She thought maybe he wanted her to leave him alone, but she didn’t go. It was late Sunday afternoon, and she was exhausted from all that had happened in the last two days. “Did you see the food in my kitchen?”
“I haven’t been in your house since you threw me out last night. And I haven’t checked any door locks or windows.”
“Thanks for not telling Sara that you and I were alone in the house late last night. I know you told her that you went to see Tess, but you didn’t tell about me.”
“So it’s all right for Tess to get a bad reputation but not you?”
“I think that Tess could stand still and do nothing and she’d get a bad reputation. To look at her is to have carnal thoughts.”
Luke turned away quickly, but she saw his smile. “I saw that! If you can smile at my jokes, you’re not totally angry at me.”
“See Rams at church?”
“He sat by me, asked me to marry him, and I accepted.”
“I congratulate you. You two will make a fine couple. This time next year all you’ll want to talk about are curtains.”
“If you can see the future, would you ask it what I’m supposed to do?”
Luke began shoveling again. “What do you mean ‘d
o’?”
Joce looked around for a place to sit, didn’t see one, so she sat on the grass. “Miss Edi—” she began.
“What about her?”
“She was a very important person in my life.”
“We all have important people in our lives.”
“Yeah? So who’s important to you?”
Luke held a shovelful of dirt for a moment. “The usual: parents, friends, relatives. My grandfather was very important to me until he passed away.”
“He’s not important now?” Joce asked softly.
Luke gave a bit of a smile. “Sometimes I think he’s more important to me now than he was when I was growing up. I was a bit of a…Let’s just say that as a kid I was a little bit obstinate.”
“Bullheaded stubborn, had to do everything your own way or you wouldn’t do it?”
“Were you my first grade teacher? The one who stood me in the corner half the day?”
“No, but I’m on her side,” Joce said. “So what about your grandfather?”
“He was a solitary man, liked to do things by himself, and so do I.”
“If that’s a hint for me to go away and leave you alone, I’m not going to do it. That house is too big, too empty, and too…Anyway, it’s nice out here. Tell me your story.”
“There’s nothing to tell. My grandfather and I were alike, that’s all. He liked to be alone and so do I, so we were often alone together.”
“‘Alone together.’ That’s the perfect description of Miss Edi and me. The kids at school thought I was crazy to want to spend time with an old woman with scarred legs. They used to make up stories about how her legs got that way. They—”
“What happened to her legs?” Luke asked.
“World War II,” Joce said. “She was in London in a car that was one of several hit by a bomb. Her side of the car exploded and she was…” Joce hesitated. “She was set on fire. There wasn’t much of her legs left from about the knees down.” Joce shrugged. “No one thought she’d live. She was moved from one hospital to another while they waited for her to die, but she didn’t. By sheer force of will she not only lived, but she walked again, and after the war, she went to work for a doctor. They traveled the world together. After they returned, he used to visit her often, and he was a great storyteller. I used to listen to him for hours.”
She paused for a moment as she thought. “Miss Edi had told me about Dr. Brenner and I’d seen him in countless photos, and I’d always had romantic thoughts about the two of them. I knew he was married and had two daughters, but still, I thought there was some great, unrequited love between them. But five minutes after I met him I knew there was nothing between them like what I thought. They were like a well-oiled machine in that he knew when her legs ached and he never even paused in his talking as he ushered her to the couch, covered her legs, and got her a cup of tea. And she did the same kinds of things for him. At the end, his heart had given out and she made sure he took his medication and didn’t do too much.”