“Great. Clara and I won the practice race. We beat the boys.”
“That’s what I like to hear!” He held up his hand for a high five. She smacked it enthusiastically.
Standing a few feet from the island, I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling just watching them.
“Alright, first up, cheese and crackers.” He placed a charcuterie plate in the center of the island and nodded me over to join them.
“Cheddar?” Luna clarified.
“Of course. That’s the cubes. You could try the other one too,” he suggested, pointing at a triangle of brie.
Luna stuck her tongue out. “No, gross.”
Luke chuckled.
“Can I help with anything?” I asked Luke, gesturing toward the half-chopped tomatoes, zucchini, and summer squashes.
He shook his head. He held my gaze for a breath, some inscrutable expression replacing his smile, and then shook his head again, almost imperceptibly. It made me want to ask what he was thinking about when he looked at me like that. But before I could, he wiped his hands on a towel and held his pointer finger up, stepping toward the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of light pink rosé.
“This work? It’s what the guy at the store recommended.”
He handed it to me gingerly, our fingers brushing, but only for a second. I read the label. “Yes, perfect, thank you! Any French rosé with a recent year will be great.” I moved toward the drawer that contained the wine opener.
“I got it,” he said, taking the bottle back. Less than a minute later a half-full stemless wine glass appeared in front of me.
“Want some lemonade or something, Luna?”
“Yeah!”
Luke tapped something out on his phone, and grabbed the lemonade from the fridge, returning the bottle of rosé.
I spread some brie on a cracker and popped it in my mouth. Luna stared at me, agape. “You’ll like it when you’re older, promise. You already like hummus so it’s only a matter of time.”
Lukelaughed.
“He’s always saying stuff like that.” Her little nose scrunched as she pointed at Luke.
Now I was laughing.
Luke clinked his beer glass against my wine glass and watched me take my first sip. I closed my eyes as the dry, tart, and slightly sweet wine splashed across my tongue. When I opened them, he was still watching me, looking satisfied.
“Like it?”
“Yeah, it’s great. Thank you.” It felt like special treatment that he went out of his way to buy something I liked.
He nodded and returned to chopping. I made another cracker, stealing a look at his muscled forearms as he chopped with a big chef’s knife. It was hard not to stare.
“So, what’s the occasion?” I asked. “Cheese board, wine, grilling up a storm. You have a good day?”
A smile unfolded on his face, like it wasn’t on purpose. I bit my lip.Damn. I had no doubt that smile has gotten him lots of special treatment in his life. “Yeah, actually. We got a big contract with the town finalized today. We’re building a whole neighborhood of bungalows and multi-unit condos about halfway between here and the airport. It’s going to be managed by the company and will provide a bunch of affordable housing units for seasonal workers in the summer. We’re adding a bus stop, too.”
“That’s awesome, Luke. Congratulations! So you’ll be working on it?”
“Yeah, I mean, Karas Construction got the contract.”
Realization hit me like athwackto the back of the head. Luke’s last name was Karas, as I learned from my first paycheck. Karas Construction was…his company. It all made sense now: how it seemed like he spent as much time at the office as at the construction sites, his coming and going at random times throughout the day.
His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t realize it was my company, did you?”
