“I think I have a solution to your Henry problem, but I need you to promise me you’ll hear me out,” he says with a clenched jaw and I sense there is more he wants to say on the Henry matter but is holding back.
“Okay?”
“I mean it, Amber. I know you, now promise me you won’t run and you’ll hear me out.”
“Luke—”
“Promise me.”
“Okay fine, I promise,” I say, throwing my arms up in frustration. “I’m all ears.”
“I’ve been working on remodeling my parents’ house. Now… it isn’t pretty on the outside, but the inside is coming together,” Luke explains, but I stop him, placing a hand on his forearm.
“Did you really come here to tell me about your parents’ house?”
“Well that, and to see if you would want to move into it.”
What? “I’m sorry… can you repeat that?” I whisper.
“You and the kids could move into the house. Then Henry can’t take custody away from you.” The intensity in his eyes is so overwhelming, I have to look down at the table.
Luke always was one to step up when help was needed and here he is, offering me help even after the countless times I pushed him away.
I tried to forget Luke over the years, but he was always there in my thoughts. I tried to hate him and for a few months, I convinced myself that I did, but really, I just hated missing him.
I was scared to see him when he first moved back to Peak Valley. Afraid that just the sight of him would hurt too much, and it did hurt seeing him smiling and more handsome than I remembered.
I knew the moment I saw him he had the power to break me, and my heart was too scared of letting any man have that kind of power again. I pulled anger and years of sadness around me like a blanket and used it as armor.
With his offer, I don’t know if he took down some of my armor or helped reinforce it. Luke knows I had so many dreams wrapped up in that house. I have no doubt it’s the reason he offered it to me, as a grand gesture, but I can’t accept it. Not when it was meant to be our home and he took it away. How do I know he won’t take it away again?
“Amber?” He looks vulnerable as he tilts his head, searching my face. “What are you thinking?”
“Um…” I clear my throat and then start over. “Thank you, Luke, it’s a very generous offer but I can’t accept it.”
“Why not?” His eyes flare for a moment before he wracks a hand through his hair. “Is it because I’m offering?”
“No,” I lie, but the way his eyes narrow at me, I know he knows I’m lying. “I can’t afford to pay rent on a house that size and pay my mortgage.”
“Who said you would have to pay rent?” Luke sounds defensive before he reaches over and wraps his hands around mine that are still holding my cappuccino. The heat from the coffee is nothing compared to the heat that floods my system whenever Luke touches me. “The house is paid off… has been for years. I’m trying to offer you help, Amber. I don’t understand why you won’t take it.”
“My parents, Dawn, and Clint are all helping me in ways I can’t even begin to pay back,” I say looking deep into Luke’s warm eyes, hoping I don’t get lost in them as I try to make him understand. “I have my pride. I’ve worked really hard to be able to stand on my own two feet, and it’s important to me to work for what I have and need. I can’t accept. It feels too much like a handout.”
Luke doesn’t say anything for several long seconds. The intensity of his stare is too much for me, so I look at where he’s wrapped his hands around mine. His hands are warm and callused, larger than mine. My dad always said a man’s hands say a lot about a man, and I know Luke’s hands speak of his hard work.
“The house still needs a lot of work. What if you helped me with the remodel?” he offers quietly, the laughter that is normally in his voice gone. “In exchange for living there.”
“Luke—”
“Just think about it.” He sighs and releases my hands. Not even the heat from the coffee can fight off the cold absence of his touch. Standing from his chair, he peers down at me with remorse-filled blue eyes. I want to stand and let him wrap me up in a hug like he used to and take away the pain, but I don’t let myself move from my chair, and I don’t watch him walk away.
When my shift ends, I drive home to find my mom waiting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a thick envelope addressed to me from the Johnson County Courthouse. I don’t need to read it to know what it is.
7
- Luke -
After a week of radio silence, I was ready to abandon my plan to move Amber and her kids into my old home and think of a new strategy.
Almost immediately, I knew offering the house to her wasn’t a grand gesture but a ripping of old wounds. I was an idiot for thinking she would want to live in the house I promised to turn into her dream home.
“Luke?”
I must be dreaming.
“Amber?” I call from atop the ladder I’m on inside my shop I purchased for my construction business.
“Is it safe to come in?” she asks from the entrance door.
“Yeah.” I grin like a fool at her. Amber is here in my shop, and I didn’t have to do any scheming to get her here.
“Can we talk?” she asks, fidgeting with her purse strap. She’s looking sexy in her scrubs and her hair is pulled into a bun on top of her head. This is the last place she wants to be, but I push that thought aside.
“Yeah, give me a sec,” I say, clipping my nail gun to my tool belt and climb down the ladder. “We can talk in my office.”
“In there?” She points to the tiny house I’m working on, her eyes wide.
“No, darlin’, I have a real office in the back.” I chuckle, taking off my tool belt and setting it down. “Want some coffee?”
“Sure?” She hesitates before falling in step with me as we move toward the back of the shop. “Dawn said you were starting a construction company. Why are you working on a mini house?”
“The realtor I worked with to buy this shop asked if I could build him a tiny house to put on some property he owns in northwestern Kansas. He likes to hunt and wants to bring his family. It’ll keep me busy through the winter months until I can pick up some more clients.” I watch as she takes in all the machinery, tools, and material laid out around the shop. I’m not the kind of guy who needs validation, but I need Amber’s. I need her to see I’m a safe bet; God knows I’ve screwed up one too many times with her. If I’m going to win her back, I have to prove to her that I can be the man she once fell in love with.
“I only have black coffee,” I cringe, holding the office door open for her.
“Black is fine.” She glances around the office before taking a seat in one of the ratty chairs Dawn purchased at a garage sale.
I feel her eyes follow me to the coffee behind my desk. Never one to be intimidated, but I know how she is scrutinizing my every move right now. I need to tread lightly. She’s here for a reason—hopefully to accept my offer—and if I scare her away now, I may not get another opportunity.