Luis would just leave. Walk away.
“I’m finishing up at church, do you want to meet me here?” She asked. “We can get lunch, my treat.”
Luis didn’t want to trap them both in the same car, but he liked the idea of talking on neutral ground. Something civilizedat a restaurant. There was no way she was going to throw a fit in public, she wasn’t that kind of person.
This was as safe as it was going to get.
“Okay, yeah, sure.” He was already putting the church’s name in his navigation. “I can be there in like fifteen.”
“Great,” he could hear her smile over the line, but couldn’t tell if it was authentic. “Just come in and get me when you arrive, I’m helping organize the backroom,” she said.
Luis had helped her a time or two with that. “Will do.”
Then the line clicked, and she was gone.
NoI love you. Okay.
Luis drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Was he doing this?
Cassie would tell him not to, but even if it was a guilt ambush, he needed to know. It would be closure, right? That he’d tried absolutely everything, given her every chance.
And then maybe the last of the guilt that had been dogging him would finally shake free.
Luis took a deep breath, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “You can do this,” he said. He tilted his head to look at his neck, but there’d been enough time and there was almost no evidence of the bites. Still, Luis adjusted his hair and shirt to further hide it. He was sure his mother would be looking.
Okay. He could do this.
Just one last time.
He clicked his signal to get back on the road.
Fifteen minutes later, Luis pulled into the church parking lot. There were a few other cars there, but it was quiet. The Sunday service had already come and gone.
The sunlight was bright as he made his way up to the church. He tried to be positive, to believe that they could find an understanding. That she wanted their relationship enough to come back to the table.
Luis stepped in the door with that cautious hope in his chest, and was temporarily blinded by how dark it was inside. The lights that were usually on, weren’t. He squinted, blinking as he tried to adjust to the low lighting.
He knew that the storage room was back and to the right, so he’d just head that way and–
The door slammed shut behind him, and something clicked. Luis jumped, went to whirl around, but someone grabbed him.
