Chapter Twenty-Three

As if seeing the items in the basement ignited a strange fire in Luke, he began to think of Leslie more and more. It was odd because when they were together, he never thought of her so much in the fond way he was doing at that moment. Everything in the house reminded him of her: the furniture, the décor, the arrangement of things. Ever since she moved out, he hadn't changed the order of things, and neither had Katie. Things seemed to be static as they were. Worse, he knew he wasn’t supposed to feel the way he did, but he couldn’t help it. Things weren’t rosy anymore, and he knew it. Katie’s lies and manipulation were giving him the jitters. It was only rational that seeing the stored boxes in the basement made him realize just how much pain Leslie had been in before she finally left. Luke could remember the confidence with which she’d left, preferring to be arrested over apologizing. He could remember her saying that she wanted out. Back then, he’d thought she was speaking out of