Page 25 of Luke

"I'm sure there's probably some money set aside for it. Dad wouldn't leave you a burden."

"I don't know about that. He didn't like to make things easy for us. I need to go. Stay in touch."

"I will."

He got up from the bed, slipped his phone into his pocket and headed outside. He was halfway down the road when he heard raised voices along the river that ran behind the cabins. It sounded like kids—teenagers. He would have kept going, but there was something about the female voice that bothered him.

He walked around the back of the next cabin and saw two boys and a girl sitting on a fallen log that crossed the narrowest part of the river. It wasn't a particularly dangerous place to be. This part of the river was calm and not very deep. The rapids picked up a mile away when this stream connected with another.

The girl sat in the middle between the two teenage boys, and she was pushing away a bottle of vodka that one of the boys was trying to get her to drink.

He squinted through the shadows, realizing as he drew closer that the girl was Kaitlyn, and she didn't look very happy.

"Hey," he said loudly, striding down to the moonlit rocks. "What's going on?"

The boy grabbed the bottle and tossed it to the other side of the river. Then he and his friend ran across the log, jumped onto the opposite bank and disappeared into the trees.

Kaitlyn gave him an angry scowl as he drew closer, but he thought he saw a glint of relief in her eyes. Not that she'd admit it. He could see the rebellious fire building in her crossed arms and the stubborn set of her chin.

"Why did you do that?" she demanded.

"Do what? Ask a question? Who are your friends?"

"Nobody."

"Nobody with some alcohol."

"Everyone drinks; it's not a big deal."

"I used to say the same thing," he said, propping up his foot on the branch. "But I was a few years older than you when I got into vodka. And the first time I drank it, I got the meanest hangover. Consider yourself saved from that."

She didn't look like she cared about being saved.

"Are you going to tell my aunt?"

"I think you should do that."

"Maybe I will. Maybe then we can move away from this shit hole."

"I've lived in shit holes. This isn't one."

"Whatever. You have to say that, because you own the place."

"I'm saying it because it's true." He paused. "Look, I'm sorry about your parents. I knew them a long time ago. I liked them a lot."

"Why did you know them?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because I used to date your aunt."

"No way," she said, surprise flashing through her eyes. "You dated Aunt Liz? When?"

"When we were in college."

"I never heard that."

"I actually met you back then. You were an adorable three-year-old."

"I don't remember. Why did you break up?"

---