Once Again by Amy Durham Page B

called.
    He stepped into the room and the two of us
shouted, “Surprise!”
    For half a second, he seemed stunned, but
then his eyes lit up and his beautiful smile began. He eyed the
decorations on the table, the cake on the counter, and started
laughing.
    “You didn’t really have a headache, did
you?”
    Gwen shook her head, laughing too much to
answer.
    “Happy Birthday,” I said, stepping forward to
hug him.
    He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the
top of my head. Gwen moved to embrace us both, then scooted us all
toward the table. She insisted Lucas and I sit while she served
lunch.
    The level of comfort I felt with Gwen
continued to amaze me. I found myself, in many ways, anxious to
confide in her about the dreams, to have her input on the
situation. But, like Luke, I also felt reluctant, as if sharing it
right now would be too personal.
    At any rate, it was comforting to know we
could talk to her and not worry she’d think we’d lost our
minds.
    My pitiful attempt at singing “Happy
Birthday” was made tolerable by Gwen’s lyrical voice, and after
cutting the cake and stuffing ourselves with devil’s food and
chocolate buttercream frosting, Gwen announced it was time for
presents.
    He opened hers first. A new pair of running
shoes, apparently the exact kind he’d been looking at for some
time. I was certain Gwen had paid a pretty penny for them, but they
were the kind of gift Lucas would consider practical and necessary.
He’d have them broken in in no time.
    I handed him my gift. He opened the card
first, which was sweet, but not too sappy, the sentiment inside
wishing a happy birthday to someone very special. I thought it
struck just the right chord of acknowledgement of our relationship
without being overly serious. He found the iTunes gift card inside
and smiled. I’d discovered in the last week he did indeed have an
iPod, but his playlists were sorely lacking. I’d even told him
shuffling through his music was an endless loop of black and white
newspaper print.
    My heart skipped a beat when he reached for
the little box and started unwrapping. Would he think it was
stupid? Would he even remember?
    But when he pulled the Tequila bottle
saltshaker out, his laugh was instantaneous.
    “Perfect,” he said, laughing and leaning over
to kiss my cheek. “Love it!”
    “I’m not even going to ask,” Gwen said,
shaking her head and hopping up to clear the dishes from the
table.
    I offered to help with the clean up, but Gwen
wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted that Lucas and I enjoy the rest
of the afternoon together. Though it was nippy outside, the sun was
out, and we opted for a walk.
    At the door, Luke tossed me his X-Country
hoodie again, and I pulled it over my head with a grin. I was
beginning to think he liked seeing me in it.
    I liked being in it.
    We walked through the wooded area behind the
house, down to the creek that formed the western perimeter of their
property. The air was still, the slight breeze doing little more
than making a soft rustling sound in the trees. I decided the
peacefulness of the moment was right for telling him what I’d
thought of.
    “I had an idea,” I told him, as we walked
hand in hand along the creek bank. “Some research we could do that
might give us some information about the people in the dreams.”
    “Let’s hear it.” His voice was playful,
carefree.
    I enjoyed this side of him a great deal, and
I was glad we’d been able to spend a few days as normal teenagers.
The reprieve was a welcome change.
    “Well, when I went by Emerson’s yesterday to
pick up your birthday gift, I got Ashley talking a bit about the
house and about her husband’s family. Did you know her husband’s
grandparents lived there?”
    He shook his head. “I never paid a lot of
attention to the house before, since I didn’t see it in my dreams
until a few weeks ago. But thinking back, I guess it’s been empty
as long as I can remember.”
    “She said they lived there until