The Bad Boy of Butterfly Harbor(63)

The pipes whined and knocked and Holly killed the time by checking her calendar and texting Paige she’d be later than expected. Paige’s reply sent a new rush of color racing to Holly’s cheeks. One day, Holly was going to play matchmaker for her.

“Sorry,” Luke said when he returned, skin freshly scrubbed, hair damp as if he’d run wet hands through it. All sparkly, shiny new. Holly returned her attention to the pie. “You were saying about Charlie?”

“I wondered if Charlie knew how dangerous rats could be?” Oh, boy. Holly swallowed. Since when did Luke take up so much space? Looking at him made it difficult to focus on anything else.

“Hmm.” He poured them each a cup of coffee. “Your father filled her in and made her promise not to go trying to help any other critters without supervision. Those flyers you passed out worked like magic. I can’t believe how many people have turned up to help at the center. Shouldn’t take more than a couple more days to get the place up and running. And we’ve got a dozen sign-ups for the camping trip.”

“A number of the volunteers came into the diner for dinner afterward.” Holly accepted her mug and her pie and wandered over to the table, embracing the warmth of the sun streaming through. “Someone apparently made the suggestion.”

“Just spreading the wealth.” Luke sat across from her. “So. What really brought you by?” He scooped up a chunk of oozing berries and crispy crust and bit in. “Oh.” His grin went from ear to ear. “Well. Okay. Charlie’s got another talent. This is good.” He dived in. “Spill, Holly.”

Holly took a deep breath, her nerves eroding any desire for pie. “The other day, when you told me about the accident. There was so much going on when it happened, what with Dad’s surgery and recovery and me being so angry—”

“Rightly so,” Luke interrupted without looking at her. “Listen, Holly.” He set down his fork and rubbed his hand across his forehead. “It would be really great if we could get past this at some point. Not that I expect you to forgive me or forget, but rehashing the accident every time we see each other.” He shook his head. “I’d like it if we could agree to be friends and let the past lie.”

“No, no. I totally agree,” she said, wishing she’d found a better way to say what needed saying. Friends. Why did that word suddenly seem...disappointing? “I realized there’s something you need to know about the accident. When they brought Dad into the emergency room, they weren’t sure he was going to make it. They thought he might have lost too much blood. They told us he’d be lucky to keep his leg given his injuries. As it was he had kidney damage and lost his spleen, and a pretty bad concussion. Mom couldn’t take it. She walked out on us before Dad came home.”

“If this was meant to make me feel better—” Luke looked a little green.

“Uh, this is not coming out right at all.” She rested her forehead into her hands. “After the surgery, when we were sure he was going to pull through, the doctor said whoever had tied the tourniquet around his leg saved his life. It stopped him from hemorrhaging.” She sighed. “So. Yeah. I thought you should know, you saved his life. I was wrong to blame you, Luke. It was a combination of things, of circumstances conspiring against everyone.” She took an extra beat because he looked as if he needed it. “I’m sorry I held on to the anger as long as I did. I know now it’s been as hard on you as the rest of us, and as much as I wanted to blame you for my mom taking off the way she did, she’d been looking for an excuse for years. Dad always told me to get over it, but I wasn’t ready to hear him, not when I still had to work through my issues with Gray. You were an easy, if not misappropriated, target.” At least that was how her father had put it last night over dinner. In Jake’s typical no-nonsense way, of course. She’d felt like she was a teenager again being reprimanded for sneaking out after curfew.

Holly exhaled twelve years of anger and hostility. She could breathe again. Was that what forgiveness and acceptance did? Was it this...freeing?

“I didn’t know.” Luke seemed as if he couldn’t quite believe what she was saying. “I remember sneaking into the hospital, waiting in the hallway until I heard he was out of surgery, but I never thought I’d actually helped. Not when I’d caused...”

“Stop.” Holly covered his hand with hers, gripping his fingers in her palm until he looked at her. “We were both wrong. And you were a kid trying to do the right thing from the second you got in that car. I’m just glad my father saw through all the anger and other stuff and did what he could for you.”