Free The Coincidence 05 The Certainty of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen Page A

awkward silence and then she said she needed to go down to the police station to see if she could identify mom as the person in the house that night.’
    ‘So where are
you
now? ‘
    I pick at the crack in the steering wheel as I look over at the police station, noticing a guy standing beside a tree near the entryway, smoking a cigarette. I wouldn’t even have noticed him probably, but he’s staring directly at my truck. ‘Outside the station waiting for her.’ I lean forward trying to get a better look at the guy, but it’s too dark to see his face. For all I know, it could be Preston. But would he dare come to a police station?
    My father grows quiet as I continue to stare the guy down and he looks as if he’s doing the same thing back. I think about getting out, start reaching for the handle, when he takes a drag of his cigarette, then flicks it on the ground and walks off toward the parking lot. I open the door to get out, but by the time I get my boots planted on the ground, he’s walked up to a Ford Taurus where a pregnant woman is waiting for him. He kisses her then opens the passenger door for her and the light from the lamppost in the parking lot hit his face. It’s not Preston, but it’s a realization of how worried and paranoid I am and how much I never relax.
    I just want to be able to relax again. Not worry.
    ‘So Trevor and I were thinking about taking a trip out there soon.’ My father interrupts my thoughts and I look away from the guy and fix my attention on the night sky again. ‘Maybe we could fly out in a couple of weeks … help out with anything you guys need help with.’
    ‘I have football games on the weekends,’ I tell him, which is true, but I’m also not sure I want him to come out yet, not sure if I’m ready for that.
    ‘That could be fun,’ he says with a hint of excitement. ‘I’ve never seen you play before.’
    I want to say
that’s because you abandoned me
, but I’ve been trying to work on that shit ever since I had to borrow money from him to bail me out of a gambling debt, which he won’t let me repay. And I don’t want to be the kind of son that uses his father for money.
    ‘I have to work on Sundays too,’ I say. ‘But if you’re okay with that then sure. Come out.’
    ‘Are you still working at that bar?’ he wonders with concern. I don’t blame him for worrying. Recovering drinker working at the bar. It’s not the ideal situation but I’m looking for something else that will work with my school schedule, games and practice. But still, the fact that he’s bringing it up is kind of annoying me.
    ‘I applied at a few other places,’ I explain, shaking off my annoyance the best that I can. ‘But haven’t heard anything yet.’
    ‘You’re not thinking about … about gambling again, right?’
    Honestly, I haven’t thought about it a whole lot, but that might be because I’ve been so focused on Violet. ‘I’m good. I promise.’
    ‘Okay … I just wanted to check up on you … I worry, you know, about you,’ he says and I can detect the smallest bit of relief in his voice as if he’d been worried I’d been going back to my old habits. ‘I’ll get some tickets booked so we can fly out in few weeks and let you know what time our flight lands.’
    ‘Sounds good.’ It’s strange. My dad is coming to Laramie, to see me. Not long ago I would have fought it, but now I just have to accept what is otherwise I’ll go back to the Luke that hangs onto everything and drowns his pain away with booze.
    ‘And Luke? ‘
    ‘Yeah.’
    ‘If you need anything call me.’
    Just a few words, but they mean a lot. Getting way too fucking emotional, I reply with an ‘okay,’ then hang up, telling myself to stop acting like a pussy and suck it up. To distract myself, I crank up some music and start searching through job ads online on my phone, but I start to grow restless as more time ticks by. Thirty minutes. One hour. Two. God, I wish I knew what was going