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Luke had been so amazing. She wanted to show him how much she appreciated everything he had done and was still doing for her by making him a nice breakfast.She spotted some slightly overripe bananas on the counter, and quickly found the rest of what she needed to make a nice banana bread. Once she had that in the oven, she rounded up a variety of veggies from Luke’s fridge along with some eggs. She was halfway done making a veggie and cheese omelet when Luke came downstairs, a sleepy grin on his face. “You’re either trying to kill me or fatten me up.”
Orly smiled and covered the omelet, then lowered the heat a little before going to him. “Good morning. I hope you’re hungry because I plan to feed you well.”
He took her into his arms and kissed her as if she was the meal. When he pulled back, he inhaled appreciatively. “My house has never smelled this good.”
And she had never smiled as much as she did with this man. “Did I mention I enjoy cooking?”
“You’re amazing,” Luke said just as the oven timer beeped.
“Wait until you try this banana bread.” She pulled out of Luke’s arms, donned a pair of oven mitts, and pulled the pan out of the oven. The kitchen was instantly suffused with the aroma of the baked treat. While she took care of it, Luke went to the stove to check on the eggs. A few minutes later, they were sitting down at the table enjoying the hot breakfast and freshly brewed coffee.
“I stand corrected,” Luke said. “You’re not amazing. You’re out of this world.”
Orly laughed. “And that’s just breakfast.” She watched Luke dig into his food, loving that she could finally do something nice for him. His expression was intense as he ate, his eyes almost never leaving her gaze. “What?” She finally asked.
“You’re going to spoil me,” he warned, as if that was a bad thing.
Orly just shrugged. This man deserved to be spoiled. “I like spoiling the people I care about.”
Luke dropped his fork and reached for her hand. He took it in his and held it tight, but not nearly tight enough to cause her any discomfort. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Orly smiled. The guy probably thought she was a smiley kind of person, when in fact it had been so long since she’d even had a reason to smile, let alone actually done it. “Me too,” she said, and looked away, needing to break their gaze. It was all too much and she didn’t want him to think she was some kind of basket case after last night.
The bay window overlooking his expansive backyard caught her attention. It had always been her dream to have a house with some land where she could grow a garden.
“Hey,” Luke said, brushing his fingers over her hand. “Where’d you go?”
“I was just admiring your yard and dreaming about having a garden one day,” Orly said.
Luke straightened in his chair. “Why one day? Why not today?”
“Well, I don’t have a yard and I’d need dirt and seeds and a shovel or a rake, and it would take time to -”
“I’m happy to offer you any part of or all of my yard you’d like. As for supplies, we can easily go to a garden store or nursery and pick up those things. And I have plenty of dirt as you can see,” he said, waving his arm at the window.
Orly laughed. “No, you need special dirt for gardening. It has added nutrients and stuff.”
“Okay,” Luke shrugged. “I need to return the rental car and we should probably go out and pick up anything you might need anyway, like toiletries and other things. So, we’ll stop and get all that while we’re out.”
“Really?” Orly asked. “You’d let me use your yard? Just like that?”
“Just like what?” Luke shrugged again. “I have a lot of yard and I’ve never done anything with it. I love your idea of a garden and I’m honestly curious to see what’ll grow out there.”
Orly was so excited, she could hardly find the words. “Oh my gosh. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and radishes, oh, and I also want to have flowers. I’m thinking a huge bed of wildflowers would look so pretty over there.” She pointed to the far corner of the yard and Luke just smiled.
“Anything you want,” he said.
Orly sat back in her chair realizing what she was doing. “Wait, no, we can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” Luke asked.
“Well, it’s also going to be a lot of money and I already owe you so much for -”
Luke took her hand in his. “You don’t owe me anything. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done because I wanted to. I’ve waited three months to meet you. To have you here. My home is your home for as long as you want. And seeing you excited just now, happy and ready to embrace life - that makes me happier than you could ever imagine. So, yeah, we’re going to get all the garden stuff you want and we’re going to plant a garden. Then we’re going to watch it grow and I’m going to love every second of it.”
Orly beamed. Just two days ago she’d been sitting on a bus, broke and alone, and now here she was sitting with a man she admired and truly cared about, planning a garden. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but it felt like he was giving her the world. “Thank you.”
“You have to stop doing that,” he said, clearing the table of their empty plates. “Your smile is more than enough thanks for me.”
