The Teacher and the Soldier (7 page)

Standing in front of him, or not standing, was what was left of the place he had called home. His dad’s cabin. Mostly gone like the cop station had been, all that was left was a charred area and some wood, partitioned off with wire and roped fencing. Gone.

“Okay, Luke, can you breathe for me?”

Someone moved in between him and the view. Tall. Dark. A solid, immoveable wall of man. Daniel. Luke searched out green eyes and focused there.

“Shit, I didn’t think,” Kieran said panicked. “I thought he’d seen it. You said you’d met up with him.”

“Not here. He’s just not seen this before,” Daniel said gently. “It’s okay, Luke. Let’s get you away from here. We’ll come back later.”

“Uh huh,” Luke managed. He allowed himself to be led away, at all times Daniel was between him and the remains of his old life. He knew his dad had been shot but had he burned up in the fire as well? Luke had never asked—he didn’t want to know—he didn’t care. When he was told to climb steps he did, told to sit, he sat immediately. When told to drink he didn’t argue, just spluttered when water went down the wrong way and he was coughing.

Strong hands stroked his back and held him still and a woman’s voice was asking if he was okay.

“I’m fine,” he said. He was lying, but those were the only words he could get out.

“This is good for him, mom.”
Daniel’s voice.

“He looks really pale. Does he need anything?”
Daniel’s mom. Brenda. One of those who must have known what his dad was doing to him…

“Just give him a few minutes.”
Daniel.

“I’ll be outside.”
Brenda.

As panic subsided, embarrassment took its place. Twice he’d lost it in front of the walking wet dream. Typical. When everything cleared, he realised he was sitting in a kitchen and that the only other person there was Daniel.

“I sent mom and Kieran out. Kieran feels guilty and wasn’t really helping and I didn’t want you losing it with my mom.” Daniel’s voice held censure and he looked damn serious.

“I didn’t mean it to be rude about your mom. I don’t know where the hate comes from,” Luke said. “I wouldn’t say anything to her.”

“Not unless you were mid panic attack,” suggested Daniel.

Fuck.
“I guess. Look, I came over to say sorry. Sorry for this morning and what happened. I didn’t mean what I said about not consulting you on a buyer. If I can I would always consult you.” Luke focused on the dark bruise forming high on Daniel’s cheek and up by his left eye. “I’ve never hit anyone before.”

Daniel smirked and placed the fingers of his hand onto the swollen area. “Well for someone who doesn’t hit much, you were deadly accurate.”

“You didn’t hit me back.” Luke had to know why. Daniel was a man of action and he hadn’t even moved a muscle in defence. Daniel shrugged. Luke assumed this was his way of saying he wasn’t talking about it, so he didn’t push.

Instead Daniel looked at him thoughtfully. “Have you seen a counsellor for the panic attacks?”

Luke debated pretending to not know what the hell Daniel was talking about but at the end of it all he was leaving town in a few days. What was the point in denying how fucked up he’d been and the steps he’d taken to get where he was today?

“Yes. Believe me, I’ve done it all. What you’ve seen is just something triggered by coming back here. Unresolved shit in my head.” There. That summed up how he was feeling at the moment. No point in dragging up the past. He was a son who had just seen his dad’s home burned to the ground—of course he was going to be stressed. The door opened and Brenda Skylar entered the kitchen. She crossed to Daniel immediately.

“Is everything okay? Kieran is so sorry. He didn’t realise you hadn’t been up here as yet.”

“Tell Kieran it’s fine.” Luke didn’t want to make any excuses, or offer reasons why he felt the way he did so he stopped himself saying any more.

“I wonder if you would be okay to talk?” Brenda looked anxious herself and Luke couldn’t stop the resentment rising inside him. He wasn’t sure he was ready to listen to excuses, but then Daniel grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Startled, Luke swivelled to face Daniel head on and looked down at their joined hands. Was this just some kind of support from him? He tugged his hand, but Daniel wasn’t letting go. Jeez. If Daniel felt they had to hold hands then Brenda was going to say something bad. Either that or Daniel was worried Luke was going to punch out Brenda as well.

“I don’t know where to start. I guess everything ended when we went back to the hospital the next day you had gone.”

“Went back?” Luke frowned. “You went to the hospital? I don’t remember seeing you.”

That wasn’t entirely true, he had dreams sometimes when a soft voice told him he would be okay and hands held him tight and supported, then moved to wipe away blood. He’d thought he had dreamt it. She could have been there.

“You were sleeping for much of it. But it was Thomas Dexter and I who took you to hospital.”

“It was?”

“You didn’t know it was me?” she asked curiously. Luke shook his head. He hadn’t hung around long enough to decipher any of that night properly. Yes, he’d wondered how he’d ended up in the hospital, but he’d put it down to somehow getting there himself like he always had.

“Daniel wasn’t here,” Brenda continued. “He’d been at his friend’s house for the weekend. Everything was quiet and I thought I heard noises from the cabin. I called Thomas and said I was worried. It didn’t matter how little I saw you, I just knew something was wrong over there. I heard something outside my door and Thomas was still on the other end of the phone driving, he told me to stay indoors, but I couldn’t.”

Her voice hitched and Daniel gripped tighter to Luke’s hand.

“When I opened it I saw you on the steps and your dad nowhere in sight. Thomas and I got you to St Martins. When we sat there…” Her voice choked and Luke thought maybe Daniel should be holding his mom’s hand instead of Luke’s. “Doc Campion told us that he was going to talk to you, that we should go home and I didn’t argue. We didn’t know what your dad was doing.”

“That’s complete shit!” Luke snapped. He couldn’t be polite. “You must have all known what was happening.” Luke caught Brenda looking directly at Daniel with anguish in her eyes. Doubt stole over him.

“I swear to you, Luke. Then the next morning when we got there they said you had left, against medical advice, and refused to admit anything had happened. I suspect Doctor Campion had something to do with it.”

Luke nodded. “He said I didn’t have a head injury, or concussion. ’Wouldn’t have mattered if he had, I was out of Ellery. He didn’t argue. Just referred me to another hospital, got me on a bus and gave me some money.” The doctor had died a few years back and as far as Luke had been concerned the secret had died with him. He’d taken the scholarship for English to the college that had offered it and the rest was history.

“You left then and when I tracked down where you had gone to college you were settled. You had a new life. And Mike? He was just Mike.”

Luke couldn’t get his head around what Brenda was saying. There was only one part he could focus on, the thing that he struggled with even though the rational side of him knew there must have been so many reasons why no one else knew.

“How could you not see what he was doing to me after mom left?” Gone was the confident twenty-nine year old man and in his place was a scared sixteen-year-old.

“You hid it so well,” Brenda offered simply.

Temper spiked in Luke. “You’re saying it was my fault?” He stood and tugged his hand free of Daniel’s. The loss of the strong grip was like they were ripped apart and his fingers clenched into a fist. Daniel immediately stood between Luke and Brenda and placed a hand flat on Luke’s chest.

“She didn’t say that. She said you coped, you lived through it and you hid it as a way of keeping yourself safe. You know that is what she meant.”

Luke’s shaky legs let him down and he slumped to the chair. Counsellors had said that was how he had dealt with the beatings and the verbal abuse. He had channelled everything he had into pretending everything was okay—it was the only way he had been able to survive with his emotions intact. Or at least as intact as was able.

Daniel looked him directly in the eye. “You okay?”

“Can I have a couple of minutes alone with your mom?” He indicated to Brenda. Daniel hesitated, then he must have seen the control in Luke’s eyes because he nodded. Luke wanted to know more about the night he’d been taken to the small town hospital. There was no way though that he could share everything with someone he felt attraction for. Luke was going soon, Daniel wasn’t giving off signals and they’d only just met. Luke wanted to at least keep some of his pride in front of another man.

“I’ll be outside,” Daniel said.

Brenda sat down opposite Luke. “I think you probably have questions.”

* * * *

Daniel paced the porch area. There had been a plea in Luke’s eyes that he couldn’t say no to, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried about his mom. From the sound of it, through the slightly open door, they were just talking. Daniel didn’t want to hear what they were discussing—he wanted to give Luke privacy.

“What did he say?” Kieran asked as he joined Daniel on the porch.

“It was a shock, seeing his dad’s place.”

“I didn’t think.”

Kieran was impulsive and talked way too much for a normal human being, but he didn’t have a cruel bone in his body. Daniel knew that Kieran would be worrying about what had happened.

“He said it was fine. I think he has some other things going on that muddy the waters.”

“I’m going back to town. You think I should wait and see if he wants a ride down?”

Daniel remembered the iron grip Luke had kept on his hand once he’d realised Daniel wasn’t letting go. There was something in those blue eyes mixed in with the pain. What was it about Luke that brought out his softer side? The damn man had punched him and for that one thing alone Luke should be flat on his back in the Tennessee dirt staring up at blue sky. Instead Daniel wanted to understand and protect.

Let’s face it. I’m being sucked in by the puppy dog gaze.

The door opened wider and Luke stepped out into the shade of the porch overhang.

“All right?” Daniel asked. Luke was shell shocked and pale. He deliberately turned his back on Daniel, but it was just to stare over in the direction where the fire destroyed cabin was. Straightening his back and lifting his chin, he took the steps two at a time to the path then walked in that direction with a determined stride.

“Shit,” Daniel muttered and jogged to catch up with him. Together they broke through the shrubs that marked a line between properties and finally they stood in front of the place that held so many memories for them both.

“How did it happen?” Luke gestured to the space.

“Did you not see a report?”

“I’ve seen enough, but you were here. You know.”

“Neil Harris was stalking Finn. He created a diversion to get Finn’s boyfriend away so he could kill Finn. Your dad was in the way. If it’s any consolation he was shot and died immediately. He was outside of the fire.”

“But the cabin burned entirely? Nothing could be saved. No photos. Nothing?”

“I’m sorry,” Daniel said. He wished he had better news. “The department had to stop the fire spreading and it had taken too much of a hold. Max, Finn’s partner will be able to tell you more.”

Luke took a few steps forward and pulled away the barrier to slip through. Daniel hesitated for a few minutes. Luke may well need some alone time in the ruins of his old home. Then his need to protect came to the forefront and he followed Luke in. It was still possible to see the footprint of the cabin in the charred ground. In fact some of the stone walls that levelled the building remained intact. That was his and Kieran’s next job on the list. They had spent the last week clearing away the wood and the ruined interior and the last truckload had only left yesterday. Luke circled the low walls and peered into the ruined hole inside. He stopped where the porch would have been. With a thoughtful expression on his face he turned to face the mountain as it climbed behind them.

“Shot on the porch,” Luke said softly.

“Yeah.”

“I could stand here now and tell you a story of me remembering him out on this porch. Some soft toned rose tinted memory of father and son standing against the world. I’d be lying though. I have more memories of me avoiding my dad towards the end than actually choosing to be with him.”

“You don’t have to talk about this,” Daniel said.

“You don’t want to hear?” Luke looked back at him and he appeared puzzled. “Seems to me you’ve been angling for more ever since you didn’t punch me back.”

“I’ll hear if you want me to.” Daniel gave his safest reply. The overwhelming protectiveness that he felt towards this man was making it hard to think. What the hell was this? He’d only known the guy for a little while and the only memories he had of him were padded out by what Kieran and Finn had told him.

It must be something to do with the fact that they both had their ghosts. Who better to understand someone with Luke’s problems than a man with problems of his own?