The door opens, and Lukas quickly steps away from me. He does it just in time.
Jamie is standing at the end of the hallway, his back to us.
He turns, his eyes flitting from me and then his father, and finally back to me.
“Lori, what are you doing here?”
Chapter Eighteen
Lukas
I feel my resolve threatening to crumble as I take in the sight of my son. Jamie runs a hand through his hair as he approaches us. We meet in the center of the hallway. My lips try to open and shape the words – the fateful words Lorena and I agreed we wouldn’t share with him yet.
It's like a compulsion, as I try to say them, but then I remember the way Lorena’s face furrowed in fear when I said we had to tell Jamie. If I just came out with it right now, I’m not sure she’d ever forgive me.
“Lukas was kind enough to offer me a ride home,” she says.
“The car broke down?” Jamie asks.
My belly feels like it’s twisting up as I force the lie. “It was luck. I was passing by her and she told me how the engine had failed. I’m just swinging by here to pick up a few work documents so I can swing by the gym on the return journey.”
Lorena lets out a short breath next to me, but Jamie doesn’t seem to notice. He accepts it, because of course he does.
What reason does he have not to?
He has no cause to doubt either of us.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Jamie grins. “Surprised I finally used the spare keys, huh?”
I chuckle. “I’m always telling you to swing by, but you never do. I was starting to think you were too cool for me.”
“I’m looking for my suitcase,” he says. “And for the record, dad, I could never be too cool for you.”
“Your suitcase?”
Jamie nods. “It’s a last-minute thing, but my friend and I are going on a short vacation together. He has a lake house and we’re going to get away for a few days.”
“What friend?” I ask.
Jamie’s expression clouds for a moment. He looks at me with a look in his eyes I recognize well from when he was a kid. There’s something he wants to tell me, but he isn’t for some reason. But then the look passes and suddenly I’m not sure.
“Ethan,” he says. “I work with him at the club. Haven’t I mentioned him?”
“I remember,” Lorena says. “I didn’t know you two were close, though.”
Lorena winces at her word, and I feel the same tension grip me. It’s not as though we can comment on who Jamie is or is not close with, not after we’ve become closer than he could ever guess.
“Yeah, we’re pretty good friends. Don’t worry though, Lori, you’re still my bestie.”
I can’t help but smile at that. At least, it feels like a smile. I’ve never been much good at telling if I’m offering a genuine smile or something closer to a grimace.
“I think your suitcase is in the storage room, under the Christmas decorations,” I tell him. “I can go and get it.”
“Awesome. Thanks, dad. Lori, want a coffee or something?”
“Sure.”
“Dad?”
I nod. “Sure, that sounds good.”
I hope he can’t hear any wavering in my voice as I move past him and walk through the apartment.
The wide-open space seems somewhat clinical as I head for the storage room. Tall ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, exposed rafters, and an open plan make me long for a home that Lorena will fill with a feminine touch, with our children’s shoes in the entranceway, with little touches of our life here and there.
After collecting his suitcase, I carry it through into the kitchen, striding across the living room.
Jamie and Lorena are seated at the kitchen island.
I place the suitcase down and take my seat, dropping onto the stool next to Lorena without even thinking about it. It just feels like the most natural place for me to go.
I only realize my possible mistake when I notice Jamie is sitting across from us, but if he finds it strange, he doesn’t give any indication.
“So,” I say, as I pick up my coffee mug, “why the sudden trip?”
“Like I said, it was a last-minute trip. His parents were going to be using the house but his dad couldn’t get the time off work. All the prep work has been done – the groundskeeping, the groceries – so we thought… why not? My boss was even nice enough to give us the two days off work when we explained the situation.”
“That sounds great,” Lorena says.
Jamie frowns softly. “I would’ve invited you, Lori, but…”
He trails off and that look comes into his expression again. I struggle to read it, to try and work out what Jamie could possibly be concealing from us. I know I have no right to question this too much, to pry into his business when Lorena and I are keeping ours so tightly shut.