Luke knew she was right. He climbed the steps and went to stand before her, needing her to understand. “Obviously I didn’t think it through as well as I should have.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take away from him,” she whispered, and he heard the catch in her voice.
He put his hand on her arm, feeling her warm skin beneath his rough fingers. “You are not taking anything away, Em. You give to him constantly. You give him love and acceptance and security. He is lucky to have you as a mother.”
“You’re just trying to get around me.” She sniffled a little and looked away from him, but he put a finger under her chin and made her look back.
“Maybe.” He felt the beginnings of a smile as he confessed. “If you’d seen Homer there, Em. He was skin and bones and bandages. Look what some love and attention accomplished. How could I just leave him there? I couldn’t. I’m sorry for causing you problems, though.”
“First me and Sam, now Homer. You do have a way of picking up strays, don’t you?”
“Hey, you found me.”
The sound of Sam’s laughter drifted up over the porch and everything seemed to move in slow motion. Emily looked up into his eyes and he was helpless. “I guess I did,” she murmured, and it was all he could do to keep from kissing her the way he’d been wanting to for days.
But what would it accomplish? Nothing had changed. And he wouldn’t play games. It was bad enough his heart was getting involved. Acting on it was another matter entirely. It would get messy. People would get hurt. And he was kidding himself if he thought it was only Sam and Emily who’d pay the price.
Because ever since their arrival, he’d felt like the stray who’d been taken in. And he didn’t like that feeling. He didn’t like it at all.
They went to the Canada Day celebrations on the first of July and Emily finally met Luke’s sister Cait and baby Janna. Unlike Liz and her bubbly nosiness, Cait was more reserved, with a warm, new-mother contented smile. Liz and her husband Paul were there with the girls, who tugged Sam along to the various games. They all ate cotton candy and hot dogs dripping with ketchup and mustard and as darkness finally fell, the three of them joined Cait, Joe, Liz, Paul and the kids on some spread-out blankets to watch the fireworks. It was impossible not to feel like a family. Like someone who belonged here. She knew it wasn’t so, but it didn’t stop the wishing. It would be foolish to imagine things were more than they seemed, but Emily wondered if some day she might find this somewhere, with someone.
The trouble was, she couldn’t envision it at all. It was only Luke she saw in her mind and that fact bothered her more than she wanted to admit.
Emily sat cross-legged on the rough blanket, looking down at Sam and watching his sleepy eyes droop while he valia
ntly struggled to keep them open. It was well past his bedtime, but he had wanted to stay and she didn’t have the heart to say no. His head was cradled in her lap and she smoothed his hair away from his forehead as twilight deepened and the crowd gathered, waiting for the pyrotechnics show.
“He’s tired.”
Luke kept his voice low and spoke close to her ear, so close she felt the heat rise in her cheeks as the rest of her body broke out in goose bumps.
“He wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Neither would I.”
Emily turned her head the slightest bit, surprised by how close Luke was when her temple nearly grazed his jaw. She knew he could be talking about the fireworks or visiting with neighbors or simply being there with his sisters and family. But Emily wanted to believe he meant being there with her and with Sam. How many times over the last week had they all been together and she’d felt the tug? A sense of déjà vu, knowing this had never happened before?
“Luke, I…” She didn’t know how to tell him what was in her heart. There were times when she even felt guilty for taking a wage for the work she was doing. Not because what she did wasn’t of value, but because she knew very well she was getting more than financial gain out of it. Sam was happy, she was happy, and she hadn’t expected to be, not for a very long time.
There was a bang and the first jet of sparks flew upwards. Emily turned her head to the fireworks display as Sam sat bolt upright and exclaimed at the blue and purple cascade flowering in the sky. Emily heard Sam’s name called and nudged him as Liz’s twins gestured wildly for him to join them on their blanket just ahead. “Go on,” she smiled. “You can watch with the girls. I’m right here.”
Sam scooted up to the next blanket, leaving Emily alone with Luke.
Darkness formed a curtain and everyone’s eyes were fixed on the dazzling display in the sky while Emily’s heart thundered. Luke shifted on the blanket, moving behind her so that she could lean back against his strong shoulder to watch. She could smell the aftershave on his neck, feel the slight stubble of his chin as it rested lightly against her temple. One after another the explosions crested and expanded, a rainbow of colors, but all Emily could think about was Luke and how close he was. If he turned his head the slightest bit…if she turned hers…
His fingertips touched her cheek, and she turned her face towards the contact. Her heart stuttered when she discovered him watching her, unsmiling, his blue eyes fathomless in the dark of the evening, reflecting the bursts of fireworks but focused solely on her. Her mouth went dry, afraid he was going to kiss her and wanting him to so badly she thought she might die from it.
“Em.”
In the din of the explosions she didn’t hear him say her name but she saw it on his lips. Locking her gaze with his, she let herself lean more into his shoulder, the only invitation she dared permit herself. It was all he needed. His gaze burned into her for one last second before dropping to her mouth. His fingers slid slowly over her chin to cup her jaw, cradling the curve in the palm of his hand. And finally, when she thought she would surely burst into flames, he kissed her.
His lips were warm and mobile, skilled and devastating. As Emily clung to his arm with her hand, she realized that there was never anything tentative with Luke. He was always strong, always sure of himself, and it took her breath away. He was always in control, and she wondered, quite dazzled, what it would take to make him lose that control? To lose it with her?
The finale began with rapid bursts of color crashing into the air. Emily’s fingers dug into the skin of his arm, and she felt the vibrations of a moan in his throat as the kiss intensified, making everything in her taut with excitement and desire.
A final bang and gasp and then there was nothing but applause from the crowd.
Luke gentled the kiss, tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth before moving away, making her whole body ache with longing. His gaze was still on her, but there was something different in it now. Heat. And, Emily thought, confusion.