Redeeming Luke, page 4
part #1 of Days of Grace Series
“Yes, I do. She’s a wonderful lady.”
Emma wondered at Ruth’s enthusiasm. In class she seemed quite reserved. Now, her eyes sparked with anticipation as if she didn’t have many visitors in her home. Of course, as she considered the idea, Emma couldn‘t imagine many people dropped by Luke Morgan‘s home just to chat.
“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I just needed to come by to get my lesson plan book.”
“Oh!” Ruth held her hands to her cheeks. “I forgot to give it back to you. How dingy of me. I’ll get it right now.”
Emma held out her hand to suggest that they retrieve the book together, but Ruth rushed out of the room, leaving her staring after her like a child at a lost balloon. She turned to face Luke again. She felt like an awkward schoolgirl with a nervous stomach. She smoothed her skirt and smiled politely.
Try as she might to avoid staring, Emma couldn’t help but notice Luke’s denim pants bore evidence of the day’s labor, with dusty patches of dirt on the knees. Dried sweat marks around his collar testified to a man not afraid of hard work.
He hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. Emma tore her focus away from the man whose presence seemed to fill the room. She glanced around the kitchen. Yellow and white gingham curtains hung on the windows. A set of blue glass canisters filled with beans and rice added color to the worn counter top. Cheerful white daisies dressed up a simple milk glass vase on the oak table, surrounded by the remains of a chicken dinner.
As her nerves settled, she gathered enough composure to speak. “You have a lovely home.”
“Thanks.” He rubbed his neck. “Ruth brought a lot from her mother’s house.”
“I’m sure it’s comforting for her to be surrounded by her mother’s things.”
Luke nodded and rubbed his neck again. Emma suppressed a grin at the nervous habit.
Ruth reappeared with the book. “Here it is.”
Emma pressed her palm to her heart. “I thought I had misplaced it. I spent an hour searching before I remembered you took it. I tell you, sometimes I think if they were to put my brain in a bird, the poor thing would fly backward.”
At Luke’s questioning gaze, Emma explained, “I loaned the book to Ruth so she could copy her extra credit assignments.”
He tiled his head and frowned. “Extra credit?” He looked to Ruth. “Are your grades in trouble?”
Ruth’s eyes widened. “I—um—”
Luke eyes moved Emma again. “How bad is it?”
Once again she had trusted Ruth to explain a situation to her uncle and she had not done so.
“She’s in danger of failing my class.” She quickly added, “But with these extra credit assignments, she’ll be back up to a passing grade.”
“Why haven‘t I heard about this before now? Don‘t you send a note home or something?”
Emma shot a glance at Ruth who stared back, wringing her hands.
Luke followed Emma’s unspoken cue. “Ruth. I am in no mood to run around in circles with you.”
Ruth stood straighter and drew in a long breath. “Miss Darby gave me the choice of asking you to come to school to meet with her, or tell you myself.”
“When?”
The young girl seemed to shrink before Emma’s eyes. “A couple of weeks ago.”
The muscles in Luke’s jaw flexed. “About the same time you were supposed to tell me you had a new teacher?”
Ruth nodded.
Tension permeated the small room. Emma searched for a place for her gaze to land. She was terribly out of place here. She headed for the door. “I should go so the two of you can talk about this.”
“No, don’t.” Luke blocked her way with an outstretched arm. She jerked to a stop, barely avoiding a collision with his muscled bicep.
“I need to know if there’s anything else I don‘t know about.” He turned his attention to his niece again. “How am I supposed to know what’s going on if you don’t tell me? How am I supposed to make sure you graduate from high school if I don’t even know you’re practically failing subjects? How do I do anything for you, if you just decide for yourself what’s important to tell me and what isn’t?”
“There’s nothing else.” Ruth shook her head. “Honest.”
Luke gave a snort of derision.
Ruth‘s green eyes pleaded with Emma. Emma swallowed the uncomfortable lump in her throat and stepped forward. “May I say something?”
Luke raised a brow at her. “Don’t you think it’s about time you did?”
Any intimidation Emma had felt around the man quickly dissolved into irritation and she resisted the urge to kick him in the shin. The last thing she wanted was to lose her temper in front of a student.
She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. “Ruth and I talked today. About the importance of trust. We agreed to start a clean slate with each other. But, I think you should know that Ruth also shared with me that—” She looked to Ruth for permission to continue but Ruth’s attention remained glued to the floor.
“What?” Luke demanded. “What did she tell you?”
The battle in her mind of whether to speak or to leave gave her pause. For some reason she couldn’t bear the idea of Luke being upset with her. Why? Why should his opinion of her matter? This wasn’t about her. It was about her student. And her heart went out to Ruth. Clearly these two did not have ideal communication with one another. Ruth needed someone to help her say what she couldn’t say for herself.
“Ruth feels that you don’t care about her schoolwork.”
His strong forehead twitched and his shoulders sagged. “Ruth, Is that true?”
She lifted her slim shoulders.
“Why would you think that?”
Ruth‘s words tumbled out of her. A flood of feelings that she’d clearly guarded and kept bottled up inside. “You never talk to me! Mom would always ask how my day was. She’d ask what we studied in class, and always asked if I needed help with my homework, and—” She pressed her lips together in a firm line.
Luke stared at his niece, mute. Emma’s heart wrenched in her chest. These two desperately need to talk to one another, yet neither of them seemed to know how.
“You see?” Ruth exclaimed. “He has nothing to say about my schoolwork. Or anything else about me. I’m just an obligation that got thrown in his lap.”
“That’s not true,” Luke snapped. Ruth startled, her eyes darted to him. He softened his voice. “I— just—” He shoved his drugged his hands down his face.
Emma stepped forward and approached Ruth, even though her mind screamed that this was none of her concern and she’d best not overstep her boundaries as a teacher.
“You have to understand Luke’s position. Your mother knew what to do because she was your mother. She raised you, she knew you. The two of you had a very special bond and a close relationship, one that I wish all my students had with their mothers. But your uncle—” Emma glanced back, and witnessed a shadow of defeat settle in his dark eyes.
Focusing once again on Ruth, she continued. “He’s new to this. He’s never had a teenage girl. You want him to come to you. You want him to know what to do and what to say, to know what you need and when you need it. That’s very unfair.”
Ruth frowned and opened her mouth to speak. Emma held up a finger.
“It is. It is unfair. If you want Luke to talk with you about school, you are going to have to help him. Waiting for him to do it, and then getting angry when he doesn’t, is not right.”
Emma stepped back, waiting, praying, for one of them to speak.
Ruth finally sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Luke. I promise not to keep anything about my school work from you again.”
The emphasis she placed on the words ‘school work’ was not lost on Emma. She watched for Luke‘s reaction. He met Ruth’s apology with a silent stare.
At last he spoke. “I will not put up with any more deceit from you.”
Emma marveled at the conflicting emotions she witnessed in him. His baritone voice carried a warning, bordering on anger, while pleading hid behind the intensity of his words.
Ruth’s lower lip quivered. She nodded once.
Emma wanted to take the girl in her arms and assure her that everything would be all right. She could not imagine the uncertainty and fear Ruth must have faced, riding alone on a train from Montana to San Francisco, to live with an uncle she’d never met, and to find him such an imposing figure as Luke Morgan.
She risked a peek at him. Standing easily over six feet tall, the black hat he wore made him even taller and more intimidating. Dark facial stubble and equally dark eyes peering from beneath the hat’s rim had actually frightened her a bit when they first met that morning. When he spoke, his deep voice had done little to calm her nerves.
She saw him differently now, here in his home. For one thing he wasn’t wearing the hat. His hair was nearly as black as the hat, but its waves and curls at the nape of his neck softened his rough edges, bringing to mind the unruly mop of a young boy.
The man was a walking contradiction.
“Miss Darby?”
Emma’s heart thudded at the sound of Ruth‘s voice, and she discovered Luke staring at her. A swell of heat rolled up the back of her neck and into her cheeks.
“I’m sorry?” She forced a smile at Ruth, desperately trying to ignore the sensation of dark eyes still watching her.
“I asked if you would like a piece of cake.” The young girl’s voice pleaded with her to stay. “We always have dessert while we listen to the radio, and it’s almost time for The Burns and Allen Show.”
They listened to the radio together? So Luke did, in fact, spend time with Ruth,
She raised her eyes to meet his again. “I don’t want to intrude.”
At his devastating smirk, Emma wondered if he could read her mind. Crinkles had appeared around his eyes, taking the edge off his thousand yard stare. She could only imagine how much more handsome he’d be if he ever allowed himself a full smile. And maybe a shave. And a haircut.
No. She should go. She should definitely go. The pace at which moods and emotions changed in this house made her dizzy. She would do well to put as much distance between herself and Luke Morgan as possible. Irritation niggled at the back of her mind. She had sworn she would never let another man rattle her composure like this again.
Ruth bit her lip and pressed her hands together. Emma’s stomach sank. She hated to disappoint her. Perhaps it would be best if she stayed. Just to observe her student’s home life.
“I suppose I could stay just for a bit.”
Luke started out of the room. “I’ll get the radio going.”
Emma helped Ruth clear the dinner dishes and slice the cake, then followed her into the living room. Luke knelt on one knee in front of the radio, turning the dial back and forth until the crackle and hiss of interference gave way to a man’s voice. Ruth gave Luke a piece of cake, and he settled into an overstuffed chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him on a wooden footstool.
Emma diverted her eyes before he could catch her staring again. Ruth’s touches were noticeable in this room too. A cross stitch pillow on the sofa. Sky blue fabric draped across the tops and down the sides of the windows. A green, pressed glass lamp on the sofa table cast a soft yellow light into the room.
She sat on the couch beside Ruth and took a bite of cake as a news brief began. The reporter spoke of tensions rising in Europe as Adolf Hitler continued to rally his army. Emma’s heart sank at the possibility of another war, and all the lives that would be lost. Especially if somehow, America were drawn into it. Next, a report on the scandalous activities of King Edward in London. It seemed he was involved with a divorced woman, causing quite the uproar in England.
“Olivia and I saw a picture of Edward in Life magazine today at Meyer‘s,” Ruth gushed. “He’s dreamy.”
Emma smiled at her student. “He may be dreamy, but his activities could cost him the throne.”
“How?” Ruth set her cake on a round redwood coffee table in front of the sofa. “He’s the king. He can do whatever he wants.” She licked frosting from her finger.
“Yes, he can. But it causes people to question how seriously he takes his role as king. Many people think he‘s bringing shame to his family, and to the throne.”
“So he has to walk away from the woman he loves? Just because other people don’t approve?” Ruth cast an accusing look at her uncle.
Luke didn‘t seem to notice. “He’ll abdicate.”
Surprised at his contribution to the conversation, Emma attempted to draw him in more. “Give up the throne? You think he will?”
“It’s the right thing to do.” His dark eyed stare, and the conviction in his voice, pinned Emma to her seat.
“Is that what abdicate means?” Ruth asked.
Emma swallowed hard, forcing her attention back to Ruth. “Yes. If he were to abdicate, his younger brother would become King.”
“That is so romantic.” Ruth sighed. “To have a man give up the throne of England for you?” She stared at something far off, lost in the dreams of love and romance of a young girl.
Luke‘s eyes narrowed. “You’d be far better off focusing on your grades.”
“There’s more to life than grades,” Ruth retorted. “Like church socials.”
Emma watched the muscles in Luke’s jaw flex again.
Ruth turned to Emma. “Do you think a church social is wrong?”
“I never said a church social was wrong,” Luke said, taking a bite of his cake.
Ruth rolled her eyes. “Let me clarify. Do you think it’s wrong for a seventeen-year old-boy to ask a sixteen-year-old girl to a church social?”
Emma eyed Luke. Her mouth went dry at the challenge in his eyes.
“I—don’t think—I mean—” Emma cleared her throat. “Clearly, whatever is going on here is between you and your uncle.”
“But you can still answer the question. Is there anything wrong with two teenagers going to a church social together? You see, Petaluma Valley Christian Church is having a social on Saturday—”
“Oh, that’s the church I go to. Yes, I know about the social.”
“You go there too? So does Grady.”
“Yes. I see him and his family there every week.”
“Well, he asked Luke if he could ask me to go with him.” Ruth shot Luke an angry glare. “And Luke said he’d ‘think about it’.”
“Oh.” Emma set her cake plate down.
“And that’s what I’m going to do.” Luke stood. “I’ll be in the barn.” He left the room without another word.
Ruth shook her head. “That’s where he always runs off to.”
Emma stared at the empty chair Luke had vacated. “Just like that?”
“When he’s in this kind of mood, yes. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and go to the kitchen for a glass of water, and I see lights out there.”
Emma worried her brow. “He seems upset. Maybe I should leave.”
“Oh, you don’t have to. Really. Please. He’d rather be out in that old barn than in here, anyway. Stay and listen to The Burns and Allen Show with me.”
Once again Emma couldn’t bring herself to let Ruth down. She seemed so lonely, and Emma didn’t want to leave her, listening to her favorite radio program with no one to share the evening with.
“All right. I’ll stay for the program. But then I really must go home.”
“Okay.” Ruth curled her legs beneath her and hugged a pillow.
They listened and laughed at George Burns and Gracie Allen’s witty banter about George‘s singing voice. When the show was over, Emma stood and gathered the cake plates.
Ruth took the plates from her. “They are so funny.”
“Yes, they are. It’s been a long time since I heard that show.”
She followed Ruth to the kitchen. Ruth took a metal tub from under the kitchen counter and set it in the sink. She turned the faucet on and waited for the water to get hot, then sprinkled soap flakes into the tub as it filled with water..
“I enjoyed this evening.” Emma handed Ruth a plate to wash. “I’ve missed listening to the radio.”
“Don’t you have a radio?”
“No. I had to sell mine, with a few other things, to make the move here to California.”
Ruth washed and another plate, rinsed it and handed it to Emma to dry. “How awful. I’d just die without a radio.”
Emma laughed. “I promise, you would not.”
“I’d be bored to tears, that’s for sure. What do you do without a radio?”
“I read.” Emma shrugged. “And grade school work.”
Ruth giggled. “How absolutely dreadful.
Ruth handed Emma the last glass and rinsed out the wash cloth. “This was really nice. Maybe you could come back another night and have dinner with us?”
“Maybe.” Emma dried the glass and gave Ruth a hug. She gathered her pocket book and assignment book. “But for now, I really do need to go.”
“Oh. All right.” Ruth looked out the window. “Did you drive here?”
“No. I walked. I don’t have a car.”
“Well, it’s dark out. You can’t walk home alone.” Ruth took Emma’s hand and led her out the kitchen door.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To Luke. He’ll drive you home.”
Words of protest clogged in Emma’s throat.
CHAPTER FIVE
The old barn door creaked and groaned as Luke pulled it open. He walked inside, took two steps to his right and reached up to tug on the chain that brought a single light bulb to life. Ruckus followed him, as he did every night. The faithful dog took sauntered over to on an old blanket in the corner. He turned three times and laid down facing the open door, ears twitching, at the ready for the slightest intrusion of a raccoon or possum. Luke walked to the center of the barn and pulled on another chain, illuminating the back portion of the barn.
He drew in a long breath and blew it out slowly. The scent of jasmine and pine trees floated around him on the night breeze. Crickets chirped incessantly. He closed his eyes and listened for the sound of water gurgling in the creek. This was his favorite time of day. When the heat and demands of the day melted away into the soothing smells and sounds of evening. Sometimes he liked sit on the bank of the creek, before the sun set, and watch the boats make their way toward the San Francisco bay with their loads of eggs and milk. Those boats would be all but gone once the bridge opened.
