A Family for Luke

Todd, who was hanging over the fence, watching Cooper, reluctantly pulled away and trudged across the yard. He picked up his book, then held out his hand to his sister. “C’mon Autumn. What do you want to play?” he asked as he led her up the porch steps and into the house.

Janie turned back to Luke and gave him a smile that he could only describe as insincerely sweet. “If I could borrow a ladder from you, then I can finish the job and you can get back to your work.”

How convenient. She could borrow his tools, but he couldn’t set foot in her yard.

“I’d hate to disappoint you,” he said, his voice growing chilly, “but you’re not going to finish the job. I’m going to finish the job. Using my ladder.”

“I’m perfectly capable,” she protested, her blue eyes snapping. “I’ve done it before. You don’t need to be here.”

The remnants of the fear he’d experienced when he saw her near miss pushed his guard down.

He took a step closer, his voice growing quiet so the kids couldn’t hear.

“You just about killed yourself in front of your children just a few moments ago.” His anger was building as her eyes narrowed. “If you’re the responsible and concerned mother that you seem to be, then you won’t go anywhere near those gutters.”

Janie’s mouth opened then shut again. She looked like she was on the verge of a coronary, but Luke didn’t care.

“So why don’t you go inside where you’ll be safe from me and my dog,” he continued, pressing his momentary advantage, “and I’ll get the proper tools to do this job.”

Janie opened her mouth once more, but Luke didn’t stick around to hear her tell him again how she could do it herself.

He was halfway across the yard when a thought hit him. Following this hunch, he turned around and walked back to the wooden ladder she was struggling to pick up. Without a word, he took it from her as easily as he would a toy and carried it back to the fence.

“That’s mine,” she called out as he tossed it into his yard. “I got that ladder from my dad. It’s an heirloom.”

He didn’t acknowledge her comments as he hopped the fence but had to laugh at her last comment. Heirloom indeed. Fossil would be more apt.

He strapped on his pouch, grabbed a cordless drill and screws, slipped on his gloves and picked up an aluminum ladder on his way back to Janie’s yard.

He put the ladder over the fence and hopped over again, knowing that this route would give Janie less time to come up with some kind of alternate scheme to keep him away from her precious gutters.

By the time he got back to the house, Janie seemed to have calmed down. She even gave him a smile when he opened up the ladder.

“You know I can—”

“Forget it,” Luke said as he scrambled up the ladder.

The gutter was plugged solid, and it took him a few minutes to pull out all the leaves and mud. They musn’t have been cleaned for years.

While he worked, Janie stayed at the bottom of the ladder, watching. He felt like telling her there was nothing worth stealing up here, not with the shape her roof was in, but he kept his smart comment to himself.

When he was done with this part of the gutters, he fitted the screws to the dilapidated metal and spun them in with the drill.

“You’re going to have to replace these in the next year or so.” He tightened the last of the screws.

“I’m not surprised,” she answered. “How do the shingles look, or do I not want to ask?”

Luke tested the gutter. When he was satisfied, he gave the roof a quick glance. About one-fourth of the shingles were lifting off and curling up. “Bad news there, too.”

“Again. Not surprised.”

What did surprise him was the faint smile curving her lips as he came down the ladder.

He liked the smile better than the glower she had given him a few moments ago.

“I’m sorry about snapping at you before,” she said as he folded up the ladder. “It’s just I think I got a bit of a scare myself when I almost fell.” She sighed as she rubbed her arms, “Anyway, thanks.”

He waved her comment away. “I’m not done yet,” he said picking up the ladder and moving it a few feet over. “There’s a few more yards of gutter to clean.”

“You don’t have to do all that,” she began. Then stopped when he held up his gloved hand yet again. “Okay. Okay. But let me get you something to drink when you’re done. Iced tea okay?”

“Iced tea would be great.”

She nodded and went back into the house. While he worked, he could hear her talking to Todd and Autumn. He heard the refrigerator door open, then the hum of voices and the scent of food, which made his mouth water and made him think of the cold pizza he was going to heat up for supper. A minute later, Janie poked her head out the door. “You still doing okay?”

“Still doing just fine,” he replied.

He felt a moment’s nostalgia as he scraped and cleaned. In the kitchen he could hear Janie talking to the kids, and he wondered about her husband. Did he come home looking forward to being with them? Did the kids run to greet him?

Would he ever experience that?

Now would be a good time to get off the self-pity express. Sure he wanted a family some day. Sure he’d been waiting for that to happen. But it would in time and with the right woman, if he ever settled in one place long enough.

An hour later, he was folding up the ladder when the porch door opened and Janie came out carrying a frosted glass of the promised iced tea.

He stripped off his gloves and as he took the glass, the ice cubes clinked against the side.

“Are you done?” Janie asked, hugging herself against the evening chill settling into the yard.

“Yep. I tightened the hangers on the other side of the house. They should be good for awhile yet.” Luke took a sip of his iced tea then pointed his glass at the swing set. “I think you might want to look at replacing that too.”

Janie frowned as she glanced at the dilapidated set. “It’s okay. I got it from a neighbor.”

“For now. But one of these days Autumn or Todd will fall on their behind when they sit down on it.”

“Well, I don’t think they need another one.”

“Don’t you want to do what’s best for the kids?”

Janie gave him a knowing look. “What’s best for my kids is always first and foremost on my mind. And right now, that swing set is perfectly fine. I wouldn’t have it in my yard if it wasn’t safe.”

Luke merely arched his eyebrows and glanced over at the spot in the fence where he had dumped the ladder.

Janie seemed to know exactly where his mind went. “And I never let the kids on the ladder, in case you must know.”

“I don’t need to know, but it is good to know.”

He gave her a quick smile, pleased to see a glimmer of a smile.