Chapter 9
The whole building was spit-shined clean by the time Sage followed Luke out to the front parking lot at four. Sometime after they had finished washing dishes, he had removed the drenched plaid over-shirt leaving only the liquid blue T-shirt underneath. Maybe he wasn’t ready to play on the football team, but the muscles were still obvious enough to make Sage think Jaycee had to be out of her mind to not be falling all over him.
“Safe driving,” Pastor Steve said from the door as they exited.
“You too,” Luke said as he raised his hand in good-bye, and in the next second, they were standing together awkwardly outside the locked door. He looked across the barren parking lot then over to her. “You need a ride?”
Surprise jumped on her, and her gaze jerked itself up to his face. “What? Oh. No. I… No. My dad’s coming.” Feeling like a forgotten wheel, she went over to the edge of the concrete and sat down. “I’m sure he’ll be here any minute.”
She felt him, standing there, towering over her, and after a few seconds, she shielded her eyes from the sun and looked up at him. “You don’t have to wait. I’ll be fine.”
He nodded, stood for one more second and then folded himself down onto the concrete next to her.
“Really,” she said. “I’m sure Dad’s on his way.”
Luke smiled a tight smile at her. “I don’t have anything pressing to get to. No hot date or anything.”
Sage absorbed that blow. He really was hurting over her sister, and she wished with everything in her that she could figure out how to fix that for him… for them. They made such a cute couple. Why couldn’t Jaycee see that? Still, for his sake, Sage decided not to pursue it. It was obvious how much he didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m sure you have better things to be doing than sitting out here babysitting me.”
Luke leaned back on the metal siding, and Sage wondered how it didn’t burn him to cinders. “Babysitting, huh? Nah. It feels good to sit down for a change.” He sent one hand up the other arm’s muscle and rubbed there. “Man, I didn’t think we were ever going to finish all those dishes. Give me spaghetti any day.”
With a small laugh of her own, Sage scooted over by him and after testing the metal, she leaned back as well. The sun pouring down around them felt amazing, and she soaked it in. “I’m thinking I was safer with the tacos.”
He laughed, hardly making a sound.
Neither of them said anything for a long minute, and then she felt him turn his head toward her. Waiting, she breathed until she could take it no longer. Finally she opened her eyes and tilted her head to him. “What?”
His eyes were a melted mix of concern, hope, and doubt.
“What?” she finally asked again because she couldn’t take that look without knowing what it meant.
Another second and he sat up and spun so that he was sitting, legs crossed, knees almost touching her thigh. “Okay. I’m going to ask this, and you can totally say no if you want.”
Worry hit her. Was he going to ask her out? Surely he knew about Rory. “O… kay.”
One more long look and he let out a breath and let his gaze fall to either the concrete or his fingers, she couldn’t tell. “Okay. So the other day, at the garage sale, when you were looking at that little kid’s vest…”
Sage lifted her eyebrows having never seen this exit until they were on it. “Yeah?”
He heaved another breath. “Well, I know this is going to sound like crazy or whatever, but after you left…”
When he didn’t continue, Sage nearly fell off her seat in anticipation. “After I left, what?”
Now he was backing up in his spirit if not physically. “Well, you said that you could… what’d you say? Recycle it?”
More worry crashed into her. “Upcycle?”
“Yeah. Yeah. Upcycle. Fix it. Add that lace stuff to it.”
“Yeah?” She dragged the syllable out to about 15. “What about it?”
“Well.” But he got no more out than that as his gaze went skittering out to the empty parking lot.
After another agonizing, moment he scratched his ear, and Sage reached the end of her patience. “Well, what, Luke? Just tell me. I’m not going to make you wash more dishes for asking something.”
That brought a small laugh out of him, and his gaze came up to hers, still concerned and now filled with vulnerability. “You said you could fix it, upcycle it.” He shrugged and let his gaze fall. “Would you?”
“Would I?” Her eyebrows reached up further. “Would I upcycle it?” The thought pushed her backward. “Well, yeah. I would. I mean, I could if I had gotten it, but…”
“Really? Awesome.” And with that he jumped up and jogged to the far side of the lot to the lone car sitting next to the street. It was black. An old sports car. It wasn’t Hollywood cool, but it was cool enough in an old, don’t have tons of money kind of way.
In a blink he was striding back to her, and now, he was carrying something.
“What’s that?” she asked of the little plastic bag in his hand.
“A project.” He sat back down and handed it to her.
Not understanding, she opened the bag and reached in to draw the items out. The little denim vest and the pink lace. Her gaze came up to his. “Wh…?”
“I know.” He shook his head. “It’s lame, but I really don’t have a present for Alyssa, and I know she’d love this. My sister would probably nominate me for Uncle of the Century or something.”
Lightness and gentleness touched her heart. “You’re serious?”
The nod was slow and only took one trip down and then up. “I am. If you’re interested. I mean, I know you’ve got all this exciting stuff to do and everything.” His smile traipsed its way across her heart as he ducked and scratched his ear. “But like I said, you don’t have to if you don’t want. You can totally say no, and I’ll understand.”
How he could look so much like a boy and a man at the same time, Sage had no accounting for. It would mean braving the stepmother she wolf, but how could she say no to that face? Her head nodded her answer before she said it. “I think I can work my magic on it and see what I can come up with.”
His grin was all the payment she would ever need. “Cool.”
A moment and he looked at his watch. “You sure your dad’s coming?”
Snapped from the nice moment back into reality, Sage dug out her cell phone. It was nearly 4:30, and although Luke had been nice about it, he really didn’t need to be sitting out here babysitting her. “Just a sec. I’ll call them.”
She had said yes to his crazy idea. Luke could ask for no more. As she placed the call, he tried to make himself scarce even though he was sitting less than two feet from her.
“Hi. Yeah. It’s Sage. Is Dad coming to get me?”
The strain that stretched in her soft voice raked right across his heart.
“Oh.” With that word, she tipped away from him, turning slightly. “Um, yeah. I’m still here.”
He heard more tension snap over her, saw it when she lifted her hand and sent her fingers into her hair and wound herself down and around the phone call. With everything in him he wanted her to sound soft and happy like she had earlier.
“I can take you home,” he said, hoping that might help.
She glanced over her shoulder. “No. No, that’s okay. I think… yeah, just a sec.” Turning back to him, her eyes asked the question she didn’t voice.
“I can take you,” he said, shrugging. “It’s no big deal. It’s right on my way.”
With a small breath, she went back to the call. “Yeah, it’s okay. Luke can bring me.” Turning so her back was all the way to him, she arched over the phone. “He’s here. He says he can bring me. It’s no big deal.” It took another agonizing moment before she began to uncoil. “Yeah. Okay. We will. K. Okay. Bye.”
She pulled the phone from her ear, sat there looking at it for a breath, and then like someone had hit play on the DVD, she turned to him with a bright smile on her lips and even somehow in her eyes. “I’m sorry about this. I guess Dad forgot.”
It took only one nod and a bounce for him to be up and off the concrete. “No problem. Really. It’s right on my way.”
He reached down for her hand, and when she looked up at him, all of his fantasies about her paled in comparison to that look. Carefully and with a soft, grateful smile, she put her hand in his and let him help her up. Once on her feet, she let his hand go to swipe at her jeans.
“Oh, wow. I’m such a mess. I feel like I’ve been dragged through a mud puddle.”
However, one look at her, his answer was easy. “I think you look amazing.”
Her smile was slow and vulnerable. “You have to say that or I might not help you with the dishes next time.”
Next time. Luke really liked that idea.
At the car, he opened her door, and it was easy to see Luke was a gentleman even when romance was out of the question.
“Thank you,” Sage said, sliding into the passenger seat.
“Absolutely.” He shut her door and strode around to get in on his side. As he did, she took inventory of the car. Not flashy. Definitely older. But clean and in its own way cool.
She felt bad about him having to drive, humiliated was probably closer. How could her father forget about her like that? Was she so easily overlooked? She tried not to think about it, but her heart was thinking of little else. In the bottom of her spirit, she felt the tears bubbling up, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Not here. Not now. Not like this, with him sitting right next to her.
As he pulled onto the street with no traffic at all, Luke glanced over at her. “You okay?”
“What?” she asked, looking at him before she thought better of it. Quickly, defensively, she waved the question away. “Oh, yeah. Of course. I’m sure it was just a schedule mix-up.”
However, Luke didn’t look all that convinced. “Well, then tell whoever mixed up the schedules thanks.”
Concerned questioning went through her, but before she could ask, he smiled over at her.
“Good excuse to pay you back for helping me do all those dishes.”
That brought out a real smile, and she was thankful for it and for him. “I don’t know how you do it. My hands would be prunicated if I had done all those pans.”
He laughed at that. “Prunicated, huh?”
“Prune-like, becoming like prunes, resembling prunes.”
This glance was full of distrustful confusion. “You made that up.”
Sage sat up straighter, knowing she had in fact made it up, but her bluff had always been safe with her grandmother playing Scrabble. “I did not. You can look it up.”
“Maybe I will.” His eyes were filled with admiration. Then it fell into thoughtfulness. “You know you’re different than I thought you’d be.”
Worried skepticism puckered her face. “Different?”
“Yeah.” He stretched his legs out as if getting comfortable in the seat.
“Is that a bad thing?” She was a little afraid to hear the answer to that question.
“Nah.”
“Okay, then tell me how I’m different than you thought.”
This glance held her a second longer than the other had, which pulled warmth into her cheeks, and she fidgeted, wishing she wasn’t such a mess.
“Well, you’re funny for one. You always have a comeback.”
“I’m just trying to keep up.”
He lifted his chin. “And you’re really nice.”
“Ah, yes. My reputation has preceded me as usual.”
“No.” And now he grew even more quietly thoughtful. “I mean it’s more than that. You notice things, and you really seem to care.”
“I seem to?” She wasn’t sure that was a compliment.
“I just… I thought you would be like all snooty and arrogant, but you’re really not.”
“Gee thanks.” Although she meant it with a measure of sarcasm, he didn’t seem to take it that way.
“No. I just mean… I think I misjudged you, and I’m sorry about that.”
Softness brushed her heart as she pushed the hair back from her face. “Maybe the feeling is mutual.”
When he pulled into her driveway and parked, it took little to notice the three vehicles parked there. Not only had her father forgotten her, but clearly, none of them had thought to remind him. Sitting there, the obvious staring back at them, Sage really, truly hoped that Luke couldn’t count to three.
“Well,” she said, wanting to get out and run before he put all those pieces together. “Thanks for bringing me.”
“Thanks for the help.” Then he jumped. “Oh!” He dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Can I get your number, so I can find out if you get the vest done?”
“Oh, sure.” Quickly she dug for her own. “And I should get yours so I can call you when I get it finished.”
He grinned, and her heart flipped over. “Absolutely.”
When she left him in the car, the little bag now in her hands, Sage had the sensation that he was watching her. It was confirmed when she got to the door, turned, and waved. He waved back, once. Almost like a salute but not touching his forehead. Her heart hadn’t felt so light in a million years, and on that breath she breezed into the house.
“Yeah. No. Oh, okay. Yeah. She just got here. Okay.” It was Mrs. Lawrence, and she was on the phone.
Sage did her best to continue to be invisible as she skirted her way through the kitchen; however, she wasn’t quite invisible enough.
“I will. Thank you, Pastor Steve. Okay. Good-bye.” The beep signaled the end of that conversation. “The meal went long, huh?”
Just like that, Sage stopped in her tracks. “Uh, yeah. We didn’t get finished until like four.”
Her stepmother nodded and then banged the edge of the pan with the spoon, causing Sage to jump. “That was Pastor Steve. He was very appreciative of all your help today, said they couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Oh.” That same lightness drifted through her. “He’s very sweet.”
The glance was dismissive and not particularly happy. “I’m sorry about your dad. With this Charles account and everything, he just forgot…”
“It’s okay.” This one was harder to wave away. She hiked her shoulders. “Luke didn’t mind.”
Another once-over, and Sage was starting to wish she really could disappear. “Well, I’m going to go take a quick shower. I’m kind of a mess.”
The raise of her stepmother’s eyebrows told her she agreed with the assessment, and Sage spun on her toe to go. However, at the last second she remembered and turned back. “Oh. Um.” Only the little bag in her hand gave her the courage as the memory of him sitting on that concrete heated through her being. “Luke was wondering… I mean, we got to talking, and his niece is about to have a birthday.”
Now her stepmother was looking at her with open concern.
“He asked… well, I mentioned that I used to do some upcycling. You know, taking old pieces and adding things to them to make them better than they were.” She held up the bag. “He was wondering if I could upcycle this little vest for him, for his niece.”
Clearly her stepmother didn’t see how this involved her.
“Um, but to do that, I’m going to need a sewing machine. So I was wondering if…” Her courage began to seep away from her as if there was a small hole in the bottom of it with no way to get it plugged. “Would you… mind if I used yours? I mean, I’ve sewn before. I have my own machine at home, but I obviously can’t go there to use it.”
Why did it seem like asking for the keys to Fort Knox? A moment and another, and then her stepmother wound her arms over themselves at her chest. She scrutinized Sage once more. “I suppose that will be all right, but it’s in that closet. Don’t make a huge mess getting it out.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll be really careful. I promise.” Against what should have been her better judgment, Sage bounced a little and squealed. “Okay, then I’m going to shower and get started on this. Thanks.”
She thought she heard you’re welcome as she left, but it was so faint, she couldn’t be totally sure.
Luke sat down at his desk and stared for a minute at his cell phone. He had her number. Maybe it didn’t mean anything to anyone else, but to him, he felt like shouting it to the world. Thinking back over their day together, he stumbled on one thought and reached for his dictionary.
First he looked up prune and then read the words before and after it. Checking once more just to make sure, he picked up his phone and typed.
No lying over dishes, Hollywood… prunicated is NOT a word!
When he hit SEND, he couldn’t stop the smile. She was different than he had imagined, and that was a very, very good thing.