Lingering Echoes (20 page)

“
Ow, that hurts.”

I tilted her head forward to check f
or blood. “Well, you’ve got a huge goose egg, but at least it’s not bleeding.”

“Come on,” Damien said, scooping her up into his arms. “
We need to get out of here.”

Main
Street was still packed with cars parked along the curb. In haste, I walked beside Damien. I didn’t know where we were going, but I felt confident following his footsteps. He surprised me by stopping beside a black Dodge Ram truck. He set Brooke on her feet with care, while he fumbled for keys in his pocket.

“This is
yours?” I asked, observing the body of the full-size truck. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

Damien opened
the back door. “You didn’t think I just drove my dirt bike everywhere, did you?” He lifted Brooke into the cab, which was fortunate, considering I wasn’t sure how she’d step into it otherwise. The seat rested a good two-and-a-half feet off the ground.

I
pulled myself into the front passenger seat with effort. Damien already had his keys in the engine and revved the motor. It roared, reverberating through the still night air. I looked over my shoulder at Brooke.

“Feeling ok?”

Groggy, she blinked and leaned her head against the window. “Just tired,” she mumbled, closing her eyes.

“She might have a concussion,” I whispered to Damien.

“We’ll take a look at her when we get back to the cabins,” he responded.

It was quiet inside the truck
as it pulled into the street and sped towards the canyon. Before long, the only sound was Brooke’s breathing, slowed to a steady rhythm.

I looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost
ten. It was a good thing Dad and Clara were out of town, saving me from creating a clever explanation for my disappearance. I chanced a look at Damien, whose eyes remained focused on the clear road. Other cars were few and far between through the canyon. I doubted it required as much attention as Damien was giving. I squinted at him.

“What were you doing in that part of town tonight?”

“I might ask you the same question.” He turned to look at me. “And with dirt bags like that?”

I glanced at Brooke, ma
king sure she was asleep. She seemed to be.

“Just keeping someone out of trouble.”
I looked back at Damien. “How about you?”

Damien let out a short laugh, flexing his right hand with a grimace.
“Guess you can say I was doing the same thing as you.”

“Yeah, about that.
Thanks, by the way. I’m not sure how well that would have panned out without you.” I touched my right cheek, sensing a bruise.

“Well, I know exactly how that would have gone down.
” Damien’s tone angered. His brows pulled together. “They’re lucky that’s all I did to them. What were you doing with them anyway?”

Memories of the evening raced through my mind, starting with the incident at the basketball court. My face felt hot
as I looked out my window. I could feel Damien watching me. Was it dark enough that he wouldn’t be able to see the warmth on my cheeks? I cleared my throat.

“Brooke and I kind of got in a fight.
She was upset with, uh, something I did. She ran off with those guys on impulse. Needless to say, I didn’t trust them so I went with her. Thought it’d be a better idea than letting her go alone.”

“
What’d you do to upset her?”

I wanted to tell him tha
t it was none of his business, but I realized that maybe it was. Or was it? I struggled to put my thoughts into words, rearranging them back and forth in my head. There was no other way to say it.

“Aaron kissed me.” I let the three simple words linger in the air.
“And I kissed him back.” I didn’t dare look him in the eyes.

His response was silence.
It dragged on for another minute or two before I spoke.

“Are you going to say something?”

Damien continued to stare out the windshield. He did well maintaining a neutral expression. “I guess that’s what I get for leaving you alone.”

His wo
rds brought to remembrance the hurt and confusion over the past three days—the questions and concerns mulling in my mind, the what-if scenarios that never amounted to anything useful, and even the vulnerable gap of confusion that allowed something to pass between Aaron and me.

“What is going on with you?
” I knew the usual moments of silence following my questions would, without fail, lead to an evasive answer. A spark of anger touched my voice. “And stop playing games with me. Tell me the truth.”

Damien released a breath of air, scratching the top of his head.
He lowered his hand to massage the back of his neck but said nothing more.

I
sat back in my seat, staring at my hands. I lowered my voice, pleading. “Why won’t you just talk to me?”

At last, Damien spoke. “I knew where you wer
e today because I followed you.” He paused, and I didn’t say a word, hoping he would continue without further prodding.

“
I was in my truck sitting in the parking lot, which I assume is why you didn’t see me. I was waiting for you to show up at your cabin so I could talk to you. Then you and Brooke ran up and left with that carload of punks.” Irritation touched his features. “I couldn’t hear what you were saying, but something didn’t look right about it. So I kept my distance but followed you downtown and into that party. I lost track of you inside that whole mess, or I would have stopped those guys sooner.”

“
What were you going to talk to me about?”

Again, the hesitation—
the galling pause.

“I was coming to say good
-bye.”

I must have heard him wrong. That
couldn’t have been what he said.

But the guilt in his expression confirmed his words.
My words caught in my throat.

“What—
what do you mean good-bye?”

“I’m leav
ing town. Heading out tomorrow.” His words were so casual.

I shook my head, di
sbelief heavy in my voice. How could he be leaving?

“
Why? Is this because I read those news reports? Damien, I don’t care about your past! It’s not who you are. I—”

He put a hand to my lips, interrupting my panic.
It was then that I realized we were pulling into the lodge parking lot. The gravel crunched beneath the tires. Pulling into an empty spot, Damien cut the engine. I stared at him, a million questions reflecting from my eyes.

“You can’t understand,” Damien said.

“Can’t? That’s because you won’t explain anything to me. Everything with you is a mystery! Secrets and half-truths...every time I search for an answer, you leave me with more questions! Please, just talk to me—tell me what’s going on.”

“I’ve hurt people, Allie. I’ll hurt you, too.”

The expression in his face told me he believed his words.

Brooke’s movements from the backseat caught my attention. She sat up and looked around, momentarily confused. “Where are we?” She rubbed her eyes,
and then gingerly touched the sore spot on her head. She seemed to remember the events of the evening. “Oh.”

Damien hopped out
of the truck and opened Brooke’s door, helping her to the ground. I let myself out and met them at the rear of the truck bed. I confronted Damien once again.

“So that’s it. You’re leaving.”

“Yes.”

Brooke looked back and forth between us, dumbfounded.

“Um—I’m just gonna go home. My parents might be worried.” She started walking towards her cabin.

“Wait, Brooke,” I said. “
I better walk you home. You might have a concussion.”

“No, I’m good. I’ll have
my dad take a look. I’ll tell him I fell out of a tree. If it can happen to you, it could certainly happen to me.” She almost smiled.

I hesitated. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

She shrugged. “Nothing a little sleep won’t take care of.” She gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, “I’m sorry I got you into this. Let’s talk tomorrow. Good luck.” She turned to Damien. “Thanks for being there tonight.”

Damien nodded
with a solemn expression. Brooke waved at us with a flick of her wrists, then turned and left, leaving Damien and me standing across from each other.

I stared at him with wide, hurt eyes.
“Was it all just a lie?” I asked, my voice just above a whisper. I put an arm out, gesturing between the two of us. “This sort of thing, whatever this is, doesn’t happen to me. Ever. It has to mean
something.
”

Damien took my arm and pulled me into him. He held my head against his chest and squeezed me. I felt his lips touch the top of my head ever so softly.

“That’s why I have to go.”

Tears stung my eyes. “That d
oesn’t make any sense.”

He lowered his face and brushed his lips against mine.
I closed my eyes. An involuntary tear fell down my cheek. I felt Damien’s soft mouth move leisurely along my face, my chin, my cheek, my forehead. His lips slid down and matched mine once again. He opened his mouth just enough to close with tenderness around my lips. My body seemed to melt inside his kiss, weakening my senses.

Without warning, he
pulled away. Hurrying to the side of his truck, he yanked open the door and jumped inside. I stepped out of the way as he backed up, my woozy head struggling to function.

Damien
didn’t even pause to look back at me. The truck tore out of the parking lot and sped away, leaving me feeling very much confused and, once again, alone.

“I’ve hurt people, Allie. I’ll hurt you, too.”

My brain ran over and over last night’s brief conversation with Damien. What was he talking about? In fact, why couldn’t he ever just talk to me, straightforward, without any roundabout comments that were misleading and confusing in so many ways? It was so frustrating!

And now, here I sat, staring at
my bowl of cereal, with random thoughts still racing through my mind. If only there was a reset button to make it all go away. Except I didn’t want it to go away. I wanted to figure it out—to understand what Damien was hiding from me, and why he was disappearing from my life.

“
Will you walk with me?” Aaron’s voice right beside my ear made me jump. My hand knocked the spoon, and it clattered against the porcelain dish. I fumbled for my utensil and placed it on the table. Aaron stood behind me with both hands resting on either side of me on the table. He leaned over with his face next to mine. I squirmed.

“What for?”
I asked, failing nonchalance. My fingertips played with the crinkled edges of the tablecloth. I tried to ignore Aaron’s proximity to my body.

“You know what for. Come talk with me.”

I cleared my throat, wishing it were that easy to clear my head. Memories of our kiss breached my thoughts, amplified by Aaron’s cologne permeating through the air.

“I don’t know,
Aaron.”

“Please,” he whispered, putting his right hand on my arm.
The warmth of his hand seemed to burn into my skin.

“Ok,” I agreed,
agitated as I pulled my arm away. Subconsciously, I rubbed my skin, trying to rid the guilt that formed from his lingering touch. We walked to the amphitheater, and I sat down on a bench. Aaron sat beside me, straddling the bench so he was facing me.

“So, liste
n,” he began. “About last night. I’m not going to apologize for what happened.”

His words took me by
surprise. I hadn’t known what he was going to say, but I assumed he would apologize for kissing me, realizing it had all been a mistake—an impulsive action that never should have happened.

Aaron seemed
to read my thoughts, or perhaps just the expression on my confused face. “I don’t think it was a mistake. I like you, Allie. I’ve felt something between us and I know you have, too. I don’t think it’s fair to pretend those feelings don’t exist. And it’s not wrong to act on them.”

My jaw slipped
open, as I struggled with a response. Aaron’s hand came up to my chin, and he leaned in close to me. I put my hand up and pushed against his chest, keeping him a fair distance away. He stared at me, his intentions clear.

“Aaron, this can’t happen, f
or a lot of reasons. First of all, Brooke—”

“I know,” Aaron interrupted. “Like I said, I’m not going to apologize that it happened. But I do feel bad for the way it happened, with hurting Brooke’s feelings and all. It’
s my fault. I knew she liked me, and I led her on, not intending for anything to happen—with either of you, actually. But it did. And we can’t change that.”

“No, you’re right. We can’t change it. But that’s as far as it goes, Aaron.” I swallowed, watching Aaron’s features twist with disappointment. He removed his hand from my face, leaning back a little.

After a few moments of silence, he asked, “So, what happened last night, anyway?”

I was quiet for a minute while my mind wrapped aroun
d last night’s events. “We got into some trouble,” I started. Then I filled him in on what happened at the party, ending with Damien showing up and driving us back to the cabins. Aaron listened, though I could see he wasn’t happy at the mention of Damien’s name, despite his heroic act.

“So, you still don’t know what is
behind his behavior?” Aaron commented.

I shook my head. “No. That’
s what I need to figure out. I care about him, Aaron. I can’t just let it go. Something else is going on with him, and I don’t know what. But there’s more to his story than he’s telling me.”

Aaron looked skeptical. “Listen, Allie. I know he’s the competition here, but I’m not just saying this because I wish you’d forget about him. It’s great you’re giving him the ben
efit of the doubt and all, but what if he really is “the bad guy” and he’s giving you this one chance to let you off the hook, to stay away from him and be safe? Maybe you should just listen to him and let him go wherever he’s going.”

I stood up, frustrated with Aaron’s cynicism. “You don’t know him, Aaron.”

“Oh, and you do? Because if you did, you wouldn’t have to play this guessing game with him.”

Dusting
off my jeans, I glared at Aaron. “I’m going to check on Brooke—and it’d be nice if you’d do the same. Just do me a favor and wait until I’m not there.” I stalked off towards the boardwalk.

“Aw, Allie—
Come on!” Aaron called after me, but I ignored him. I had to. He only added to my confusion.

When I
cooled off, I knocked on the door and waited on the doorstep. Moments later, Brooke appeared. I waited, not sure how she was feeling about me today. I also wondered if Aaron had stopped by to see her first. After my poorly ended conversation with him, I ended up going for a long walk along the trails. Not that it helped any.

Within seconds, Brooke
embraced me in a bear hug.

“Allie,
I’m sorry about last night. I was being so stupid and something worse could have happened.”

Surprised—and relieved—I
returned the gesture. “Please don’t be the one apologizing, Brooke. I feel like the biggest jerk as it is. How’s your head?”

Brooke looked behind her towards one of the bedrooms. Other than the murmur of the TV, it was quiet inside her cabin. She stepped out the front
door, and closed it behind her.

“It’s ok,” she said, touching the back of her head. “It’s a little sensitive but not bad.”

“What’d you tell your dad?”

“Oh, just that we were playing hide ‘n seek and I fell out of a tree.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little, and Brooke shrugged her shoulders.

“So,” I continued, “Did, uh, Aaron stop by?”

“Yeah, he came by,” she admitted with a sullen expression.

“I’m g
uessing it didn’t go so well?” The guilt was back, gnawing at my insides, as I watched the disappointment etch across her face.

“No, it was ok,”
she said, playing with her bracelet. “I mean, it’s not the ending I was hoping for, but it’s what I expected. Still, it was nice of him to stop by and talk to me about it.”

“So what’d he say?”

“Are you going to make me repeat the rejection?” she asked. I felt worse, but she offered a half-smile. “He apologized for hurting my feelings, and said he still wants to hang out with me, but just as friends, of course.” She laughed. “That line had to be in there, right?”

“Anyway,” she continued
. “It was fine. We both knew nothing serious was going to develop between us. Anything that happened would have just been one of those summer flings, you know? Nothing like you and Damien.”

At the mention of his name, my stomach flipped, worrie
d and intrigued all over again. “What do you mean?” I managed to ask through my dry mouth.

Brooke sighed. “Allie, I’ve been worried about
Damien since we found out about his past. But then Damien showed up last night at just at the right moment and saved the day. He followed you because he cares, and the way he looks at you...I wasn’t that out of it last night not to notice. It’s obvious you mean a whole lot to him.”

I pictured Damien’s dark features looking back at me,
mesmerizing, enticing, and so puzzling at the same time. Could he care about me that much if he was ditching me?

“What was he saying last night, anyway?” Brooke asked, catching the bewilderment gathering on my face. “About leaving?”

With effort, I relived the conversation I had with him, ending with how he had driven away and left me alone again.

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Brooke stated, her furrowed eyebrows suggesting she was as puzzled as I was. “I think you’re right, Allie. There’s someth
ing else he’s not telling you—something that is missing. What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know
.” I sighed in discouragement, but it was in that moment that I was tired of questioning what I was going to do—tired of puzzling over what Damien and I meant to each other. Something had to be done.

“I’m going to find him,” I said,
rising to my feet. “Right now. I’m going to drive over there and get some answers.”

Brooke bit her lower lip
as though afraid she had encouraged something regretful, but she joined me on her feet and nodded her head. “Ok, Allie. But just be careful.”

Jumping
into our suburban, I turned the key in the motor, pausing only momentarily to pull the seatbelt across my chest. Locking it into place, I threw the car into drive and sped out of the parking lot.

I needed to find Damien
, but what if he was already gone? What if, for once, he was true to his word and had left first thing this morning? Then I would never find him.

While I wasn’t entirely sure how to drive to his cabin from the main road,
I took a chance and pulled onto a road that seemed to be leading in the right direction. I floored the gas. It was only a couple miles before I could see the bridge in the distance. Luck seemed to be on my side.

Minutes later,
I pulled up in front of his cabin and hopped out of the car. I hurried to the front door and placed my hand on the doorknob.

Do I knock?
His behavior didn’t deserve a knock.

I twisted the handle and marched inside.
I stopped mid-step as I caught sight of Damien. He stood at the entrance of his bedroom, bending over a large duffle bag. His head jerked up, and he stared at me. Our eyes locked into each other’s.

The shock on his face was outdone
by the anger that altered his expression. He threw the handful of clothes in his arms with great force against the duffle bag. Stepping over it, he stalked over to me. I stood still, waiting for the reaction I knew was coming.

“What are you doing here?” He didn’
t wait for an answer. His eyes flickered to the window, and he gave a strong shake of his head. “You have to go.” He pushed my shoulder and turned me around, steering me towards the open door.

I resisted, d
igging my feet into the floorboards. Spinning around, I grabbed his arm. “I deserve an explanation. A truthful and thorough explanation,” I emphasized.

Damien expelled an air of frus
tration. “Allie, listen to me—”

“No, you listen!”
I pushed past him towards the leather couch. Turning around, I ignored the hard lines by his eyes. “You’ve gone on and on about how I can trust you—so much in fact that I risked sharing my darkest emotions with you. I trusted you, just like you asked. It wasn’t some easy joyride!”

I sighed and lowered my voice. “
All I’m asking is that you do the same.”

He
took a tentative step towards me, his hands resting at his side. “I told you the truth about what I did to my family. And I saw the look on your face. You were horrified. What more do you want me to say?”

I bit my lip.
“Ok, you’re right. That
was
my initial reaction. I was unsure how it all made me feel, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you while we’ve been apart. No matter what you’ve done, you’re still a good person. I can feel it every time I’m with you.” I took a deep breath. “And I know there’s more to your story. You haven’t told me everything, and there’s no way I can understand unless you do.”              

Damien heaved another sigh, looking across the room before he met my eyes again.
“Allie, there are bigger things going on here—bigger than both of us. It’s just better if you don’t know.”

I stood my ground. “
I deserve the truth—the truth in its entirety.”

Neither of us moved.
I dreaded the thoughts behind his reticent eyes. But he seemed to be considering my words.