Chapter 32
Luke
After Luke got a call from the school secretary notifying him that Jeremiah had gotten into trouble, he rushed over to Hadley Cove High. As he pulled into the parking lot, he gripped the steering wheel, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down. Maybe this was a misunderstanding, like at the police station, he thought. Luke reminded himself of what he wished he had done differently in that situation. Ask questions first. Don’t assume it’s Jeremiah’s fault.
Luke turned off the car and walked toward the school entrance. He wondered if Emma knew anything about what Jeremiah had done. Maybe he’d find her after he was finished with his meeting with Principal Kennedy. Even though he’d left her house a few hours ago, he couldn’t wait to see her again.
Walking into the front office, he approached the secretary. “Hey, I’m here to see Principal Kennedy.”
“Yes, Mr. Grayson. I’ll let him know you’re here.”
As Luke turned around, he spotted Jeremiah sitting in the corner.
“Jeremiah? What’s going on?”
Jeremiah glared at his father, then looked down at the floor.
“Mr. Grayson? The principal is ready for you to go in now.”
“Come on, Jeremiah.”
Luke waited until his son got up. Jeremiah rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before walking into the principal’s office. Luke shook his head in bewilderment at Jeremiah’s attitude toward him. This morning when he’d asked him for lunch money, everything seemed fine.
“Thank you for coming in so quickly, Mr. Grayson.”
The principal stood and shook Luke’s hand.
“Of course,”
Luke said. “Now, can you tell me what happened?”
After the principal explained what had taken place in Emma’s classroom, Luke’s veins bulged in his neck. He glared at his son as if he didn’t even know him. The principal hadn’t decided yet on what Jeremiah’s punishment would be but told Luke he would be the first to know.
“I’m so sorry about all of this, Mr. Kennedy. Is Ms. Wright still here?”
Luke asked as they got up to leave.
“She went home for the day.”
He nodded and left the office as Jeremiah followed behind. Luke marched out of the building in furious silence, his steps quick, not speaking a word to Jeremiah until they got into the Range Rover.
“I need you to tell me why, Jeremiah. Why did you do that to Emma?”
“You lied to me! When I got the lunch money, your phone went off. I saw the texts from her and the stupid bracelet you gave her! How could you forget about Mom?”
Luke turned to his son, flabbergasted. “I could never forget about your mom. That couldn’t be farther from the truth—”
Jeremiah interrupted Luke before he finished. “Now it all makes sense. I know why you’ve been out late all these nights. You never really loved Mom, did you?
Luke couldn’t believe the words coming out of Jeremiah’s mouth. And what he said about Kate hit him like a physical blow that had knocked the wind out of him. Taking a deep breath, he spoke in the calmest tone he could manage, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Jeremiah, you’ve got it all wrong. I loved your mom more than anything. We moved down here because your mom always wanted us to live on the Georgia coast. I wish I would’ve told you earlier about me and Emma, but—”
“Just stop! Okay? You know what? When I move out next year, you’ll never hear from me again!”
Jeremiah shouted at him. “I hate you!”
As Luke guided the car into the driveway, a wave of helplessness fell over him. Each pebble crunching under the tires was like a physical representation of his faltering relationship with his son.
“Son, I know you’re hurting,”
he said in a gentle tone. “I promise we can work through this. I never intended for you to find out this way.”
“Don’t ever call me your son again. Leave me alone. We’re done. I don’t want to talk to you or have anything to do with you.”
Jeremiah hopped out of the car and slammed the door shut behind him.
The abrupt slam of the car door echoed like a thunderclap in Luke’s ears, its reverberations a stark reminder of the rift that had split open between him and his son. Jeremiah’s words, bitter and seething with resentment, replayed in his mind, each syllable piercing his heart like shards of glass, amplifying the echoes of his son’s final words: “We’re done.”
The stark finality of those words sent chills down his spine. His heart ached, and he found himself at the crossroads of disbelief and regret, grappling with the harsh reality that his actions had led them here.
Yet amidst the turmoil of emotions, a sense of urgency nudged at him—the need to check on Emma. As much as his heart was breaking for his relationship with his son, he couldn’t forget the storm that Jeremiah had left in his wake at the school. Guilt twisted in his gut as he recalled the sequence of events. Emma was caught in the crossfire of a situation she didn’t create and didn’t deserve. He had an obligation, a duty, to mend what could be mended.
Without another moment’s hesitation, he reversed the car out of the driveway and headed toward Emma’s cottage. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, or if he had the words to comfort her, but he knew he had to try. Luke only hoped his words would be enough to make things right again.