Chapter Eight
LUCAS
If I never have to smell another hot pepper again, I’ll take that as a win.
The burning is still simmering on my tongue, but thankfully, it’s not as bad as it was. It took about three ice waters and half a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream, but I can finally taste something other than spice.
Julia shifts in her seat, her eyes still closed.
She fell asleep practically as soon as we were back on the road.
I’m not surprised, given two long days and her lack of sleep due to Jacob’s noisy heater.
It’s given me a lot of time to think. Not just about Flat Rock Falls, although there’s a lot to unpack there, but about the last few days in general.
There have been a few times she’s looked at me in a way she never has before, and I don’t know what to make of that.
I was proud of her for stepping up and eating her burger, even if it was painful for both of us.
We took no time getting our cheque and heading out of the diner.
Our bill was only for our drinks and had a handwritten “Come again soon” on the bottom, which I’m assuming means we passed the initiation.
I let out a silent groan as another True North song plays from the speakers.
With only one CD and hours of driving, I’ve been forced to listen to this song and at least three more of theirs since she discovered the disc.
I’m going to need to find a music store in the city, because there’s no way I’m listening to the same fifteen songs over and over again on the drive home.
I slip into a mindless drive as I make my way through the city, dodging cars zipping in and out of lanes, trying to get to the next red light faster.
It’s been years since I’ve done any big city driving, and I find myself taking deep breaths while dealing with the impatience of everyone around me, especially in a beast like Old Betty.
“I knew you liked this song.” She laughs, stretching in her seat.
Her voice is as gravelly as it is groggy, and her hair is sticking up in a bunch of different directions like Anna from Frozen—because yes—I know this from the numerous times Julia had me sit with her while she binge-watched Disney movies.
“What? No, I don’t,” I grumble, watching the car beside me in the sideview mirror as it decides, last second, it wants to sneak in behind me. Not being used to driving on the right side of the car is making this a lot more stressful than I had anticipated.
“You were just singing along.” She smirks as she attempts to straighten out her hair. “You are a secret True North fan.”
“Oh, please. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.” I would roll my eyes if I wasn’t afraid of looking away from this red sedan nosing its way into my lane.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it. I know you are. You always have been, and I can prove it.”
I sneak a glance at her out of the corner of my eye. “Oh, really?”
“Yes, really. Tenth grade—you went as Todd Hartnett for Halloween. You even wore his signature bandana and drew his tattoo on your arm with my eyeliner.”
Of course, she’d remember that.
I really wanted to go as Rich Ballas, but Martin Hooper beat me to it.
“It was a joke. If you remember, I had four other friends who dressed up like the rest of the band, and all we did was be a comedic version of them.”
“And learning all the song lyrics? What about the dance moves?” She lets out a giggle.
“Method acting,” I retort.
“Suuuure,” she says dramatically, giggling even harder. “And I guess the little show you guys did in the cafeteria was ‘method acting’ too?”
I don’t answer, I just send her a smile. It’s hard to be frustrated with her for bringing this up when she giggles.
“So, Todd, are we almost at the hotel? Should I be prepared to be inundated with women who might think that you are the Todd Harnett? I just want to prepare myself to push my way through all your adoring fans.”
“Ha. Ha.” I laugh dryly. “You’re so funny.” Yes! The sedan gave up trying to get into my lane. Take that, impatient driver! “And we should be at the hotel in a couple of minutes. If I were you, I’d be more concerned with trying to figure out if Mater here will fit into the hotel’s parking lot.”
“Mater? This is a tow truck now?”
“Well, no, although it’s built like a tank and likely could be if repaired properly, it’s also old and rusted, so the name fits.”
“As long as you don’t start calling your truck Lightning, I think we’ll be fine.”
“I’ll try and refrain, but I feel like it’s more of a Thor.”
“Thor?” she blurts out. “Why Thor?”
“Because it’s durable, has superhuman-like qualities, and can weather any storm.” I shoot her my most confident smile while turning into the temporary parking spot for the hotel.
“It can’t weather potholes.” She chuckles.
“Funny.” I put the truck in park and turn off the engine. “Stay here. I’ll check us in.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll babysit Mater. I’ll keep an eye out for Sir Miles Axlerod. We wouldn’t want any trouble.”
“Wouldn’t that be a story to bring back to Mr. Ridley?”
It didn’t take long to check in and bring our bags up to our rooms. They gave us adjoining rooms, just like at The Mistletoe Inn, and Julia insisted we keep the connecting door open while we get ready and wait for our room service.
“You made sure you didn’t order anything burger-like, right? Or with peppers? Any peppers, really. I’m not sure I could even stand a bell pepper right now,” Julia asks from her room.
“No, we both steered clear of beef in general.” I chuckle, leaning against the headboard, scrolling through today’s sports scores.
What I haven’t told her is that I had tonight’s dinner arranged before we even left Pinehaven, thankfully without a burger in sight.
“You know,” she starts as she appears in the doorway between our rooms, hairbrush in hand. “I bet you her name isn’t even Eleanor. That seems too… sweet for her. It’s probably something like Berta or Ursula.”
“Are you calling her a sea witch?” I chuckle.
“No,” she says quietly, looking out my window. “I would never do that. Not while she could hear me, anyway.”
“Lia!” I groan, stifling a laugh.
“What? After what she pulled, she’s lucky I didn’t ask if she rode the diner’s broom and had flying monkeys! I bet she could even give Cruella a scare.” She goes silent for a moment, her gaze drifting off. “Could you imagine a reality show of villains? Who would out-evil each other?”
“Are we really comparing a waitress in Flat Rock Falls to movie villains?”
“If the non-slip shoe fits,” she answers, giving me a smile.
We spend a moment just smiling at each other, letting the silence in the room fall between us.
This is good. It’s normal.
It’s us.
We’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Julia bursts into action, crossing to the door before I can think to stop her.
“I have a delivery here for Lucas Mathers?” a male voice says from the other side.
Remembering what that delivery is, I jump from the bed, crossing the room to the door as quickly as I can.
“Julia! Get away from the door!”
She snaps back, letting the door slam shut. “What! What is it?”
“Get into your room, please,” I plead, needing her to get as far away from the door as possible.
“Uh… okay?” She gives me another worried look before rushing to her room, closing the door that separates us behind her.
Taking a deep breath, I open the hallway door, hoping the guy is still there.
“Hey, sorry about that,” I say, finding him with a very confused look, holding four large bags. “Thank you for bringing all of this.”
“No problem. They were hard to find, but I managed it. They all have to be returned tomorrow, but I cleared it with the front desk to leave it with them in the morning, and I’ll pick them up when I do my rounds.”
“Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.” I take the bags from him, placing them just inside my room.
“The food should be here any minute. I wanted to get a bit of a head start so you could set up anything you needed before it got here,” the personal concierge says, lifting his arm and wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“I have to give it to you. I’ve planned a lot of dates, but this is one of the more elaborate ones.
I’ve never had to track down a working Nintendo before. ”
“It’s, uh, not a date,” I answer.
“Right,” he says with a smirk. “Well, thanks again for your business and have a great night.” He gives me a two-finger salute before retreating down the hallway.
Hiring a concierge isn’t something that I would normally do on a teacher’s salary, but I was a little out of my element on this one. The secretary at the school told me about the service her husband used when they had their last vacation, and I knew it would be worth the money.
Looking into the bags in my hands, it definitely was.
I waste no time connecting the Nintendo to the TV and stacking the assortment of games he gathered. I can’t help the smile plastered on my face as I think about the endless hours I’ve spent trying to beat each one of them.
Kids these days don’t know how easy they have it with the save function.
There’s another knock on the door as I place the portable stereo on the desk, praying there’s more than just pop music in the stack of CDs still in the bag.
“Lucas Mathers?” the man asks, looking more than slightly annoyed that he’s out delivering food on a Saturday night.
I nod, and the next thing I know, he pushes past me with trays and bags of food. How he got all this up here by himself, I’ll never know.
“Everything is disposable so don’t worry about giving it back,” he mutters, placing the last bag on the small table, which is now entirely covered. “Thanks for your business.”
He dashes out of the room before I can say anything or tip him.
Interesting.
I busy myself laying out the food. There’s a charcuterie board that’s displayed more like Lunchables boxes, mini pizza bagels, and dino nuggets. Thankfully, I’d already skipped on the mini burgers, opting for a candy stash filled with Nerds, Dunkaroos, and Fun Dip.
“Lia!” I shout, placing down the last packet of candy. “I think you’re going to like this!” When she doesn’t answer, I turn to the closed adjoining door. “Lia?”
Carefully pushing the door open, the lights are all on, but the room is empty.
“Lia, are you here?”
Stepping into the room, I turn toward the bed when a loud noise erupts behind me.
“Stop right there!”
Julia burst out of the bathroom, holding the hair dryer like a gun.
I chuckle, crossing my arms over my chest. “And what are you going to shoot me with? Hot air?”
“Don’t laugh at me! I was scared,” she huffs, dropping her weapon.
“Why?” I ask, biting back another laugh as she pouts before placing the hair dryer back in the bathroom.
“You told me to get inside. Like the man in the hallway was a threat!”
“I… What?” I ask, pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose.
“Your exact words were ‘Get in your room’!” She adds air quotes to drive the point home. “In an urgent manner.”
“An urgent manner…” I repeat.
“I thought we were under attack.”
“From what? The delivery mob?”
“I don’t know!” She throws her hands up as she brushes past me and takes a seat on her bed. “Eleanor sent some of those pirate bikers, for all I know. Maybe the note was just a ruse to get us out of town so no one would suspect them.”
I tilt my head and look at her, wondering just how long she spent coming up with this reasoning.
“Don’t look at me like that; you don’t know.” She has another adorable pout again as she crosses her arms. “So when I ran back in here, I locked myself in the bathroom.”
“I have a lot of questions, but first, I’ll start with: Why didn’t you just text me?”
“If you were being attacked, I didn’t think you’d answer.”
“Lia,” I groan, rubbing my forehead with two fingers.
“And I forgot to grab my phone. It’s still charging.” She uncrosses her arms just to wave at her nightstand.
“Right. Well, I’m happy to report that there are no pirate bikers and we aren’t on the run from Flat Rock Fallsers. I do, however, have a surprise for you in my room, if you think you can get over the shock of current events.”
“A surprise?” She perks up, dropping her arms as she straightens her back.
“Only if you think you can handle it. I wouldn’t want you to overdo it before the concert.”
She stands and rolls her eyes, swatting my chest with the back of her hand. “You’re so funny. Lead the way, Mr. Funny Man.”
I walk her to the door, sweeping my hand out in front of her to guide her in. “After you.”
“Always a gentleman,” she says with a smile. “Unless you’re yelling at me to take cover.”
“I said please.”
It only takes a moment before a very audible gasp escapes her. “Lucas! You did this?” She rushes over to the table of food. “Bagel bites? Lunchables? Is that Sunny D?”
“Yup,” I say proudly behind her. “Who knew they made that anymore?”
“Please tell me this Nintendo works!” She grabs the top game and hugs it to her chest. “Do you remember that summer we spent every day trying to beat this game, only to lose at the very last boss fight?”
“We would have to go outside and play just to get out our frustration.” I chuckle.
“I can’t believe you did all of this for me,” she says, her eyes welling with tears. “How did you even do all of this?”
“I have my ways.”
In a flash, the game is on the desk, and her arms are around me as she launches herself at me in a one-of-a-kind hug that only Julia can give.
“Thank you, Lucas. This is… I can’t… Just, thank you.” She squeezes me extra tight before pulling back, looking up at me. “Why?”
Wrapping my arms around her waist, I think of how to answer that.
As usual, I deflect. I don’t want to tell her the real reason.
I can’t admit that I want to make sure this weekend is the best of her life, even if it means I’m seeing five men I was hoping I’d never have to witness again.
“We can’t have a ’90s-themed weekend and not have some of our favourite things, can we?
I mean, when was the last time you had pizza on a bagel? ”
“It’s been a long time.” She laughs. Her face softens, and she looks at me in a way that I’m not sure she ever has before. I don’t know how to read it, but it’s as if she’s searching me for an answer that I don’t know the question to.
“Thank you, Luc. For everything.”
I know those words are all I need to make every minute and dollar count.