Mr. Imperfect

chapter 18



Without the Cannons around, things were back to normal between Rori and Luke. Thank God! Rori had nearly started to believe that she’d imagined the last two weeks. But with Mike working and Kris golfing with her boyfriend, Rori and Luke had a beautiful day all to themselves.

He drove her about an hour out of town, not giving her a hint as to where they were going until the road signs made it clear that they were headed somewhere called Antelope Island. The area was green and lush, surrounded by the stinky lake the city was named for. They finally stopped in front of a horse ranch of sorts where two horses were brought out to them and they’d been left to explore the island.

Rori couldn’t have asked for a more perfect afternoon. Beautiful views, exposure to the local fauna and exotic animals, including a herd of buffalo. This was the Luke she had agreed to marry, not some guy who hid in his basement and played video games like Kris had claimed.

As they crested one of the lower ridges, Luke gestured toward the lake. “Somewhere out there is a big sculpture thing,” he said. “It’s called the Spiral Jetty. Some dude built it years ago with a tractor. It’s like a snail shell, but bigger.”

Rori hid a smile, wondering if anyone had ever described any of her work with such ineloquence.

“We could find it, if you want,” he added. “I’m sure the guys at the ranch know how to get there.”

“That would be fun,” she said, curious now. “But not if it cuts into our time here. This is beautiful, Luke.”

“I know, right?” He leaned back in his saddle, bringing his right foot up to lay across the shoulder of his horse. “Haven’t been here in a while. I used to come here with the Cannons.”

Of course he had. And while Rori was sure that he had good memories and all, she really didn’t want to talk about his neighbors.

“You handle a horse quite well,” she said, pleased to have him surprise her yet again.

He grinned her way. “Yeah. There used to be a lot of farm land around my neighborhood when I was growing up and people had horses. I didn’t ride all the time, but I learned how to take care of a horse. It was way fun.”

“Sounds like a good way to grow up,” she said, her tone diplomatic. She wasn’t ready to talk about where they would live. The day was going much too well for them to interrupt it with a disagreement. He wanted to live here. By the Cannons. Rori could feel it. She also knew that if she lived two doors down from the Cannons, she would slowly go insane.

“Totally,” he agreed, and just when she thought he might take the discussion further, he added, “We should get pizza on the way home. Best. Food. Ever. I think I could eat it for a week straight.”

“Sure,” she agreed. “I don’t know that I’ve ever had American pizza.”

“What?”

“Pizza, yes,” she amended. “But never while I was in America. I know it is certainly different in Italy, although I would guess the Pizza Hut chains are similar in Europe and I’ve had that as well.”

Luke grimaced. “Italian pizza? That’s like glorified crackers with toppings. For real pizza you need dough, sauce, and cheese upon cheese. Man, I’m totally taking you to The Pie. You need to start out with Grade-A stuff, not franchise crap. Oh, this is going to be epic!”

His enthusiasm got her smiling even as warning flags went off in the back of her mind. Here they were in a picturesque location on a perfect day, leisurely exploring on beautiful horses, and yet he wasn’t making any moves to bring them any closer. In truth, he was talking to her as if she were just another guy and they were just “hanging out,” as Americans like to put it. They were engaged. And while Rori wasn’t expecting the usual frills, she did think that they needed to talk about things a little more substantial than pizza.

Because eating pizza, despite whatever Luke might think, was not “epic.”

Keeping her tone light, Rori tried to push them into more personal territory. “For a guy who seems to like his home so much, you travel a lot. Any reason?”

He shrugged, putting his foot back in the stirrup and urging his horse forward. “I dunno. I guess since I never got to as a kid? My dad was always traveling to all these places for work, and I always wanted to see those places.”

“Did he take pictures for you?” she asked, her horse falling in step with his.

“Nah,” he said with a shrug. “He just said that he was always on site and that it wasn’t interesting, but I thought it was totally cool. He’s an engineer for oil companies, so he’d build these cities, or at least it seemed like it to me. I thought it was awesome.”

“Did he ever go to Thailand?” she asked.

“Nah, but once I started traveling, all of a sudden it became this thing, you know? Once you visit a dozen countries, all of a sudden you want to go to two dozen. And it’s not a huge leap from there to get to fifty countries.”

She nodded, understanding completely. “How many are you at now?”

“Thailand was thirty-nine.” She watched him scowl and knew that wasn’t the end of the story. “I always try to get Mike to go, you know? Him and Kris, but all they do is work. Mike wants to pay off his student loans and Kris is saving up for a down payment on a condo. Twenty percent. Once she gets that, she’ll move downtown so she can spend even more time at her office. That’s the one lame thing about those two. They always put work first. Well, family, then work.”

“Then you,” she finished for him.

His frowned deepened. “Yeah.”

Not exactly the answer Rori had been digging for, which helped explain why she had no idea what to say.

“Don’t they both live rent free?” she asked before she knew the words were even out of her mouth. Might as well finish. “Kris with her parents and Mike with you?”

He nodded.

“So shouldn’t they fine financially?” It was none of her business and completely impolite to ask, but if she and Luke were going to build a life, she needed to understand the dynamics. Mike was living off of his friend but wouldn’t take the time to take a few trips with him? It seemed a little ungrateful.

“Kris is, for sure,” Luke said. “She’s the scholarship queen and the youngest child, so her parents are all into supporting her until she gets married.”

“And Mike?”

“Well, I’m the one who talked him into coming back,” Luke said, a little proudly.

“Back from where?”

“California,” Luke said, as if it should be obvious. “After film school he was hitting some road blocks breaking into the business. Apparently it’s typical for directors to start out in porn. There are tons of producers and the work is never ending, but Mike promised his mom he wouldn’t do stuff like that, so he was a bit out of the loop. He had this plan of doing low-budget indie films to build his credibility, like Christopher Nolan, but no one would bite. Not even for ten grand. I offered to front him, but he said he didn’t want to be produced out of pity—that if no one in the industry had faith in his vision then he didn’t deserve the money, or something like that. So instead he made shorts and stuff until his loans came due and he realized he couldn’t pay up.”

“And that’s when you gave him a free place to land?” Rori filled in.

“Totally. No brainer. It was all weird with him gone. Empty, you know? Everyone missed him, and his mom had these worry lines appearing in her forehead, like her mother’s intuition was on red alert. It was hard to watch, so yeah. I gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

“He takes care of your house and he gets to stay?”

“Well, yeah, and he pays the bills,” Luke added. “Had to throw him a little dignity, but it works out, really. I don’t have to worry about anything, and he gets to throw money at that mountain of debt he made learning to be the next Spielberg. It was like over a hundred grand.”

That raised Rori’s eyebrows. “For film school? He could be a doctor for that much money.”

Luke laughed. “I know, right? But how fun would that be?”

To some? Very fun. “Is he any good?”

“Dude,” Luke said, leveling a proud gaze her way. “So good. He just needs a break is all. It’s why I forgive him for being such a perfectionist all the time. I guess that’s a quality directors need if they want to be any good.”

“Probably helps,” she said, realizing that they were talking about Mike, not Luke. Not their future. She needed to be better about focusing.

“I know one day he’s going to take off again,” Luke said, looking solemn. “Probably back to California or wherever a film takes him. Then Kris will get her lame condo and write me off.”

“Will you sell the house then?” Rori asked, hoping the question wasn’t coming too soon.

“Sell it? Why would I do that?”

Rori shrugged, keeping casual. Planting a seed. That’s all she needed to do. “Well, if they’re not there, there’s no reason for you to be there, right? You and I can live anywhere we want. In any country we want. Or in multiple countries. You hang around with me for a few years, and you’re definitely going to hit your fifty-country goal.”

To her relief Luke brightened at that. “I so can’t wait for that. It’ll be crazy fun!”

Ah, he was saying “fun” again. That was a good sign for selling the house. “Plus, then you can take the crime scene tape off of your parents’ bed and let someone use that room again.”

His nose scrunched. “You saw that?”

“Yes, I did. I know there’s a story there waiting to be told.”

He shook his head emphatically. “You don’t want to hear it. Trust me!”

“Oh, but I do,” she teased, reaching over and giving his thigh a slap.

He studied her, eyes playful. “I warn you. It ain’t pretty.”

“Most good stories aren’t,” she countered, and when he laughed she knew she had him. They’d been serious long enough. It was time to abandon her ploy for intimacy and do what Luke did best: have a little fun.