Chapter 10
THREE WEEKS…
L uke kept his distance from her at work, and that was fine with Harper. She felt guilty for pushing him and disappointed that Luke wasn’t willing to explore the attraction that they both felt.
She was surprised to see his truck in the driveway when she got home. She felt like she was unintentionally chasing him out of his own house, so maybe this was a good sign.
Harper let herself in and took the grocery bags back the hall to the kitchen. There was no sign of Luke in the house, but she heard voices coming from somewhere.
She let herself out the back door onto the porch and spotted Luke at the far end of the yard. He was standing in a loose triangle with two boys. They all had baseball gloves.
“You’ve got to tighten up on that grip when you throw it, Robbie,” Luke instructed the taller boy with sandy, shaggy hair. “Here, let me show you.”
She watched him demonstrate the grip and hand the ball over. “Give it a shot.” Luke jogged back to his spot. “Let ’er rip.”
The boy wound up and released a perfect curving pitch that smacked into Luke’s glove.
“Yeah, baby! Did you see that?” The boy hooted and sprinted to Luke.
“Now that’s a curve,” Luke laughed. They fist bumped, and Luke tossed the ball back to him. “Try it again. Make sure it’s not a fluke.”
Robbie hustled back to his spot and adjusted his hold on the ball. He fired another pitch into Luke’s glove.
“Me next! Me next!” The smaller boy threw his glove in the air. “Mr. Luke, I want to throw.”
Luke repeated the process with the younger brother. He didn’t quite get it but seemed proud of his effort. “Mr. Luke, there’s a lady on your porch,” Robbie said, pointing at Harper.
Harper waved and walked down the steps to the patio. Luke met her with the boys, Robbie at his side and the younger one tossed over his shoulder.
God, he looked good. He was wearing worn jeans, a white fitted t-shirt, and a baseball cap. But nothing was sexier than the grin on his face.
“Hey,” he said, dropping the boy at her feet.
“Hey,” she laughed when he scrambled to his feet in a fit of giggles.
“Harper, these are my friends Robbie and Henry. They’re brothers, and they live two houses down with Mrs. Agosta.”
Mrs. Agosta was Dominican and closing in on seventy. Harper was pretty sure she wasn’t the boys’ mother.
“Guys, this is my friend, Harper.”
“Hi,” Robbie said, holding out a hand. He had earnest green eyes and a smattering of freckles across his nose.
“Nice to meet you, Robbie.” Harper took his hand. “Hi, Henry.”
Henry, a miniature version of his brother, waved cheerfully, and his smile showed that he was missing a front tooth.
“Robbie and Henry are hanging out while Mrs. Agosta takes their sister to the doctor.”
“Her snot’s green. It’s gross,” Henry announced, tossing his glove in the air.
“Wow, that is gross,” Harper agreed. “Do you guys want to stay for dinner?”
“What are you having?” Robbie asked.
Luke cuffed him on the back of the head.
“What?” Robbie asked. “I don’t want to stay if it’s, like, liver and garbage. ”
Luke wrapped him in a headlock. “You’re such a little jerk,” he said, ruffling Robbie’s hair.
“Burgers, tater tots, and salad.” Harper ticked off on her fingers. “Is that better than liver and garbage?”
“Well, the burgers and tater tots are,” Robbie agreed.
“I love tater tots,” Henry squealed. He launched himself at Harper’s legs for a quick hug before spinning off to tag his brother. “You’re it,” he shouted.
The boys tore off in a high-energy game of tag, leaving Harper and Luke alone on the patio.
“Sorry about that. I should have texted you to warn you about the extra testosterone.”
“It’s a nice surprise. Besides, two extra mouths will go further on the eight-pack of burgers I brought home.”
“I’ll fire up the grill,” he grinned. “Good luck talking them into the salad.”
Harper did talk them into the salad but had to promise they could each pick an ingredient before they agreed. Harper chose tomatoes. Robbie wanted bacon. Henry decided on Cheetos.
“Can we really do that?” Robbie whispered over the counter with concern.
Harper shrugged. “Maybe they’ll taste like croutons?”
She put Henry in charge of putting the tater tots on the baking sheet and Robbie rinsing the lettuce while she fried the bacon and diced tomatoes.
“Do you live here with Mr. Luke?” Henry asked, adjusting the last tater tot.
“I do.”
“Are you married?”
“Nope. Are you?”
Henry frowned. “No. Girls are gross.”
“Robbie, do you think girls are gross?” Harper asked as he brought the lettuce back to the counter and dumped it in a large bowl.
He shrugged. “Some of them are okay, I guess.”
Harper put the tater tots in the oven and set the timer. “So, is Mrs. Agosta your grandma?” she asked the boys.
“Huh-uh.” Robbie shook his head. “We’re not even related.”
“We’re fosters,” Henry piped up, carefully placing Cheetos on the lettuce.
“Me, too,” Harper said, adding the tomatoes and the bacon to the salad.
“You’re a foster kid?” Robbie’s interest was piqued.
“Yep.”
“Is Mr. Luke your foster dad?” Henry asked.
Robbie rolled his eyes. “No, dummy, they’re boyfriend-girlfriend.” Harper didn’t bother correcting him. The truth would only confuse them… and her.
“Did you get real parents?” Henry wondered.
Harper shook her head. “No, I didn’t get adopted. But I got to meet a lot of nice families.”
“Mrs. Agosta is nice. She’s teaching us Spanish. Do you think we’ll get ’dopted?”
Harper paused mid-salad-toss. Luke, holding a plate of burgers, had come in the back door just in time to hear Henry’s question.
The boys were watching her closely, and she knew what they wanted. She had wanted it, too. Sometimes still wanted it. Hope.
“Well, you’re not overly smelly,” she poked Henry in the belly until he giggled. “And you’re kind of cute. You seem nice. You haven’t destroyed Mr. Luke’s house yet. So yeah, you’ll have a family. And in the meantime, you get to stay with nice Mrs. Agosta and learn Spanish.”
“I can count!” Henry announced. “ Uno , dos , tres … ” He counted out each Cheeto as he placed it on the salad.
“Burgers are done,” Luke said, finally venturing past the doorway.
“Awesome,” Robbie said, sniffing the air. “I love burgers. Do you have ketchup and mustard? Is there cheese?”
Harper took her time counting out four plates as the boys chattered to Luke. She hoped for their sake that there was a family out there looking for three kids.
They ate at the breakfast bar with the boys sitting on stools and Harper and Luke standing. Harper and the kids traded funny stories about foster care. The Cheetos salad turned out to be a hit. Even Robbie cleaned his bowl.
Harper and Luke let themselves be talked into going for ice cream before taking the boys home.
Their sister, Ava, a tiny dark-haired version of her brothers, was sound asleep on the couch when they arrived at Mrs. Agosta’s house.
Diagnosed with a sinus infection, she would be good as new in a few days.
Mrs. Agosta thanked them profusely for helping and sent them home with fresh blueberry muffins.
They walked home in silence with the sunset blazing in the western sky. It was nice having the boys over, Harper thought as she mounted the porch steps. Their chatter and energy covered up the low hum of conflict that constantly buzzed between her and Luke.
Something was going to have to change and fast.
“You’re really good with them,” Luke said, dropping down on the top step.
Harper paused and leaned against the railing. She knew what he was doing, even if he wasn’t aware. The pull between them only strengthened behind closed doors. Outside was safer.
“You, too. Nice coaching on the curve ball.”
Luke smiled. “They’re really good kids.” He took off his hat and toyed with it. “Did you mean what you said? That you think they’ll find a family?”
Harper sat down next to him and sighed. “It’s three kids, and none of them are babies. It’ll be hard, but yeah. I think there’s going to be a family that falls for them hard. How could you not?”
“Why do you think you were never adopted?” He was watching her now, and Harper kept her expression neutral.
“I was seven when I went into foster care. The majority of adoptions are for babies and toddlers. The older kids just can’t compete with that. I think some people worry that the older ones are too damaged.”
Luke put his arm around her. “You’re not damaged.”
Harper smiled. “No, I’m not now. But I was then. You have to be someone really special to want to tackle a project like that. But I, like all kids, was resilient. Someday I’ll have my own family, and it’ll all be worth it.”
Luke squeezed her shoulder.
“Do you ever think about having kids?” Harper asked.
He was silent for a long moment. “I used to.”
“Do you ever get lonely?”
Luke sighed. “Yeah.”
“Me, too.”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re going to have everything you want someday.”
She dropped her head to his shoulder. “Until then, this isn’t so bad.”