Instead of rooting for his touchdown, Luke wanted to root for the hive surrounding Elaine. Slowly, she was loosening up. She didn’t look like she belonged here. But she was clearly becoming more comfortable the longer she stayed.
“Eyes on the ball, Romeo.”
Luke frowned at Paul. He was more annoyed with the analogy his friend had used than being called out. “Romeo and Juliet ended in tragedy.”
Luke certainly did not want his story with Elaine to end in a murder-suicide.
“A tragedy?” said Paul. “Sounds like the exact ending your team is about to experience.”
Luke laughed at that. It was good to play and joke with Paul. It was good to see the man’s cheeks flush with exertion.
Paul had been cooped up for the last two years. In and out of doctor’s visits. On and off bed rest.
Luke didn’t miss the winces and grimaces that had become a part of his friend’s everyday struggles. Luke had to admit that he was experiencing a few winces and grimaces himself as he played with the other men. He was severely out of practice on the football field for all the writing he’d been doing the last two years.
The soldiers of the Purple Heart Ranch had their fair share of internal and external injuries. But not a single one of them let his injuries keep him down. Reed was a master blocker with his prosthetic arm. Dylan kept pace with all the men with his prosthetic leg.
Their injuries weren’t the end of any of them. Luke knew that finding love had played the biggest part in each of their healing. He wondered if he could be so lucky having found Elaine when he wasn’t injured.
Not that he was in love with her.
He just liked her.
A lot.
Paul had been wrong about Luke’s tendencies with women. There Elaine sat, fit and fine. The bump on her head was gone. She had no bruises, save the ones her parents had left behind. And she was working to heal those wounds. All signs proving that Luke did not have a thing for wounded women.
“Heads up, Jackson.”
Luke lifted his head in time to see the ball. It came straight for his nose. He had no time to duck out of its path before it touched down. Right in his face. He went crashing down to the ground.
“I told you, Romeo,” came Paul’s voice. “Such a tragedy.”
Luke rubbed at his nose. He didn’t come away with any blood. Just a bruised ego.
“Are you okay?” Elaine was over him.
Luke would’ve sworn he saw birds flying around her head. Man, he had it bad for this woman. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Elaine’s hand cupped Luke’s cheek. Her warm touch spread across the entire surface area of his skin. He wasn’t okay. He was in desperate need, in desperate need of his lips on hers.
“You tackled me harder than that ball,” he said.
There was a double meaning in his words. He was sure Elaine got them by the blush on her cheek.
“Why don’t you go walk it off,” said Dylan.
Luke came to his feet. Elaine kept a hand around his forearm like he’d done to her the night of their thank-you dinner. Like she was the gentleman in Victorian England. He didn’t need her assistance, but he liked having it. He liked having her on his arm.
They walked away from the game. Away from the prying eyes of the soldiers and the busybody-ness of their wives.
Luke took Elaine over to the house he shared with Paul. The place wasn’t much lived in. Which reminded him, if Paul was going to leave, then Luke didn’t have much reason to stay. Except he had every reason to stay.
Elaine grabbed an ice cube from the tray in the freezer. Then, turning back to him, she pressed the cube to his cheek. The solid quickly turned to liquid with the heat between them.
“Paul’s treatment is going to be up sooner than we thought.”
The cube slipped from Elaine’s hand. What was left of it clattered to the floor between his sneakers and her penny loafers.
“He’s thinking of leaving next week.”
Luke watched Elaine’s features crumple into disappointment. He was a sick man to get pleasure from her sorrow. But that sorrow was because she thought he was leaving. It meant that she cared.
“The good news is,” he continued, “with my job as a writer, I can work from anywhere. Including here.”
The sadness didn’t immediately melt away. It was replaced with wariness. The same wariness from when she’d awakened to find him in her hospital room.
“I’m working on my third book. I thought if you had the time, and since you finished the second book, you might look at the third book’s draft to give me some feedback.”
“I can do that,” she said. She reached into the freezer for another ice cube. “You know, I thought you were going to introduce a love story by the way the second story ended.”
“That’s funny because I’ve been thinking about just that.”
“The captain has been through a lot.”
“I know she has.”
“Her second in command has been so patient with her.”
“Well,” said Luke, ignoring the cold trickle of the melting ice between them, “he believes in her and would do anything to protect her.”
“Yeah,” said Elaine. “I got that as I was reading their story.”
“Then you know he would never do anything to hurt her.”
“I think I believe that,” she said, her gaze locked on his. “But, still, I think you should probably take it slow. In the draft, I mean. You don’t want the readers to get upset that there’s now a love story where they hadn’t expected one.”
“You’re right,” said Luke. “We should take it slow.”
Elaine parted her lips to respond. But before she could draw in the breath to get any words out, Luke’s lips crashed into hers. The honey of her lips was sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted. Which was why it was pure agony to pull away from her as he winced in pain.
“Did I hurt you?” she said.
“Yeah,” he grinned, brushing at the bruise from the football. “But, I’m fine.”
He wasn’t going to let a small injury like that keep him from what he wanted most in the world. Luke touched his lips to Elaine’s again. Lightly this time.
He sipped at her, like a treat that had a hard exterior. Yet he knew that once he wore the outer shell down, the center was nothing but ooey-gooey goodness. And he was right.
Elaine was pure nectar at her center. It only took a few strokes of his bottom lip to wear her down. And then she melted into his arms.
Luke held her for long moments after their kisses. She hid her face in his chest for a while. He allowed her to compose herself.
When she straightened, her smile was shy. “Walk me to my car?”
Luke did so, keeping her wrapped up in his arms. Wishing for the day when he would never have to let her go.
“About Sunday,” she said.
Luke’s heart stopped and then fumbled around in his chest. “Yeah?”
“I think I’ve had enough of ranch life today,” she said. “Can it just be the two of us? Will you come to my place tomorrow?”
Luke chuckled, dipping his nose into her hair. This ranch was a lot to take in for a woman who preferred the quiet of the library stacks. “I’ll be there.”
“Dinner is at five o’clock sharp.”
“I’ll be there five minutes early.”
Luke handed Elaine into her car. He waited until she was buckled in before he shut the door. With a small wave, she turned the engine on and pulled out.
He was on cloud nine as he walked back into the house. As he returned to the kitchen, aiming to clean up the two ice cubes that had turned to a small puddle of water on the floor, he noticed that the back door was open.
Luke closed the door and went in search of his guest. He assumed it had to be Paul. He found Paul in the bathroom. His broad body was bent over the toilet. His chest caved in as he heaved. Luke smelled the metallic tint before he
saw the blood.
“I may have pushed it a little too hard,” Paul said before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he passed out cold.
Chapter Eighteen
“You can’t make him a steak.” Mary jerked back from the glass display as though there was a live cow mooing from the other side.
“Why not?” Elaine asked.
“Because any woman would make him a steak. That would show you are basic and not trying at all. The hard part of making a steak is picking the best cut from the butcher. So. if he wants to date the butcher, it’s a go. No one can screw up a steak. We want to show some effort.”
Elaine pushed her cart away from the red meat and came to the seafood section. “Scallops?”
“Oh, my gosh, no.” Mary slapped her forehead. “Do you want to have fish breath when he kisses you?”
No. Elaine definitely did not want fish breath. That would make him pull away from her, and she wanted Luke to pull her closer. She had been breathless after their first kiss. Heck, she’d been breathless during it.
She’d found herself collapsing into his chest and seeking refuge there. He’d held her to him. She’d never felt so safe, so secure. She wanted more of that.
What was happening between her and Luke, what was happening inside her, was scary. She’d seen scary when her parents fought. She’d seen warm when they were lovey-dovey.
Elaine didn’t want scary. She wanted warm and lovey-dovey. So, she put the scallops back.
“And nothing with garlic.” Mary smacked the back of Elaine’s hand, forcing her to drop the bulb of garlic back into its display basket.
“I like garlic,” Elaine said, cradling her hand. “I can’t believe there are this many rules to a dinner date. Why don’t I just text him what he wants.”
Mary slapped the cell phone out of Elaine’s hand. It clattered into the empty grocery cart. “Do not text him first. Do you want to seem eager?”
“I’m so confused?” Now Elaine cradled both of her hands to her chest, afraid of another rebuke from her friend. “I don’t want to seem that I’m trying hard, but I actually want to try. I don’t want to appear eager, even though I want him to kiss me again?”
“Yes,” sighed Mary, as though she’d just experienced a breakthrough with a dunce of a student. “Now, you’re getting it.”
Wow, dating was hard. No wonder Elaine had never bothered.
“Duck,” said Mary.
Elaine prepared to bend down and take cover. Then she saw the choice of meat in Mary’s hands. “You want me to make him a duck dish?”
“With rosemary potatoes and buttered green beans. It shows a bit of effort, that you like fine things, and aren’t cheap. But it also has a dash of homey and healthy baked in.”
“This is so complicated,” Elaine said, taking the duck and placing it into the basket.
“This is dating in the twenty-first century, honey.”
“You’re dating?” They looked up to find Juan. He wheeled a cart of mangos and avocados to a stop in front of them. “I’ve known you since we were kids. This guy has known you less than a week. Now, you’re going on a date with him?”
“Well … He knows me differently,” was all Elaine could manage to say. “He’s the first guy to make me want more than a friendship.”
She wanted the warm and safe, but she was willing to go through a bit of scary to get to it. She was willing to break her routine. But not who she was.
Elaine picked up the garlic bulb and tossed it into the cart in the face of Mary’s ire. Luke had been patient with her. He’d accepted her with all her quirks. So, she was not going to hide the fact that she liked garlic. Besides, two garlic mouths canceled each other out. Right?
After leaving a dejected Juan, and a scowling Mary, Elaine went home and began cooking the garlic and rosemary duck dish. She also broke Mary’s rule and texted Luke.
He didn’t respond immediately. But she supposed he was driving. That was a good sign, he didn’t text and drive.
The duck came out perfectly. She set the table with a set of mismatched dishes. Over the years, her mom had broken each set her dad brought home.
Elaine dimmed the lights. She had just enough time to change and touch her makeup up. Pulling open the bathroom door, she noted the crack in the wood from a time when her mother slammed it in her father’s face and refused to come out all day.
Elaine stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had her mother’s eyes, her father’s nose. But everything else was all her. She was her own person. She had let them keep her cooped up in this house all her life. She had never invited a man over because she was too afraid of the damage he might cause. That was changing tonight.
Walking out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, she saw Tess of the d’Urbervilles lying on her nightstand. Elaine had stopped reading the story after Angel had abandoned Tess when she told her deepest shame. Angel hadn’t been able to deal, and he’d sailed away and out of her life, leaving his wife, the woman he’d promised to love and care for, practically destitute.
Elaine picked up Tess. She pulled out the bookmark, letting the pages shut without a marker. Turning to her closet, she put the book back on the shelf.
She knew how that story ended. She was looking forward to experiencing a different ending with her own love story. One where no secrets were kept. One where she and her Angel talked out any differences and tried to accept each other for who they were.
Elaine went downstairs to wait for Luke. Looking at the clock, she saw that he was five minutes late. She didn’t panic. She thumbed her phone.
At fifteen minutes late, she put the duck back in the oven.
At thirty minutes late, she put the dishes in the fridge.
After an hour, she turned off the porch lights, scrubbed off her makeup, and climbed into bed.
Chapter Nineteen
Luke woke with a start. Like he’d been pulled from a nightmare. It was dark, but he heard crashes and explosions in his head.
He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings. He wasn’t in a war zone. It was light outside. Not an afternoon kind of light. More like the light of day. A new day.
He must have slept through the night. His body creaked and groaned from the awkward position he’d curled into in the night. He was in a hospital room. His large body folded into a small, uncomfortable chair.
Paul lay in the bed. There were wires and tubes going into his body. His heart monitor showed a steady beat. His chest rose and fell in a normal rhythm.
It was a normal scene. But it was one Luke had hoped he wouldn’t have to witness ever again with his friend. The door opened, and the white-haired doctor walked in. His features were grim.
Luke swallowed. He inhaled through his nose, forcing the air to steel his insides before he heard the news. On the bed, Paul remained asleep. The man didn’t have any remaining family. He’d long ago signed documents that Luke could hear details of his prognosis, but not make any decisions for him.
“Major Hanson is going to need surgery,” said the doctor. “But he knows that.”
Luke had suspected as much.
“It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but I have every confidence that he’ll make a full recovery if he elects to have the surgery. Otherwise, we might wind up back here in a few weeks or a few months.”
“How long will the recovery take?” Luke asked. “If he does elect to do the surgery?”
“A year, at least.”
When the doctor left the room, Luke let out the breath he’d used to steel himself. His body caved in on itself as he did so. He looked down at his friend. Now that the doctor was no longer in the room, Paul’s eyes were wide open.
Paul’s gaze connected with Luke’s and held. Luke wanted to look away. But his friend wouldn’t let him. He knew where this conversation was about to go.
“Not your fault,” said Paul.
“I know,” Luke said. “That interception you caught was a foul, and you know it.”
Paul let out a chuckle. That turned into a laugh. That turned into a guffaw. And then he winced.
Luke didn’t go to him. He didn’t reach out to his friend. He couldn’t make any of this better for Paul. Paul had to make it better from himself.
That day in the war zone, Luke had done what he could to save his friend. He knew with perfect certainty had the roles been reversed that Paul would’ve done the same. In a heartbeat.
But Luke also knew that had the roles been reversed, he’d have gotten the necessary surgeries and done what was necessary to regain as much of his health as possible. Luke didn’t understand Paul’s hesitancy. He might never understand it. That didn’t mean he was giving up on Paul.
“You’re my family,” said Luke. “You would’ve done the same for me. But you’d get on my nerves worse if I got injured.”
“Debatable.”
“I’m staying here, and so are you.” Luke sat back down in the uncomfortable chair.
Paul twisted his lips before he spoke. “You’re using me as an excuse to go to the town library.”
Luke knew that was as close to an admission as he would ever get from his friend. Luke grinned. Then he frowned. Then he groaned. “Oh, no. I gotta go.”
He’d not only missed their date. He’d missed an entire day as he waited for Paul to come out of the emergency room.
Luke floored it into town. He swung into an empty space at the library. Bursting into the front doors, he didn’t see a cardigan-wearing bunhead behind the circulation desk.
“I rooted for you,” said Mary, looking every bit the stern, banned-books type of librarian from his youth.
“There was an emergency,” said Luke.
“It couldn’t have been life or death.”
“It was.”
The stern look on Mary’s face fell. “She’s not here. She took the day off today. She never takes the day off.”
That was all Luke needed to hear. He raced to Elaine’s home on foot, not wanting to deal with the traffic stops. Racing up the steps to her porch, he knocked.
Light Up His Life Page 8
