A Family for Luke

He took another sip of iced tea as he stood on her porch, wondering what she had made for supper that smelled so good. He liked cooking, when he had the time. He just never had much of it—time that was.

Asking would put her in an awkward position. She would never ask him in for supper, and nor should she, so he didn’t broach the subject.

He took another sip of the cool drink, suddenly loath to leave Janie and the house with the kids inside and the sounds and smells of a home surrounding him like a tantalizing dream.

Somewhere down the street someone was barbecuing, and beyond that he heard the muffled buzz of a lawn mower. His thoughts cast back to the precious years he had with Al, the closest he had ever come to real family life.

Cooper’s bark brought him back to the here and now.

He should get going. He looked over at Janie, who was watching him. Then, to his surprise and, he had to admit, pleasure, a flush crept up her neck and she looked down. She pushed a wave of hair back from her face, then reached into the back pocket of her worn jeans. “Thanks again for all your work,” she said, pulling out a handful of bills.

Luke felt as chilled as the ice in his drink. “I don’t want your money.”

“You don’t have to sound so angry. It’s perfectly legitimate to pay someone for doing work.”

“I did it because I wanted to help you out.”

“I don’t want to be in your debt,” she said, pushing the money at him. “This way we’re even.”

Luke knew all he had to do was walk away without taking the money. But he gave that another thought. Janie was an independent sort, that much he’d surmised from the few times he’d spoken to her.

A single mother, beholden, so to speak, to a single man.

Maybe it would be better if he took the money and swallowed his own pride for the sake of hers.

He downed the last of his iced tea and handed her the glass. “I usually charge about thirty bucks an hour for custom work. I put in an hour.”

“That’s too cheap.”

“So now you’re going to dicker over the cost?” He laughed in spite of his frustration with her.

“I just want to be fair.” Her quick smile made him realize he had done the right thing in taking her money. Boundaries and all that.

And he especially appreciated the smile.

“Thirty bucks is more than fair.”

Janie counted out one twenty and two fives.

As Luke pocketed the money, he looked down at the deck. “You might want to have this looked at as well,” he said, pointing with the toe of his heavy work boot at a rotting board.

“I look at it enough,” Janie said, with a feeble laugh. “But thanks again for your help.”

“No problem.” He gathered his tools and walked back toward the fence.

When he was on the other side, he looked back at the house, but she was already inside her house. Safe and cozy with her family.

At least he had Cooper, he thought, bringing the ladder back to the house. The dog was a poor conversationalist but a faithful friend.

He untied Cooper and the dog ran back to the fence as if hoping to find the kids. Once again, he planted his paws on the fence, and Luke watched with a sense of inevitability as the fence gave way and Cooper fell with it.

“Cooper. Come here,” he called, running over to catch the dog before he jumped into Janie’s yard.

He’d just earned some major brownie points with his neighbor. He certainly didn’t want the dog to jeopardize that.

Cooper ran back to him and danced around him, eager to play. Luke felt bad because the poor dog had been tied up again.

Luke picked up a wooden stake and tossed it across the yard. Cooper launched himself after it, his long legs scrabbling for purchase on the ground. He picked it up and ran back dropping it at Luke’s feet.

They kept it up for a few minutes; though Cooper could have gone on until he dropped, Luke was hungry.

He straightened and sent one last look toward the house. He saw two faces looking out from one of the windows of the house. Todd and Autumn.

Todd was smiling, and to Luke’s surprise, Autumn was as well.

He waved and the kids waved back. When Cooper came back to him with the stick, he saw Autumn point at them both, then laugh.

It bothered him that this little girl appeared so afraid of his dog. Cooper had such a good heart and he sensed, given the chance, she might appreciate him as well.

And then he had an idea.

Chapter Four

Carry the two and add four and no matter how she worked it, her amazing plan would require a lot of work. And cash input.

Janie pushed her hands through her hair, wishing away the number on the computer screen of her laptop. She had to have punched something in wrong.

With a sigh, she started checking her figures, fully aware of the ticking clock. She only had a few more minutes before she had to take Suzie to dance practice. But she had to get this right before she brought it to Mr. Chernowyk. She was counting on this audacious plan to shift her financial circumstances.