Girl of Mine (6 page)

Absentmindedly, Jill brought her hand to her lips, the smell of his aftershave remaining on her skin. His eyes followed the action.

“Save the world tonight, Luke?” Troy asked derisively.

Luke answered Troy, but his eyes still didn’t leave hers. “No, no, nothing like that. Uneventful night.”

Luke didn’t seem bothered by Troy’s sarcasm. If first impressions were anything to go by, Jill deduced that Luke and Troy were lifelong friends who behaved more like competitive siblings.

“Wanna go sit by the fire?” Luke asked.

“I’d love to.”

“Good idea. I need to get off my feet,” Troy moaned.

5

Luke and Jill
April 2003

Present Day

Thirty minutes later they were rambling down a long drive. They moved downwards into a small depression in the land, filled with trees and foliage. Luke placed the truck in park. “This is it.”

Jill shook off thoughts of the past. They were in the middle of nowhere, albeit a beautiful nowhere. The landscape was lush green, with slight rolling hills neighboring them. When Luke spoke of the ranch house, she’d always pictured herself roughing it in a rustic log cabin. Instead a rather charming house sat before her eyes, painted a bright white, with black shutters and a huge wraparound porch. His mother’s hobby was interior design and Jill knew the inside was going to be equally appealing. She couldn’t wait to see inside and explore every inch. The only real resemblance to a ranch house, however, was that sprawling ranches surrounded the area nearby.

“Spent every summer of my childhood here. Don’t bother screaming or trying to get away. It’s twenty miles to the nearest neighbor.” He grinned mischievously.

Jill cast him a dirty look that said, “As if.” Even though those were her exact intentions. He knew her much too well. She’d always possessed a rather
persistent
personality. Her kindergarten teacher called it
stubborn
. Her mother insisted she was
persistent
and wrote it off as a good quality. Jill called it
determined,
and it had served her well in reaching her goals.

“Just so you know, as soon as I can get to a phone I plan to call the cops and report a kidnapping.” Not really, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Already here,” he said, mocking her with another smile and a wink.

“Doesn’t the law come down hard on crooked cops?”

“Yep.” Then he whispered conspiratorially, “Let me know if you find out about one. I’ll arrest him.”

His glib attitude annoyed her. They were both trying too hard to keep things light. It wasn’t working. They both recognized the tension between them. Jill decided to play along. “You missed your calling in life, Luke.”

“Really? What might that be? Kidnapper extraordinaire? I admit this is kinda fun.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of . . . clown, since you seem to think you’re so funny. I can picture it now . . . a big red nose and a rainbow-dyed afro . . .” Jill faded off. The thought of Luke dressed as a clown seemed hilariously funny in her head. Out loud, not so much.

“Oh, was that supposed to be a joke?” Luke dutifully fake-laughed out loud.

Jill frowned, hating that her jokes always fell flat. “The vision in my head seemed kinda funny.”

“The funniest thing about your jokes is when you attempt to make them. Seriously, it’s the funniest thing in the world.” This time his laughter was genuine. “Besides that was
almost
funny.”

Jill didn’t crack a smile, even though she wanted to join him. “Are you quite done?” Her attempts at humor were utter failures.

“Look, knowing I get to have a weekend alone with you puts me in a good mood. I’m not apologizing for it,” he said, suddenly serious.

A few moments of tense silence filled the interior of the truck. The atmosphere changed from light to heavy. Jill feared she was about to lose her soul to Lucas Graham once again. It seemed inevitable.

“By the way . . . no one has been here since my mom got the house ready for us,” he said slowly. There wasn’t a trace of lightheartedness in him now.

“For us?”

“Yeah, for our honeymoon.” Luke let out his breath heavily and glanced at the house as if he dreaded going in. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

“Oh,” Jill whispered, joining in his trepidation.

“My mom’s been ill. She hasn’t been up here to put it all away.”

“I’m sorry, Luke. I didn’t know.” Jill loved his mother. She smothered people with kindness in a rather overwhelming manner, but what’s not to love about that? “Is she okay?”

“Hip replacement surgery. If my dad can get her to stay in bed and rest, she’ll be fine. It’s hard to keep her down.”

Madelaine, Luke’s mom, was always busy. Always.

“She misses you. Says to say hello.”

Guilt washed over Jill. She should’ve kept in touch with Madelaine. “I . . .”

“She understands, Jill.” Luke turned off the ignition. “Guess we better get this over with.”

Jill missed
comedian Luke
of a few moments ago. Keeping things light seemed to work best for the both of them. It let them hide from their raging emotions. At least, hers were raging. She could only hope Luke’s were too. Humor also helped Jill hold out-of-control tears at bay.

Now, faced with entering their honeymoon hideaway, she could use a good laugh. “Please take me somewhere else, Luke. Please,” she begged. Her voice cracked, revealing her sentiment. Asking her to face the place where they’d planned to experience the beginning of their married life was just too much.

He paused, considering the option. His expression softened. “I know this is hard. It is for me too. I promise there’s a method to my madness. I wanna be alone with you. This is the best place,” he said decisively.

Luke wants to be alone with me. This is good, this is very, very good.

Or it could be bad, very, very bad.

This is bad. He’s gonna break my heart again.

I need to get out of here at the first opportunity.

Luke walked around to the passenger door. He unlocked the handcuffs from the glove compartment and reattached them to
his
wrist.

I’m attached to Luke. Just where I long to be.

She opted to once again hide behind cynicism. “Are you kidding me?”

“Look at me,” he said, staring directly into her eyes.

“What?” she said with the appropriate amount of disdain, hoping to conceal her feelings from him.

“Until I see something different in your eyes, the handcuffs are your new best friend.”

“Different in my eyes? Like what?”

“Know it when I see it,” he said enigmatically.

“Fine.” Jill reined in her emotions and reminded herself to keep it light. This is all just one big joke.

Luke helped her out and slammed the car door. “I know what that one means too.”

“What
what
means?”

“When a woman says ‘fine’ to a man.”

“What does it mean?”

“It means the argument is over and the man is a complete idiot.”

“That’s pretty accurate.”

Luke tossed his head back and laughed, a glimpse of the man she loved. Jill turned her head away quickly.

I love this man.

She noticed the back of the truck was piled with supplies. “I see this kidnapping was premeditated. That won’t look good at your trial.” She cast him a sarcastic grin.

“As of this mornin’ it was. Planned and executed in two hours flat. Successfully. Not too shabby, eh? That premeditated enough for ya?”

“Enough for a solid conviction. I wouldn’t go patting yourself on the back just yet. How you gonna keep me here, Luke?” she challenged. “I’m not scared of walking twenty miles.”

His eyes bored into hers. He held up his hand, the one that was attached to hers with the handcuffs. Her hand hung limply, making him bear the weight.

She swallowed. Surely he wasn’t serious. He wouldn’t leave her in handcuffs overnight. Would he? Or worse yet, handcuffed to him all night? She wouldn’t sleep a wink.

“C’mon, let’s go see the horrors my mother has waiting for us.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Jill offered, ignoring the squeeze of her heart.
My honeymoon with Luke.

Luke threw the door open and they both stood in the entryway, silent and openmouthed, for at least two minutes. The first thing she couldn’t help but notice was the huge banner declaring, “Just Married. Lucas and Jillian.”

Oh boy.
It was that bad.

“Well, dang,” Luke mumbled.

While Jill recognized that the house was overly, but tastefully decorated, her eyes were drawn to the trappings of a romantic rendezvous. Fake red rose petals made a beeline path to what she assumed was the bedroom. Jill knew they had to be fake because they still appeared fresh and new. Candles were everywhere, all battery operated because Luke’s mom hated a real flame. She said they were a fire danger and made the room “smoky.” The dining table was set for two, champagne glasses emblazoned with “bride” and “groom” sat at each place setting.

More candles. More rose petals.

The place oozed romance. Jill wished Luke was about to take her in his arms, carry her inside, and follow the rose petals to the bed and . . .

Stop it, Jill. Just stop it.

The coat rack to their left boasted two baseball caps; one that said “bride” and one that said “groom.”

Hanging overtly on the frame of the bedroom doorway were plush white robes also embroidered with “bride” and “groom.” Beneath them sat flip-flops announcing . . . you guessed it, “bride” and “groom.”

Luke’s mom went all out on everything she did. Jill had attended Luke’s most recent birthday celebration at his mom’s house. Besides the balloons imprinted with “Happy Birthday, Luke,” there were streamers, party tablecloths, matching birthday plates, cups, and napkins, and several banners screaming “Happy Birthday, Luke.” She’d made Luke wear a badge that said, “Birthday Boy.” She even wore a t-shirt that announced, “Mother of the Birthday Boy.” It was quite the event for an adult son.

Luke hated every moment of it.

To give him credit, he’d behaved amicably and thanked his mother profusely for all she’d done for him.

That was Luke. He had a strong sense for other people’s feelings, often keeping his own needs on the back burner. It was his greatest attribute—and his greatest fault.

Jill would never forget the first time he’d eaten dinner at her mother’s house. She’d made her famous salmon loaf. When Luke had finished his first slice, her mother had insisted he have another, even though he’d objected, saying he was full. Politely he’d accepted the second slice and cleared every crumb from his plate. On the ride home, he pulled over rather suddenly, surprising her. He stepped outside the car and was miserably sick.

When he climbed back into the car, she handed him a bottled water. He swished and rinsed out his mouth.

“You okay?” she’d asked.

“Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“It happens to the best of us.”

“Not usually on a date. Hopefully
never
on a date,” he said, backhanding his mouth.

“Good thing I’m already in love with you or this would’ve been a deal breaker.”

Luke shook his head and laughed lightly. “I’m guessing a goodnight kiss is out of the question now.”

“If you’re coming down with something, then I’m sure you don’t feel like kissing right about now anyway.”

“I’m not coming down with anything. I just really, really hate seafood. Even the smell makes me physically sick.”

Jill thought about the two slices of salmon loaf he’d downed at dinner. “Luke, why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t want to offend your mother. She’s so proud of her salmon loaf.”

Jill fell in love with him just a little more that night, a little deeper, and a little more defined. She didn’t just love his handsome face, she loved the man on the inside, the man that felt for others. It was a quality she loved.

Such a small thing, yet the incident spoke volumes.

Luke shook her out of her walk down memory lane when he sighed heavily. “It’s worse than I thought.”

Jill swallowed the very idea of tears. She was
not
going to cry. But this was torture of the worst kind.

In front of the fireplace sat two overstuffed throw pillows, one screamed “bride” and one hollered “groom.”

Gag.

They stepped in and Luke grabbed a handful of M&Ms from the candy bowl on the coffee table. They were personalized with “Luke and Jill.” He offered some to her and when she declined, he shrugged and stuffed them in his mouth. Somehow his actions seemed blasphemous.

Luke made his way to the bedroom and she had no choice but to follow. A throw blanket lay artfully spread across the huge king size bed, beautifully embroidered with their names, “Lucas and Jillian. Just Married.” Underneath was their wedding date.

It was the date that bothered Jill the most. It was post dated with tomorrow’s date. The irony of it all made her want to lie down and cry.

Were they here too early or too late?