"Gisela, let's run away."
"What?"
"Somewhere far away. Yeah? How's Hawaii sound? Think the girls will love it?"
"What are you talking about, Lukas?"
Gisela stared at him, confused and alarmed, as if his words had come from nowhere.
"Just imagine it," Lukas said. "Warm beaches, quiet mornings, no more stress. We could start over. All of us."
Gisela frowned, searching his face as if trying to understand what had prompted this sudden desperation. The kitchen light flickered, and for a moment she saw the exhaustion in his eyes, the fear he was trying to hide.
"Lukas," she said, "you're not making sense."
"Huh? I'm not? Yeah, I guess I'm not."
He tried to laugh it off, but the sound never reached his eyes. Whatever was coming, he knew he couldn't fight it without putting the only people he cared about in danger.
If it had been the Lukas of the past, the man he once was would have laughed at him. He would have mocked him for becoming soft, for letting himself grow attached.
