One You Can’t Forget

They took a quick right onto Route 152 and then a left onto Mount Parnassus Road, which was a fun part of the trip. The windy and hilly two-lane road was surrounded on both sides by a near-solid line of newly budding trees. It had a bit of a roller-coaster feeling as they traversed its length. After nearly a half hour they passed the three-road intersection that marked the little forgotten village of Millington. Like East Haddam, time slipped by Millington as well and any small business it had slipped away along with the reason for it existing. They took a right onto Hopyard Yard and soon entered the entrance of Devil’s Hopyard State Park.

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Luke enjoyed a walk along the path that edged the series of falls with Gibs and Helen. It was a little rough in places, as the park wasn’t officially open and the park staff hadn’t cleared the trails of winter debris. It was still a nice walk up and down the paths, listening to the loud rushing of the stream swollen with recent rains.

Saks walked up to them with a perturbed look on his face.

“Have you seen Wanda?”

“No,” said Luke.

“Hmm, we got separated. Maybe I was walking too fast for her.”

“Let’s go find her,” said Luke. “Helen, Gibs, see you later.”

The path they were walking split in two. “I’ll go up this way. Maybe she’s looking for you and got lost.”

Saks nodded and headed down the other path. Luke found himself walking over a bridge heading toward the camping grounds. Suddenly he heard a scream, and he raced toward it. A couple other club members heard it also and followed him. His boots crunched on the gravel walk as he pounded his feet to reach whoever was distressed. At one of the campsites, Luke found Aces with a struggling Wanda in his arms.

Luke ran up to him and jerked the man’s arm to face him. “Not cool, man.”

“Get your hands off me,” spit Aces. “We’re just having a little fun.”

“You were. She wasn’t.”

Aces looked at Wanda, who shrank away from him. A couple of the women from the club came up to her and stood protectively around her. Wolf Jackson, the new vice prez, and Dagger Simson, the sergeant-of-arms, came to stand behind Luke and Aces.

“Are you challenging me?” Aces glared at Luke.

“No. Just I think you had too much to drink, Aces, and apparently you misjudged her interest.”

Aces looked back and forth at the growing crowd, who had looks ranging from concern to anger.

“Fuck, whatever. I had a few.” He passed Luke, his shoulder purposely banging into Luke. “But don’t ever fucking touch me again, Spade. I won’t tolerate insubordination.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Date

Luke pushed the unsettling incident at Devil’s Hopyard behind him. He only stopped for one drink at the Red Bull bar, and he didn’t finish it. By the time Aces hit the bar, he was back to his jovial self. Luke noticed, however, that Saks and Wanda didn’t stop, and the club members that did stop at the bar seemed to be more somber than usual. It was a bad note to leave off of on an otherwise successful road trip, and Luke didn’t like it. Once again, there wasn’t much he could do about it. In any case, club members, other than Aces, Wolf and Dagger, complimented him on the trip, saying they looked forward to the next one.

Luke pushed his thoughts in another direction. He had bigger fish on the fire. He drew out the phone number Emily gave him, which he kept carefully folded in his wallet. It seemed to take forever for Emily to pick up the phone. Maybe she was busy.

Just as he was about to hang up, a click came through the line, sending Luke’s heart into thumper mode.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s Luke.”

“Hi, Luke.”

An awkward pause filled the line.

Emily cleared her throat. “How’ve you been?”

“Good. I went out with the club on a road trip. We drove to Devil’s Hopyard. Ever been there?”

“I went once with my family when we were little.”

“It’s a beautiful place.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Just not half as beautiful as you.”

Emily didn’t reply, and Luke stopped breathing, thinking he went too far. When had he gone corny and soft? He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Thank you, Luke. A girl always likes compliments.”

“Well, I have a lot more.” Shit, could I be any sappier?

Emily giggled. “Well, you’ll have to tell them to me.”

He smirked into the phone. Guess sappy worked these days. He ran his teeth over his bottom lip. “Oh, you have to earn the compliments,” he flirted. “I don’t give them out to just anyone.”

“And who do you give them out to?”

Fuck, she knew exactly how to play him. He pictured her in the dress she had been wearing the other day. “Well, someone who goes out on a date with me might get one or two.”

“Might?”

“Well, in your case, I might make an exception to give a few more.”

Emily laughed. “Well, then I might consider it.”

Enough with this might shit. “Tell you what. How about tomorrow night?”

“Sunday?”