have to do any work for a while," he said. I followed
him out and to the carnival area where there were
rides and games and food stands. It was a wonderful
day to go to a circus and carnival. There were just
enough clouds in the sky to keep the sun from beating
down, yet it was warm with a slight breeze. Everyone knew Luke and from the way most waved to him and
greeted him, I thought they liked him very much. As soon as we entered the carnival area, he
talked me into going on the Ferris wheel. Although it
wasn't a very big one, we still had a wonderful view
of Atlanta when we reached the top. The seat swung
back and forth, taking my breath away. I squealed
with delight and Luke laughed and embraced me to
give me a sense of security. I did feel safe under his
strong arms.
"Want a beer?" he asked after we got off. "I can
get it free," he said winking and nodding toward the
young man at the beer concession.
"No thanks," I replied. He bought me a soda
pop.
After that he tried his luck at darts. He became
very upset when he didn't win anything, but I told him
not to put down any more of his money on the game. "Try another, if you want," I advised. "My
father used to tell me that when something's not going
right, just put it aside for a while and do something
else."
He nodded, thoughtfully.
"You're right, Leigh. I get stubborn and stupid
sometimes and lose everything in anger. It's nice having someone sensible beside me," he said, his eyes soft. When he looked at me like that, with such intensity and with such sincerity, all sounds around me died away. It was as if we had drifted into our private world for a moment, risen above the crowd,
just the way we had on the Ferris wheel,
"Come on," he said taking my hand excitedly