Redeeming Luke, page 6
part #1 of Days of Grace Series
She spotted the old barn out in the middle of the field of orange poppies. Grady leaning against the barn, chewing on a piece of straw. She ran toward him.
Grady held his arms wide open as Ruth reached him. He wrapped his arms around her, picked her up off the ground and spun in circles. Ruth giggled.
Grady set her down and touched her cheek. “I was starting to wonder if you were coming.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She brushed his hair away from his forehead. “Liv gets all worked up sometimes. She’s scared we’re going to get caught.”
Grady’s brow wrinkled. “It would be a lot easier if we didn’t have to sneak. You think maybe Luke will change his mind about you dating, and let us go to the social together?”
“I don’t know.” Ruth glanced around. Seeing no one, she took Grady’s hand and led him into the barn. They couldn’t be too careful. “His rules are so dumb.” She sat on a hay bale, stewing over Luke’s stubbornness and unfair rules.
Grady took her hand in his. “He’s only trying to protect you. He doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
Ruth knew how silly such a thought was. “You would never hurt me.”
“No, I wouldn’t. But Luke doesn’t know that.”
Dropping his hand, Ruth stood and stalked to the middle of the barn. “Why do you do that?”
Blinking, Grady asked, “Do what?”
“Take his side. Luke has all these old fashioned rules that are so unfair. But all you do is make excuses for him.”
“I’m not making excuses. I’m just saying I understand why he has the rules. I mean, look at us. We’re creeping around behind his back. We’re doing exactly what he’s so afraid we’ll do.”
Ruth huffed. “But we wouldn’t have to sneak if it weren’t for those rules.”
Grady stood and joined her in the middle of the barn floor. Ruth loved the way the sun streaked through the cracks in the roof and highlighted his brown hair with strands of caramel.
Her frustration melted away as he took her in his arms again and held her. He pressed his forehead against hers and whispered.
“Are we really going to spend our time arguing about your uncle? ‘Cause I’d much rather kiss you.”
Ruth giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. She stood on her tip toes to reach him, and lost herself in his kiss. All thoughts of Luke, and Olivia and school evaporated.
* * * *
Emma added a pinch more sugar to the lemonade and tasted it. Perfect. If he liked his lemonade sweet. She held a finger to her lips, contemplating making another batch. One sweet, one tart. If only she had more sugar. But at twenty cents a pound, she couldn’t afford to use it up too quickly.
Oh stop it. You’re acting like one of your lovesick students.
She set the pitcher on a tray, next to two glasses filled with chunks of ice, and carried them outside.
Luke had made good on his promise to contact Jasper about making repairs to the cottage. Not that she ever doubted he would. From the moment they met, he struck her as a man who never made promises he did not plan to follow through on.
What a breath of fresh air that would be.
That had been only two days ago, and already he was back. His first item of business, patching the hole that the raccoon had used to slink into the cottage. A shudder rattled her shoulders. The thought of the creature roaming around in her home made her want to wash everything in sight. Luke had explained to her again how fortunate she was that the animal had not ‘marked its territory’. It sounded quite unpleasant.
She stepped outside and followed the spicy scent of sawdust, and the zip-zap-zip-zap of a hand saw clawing its way through wood. Rounding the corner of the house, she found him. His back was to her, black hat on its perch atop his head, perspiration soaking through the back of his white shirt, revealing chiseled muscles at work. Emma stopped short at the sight. He continued to saw through the wood plank, oblivious to her presence.
Emma collected her thoughts, scattering in every which direction, and cleared her throat. Luke turned and straightened.
She tried to speak but her voice cracked. She tried again. “I—I made lemonade.”
Well, that was intelligent.
He looked from her to the tray holding the pitcher and glasses. The grin on his face might have been charming had she not been so embarrassed by the rush of heat flooding her cheeks. It was hot outside though. Maybe he didn’t notice.
She had misjudged the weight of the full pitcher and ice filled glasses. Her arms began to ache and tremble. She had to set the tray down somewhere. She turned to look for a good spot.
“Can I have some?”
She swiftly turned back toward him. Too swiftly.
The tray flew out of her hands. The pitcher and glasses tumbled through the air in slow motion. Lemonade seemed to spread through the air at a snail’s pace. Emma thought she could count each individual droplet.
The yellow liquid finally splashed against the ground. The pitcher and glasses tumbled and shattered before coming to rest in the dirt. The ice began to form little mud puddles, and the sun reflected off the broken glass. Emma slowly lifted her gaze to meet Luke’s.
He still wore the grin, with an added amusement in his eyes, and said, “I guess not.”
Emma wanted to die. No. She wanted to go back in time, before she ever even met him. No. That would mean she’d have to live through this moment all over again. She lifted her hands to cover her face, but the thought of hiding from him seemed even more embarrassing. She could run back in the house and slam the door shut.
It would probably fall off its hinges.
And he’d stay to fix it.
Luke walked toward her, bent down on one knee and picked up the larger pieces of glass, setting them on the aluminum tray.
He held the tray out and tossed her a devastating wink. “Water will be fine.”
Emma didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or slap him. So, she just nodded and retreated back to the shelter of her house. At the sound of footsteps on the porch, she held her hand to her stomach. A soft knock sounded on the open door.
“I’m in the kitchen.”
She rushed to pull the only other two glasses she owned from the cupboard. She turned on the faucet and filled the first glass as his footsteps echoed on the wood floor behind her.
“Mind if I sit down?”
“Not at all.” She forced a smile and carried the water to him. He looked like a giant sitting on doll furniture. “Better take it before I spill it all over you,” she quipped.
His smile sent her already unsteady heart into a tailspin. She sat down across the table from him.
“Thanks.” He drank half the water and set the glass down.
Her left eye was stinging. She tried to blink away the discomfort as Luke spoke.
“I have the board cut for the hole in the wall. All I have to do is—” He frowned, and shifted in his seat. “Did you get dust in your eye, or are you flirting with me?”
Mortified, she stood and rushed to the sink. “I think some lemonade splashed in it.”
She retrieved a clean dish towel from a drawer and dabbed at her eyes, trying to ignore the chuckle he attempted to hide behind a cough. Could this day get any more horrifying? Squaring her shoulders, she rejoined him at the table.
“So tell me, are you going to let Grady take Ruth to the social?”
Her stomach fell. Her body froze. Good grief! Why would she ask that? Just because he’d been kind to her the other night didn’t give her the right to question the parenting of his niece.
He tilted his head at her. “I don’t know.”
At least he didn’t tell her it was none of her business.
The thought of Ruth waiting anxiously for his answer struck Emma as terribly unfair. She’d already stepped in it, and he didn’t seem to flinch. She may as well press on.
“It’s just three days away. Don’t you think they deserve an answer so Ruth can prepare?”
He seemed confused. “Prepare for what?”
Emma leaned forward. “She’s a teenager, Luke. She’ll want to decide what dress to wear. How to wear her hair. She may have some—special needs.”
“What in the world kind of special needs would she have?”
Emma smiled at his naiveté. “Well, for example, does she own a pair of silk stockings?”
Luke shifted in his chair. He dragged his hand down his face. “I don’t know. Why would I know that? I don’t want to know that.”
At last, it was Emma’s turn to enjoy his discomfort. “Exactly. If she can’t even approach you about silk stockings, she certainly can’t approach you about anything more personal. She needs time, Luke. Don’t wait until the last minute to tell her she can go.”
He scowled at her. “You’re assuming I’m going to say ‘yes’.”
“Well, why wouldn’t you? It’s a church social. Luke, if you continue to forbid them from seeing each other, with for no rational reason, they are only going to start sneaking around behind your back.”
Dark eyes snapped at her. “Ruth wouldn’t dare do that.”
“Okay. Maybe she wouldn’t. On her own. But Grady, he’s a seventeen-year-old boy. He’s a good boy, but if you force his hand, he will do what seventeen-year-old boys do. And the way Ruth feels about him, it‘s only natural she‘d follow right along.”
Luke tipped the rim of his hat back. He leaned forward, invading her personal space. “You’re not exactly convincing me to let her go with him. Not if you think he’d lead her somewhere she shouldn’t go.”
“I do not think that about him. I’m only telling you what you must already know. You were a seventeen-year-old boy at one time. How would you have reacted if you had feelings for a girl, and her father forbade you from seeing her?”
Luke blinked. He pulled back, diverting his attention to the wall behind her. She’d hit a nerve. What was it?
Luke pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “I better get back to work.”
He left her sitting at the table alone, wondering where he had gone in his memory just then. What was that place, that time, which clearly had the ability to render him speechless even now?
On Friday morning Emma swept a broom across the floor of her classroom, listening to the chatter of students outside the open windows before school began. She turned to retrieve the dust pan from the coat closet and nearly plowed into a dark figure planted in front of her. She yelped like a startled puppy, swatting at the man with her broom. He grabbed the broom in a grip of steel. She struggled to wrestle it back, until she saw his eyes.
Releasing the broom, she furiously swept her hair out of her face. Indignant, she straightened her best gray silk skirt. “What on earth are you doing here, sneaking around like that?”
“I was hardly sneaking around.” Luke handed the broom back to her, his lips twitching. “Trade this thing in for a pair of gloves and you’ll be the next Joe Lewis.” He quickly scanned her from head to toe and gave her a rakish grin. “Then again, maybe not.”
Stunned by his blatant flirting, Emma’s mouth fell open. A proper lady would have slapped him. An elegant lady would have given him a tongue lashing. But there wasn’t anything elegant or proper about the feelings those black coffee eyes evoked in her. It was a wonder her trembling legs held her upright, as he relaxed against a student’s desk and stretched out his long legs.
He shifted the black hat on his head. “I need a favor.”
Emma took a step back, steeling herself against the effect he had on her, frightened that she might say yes to anything he suggested.
“You were right about Ruth. There’s no—how did you put it?” He squinted at the ceiling, and held a finger in the air. “No rational reason that she shouldn’t go to the social with Grady.”
A smile tugged at Emma’s mouth. Uncertain as to whether or not he was agreeing with her, or making fun of her though, she chose to suppress it.
He rubbed his neck. “You—uh—were also right about the other thing.”
“What other thing?”
“You know.” He waved his hand in the air. “All that other—stuff.”
Emma searched her mind, to recover the other ‘stuff’.
“Silk stockings.” Luke blurted. “You were right about silk stockings.”
Snickers from the doorway drew their attention. Emma gasped, horrified to see three young men, students of hers, laughing at the outburst they had just heard.
Luke stalked toward the boys. Emma held out a hand, nearly issuing a warning to Luke not to hurt her students. He reached the door before she could. He shoved them all out into the hallway, none too gently, and slammed the door shut. He turned back to face her.
Fishing in his pockets, he walked back to her as if nothing had happened, while she wondered how she would ever earn the respect of her students again. He handed her three one dollar bills. “Do you mind taking Ruth shopping today?” Those eyes—oh, those eyes—pleading with her.
She fought past the paralyzing affect he had on her, and accepted the money. “I would be happy to.”
She walked to her desk, mostly to put some distance between them. She put the money in a drawer. “You’re making the right decision.”
He adjusted his hat and stared out the window. “Take her for a chocolate soda too. Make a day of it.”
“Is that an order, or a request?”
He rubbed his neck, nodded once, and walked out of the room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Ruth sat at her school desk folding a piece of paper like an accordion to make a fan. Her mind wandered back to her sweet meeting with Grady two nights before. She brought her fingers to her lips, remembering the feel of his kiss. A rush of heat swept through her chest. Being with him, talking and holding each other close, was wonderful. Only with Grady did she ever feel truly safe to share her heart. The more time she spent alone with him, the more she craved time alone with him.
Warmth crept into her cheeks. She hoped no one noticed. The old Whitman place had been abandoned for months and the barn offered privacy for clandestine meetings. It was all so exciting and romantic. Last night had become a little too private though. She ducked her head and glanced around. She would be so ashamed if anyone knew how quickly things had escalated. At least he didn’t get angry when she pushed him away. Instead she found herself drowning in his gentle brown eyes.
“I would never do anything to pressure you, or to hurt you, Ruth. I love you.” He’d taken her hand and led her out of the barn and walked her home, her virtue intact.
“Good idea.”
Ruth blinked. She looked at Olivia. “What?”
Olivia pointed to the paper fan. “I said that’s a good idea. I’m melting here. By the end of class all you’ll see is an Olivia Hawkins puddle on this chair.”
Ruth sat back in her seat, fanning herself. Between the heat, and thoughts of Grady, Ruth could not concentrate.
Within a few minutes the sound of thirty crinkled paper fans waving against stale air filled the classroom. Miss Darby looked up from her desk. She set her pencil down and studied the class.
She stood with a sigh and mopped her forehead with a handkerchief. “Class, I have a homework assignment for you.”
A collective groan drowned out the paper fans.
“Since Mr. Wanely, the science teacher is gone for the week, and I am filling in for him. I want you to study the Petaluma Creek. What kinds of plants and flowers grow on its shore? Which shores are rocky, and which are sandy? I want you to bring to class specimens of plant life, and even wildlife if you so choose, tomorrow.”
She walked around the front of the desk. “I find that the best way to study a subject is to just dive right in. Get as close to the subject as you can. Therefore—” a playful smile spread across her pretty face—“I suggest you all go dive into the creek right now, and start studying.”
The class cheered and hollered. Desks and chairs scraped loudly against the linoleum floor as students emptied the room. Moments later Olivia and Ruth stood on the school steps.
“I could just die, it’s so hot. Just like Greta Garbo in Camille.” Olivia held her hand to her forehead and quoted with dramatic flair, ‘I‘ll be beautiful again—when I‘ll be well again—won‘t I?”
Ruth laughed at the impersonation. “It wasn’t the heat that killed Camille.”
Olivia dropped her hand to her side. “I know. But it sounds more romantic than consumption.” Olivia waved her paper fan back and forth in front of her face. “Let’s go to the Five and Dime for a chocolate soda. My treat.”
“Where did you get money to treat?”
“I babysat for the Grays last night. They paid me fifty cents.”
“Well, if you’re that rich, I will definitely let you treat.”
Olivia’s blue sparkled. “And I’ll still have enough money to buy a copy of Photoplay.”
Ruth mopped her forehead on her sleeve. She looked over the well-kept lawn in front of the school. Everything was so still. Not a single tree branch or a blade of grass moved. As if the heat had sapped the energy out of every living thing. She caught Grady watching her. His wink sent chills trickling down her spine. She would much rather spend the day with him in their secret place. But he had taken a job working in the Kelsay’s plum orchard today.
“Okay. Chocolate sodas await.”
The rumble of an engine drew Olivia’s attention. “Hey, is that Luke?”
Ruth’s gaze jerked in the direction that Olivia had pointed. Sure enough, it was Luke’s truck.
Liv grasped Ruth‘s arm. “What is he doing here? Do you think he found out? Oh, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!”
Ruth pulled her arm away. “Stop it! There’s no way he found out. You said no one ever asked about me. As far as he’s concerned, I was at your house.” She swatted at Olivia’s hands. “Stop fidgeting. You’re making me nervous.”
They stood close together and watched Luke exit his truck. He walked to where Grady stood across the schoolyard. Ruth sucked in a breath. Olivia muttered under hers. Luke spoke to Grady. Grady smiled and nodded. Luke’s expression never changed. Ruth couldn’t read him. Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. He said something else to Grady. Grady nodded again.
