The Boy from Half Moon

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO Luke

“What do you need right now, Luke?” Tate asked as soon as our Uber pulled out of the jail parking lot.

“I need to go to Half Moon and check on my mother and little brother,” I answered. “David was upset when they dragged me off the ranch in handcuffs. He’s never witnessed something like that.”

“As your legal counsel, I don’t think you should stay on the ranch. I understand your family is still there, but folks might believe you actually committed this crime, Luke. That’s a dangerous risk to take.”

I wanted to hold Tate’s hand, but he seemed different somehow and I couldn’t tell if he wanted me to. I worried that the mess I was in would change how he felt. That, and I hadn’t contacted him for three weeks either.

“We don’t have anywhere to go,” I muttered, more to myself than him and the driver.

Tate turned to me, placing his hand on my thigh, causing me to inhale sharply. I longed for his touch. The moment he came into the interview room inside the jail, every feeling I’d tamped down for weeks reappeared like no time had gone by.

“You’ll stay with me until we figure something out,” he reassured.

I stared at his hand, feeling like what we’d built so far had vanished. “All three of us?” I asked.

“As many of you as you need, Luke.”

I lifted my eyes to him. “Why are you being so kind?” I asked.

“That’s my job.”

“Oh, okay,” I whispered, turning away and watching the landscape speed by. “Thank you.”

Neither of us spoke for a while. Madras quickly disappeared behind us as we made our way to the ranch. I had no idea what reaction my presence would be when we got there, but I needed to reassure Ma and David I hadn’t killed Franklin. Controlling what the rest of the community thought was beyond my control.

“Can I ask you something, Luke?” I turned to face the man I’d figured out I loved and nodded. “Why did you quit working in Bend, and why you’d stop communicating with me?”

“Someone told Franklin I was gone overnight the last time I stayed with you,” I said. “My violation of the rules caused hardship for my family when I didn’t come home all night.”

“You couldn’t contact me?” he asked. I shook my head in embarrassment. “I mean, you managed to call me the night I came to pick you up,” he reminded me. “Don’t you think a simple call to explain why you’d disappeared would have been nice?”

“I decided I couldn’t do that anymore,” I said, unable to look him in the eyes.

“What? Call me?”

“Court you,” I mumbled. “I decided I couldn’t do that anymore.”

“Oh, I see. So even to just tell me that, you couldn’t call?” he asked, removing his hand from my thigh.

“I was in trouble, Tate. My family got kicked out of the dorms and I was in solitary confinement.”

“May ask what for?”

“For threatening to kill Franklin,” I admitted.

“Is that what the young man, Josiah, witnessed?”

“No,” I confessed. “Not exactly. Josiah saw me beat up Franklin.”

Tate’s face changed instantly. I’d never seen him look so serious. He pulled a notepad out of his briefcase and wrote inside. His mouth was pinched, and his entire body stiffened as he adjusted his position to face me.

“It seems best that we remain attorney and client, Luke. You’re correct about no longer dating me. We have a fight coming up and having our personal emotions involved would not be wise,” he explained.

This Tate was someone I didn’t recognize. He seemed angry and disappointed in me. And the way he looked up from his notes made me feel like a stranger to him all of a sudden. Like any other client he worked with.

“So we aren’t trying to be a couple anymore?” I asked.

The driver’s eyes glanced at the rearview mirror, quickly looking away when I caught his eyes with mine.

“That is what you inferred just a moment ago,” he stated, here again using big words and acting like every other man I’d ever encountered who wore a suit.

“But I said that to protect my family,” I argued. “But maybe now…”

Tate raised his hand and interrupted me. “Your original impulse was correct, Luke. The best thing going forward is keeping our relationship professional.”

The hurt I experienced after his words had to be written across my face, but he stared at me like he couldn’t see my pain. His face was blank; like I was a stranger.

“Yeah, I guess,” I responded, turning my attention to looking out the window again. The ranch was only a mile or so ahead. “I’ll have to stay on the ranch,” I said. “We don’t have any money, Tate.”

My admission softened his words. “I’m helping you for free, Luke. I care about you and your family,” he said. “Please, just check on your family. If they want to leave with you, I’ll figure things out for all of you. But if they won’t leave, I want you close to me, not on that ranch.”

“At your place?” I asked, tugging on the bottom of my shirt and wishing I had something good in my life for just once.

“If you’ll stay with me, yes. It’s a cost-effective way to save money,” he explained. “If you go to trial on this case, Luke, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent.”

“I can get a job,” I offered, wanting to take some burden away from him.

“We’ll see,” he replied.

We pulled in front of the closed gate to the ranch. Brother William stood guard, surprised, I assumed, when I stepped out of the Uber.

“You’ll wait for me?” I asked, leaning back into the car. He nodded. “I’m sorry for everything, Tate. I truly am sorry that I’ve disappointed you.”

“I’ll be right here,” he whispered, sadness in his voice.

Brother William let me in, and I trudged up the hill to the compound, not turning back to Tate because I didn’t want to cry. We hadn’t even gotten started, and whatever we’d had was over. I wasn’t sure I cared whether I went to jail anymore.

I should’ve seen this coming. God never answers my prayers.