Authors: Lisa Page
The next afte
rnoon, Ellie sat staring blankly into her large, walk-in
closet, trying to decide what to wear.
She was already running late and didn’t like the stress of having to choose
something too quickly. This was a delicate situation that needed focused thoughts and planning
.
It
wasn’
t exactly
going to be
a date, but
s
he
had seen the way Luke was looking
at her at the Sit-n-Sip and she wanted
to wear something that would capture
his attention
but
in a subtle way.
Trying to look good without appearing that she was trying to look good.
It was a fine line to walk
and she wanted to be on the right side of that line
.
She finally settled on a pair of skinny bla
ck jeans with a dark pink
sweater. She’d wear her new wool co
at with the pink cashmere scarf
she bought in Chicago before she left
and her new black boots
. While she was getting ready her mother knocked softly on her door.
“Can I come in, darling?” she asked in a voice as soft as the knock. Ellie had missed that soft, sweet voice of her mother while she was at college. The one downside to wanting to live in big cities and travel the world is that she’d miss her parents. Growing up, she felt like she was the luckiest girl in the world. When, during her teenage years, friends would be complaining about their parents, doing anything to escape, Ellie would relish the family Thursday night pizza and game parties or Sunday dinners that
also
included her grand
parents
.
“My, d
on’t you look pretty,
Eleanore
!”
Ellie smiled to hear the formal version of her name. It was only ever used by her mother, so hearing it out loud made her feel at home.
“Thanks, Mother, I’m getting ready to meet a friend at St. Andrew’s church.
”
“A friend?”
Ellie could tell
that
her mother’s interest was piqued.
“So, tell me,
Eleanore
, would this be a female friend or a male friend?”
Ellie smiled at her mom and rolled her eyes. “It’s a male friend
, mom
.
An old friend that I ran into at
the
Sit-n-Sip.
He was a couple of years ahead of me
in school
, though. Do you remember Luke Williams?”
“Luke? Of course I remember that
boy,
he was the start of all the high school musicals when he was here. I thought you said he working in a Broadway show or something?”
“He was, but not anymore.” Ellie didn’t want to explain any more than she had to, she still had trouble understanding the concept of leaving stardom to move back to
Danning
.
“I see. Well, please be careful, my dear, St. Andrew’s is not in a very good part of town. It’s dangerous so I want you to make sure you have your phone with you. And pay attention to your surroundings. Are you sure you wouldn’t like your dad to drive you there?”
Ellie laughed. “I’ll be fine, mother-I’m going to church. I’ll call you when I’m on my way home, ok?
Now, I need to run, though, or I’ll be late.
”
***
Driving across town from
her neighborhood, one of
Danning’s
most affluent, to the
older,
run down area where St.
Andrew’s
was located was eye opening for Ellie. She never usually had a reason to
drive through that area and
remembering her mother’s words
made her feel slightly uncomfortable, li
ke she wanted to lock her doors even in the middle of the day.
The crime rate
wasn’t very high in
Danning
,
but when it
did happen, it was usually in this side of town.
She found her way t
o St. Andrew
’
s, a beautiful old church with stained glass windows. It was a bit of beauty among the ugly tan buildings
that made up the more recent
housing development
s and businesses that surrounded it
.
She
saw Luke coming down the church steps to meet her and h
er heart started fluttering in her chest. Or was it the butterflies in her stomach? She couldn’t be sure.
“
There you are. I was beginning to think you’d changed your mind.” He looked her ov
er from head to toe with a look that told her he was glad she didn’t
.
She hoped she wouldn’t regret it.
“Just a little fashionably late.”
Literally
, she added silently to herself. “But there are two things about me that you should know. One, I always keep my word and two, I’m also used to winning. So you’ve been warned, Luke Williams.
I’m a tough nut to crack. Bring on the annoying kids!
”
“Well, if you call them that, then, yeah, they might try to get on your nerves,” h
e laughed as he led her through the church
and down the stairs
to the basement. There was a big open area with some tables and an old piano that reminded her of the one her grandmother used to have. She had fond memories of singing Christmas songs with her family around that piano.
This piano looked even older than her grandmother’s with more wear and tear. Ellie wondered how many songs it had played in its day.
The basement smelled musty as she would have imagined a hundred year old basement to s
mell
like,
but
there was a lemon scent
, too, and it was obvious that it had been scrubbed cle
an and was well taken care of. There was a large kitchen off the back and a few doors that led to other, smaller rooms.
Luke set a bag on the table and began taking out sub sandwiches and placing one at each spot.
“I learned quickly that hungry kids aren’t fun to work with. They’re crabby, unfocused and not much fun to be around. For some of them, this is the only dinner they’ll be getting.
”
“Y
ou pay for their dinner with your own money
?”
“Yeah, but believe me, it’s worth it. My friend Pete owns a sub shop and he gives me a deal
on sandwiches
, so we have that once a week
and then I usually make something and bring it the other day. Nothing fancy, just trying to give them a healthy meal. No one’s complained about it or gotten sick, so I think it’s working out pretty well.
”
She laughed, her blue eyes twinkling like Christmas lights.
“I have to admit, I am
just a little bit nervous. Maybe
I get annoyed with
kids
because they can be intimidating to me. Have you seen how tall I am? Or should I say ‘how tall I’m
not
?’ Most kids
are
much
bigger than me.” Her driver’s license stated that she was 5’1 and that was being about an inch too generous.
It was probably the reason she was addicted to heels, even her winter boots had heels.
Now it was Luke’s turn to laugh.
“
These kids aren’t intimidating, I promise.
I really appreciate you being here, today. I know it’s a fun bet between us, but for these kids,
it’s serious. Any positive interaction with adults, any positive experience in their lives…it means more than you know. It’s heartbreaking to see the heavy burdens that a lot of these kids carry. Their home lives are rough, many come from broken homes
…
they’ve seen abuse, poverty, alcoholism, a lot of the dark side of life.
So talk to them. Show them that they are important enough for you to get to know them.
”
It was hard for Ellie to imagine a child having to go through anything like t
hat. She had lived a privileged life, growing up in a family that was not only wealthy, but loving and supportive. She and her sister wanted for nothing and were doted on by their parents. Sometimes it was easy to take
that
for grant
ed. The darkest side of life she’d seen was when her cat, Sparkles, died.
Luke saw the twinkle leave her eye as she became lost in her thoughts. He quickly added, “But they’re still kids, and this is a great place for them to be kids.
It’s a safe place for them to hang out, and for the kids who live in Lincoln Terrace, those are hard to come by.
We have a lot of fun together. We usually start with homework but because it’s Christmas break,
they won’t have homework, so
we’ll eat first and
then work on our music. There are
only a few days until our big performance.”
As he was speaking, they could hear footsteps above them and then trampling down the stairs. Ellie gulped. She had been enjoying her time with Luke and secretly wished it could
have been just the two of them the whole time.
Brace yourself, Ellie
, she told herself,
there’s no turning back now
.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs their chatter and laughing stopped when they saw Ellie.
They hadn’t been expecting a guest visitor.
They stared at her, wide-eyed.
“Who’s that
?” asked a tall, smiling boy wearing a jacket about two sizes too small.
“Is that your girlfriend, Mr. Williams?” added a little girl with braided hair and a missing front tooth. That question was met with squeals of laughter from the other children.
I wish
, Ellie thought to herself.
“We have a special visitor to help us out today
, kids
. This is my friend, Ellie. She
is a very talented singer and she is home from college for Christmas break. I want you all to show her the same respect that you show me because we’re very lucky to have her here to help us.
She’s excited to spend time with you.
”
Ellie thought the kids looked surprised to hear she went to college. She imagined they thought she might have been a new kid to the group. She stood up as straight as she could to make herself appear tall
er and smiled at the kids. Their
friendly smiles made her feel welcome right away.
“I know you’re probably hungry, so before we sit down to eat, why don’t you line up so I can introduce you to Ellie. How about you stan
d in the order that you’ll be standing
for our concert?”
They quickly started moving into formation and Ellie giggled to herself at how they followed orders from Luke as if he were an Army sergeant.
She thought the authoritative vibe he gave off was very attractive.
Luke stood behind the kids, his hand hovering over each one as he introduced them. “Miss Ellie, I
’d like to introduce you to Max, Tommy,
Jasmine, Brandon,
Alicia,
Isaac,
Annie,
Nia
, Cori and
Calvin.”
Ellie smiled back at each of them and tried to keep track of their names. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to remember all of them.
“Ok,
introductions over, you can dig in!
It’s sub night, so enjoy them!
” At that, the kids went to the table that was set with a sandwich and water bottle at each spot. She watched as Luke pulled up a chair next to the kids and started talking to them about their day.
“
So,
Max, ho
w did you do on that math test
yesterday?”
“I got an A! I don’t know how it happened, I wasn’t even sure I could pass it!”
“An A
!
That’s a great way to start your break off right, congratulations! I’m so proud of you! Remember what I told you? Studying pays off. You worked really hard to prepare for it.”
Max smiled with pride as Luke gave him a high five.
“Now that you see what you can accomplish when you study, you can get an A on every test!”
“You really think so?”
“I know it, buddy!
Wait
til
your mom hears
the news
, she’s going to be so proud of you!
”
Ellie felt a little awkward just standing there watching the group. She
felt a little bit like an intruder and
wasn’t sure how to interact with
them or i
f she should a
nd it made her uncomfortable. S
he wasn’t used to feeling out of place. She caught Luke’s eye and he smiled and nodded
to her
, silently encouraging her to have a seat with the kids.