Gunpowder And Cocktails | J. Todd ✔

[22]

George Wilson and Camille Knight's marriage was a union of convenience. The woman had recently gotten divorced and the custody of her daughter had been divided between her and her ex husband Vincent Beaumont. At that time she needed a shelter and George being her old colleague and friend offered that immediately.

However, with George too thinking along the lines of giving Luke a mother figure, he had taken the first step to talk to Camille about marrying him instead.

Initially it had been difficult for Camille knowing that she had a daughter too whose responsibility fairly laid on her hands as much as it did on her father's, or probably even more since Vincent was rather irresponsible and she couldn't trust him to properly look after Isadora by himself.

So when George promised her that he had no issue with Dora staying with them and that he would make sure the two wouldn't have to face any problem in life ever again, she eventually agreed.

George had also told her about Lucas, omitting the fact that he had adopted him and that he was actually his cousin's son. He felt it would be better if lesser people knew about Luke's real father and his past because he couldn't risk letting anyone dig that up again.

So he had simply told her that Luke was his son and his mother had died not long ago so his custody was given to him entirely. Camille didn't probe further either and though the boy hadn't been present at the wedding ceremony, she met him afterwards and eventually formed a friendship with the boy.

The first month Dora had lived with the Wilsons, she and Luke had been very formal towards one another. She was back after the next month of staying with her father and yet the barrier between her and Luke was ever persistent.

He never shut her out intentionally, in fact he would always listen to whatever she had to say but he still didn't allow her to get close.

Things were not the same towards Camille because he had softened towards her a great deal. He had a hobby of capturing photographs and often he would ask Camille to feature in his snaps of the garden.

He was usually very silent but sometimes he would make witty remarks regarding any conversation they would be having and Dora had noticed that the boy had a brilliant sense of humor. The only unnerving thing was that he never openly smiled at anything.

There were very rare times when his lips would twitch into a faint almost negligible smile that would vanish his face the instant someone else looked at him.

Other than that, he also had a sharp memory, recalling even the most negligible of things with high precision. Dora had a doubt that Luke was some sort of a highly functioning genius and didn't enjoy being in the company of normal people like her.

"What are you doing?"

She spun around, seeing Lucas behind her, still a considerable steps back keeping up a safe distance between the two.

She put down the phone immediately, "nothing."

Hazel eyes softened slightly as he leaned further back against the wall, "Isadora, I won't tell."

"I was... I was talking to my brother," she mumbled in a low voice, not wanting anyone else to hear that.

"Oh," a faint look of understanding crossed his features, "Alexander, if I recall correctly?"

"Yes."

"Cami talks about him a lot," he mused, placing his hands in his pockets casually, "she misses him."

There was a while of silence between the two and Dora thought he would leave, he had never initiated a conversation before nor had he kept talking to her for that long.

"And you miss him too?" He seemed genuinely curious to know the answer, an unfathomable expression glimmering in soft hazel.

"It's natural, he's my brother and he no longer lives with us. I got to talk to him after a very long time and it's been years since I last saw him so of course I miss him."

"I'm sorry I interrupted you," he spoke up, lowering his gaze, "you can call him back if you want to, forget I was even here."

"I can't. He calls from a phone booth."

"Oh... And Cami doesn't know?"

"Don't tell her either."

He nodded in reply.

Her eyes flickered towards the clock as she asked, "well, what are you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep. I usually go to the garden for a walk but I paused seeing you here."

"Right." Silence engulfed them once again but as Luke hadn't left for the garden either, she spoke up, "mind if I join you?"

"Of course not," there was that rare faint smile tugging up on his features for a brief second as he replied, "I mean, you can come along. I don't mind."

"And mind if I ask the reason for the sudden friendliness?" She put forward the question that was bothering her ever since Luke had maintained the conversation.

He shook his head, the smile flickering on his face once again, "I realized I've been very uncivil, practically ignoring you from the past month so... Thought I may as well make it up for that."

"Mum's right, you're not that bad."

Hazel connected with coffee brown and for the first time, Dora saw him smile properly. "Appreciate the compliment."

"You should smile more often," she couldn't help but say that the instant the smile faded from his features, "makes you look nicer."

"I feel like this is your attempt to make me laugh," he remarked, holding back the urge to laugh.

"Did it work?"

"A little, I almost gave in," he unlocked the gate to the garden, stepping aside to let her go first.

The night air was chilly as the two stepped out and Dora noticed Luke's features morph into a tranquil look as he gazed up at the stars dotted in the clouds.

"Do you know, Luke, when people die they turn into stars and look down on their loved ones," she mumbled softly, eyes following his gaze that was locked on the brightest star, "they stay in the sky forever, burning bright so that their loved ones know they are happy where they are."

Luke tilted his head slightly to catch her expression then focused his eyes back on the brightest star, "if that's true then the brightest star must be my mother. Looking down on me just like you said... Probably, she is happy where she is now... Probably..."

He flinched slightly when her hand rested on his arm but didn't pull away just then.

"The ones who love us never really leave us. She will always be with you, making sure you're okay and whenever you miss her just think of her as a star in the sky, it will make you feel better."

"It has already," he nodded, "thank you."

***