A Family's Hope: A Sweet Romance (Love in Millars Crossing Book 3) Read online

  They made some chitchat. Discussed Luke’s financial situation (okay for now), his girlfriend situation (nonexistent) and then his uncle fell silent.

  Luke had a premonition about what was coming next.

  “Just talked to Lillian,” Chuck said.

  I’m good, Luke thought. “I already gave her the money.”

  “I don’t think that’s what she wants, Luke.”

  “It’s all she’s ever wanted from anyone.” Even his foster father, Al, had been subjected to Lillian’s pleas for “just a bit of cash to tide me over.”

  “I think it would be good for you if you could see her. I think it would be good for her, too. You know the Lord tells us to forgive seventy times seven.”

  Luke pressed his index finger to his temple, massaging away a potential headache. “You know, Uncle Chuck? I really think I’ve passed that amount a few years ago.”

  “Have you? Have you truly prayed and felt forgiveness for her four hundred and ninety times?”

  Chuck’s quiet question raised, once again, the twisted mixture of guilt and anger he felt when he thought of his mother. The anger was justified, and he knew the guilt was misplaced. She had been the one who had left him alone again and again. She had been the one with the false promises each time to turn her life around. He couldn’t give her any more of his time and energy.

  Money, though? That he could give her. “Please don’t add guilt to the annoyance I feel. You know how many times she’s let me down. I can forgive her all I want but there comes a point where you know that maintaining a relationship isn’t worth the mental energy.”

  His uncle was quiet a moment and when he finally released a light sigh, Luke knew he had gotten through.

  “I understand, but I also know that deep down, you still care about her.”

  “Buried so far down I don’t even know what it looks like.” Luke stopped himself there. “Tell her I’m busy. Out of town. Just keep her away from me.”

  “I’ll do what you are asking. But I do want you to know I still pray that you and she can come to have some kind of relationship.”

  Each time his uncle phoned or e-mailed Luke, it was with the promise that he would pray for his lost sheep nephew and Luke’s mother. Each time Luke tried to tell him that his mother wasn’t changing.

  Luke drew in a long, slow breath. “Maybe you could pray I get this house done on time so I don’t lose my initial investment.”

  “I keep praying for you, my boy. And not for that house.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Chuck. I mean that.” He said goodbye, and as Luke closed his cell phone, he felt again the curious feeling that he had let his uncle down. Luke knew his uncle was disappointed that Luke didn’t go to church and was even more disappointed that he didn’t allow Lillian into his life.

  He didn’t know, he thought. He just didn’t know entirely what it had been like. Al had, but Al was gone.

  Luke slipped the phone into the holder on his belt and turned his mind back to the house.

  “So, what’s next?” Bert sauntered over, his hammer swinging in his belt loop. Cooper trotted alongside him, his attention focused laserlike on the man.

  Against Luke’s wishes, Bert had given Cooper half his sandwich at lunchtime. Since then, Cooper had followed him around with unbridled optimism that Luke had to admire.

  Luke’s gaze ticked over the exterior of the house. “I think we’ll start yarding the shingles off the north side of the roof and pray it doesn’t rain.”

  “Not a praying man,” Bert said with a grin as he absently petted Cooper’s head. “But I’ll ask the missus. She talks to God from time to time.”

  Luke was tempted to ask Bert to ask the missus to put in a good word for him, as well. His uncle’s phone call had reminded him of Todd’s simple comment Sunday morning. And Janie’s surprise that he knew which of the commandments concerned keeping the Sabbath.

  In spite of her anger with him and Cooper, he found himself thinking about her and her family quite a bit. Wondered if there was a man somewhere in the picture.

  “What in the world is she trying to do?” Bert pointed in the direction of Janie’s house.

  The woman, who had just been on Luke’s mind, was perched atop a wobbly wooden ladder that looked more rickety than her porch steps.

  “That ladder is going to bust for sure,” Bert said, shaking his head. “We should get her one of ours.”

  Luke watched concerned but afraid to get involved. The boundaries between the two yards had been laid out enough times for him that crossing them would only prove his idiocy.

  He turned back to his blueprints.

  “Whoa, that doesn’t look good,” Bert called out, clapping his hand on his hard hat as if afraid to see what was coming next.

  Luke spun around again in time to see the ladder wobble as Janie caught her balance by hanging on to the gutter with one hand, the other pressed against the wall of the house. The ladder was barely upright, but she managed to get it steadied. The bright yellow bandanna holding her hair back slipped over her eyes, and she let go of the gutter to straighten it. Her white shirt had smudges of dirt, which made Luke wonder what else she’d been doing earlier in the evening.

  “Mommy, are you okay?” Todd’s concerned voice was Luke’s undoing. Janie might not like him interfering, but if something happened to her that he could have prevented, especially if it happened in front of her son, he couldn’t live with himself.

  “That woman needs help,” Bert said, shaking his head. “Maybe I should head over there—”

  “You guys get going on that roof. I’ll bring a ladder over,” Luke said with a sigh of inevitability. “Cooper, stay,” he commanded.

  Which of course made Cooper more curious than obedient. And as Luke ran to the fence, Cooper followed.

  “Stay here,” Luke commanded, his voice even more stern. He waited until he saw Cooper sit, then climbed the fence crossing the sacred boundary.

  But before he could get to Janie, she let go of the gutter and took another step up the ladder.

  The step splintered under her weight, her foot came down and she landed on her chest on the top rung. The ladder swayed and would have gone over, if he hadn’t grabbed it, steadied it and pushed it upright.

  His heart pounded in his chest. She had come so close to seriously hurting herself.

  “Hey, Luke,” Todd called out from the back of the yard where he was sitting on the grass, reading a book. Autumn had been swinging on a swing set that looked as sketchy as the ladder he was holding up. But she stopped, staring at him. “Are you helping my mommy?”

  Janie straightened and glanced down. Startled, she said, “I didn’t see you…you should have said…” She took a breath, then caught the gutter again.

  “Don’t hang on to that,” Luke said. “It’s not strong enough.”

  “Well, I don’t know what else to hang on to.” But she let go and placed both hands on the wall of the house.

  “Get down from there. You’re going to do serious damage to yourself,” Luke said.

  “Where’s Autumn?” Janie asked, her gaze narrowing as she glanced over at Luke’s yard.

  And why was she worried about Autumn when she had just had a near-death experience herself?

  Luke followed the direction of her gaze only to see Cooper with his front paws on the top of the teetering fence, watching the scene unfold with avid interest.

  “Hey, Cooper. Good to see you,” Todd called out, putting his book down and walking toward the dog.

  “Cooper. Down,” Luke called out, not trusting the strength of the fence.

  Cooper barked. The fence shook.

  And Autumn started to cry.

  “Bert, get that dog away from the fence,” Luke called out as Janie clambered down the rest of the ladder, then ran to her daughter’s side to comfort her.

  Bert ran over to Cooper and pulled him down. “Should I tie him up?”

  Luke sighed. He had just finished cleaning up the y
ard so that his dog could run free. “Yeah. I guess.”

  As Bert pulled a very reluctant Cooper toward the trailer to tie him up, Luke folded up the wooden ladder, surprised to see his hands still shaking.

  “What are you doing?” Janie demanded, carrying Autum. “I’m not done with it.”

  “I’m getting you a new ladder. This one isn’t safe.” Luke set the ladder on its side. “And then I’m going to be the one going up it to clean the gutters.”

  “There’s no need. I was taking care of it.” Autumn wriggled on Janie’s hip, and Janie set her down. “Suzie, can you please come out here and get your sister,” she called out.

  “I’m not done with my homework,” Suzie called back from inside the house.

  Janie sighed and pressed her fingertips to her temples as if she was holding something back. “Todd, can you take Autumn inside? You can play a game with her if you want.”

  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.

  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. Made him look like he was hinting. 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.”