Incendiary (Inferno 4)

Epilogue

“Hey, Stranger!” I call out when Luke walks into the pharmacy again.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

I’ve seen him three times this week, and while he’s a hell of a lot older than me, I wouldn’t mind going home with him for a night.

I think it’s the way he watches people, with such a stern and hateful look that tells me he’d be a wild fuck.

I haven’t had one of those in ages.

“You said your mother’s name was Adeline,” he begins, completely disregarding my joy at seeing him again.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest.

“Are we doing this again?” I ask in a bored tone.

“What was her father’s name?” he asks me evenly.

“I don’t know. Mom never talked about her dad. Come to think of it, Grandma never mentioned him either.”

I watch curiously as he puts a hand to his stomach and inhales sharply.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask curiously as I take a step closer to him.

“It’ll pass,” he says in a quiet tone.

“So, did you need something else today? I don’t think you’ve ever visited the store this many days in a row,” I say brightly, trying to change the subject.

I’ve never met a more private person in my life, but I’ve learned from Mom and Grandma to never pry into someone’s personal business.

They said that sometimes you stumble on things you wish you never knew, and it could change your world for the worst.

“You kind of look like my daughter, don’t you think?” he asks me as he peers into my eyes.

“The little girl that was here? Yeah, I guess I can see a slight resemblance. Do you have any other kids?”

He nods.

“How many?”

He turns his face away for a moment before he drops his hand to his side.

Apparently I’ve touched something that he doesn’t want to talk about, but what else can I say? He brought it up, I was just trying to expand on the subject.

“Well, if you need help, give me a holler,” I say to him as I crouch back down in front of the box I was unpacking.

If he’s not going to talk anymore, I should probably finish stocking the shelves.

“You wanna get out of here?” he suddenly asks.

I look up at him with a grin on my face.

His tone is strong again and his eyes are boring into my soul, like they’re wont to do when he’s near me.

“You better believe it!” I say as I stand back up and the grin spreads across my face. “Where did you have in mind?”

“Wherever,” he replies as he turns to walk out of the store.