Love Shadows (23 page)
“Does this have a lot of sugar?” Annie asked Louise.
“Heavens, yes,” Louise replied.
Timmy looked at his father. “Why are we eating this?”
“Because I’m a lunkhead when I’m not being a dunderhead.”
Annie looked at Timmy, who scrunched his shoulders and watched while his father closed his eyes again and ate the ice cream.
Annie put her forefinger to her ear and whirled it around, indicating that she thought her father was nuts. She finished her ice cream in two more bites.
Luke laughed at Annie and said, “After this, I think we owe it to ourselves to go see the sunset at the lake.”
“I love the lake,” Timmy said, licking his spoon.
Annie nodded. “The stars are so pretty over the lake.”
“Then the lake it is,” Luke said.
They took the short drive down to the water and climbed out of the car.
* * *
L
UKE
TOOK
OFF
his work boots and socks, stuffed the socks inside the shoes and tied the shoelaces together. He carried his shoes in one hand while holding Timmy’s hand with the other as they walked along the shore of Indian Lake.
“It’s really pretty here in the fall,” Annie said, staring at the setting sun. Marbling the azure-blue sky were ribbons of lavender, rose and amber. The sun was huge on the horizon, looking like a ball of flame that would set the earth on fire. “We should come out here more often,” Annie said. “I had the best summer ever at the beach with Captain Redbeard and Mrs. Taylor.”
“Me, too.” Timmy picked up a smooth rock and tossed it back in the lake. “The only thing that would make it better...”
Timmy looked expectantly at his father.
“It’s okay, Timmy. I know you miss Beau. I’ve been thinking about that.”
“Really?” Timmy asked.
“Is it Beau you miss or just that you want a dog of your own?”
Timmy hung his head. “I miss Beau.”
“That’s what I thought,” Luke replied.
The sun moved lower and the shadows from the trees around the lake cast long, wide, deep purple streamers over the water, the beach and Luke.
He stopped abruptly and looked at the light and shades as day transformed into evening and night began to fall. For more than two years he’d lived in the shadow of Jenny’s death. But there was an even darker shadow in his life. It was of his own making. His own decisions. He had chosen this joylessness. He had chosen to feel this emptiness. He had no one to blame for this emptiness but himself.
Timmy picked up another rock and skipped it over the lake water. It bounced three times. “Hey, Dad! Did you see that? I got three skips!”
“Excellent, Timmy. Just excellent,” Luke exclaimed.
At that moment, they all heard a dog bark. Then the dog barked again.
Timmy stood stock-still for a moment and then took off in a run. “Beau! Beau!”
Luke looked off toward the darkness that fell over the cattails. He heard the dog bark again.
Beau came crashing out of the cattails and nearly jumped on Timmy, who squealed in delight.
Luke’s eyes scoured the cattails but he couldn’t see anyone.
Suddenly, Annie yelled. “It’s Miss Sarah! Sarah!” Annie raced into the dark.
Then he saw her and he thought his heart had gone into ramming speed. He should have been surprised to see her, but he wasn’t. He had a strong feeling that fate would continue placing them in each other’s paths until he realized he had been falling in love with Sarah for quite some time.
Sarah wore a long, white skirt and a dark jacket as she emerged from the edge of the tall grasses. Annie raced up to her and hugged her. Sarah enveloped Annie in her arms. She seemed genuinely thrilled to see her.
Luke watched as Sarah crouched down to pull Annie even closer. He knew that Sarah was aware of him watching her, but in this moment, Sarah didn’t care about his reaction to her demonstration of love for his daughter.
Sarah was being Sarah. Loving and open. Kind. Giving.
Luke knew that Mrs. Beabots had been right. He’d been a fool.
Luke walked toward Sarah, who stood still, stroking Annie’s head.
* * *
E
VEN
IN
THE
shadows, Sarah could see Luke’s blue eyes blazing at her, but this time she saw a look she hadn’t seen before. Her breath caught in her chest. She didn’t dare hope. Her hand started shaking and she felt that her knees would give way and she would just melt right into the sand.
“Annie,” Luke said, “go play with your brother for a minute. I want to talk to Sarah.”
“Okay, Dad,” Annie said, looking from her father to Sarah and back to her father. Annie smiled and then ran over to Timmy and Beau.
“Sarah,” Luke said as he moved a few steps closer to her. “I owe you an apology...again.” He took a deep breath and shook his head. “No that’s wrong. I owe you about a thousand apologies. And they’re all from the bottom of my heart.”
“I’m listening, Luke.”
He smiled wanly. “Thanks for not calling me a dunderhead again, because I really am. And a jerk. I was pretty awful to you, Sarah. And I was very wrong.”
“About letting me see the kids?” she asked.
“About everything. When I saw you with the kids at your house that day when you were all so happy, I was shocked because I hadn’t heard them laughing like that in a long time. I watched from the porch and I couldn’t think of a happier picture than you and Annie hugging. Then you told her that you loved her. And I knew it was true. And she told you that she loved you. I was so jealous, Sarah. So mighty, crazy jealous.”
“But why, Luke?”
“Because I wasn’t part of any of it. I felt like you’d stolen my family, but the truth was that I’d given them away. I neglected them...here in my heart. You were right about that, too. I’d let my heart turn to ice from sheer lack of use. You showed me that, Sarah.”
“I wanted to be your friend, Luke. Sometimes it’s not easy to be a friend.”
“Especially to me.”
“I wouldn’t quite say that.”
“Well, I could use a friend. A best friend, really.”
Sarah had spent a great deal of her life dealing with her fears. She had a choice right here and now to choose them or choose another path. She threw her fears to the wind and asked, “Is that all you want, Luke? To be friends?”
He moved closer, never taking his eyes off her. “No. It’s not. I want the full ride. Top of the Ferris wheel and all.”
“It could cost you a lot,” she said.
“Don’t have much. Just my heart. And it’s got temperature malfunctions.”
Sarah smiled and soft lights filled her eyes. “I bet I could fix it.”
“I know you can,” Luke said.
Sarah was mesmerized by the love glowing in Luke’s eyes. If she ever saw a firework again she knew it would never compare to this. She hoped she wasn’t just dreaming. If she was, she hoped she wouldn’t wake up. Ever.
Luke moved closer and took Sarah’s hand in his. He squeezed it and then pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I also thought I should tell you that we broke a rule tonight. We had ice cream.”
“Sugar? Before bed?” She chuckled. “That is a breakthrough,” she teased lightheartedly.
“I was thinking about breaking some other rules,” he whispered, his voice lowering an octave and his eyes peering so deeply into hers that Sarah felt he had just touched her soul.
“Which ones?”
“All of them,” he said and pulled her into his arms. He smoothed her hair with his palm and cradled her face with his hands. “I love you, Sarah.”
Sarah’s eyes welled with happy tears, and when they cascaded down her cheeks, he caught them with his thumbs. “I love you back, Luke.”
When Luke kissed her, Sarah was very, very certain that the wishes she’d made on the stars had not been in vain.
Her wishes had all come true.
* * * * *
THE SHORES OF INDIAN LAKE
continues with HEART'S DESIRE.
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ISBN-13: 9781460329641
LOVE SHADOWS
Copyright © 2014 by Catherine Lanigan
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