Re: The woods
"I'm Luke," he told her, and in a split-second decision decided to lie while, unbeknownst to her, adding in some of the truth. "Yeah, I'm new. I just moved in with-- with my girlfriend, and our son." He didn't even notice Stella was gone until she called up from upstairs, and as cute as she was, there was no way he was sticking around for a tea party. No, he couldn't, and he wanted to be far, far away before Silver got here, because he didn't want to see that either. The thought of them together made him sick, and actually witnessing it in person, well, it was more than he was equipped to handle.
Preoccupied with this nightmarish scenario, Stella's obvious expectation that he was going to stay, and trying to figure out how to leave without seeming rude, he didn't even think anything of the white van when she asked, glancing briefly over his shoulder before shaking his head. "No, it's not mine. Look-- I don't want to be rude, but I really can't stay for a tea party," he explained, and he would have continued further if Rhett hadn't started crying, and she hadn't asked him to bring the little boy upstairs. Luke had never been able to refuse his Wren anything, and even though this one wasn't his, it seemed he couldn't tell her no either.
Okay. Okay, he'd put the kid in his crib, and then leave, no matter what else happened. Right. He could do this. "Sure," he said, scooping up the crying child and offering a smile. "I don't mind." And then he started up the stairs, repeating a silent mantra that yes, he would leave, just as soon as Rhett was in his crib. No more excuses, no more lingering. He didn't belong here.