Her expression doesn't change. "I know. He came to help."
"Did you know he was coming?"
"No."
We look at each other. The question neither of us is asking sits between us. Does he know? Did someone see? Are we caught?
"He doesn't know anything," Callie says quietly. "He's just being Luke."
I nod. Take the box from her hands. Our fingers don't touch.
Luke comes out carrying two more boxes. "Got the last of them. Where do these go?"
"Front seat," I tell him.
He loads them in and brushes off his hands. "Alright. What else?"
"That's everything," Callie says. "Thanks for helping."
"No problem. I've got about twenty minutes before I need to head to the parade staging. Where do these go after the VFW?"
"Nowhere," I tell him. "Just the VFW."
"You sure? I can stick around if you need extra hands."
"We're good."
Luke looks between us. Something shifts in his expression. Like he's picking up on the tension even if he can't identify the source.
"Everything okay with you two?" he asks.
"Fine," Callie and I say at the same time.
Luke's eyes narrow slightly. "You sure? Because you both seem weird."
"Long morning," Callie says. "I've been up since three."
"And I'm leaving tonight," I add. "Still need to pack."
Luke nods slowly. Still not entirely convinced. "Alright. Well, I'll let you get to it. Call me if anything comes up."
He claps me on the shoulder. Gives Callie a quick hug. Walks back to his truck and drives away.
The silence after he leaves is deafening.
"That was close," Callie finally says.
"Too close."
"He didn't suspect anything."
"This time. But eventually he will. We're terrible at this."
"At what? We're not doing anything."
"Exactly." I turn to face her fully. "We're not doing anything. And we're still lying to him. Still sneaking around. Still one wrong look away from him figuring it out."
"So what? You want to tell him?"
