Leah appreciated the analogy, even though it made her feel a little sad.
“The job is done now,” he added. She understood his meaning. Luke was setting boundaries of his own, just as she had. Fair enough. She should go and leave him to his work.
When she got to the doorway, she turned and looked back. “So we’re still friends, even after what happened Friday?”
Luke shook his head, a small laugh playing at the corners of his mouth. “We are still friends. Come on, it was just a kiss.”
Just?She looked out at the water, freshly stung.
“Hey,” he said. She sensed an olive branch being extended. “You still planning to go to the reunion?”
She wasn’t, at least not anymore. “Not sure,” she said, leaving the door open.
“I think it’ll be fun. You should go.”You should go.Not,You should come with me.Still, it was something.
“It’s this Friday?” she asked. She really did not want to go. But maybe it would give them a chance to find their footing.
“Friday night at the Wequassett Golf Club. Do you have the details?” he asked.
“Text them to me, and I’ll think about it.” Smiling, she bentto say goodbye to Scout and started back across the yard. The late-day sunlight was bouncing off the water, a million little refractions of hope on a midsummer evening. Leah could feel Luke’s eyes on her back as she walked. She’d come to deliver a check she could barely afford to write, but at least she was leaving with more than she’d come with.
