than Beth, or whatever she was called, ever was. I guess I’ll decide how I feel when I find out the truth. The whole truth.”
“That works,” Lucas replied, smiling out at the water for a moment before another thought occurred to him and his face fell. “For now, anyway.”
He squeezed her fingers, and Helen glanced down, surprised again that they had joined hands when she wasn’t paying attention. She didn’t know who had initiated this new habit of theirs, but she realized that it would be nearly impossible to stop. She had never held a boy’s hand before and it should have made her shy, but it didn’t. It felt like the most natural thing in the world for her to touch him. That thought made her shake her head in wonder. She looked up and noticed that he was looking down at their hands as well, probably thinking the same thing.
“Do you want to sit down for a moment?” she asked, suddenly conscious of the fact that the last time she had seen him he was unable to walk without Jason’s help.
“Nope. But I wouldn’t mind something else to eat.” He threw a distracted glance over his shoulder at the house.
“Me too. My god, I’m a pig!” Helen said, still surprised at herself.
“You went hours without eating during the heal,” he said, leading her away from the water’s edge. “That’s crazy talk.”
“You know, if it weren’t for the whole ‘agonizing pain’ thing, I think I could get to like heals. People carry you around, and feed you nonstop. It’s like being an infant, only you’re old enough to appreciate it.”
“Not so much fun when you have to go to the bathroom, though.”
“No! Especially not when you’re around strangers,” Helen said, expecting a laugh or a witty response from Luke, and not getting either.
“We’re not strangers,” he said quietly, slowing down so he could look her in the eye.
“Well, not anymore,” she agreed. She felt a hot blush stinging her cheeks and had to look down. His eyes were so honest and so blue that Helen felt if she didn’t force herself to look away right from the start that she’d get stuck and never stop staring at him.
They held hands as they walked back. When they got close to the house, Helen noticed Cassandra looking down at them from one of the second-story balconies. She didn’t look happy.
When they went into the kitchen, they found Noel already hard at work over half a dozen pots and pans. She set them up with a pint of ice cream, cookies, nuts, and caramel sauce and told them they were strong enough to make their own darned sundaes before she went back to snarling at the ox-sized roast she was wrangling into the oven. After a decadent snack that tempted the rest of the house into the kitchen to spoil their appetites, Noel told everyone that they might as well just stay in their seats because dinner would be ready in another twenty minutes.
“I can’t. I have to go home,” Helen admitted in a disappointed tone as she pushed a few soggy pecans around the bottom of her bowl.
“Ridiculous. You’re not going anywhere,” Lucas responded.
“No, really. I have to go home, get the Jeep, and then pick Kate and my dad up at the airport.”
“One of us can get them for you,” Ariadne said, rising from the seat on the bench to Helen’s right.
“Sit, Ari, you’re still drained from healing. And don’t think for a second all that blush you’re wearing is fooling me,” Pandora said with a twinkle in her eye and a snarky finger wag that set her bracelets dancing and tinkling. “I’d love to go and meet your dad, Helen.”
“No, you can’t!” Helen said a little too forcefully before she got hold of herself and continued in a steadier tone. “My dad doesn’t know about any of this. Please. It’s very kind of you to offer, but if you could just give me a ride back to my house, I’d really appreciate it.” She couldn’t look up, but she knew everyone was shooting each other meaningful looks over her head. Ariadne touched Helen’s hand and opened her mouth to say something, but Lucas spoke first.
“I’ll drive you home,” he said as he slid out from his seat on the bench and pulled Helen along with him by the hand. “Let’s go.”
“You’re in no shape to travel,” Noel said, shaking her head, but Lucas was already walking toward her and