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He ran his hands down his face and exhaled all the air out of his lungs. “You’re supposed to be here,” he repeated. He wanted to be here. He liked ranch work and construction, and he loved this ranch. He liked Ginger, and all of his friends were here.
So Hannah Otto didn’t like him for boyfriend material. It wasn’t the end of the world. Luke wasn’t going to leave Texas over it, and he told himself he needed to stop wishing for something that wasn’t going to come true.
“Stop wishing altogether,” he told himself. “Get out there anddosomething if you want a different result.” With that decision made, Luke lay back down in bed and let his mind wander as his sitcom played in front of him. At some point, he fell asleep with the TV on, exactly the way he liked ending the day.
* * *
Sunday morning,Luke got up with the sun and dressed in his workout clothes. A river ran along the front of the ranch, and he set out at an easy pace, the warbling of the water his companion. He never ran with headphones, because he didn’t trust that someone would come up behind him and jump him.
Maybe he’d had that happen to him before, and old habits—and fear—were hard to shake. He felt like he could experience the run more if he didn’t blast music in his ears, and today, he listened to the breeze, the brook, and the birds in the trees.
By the time he returned to the Annex, the gray sky had turned gold, and the heat of the day had already begun. He felt like today would be the perfect day to lie on the sand and waste time, something he’d always wanted to do in River Bay.
Since he’d been out, he’d only spent a few days at the beach, and he was going to fix that today.
He showered, put on his swimming trunks, and went into the shared bathroom to get a towel. He was rummaging around in the kitchen cabinet for some sunscreen when Connor came flying into the Annex. “Uncle Luke,” he called, running right past where Luke stood in the kitchen. He chuckled as the boy’s cowboy boots slapped the hard floor. “Uncle Luke?”
“I’m right here,” he called and Connor came back into the kitchen. “You ran right by me, buddy.”
“I didn’t see you over there in the corner.”
“You were flying,” Luke said. “Like Flash.”
Connor grinned and hugged Luke around the middle. “Wait. You have your swimming suit on.”
“Yeah,” Luke said, finally finding the can of sunscreen. He held it up. “I’m going to the beach today.”
Confusion crossed Connor’s face. “Dad says we have to go to church.”
“Hm,” Luke said. “I bet he does.”
“I was comin’ to see if you wanted to sit by me.”
“At church?”
“Yeah.”
Luke didn’t think it had been Connor’s idea to come over and ask Luke to sit by him at church. That had Nate and Ginger written all over it, and while he’d gone to services in prison from time to time—and he’d even gone the last time he was in Sweet Water Falls—he didn’t consider himself a religious person.
“Why don’t you go ask your dad if you can come to the beach with me?” Luke grinned at Connor, sure the boy wouldn’t do that.
Indecision raged on his young face, and then he marched out the back door. The moment it closed, Luke wished he hadn’t said anything. He didn’t want to get Connor in trouble, and he could just imagine the stoic man’s face when his son came in and asked to go to the beach with Luke instead of going to church with his family.
He didn’t even have his phone so he could text Nate, and his own heart pounded a little harder in his chest. He found a paper grocery sack in a cupboard and put the sunscreen in it. He rolled up his towel and added it to the bag too. After rummaging through the fridge, he found enough to make sandwiches and have a few snacks for the day, and he’d just put them in the bag as the back door opened again.
This time, a pair of big boots accompanied the small boots, and Luke faced Nate and Connor. “You’re goin’ to the beach?” Nate asked.
“Yep,” Luke said. “I really can take him.”
Nate looked down at his son, his eyebrows drawn into a deep V. “Tell ‘im.”
Connor swallowed. “Could we go to the beach after church?”
Luke crouched down in front of the little boy. “Sure, buddy. You can come after church. I’ll let you know where I am, and your daddy can bring you.” Luke looked up and saw Nate shaking his head. He straightened, his own determination to stay out of the chapel as hard as the look in his friend’s eyes.
“I can’t bring him,” Nate said. “Ginger.”
Luke nodded. “Maybe Slate will come. I’ll let him know.”
“Okay, son,” Nate said. “We’ll work on finding someone to take you to the beach, okay?” He put his hand on Connor’s shoulder and turned him toward the back door. Connor said something, his face tipped up toward Nate’s, but Luke couldn’t hear what. They left, and Luke’s guilt cut through him.
He could easily sit through a sermon and then go to the beach. He simply didn’t want to. He picked up his brown bag of beach supplies and headed out the opposite door, wishing he’d timed his departure for the beach either earlier or later than everyone going to church.
Another wish that didn’t come true, he thought. Then,there’s always next week.
Luke knew what time people left for church now, and he could easily avoid the rush to get off the ranch.
