Chapter 7

The second Luke walked in the door, he trudged over to the couch, sank down, and groaned. Usually his job was fairly stress-free, but today was the first day of a big conference at the Washington State Convention Center downtown. Through some creative marketing, he and Brent had agreed to offer attendees a discount, and they’d leased every available car. Or rather Luke had because today of all days, Brent had called in sick. Luke had spent the entire day on his feet, filling out forms or inspecting cars and checking insurance. He’d even had to help the lot boy wash a car because the man who called for it was early and impatient.

“Uncle Luke? What are you doing?”

His eyes drifted shut and his head fell back. “I’m going to have a nap. Order a pizza.” Using the last of his energy, without opening his eyes, he shifted his body so he could reach into his back pocket for his wallet then sagged back as he held it up.

“What kind?”

“Whatever you want.” He’d eat anything that meant he didn’t have to stand. Even sushi. Maybe.

Her giggle told him that she wasn’t going to order anything he liked, but he was so tired he didn’t care. Kat took the wallet out of his hand and ran into the kitchen.

The couch shifted slightly, and Luke couldn’t help but smile. Tippy couldn’t jump onto the couch, so Kat had made a staircase out of firm pillows to allow the dog to scramble up without help. Tippy nudged his hand up with her wet nose then crawled into his lap.

He’d wanted to lie down, but he didn’t have the energy or the heart to push Tippy aside.

Keeping his eyes closed, Luke listened to the sounds of drawers squeaking open and slamming closed as Kat searched for the menu from the pizza joint. Some kind of bad music drifted from Kat’s bedroom. Tippy was snoring.

He didn’t know a dog could fall asleep so fast.

He sighed as he started to drift into oblivion. His house used to be quiet. Not anymore. He used to be able to come and go as he pleased. He didn’t have to pick up his socks.

Now there was always some kind of noise coming from somewhere, and he had learned to put his socks in the hamper right away or Tippy would get them and he’d find them in the backyard a few days later.

His mind wandered as he thought of what would make his home perfect. He had part of the equation already: a kid—even if she was kind of big—and a dog. He only needed a wife. A blond wife who came home from work wearing blue coveralls and smelled like grease. They would have fun making supper together and then get distracted as he hugged and kissed her. She’d kiss him back. They would forget about cooking and…

Tippy’s paws pounded into his stomach.

“Luke?”

Luke groaned as the picture faded. He struggled to block out the world, but the image wouldn’t come back.

“Luke? Wake up.”

Tippy began to bounce in his lap.

He straightened to protect himself, winced, opened one eye, and looked up. The dream was back. Blond. No blue coveralls, but he could smell a little grease.

“Are you awake? There was a pizza guy in your driveway, so I paid him and brought it in.” She held up a box.

He tried to clear his head. “Cindy? What are you doing here? No, never mind. I’m glad you’re here. How much do I owe you?” He started to move his hand toward his back pocket but froze, remembering that Kat had his wallet. “I don’t want you to pay, but I do want you to help us eat it.” He gave Tippy a nudge, encouraging her to jump off the couch and follow Cindy into the kitchen. Then he did exactly the same.

Remnants of his dream hung in the back of his mind. It would have been so natural to step up closer to Cindy and give her a hug then a kiss. If she reciprocated his feelings. Which she didn’t.

Cindy set the box on the table, leaned over it, and inhaled deeply.

“Barbecue chicken and peppers. My favorite.”

The image of a perfect end to a long day faded as reality slapped him up the side of the head. “Barbecue chicken? On a pizza?” Just as he suspected, Kat had ordered something he didn’t like. He couldn’t imagine chicken on a pizza.

Kat appeared before he had a chance to complain and, being outnumbered, he didn’t even try. The ladies put a piece of pizza on each of three plates, and they prepared themselves to say a quick grace before eating. He’d never been the touchy-feely type, but Cindy automatically rested her hand in his. Her touch, albeit light, gave him a momentary charge that zapped the fatigue out of his body, at least for the duration of their meal. It also helped that chicken on a pizza wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be.

He turned to Cindy as he reached for another piece. “What brings you here today? Shopping? Homework?”

“Today we’re just going to take Tippy for a wob…uh…a walk.”

Kat stopped chewing for a few seconds, glared at Cindy, and then shoveled another bite into her mouth.

Luke struggled not to laugh. “Have fun. It’s a full moon tonight, lots of light out there.”

Kat stared at him. “Aren’t you coming?”

Luke wiggled his toes and flexed his aching feet. “I hadn’t thought about it.”

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“Good.” As the words left his mouth, he caught Cindy turning her head to look directly at him, so he met her gaze over the empty pizza box.

“Are you sure?” Cindy asked.

“I…” If he wore his comfortable black sneakers instead of the leather shoes he’d worn all day, it would probably be tolerable. As long as he didn’t go far. “Okay, I’ll go.”

Cindy smiled. “That’s wonderful. Tippy will be so happy.”

It wasn’t Tippy he wanted to make happy. “We might as well go now.”

They rose in unison and headed for the front door, but just as Kat opened it her cell phone rang. She listened for a few seconds then flipped it shut. “It’s Sasha. I forgot about a geography project we have to hand in tomorrow. I have to go. I’ll see you later. I’ll phone when I need a ride home.”

Before Luke could say anything, Kat stepped out the door and jogged down the street in the direction of Sasha’s house.

He turned and waggled his eyebrows at Cindy. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”

“That’s okay. Lock the door and let’s go.”

As they walked, Cindy nodded a greeting to Luke’s neighbor, who was setting up a tripod, apparently attempting to get pictures of the full moon.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Luke’s neighbors thought of her at Luke’s home nearly every evening. Mostly she was there to be with Kat, but yet…

She tried to tamp down the feelings of excitement; after all, nothing could happen. When the day came that she could fall in love, it wouldn’t be with a man like Luke. It would be with a man who had no entanglements, at a time when she could finally be free of her own.

And that wasn’t going to happen for a very, very long time.

She slowed her pace to let Luke catch up, after he’d stopped to allow Tippy to sniff something.

He was as good to the dog as he was to his niece; neither of them lacked for anything, especially love. Luke was a good man and smart, successful, and fun to be with.

Second thoughts ran through her mind. Maybe one day she would fall in love with a man just like Luke. But not Luke, because when that time finally came, some other lucky woman would have snapped him up.

As Tippy stopped to sniff another plant, Luke turned to her. “This is a good time to ask if you’re coming to my annual customer appreciation banquet next weekend. I know Brent went over to your place yesterday with some tickets, but he didn’t see you to make sure you were coming.”

“Thanks for asking, but I’m not your customer. You’re my customer.”

“Think of it as a thank-you for giving me priority service as often as you do. We invited everyone at your place.”

Cindy’s breath caught. “You mean you invited Annie and Zella, too?”

“Brent gave tickets to everyone in your shop, even the guys.”

“That means the one ticket under the appointment book was left there for me.”

“Yup.”

Cindy pictured the contents of her closet. The only things similar to a banquet she’d been to were informal lunches at the church. She didn’t have a thing to wear for an evening function. She didn’t own a dress or high-heeled shoes. She only owned one pair of pants that weren’t jeans, and they were capris that had a grass stain on the bottom that she couldn’t get off.

“Sorry. Formal banquets aren’t my thing.”

“It’s not formal. It’s just business casual.”

“In my business, I wear jeans and a T-shirt with coveralls, and don’t forget the steel-toed work boots.” A ring of sarcasm ripped through her, remembering Melissa’s comments from the shoe store.

Luke frowned. “Maybe not that casual, but I’d really like you to come.”

She tried to picture what it would be like, but the more she thought about it, dressing up and going to a dinner with Luke felt and sounded an awful lot like a date. She couldn’t get into the dating scene until she was out of her legal battles with Melissa, and Luke needed time without distractions to work things out with Kat

She gave him a polite smile. “I’ll think about it and let you know. How’s that?”

“That sounds good.”

Luke pressed one fist into the small of his back. “How would you like to turn around and go home? I had a long day, and I really didn’t want to go far.”

“Sure, that’s fine. I should go home. I think I need to get to bed early tonight.” Her throat had started feeling scratchy, and she was far more tired than she should have been. “We can make it a longer walk another time.”