Chapter 31
Luke and I watched Luna until she disappeared inside the tennis center before pulling out of the crushed shell parking lot. He’d invited me to check out his housing project site with him today.
Within two days of mentioning it to her last month, Francesca had secured the Daniel Fisher House—one of the Vineyard Preservation Trust’s most beautiful properties—for the fundraiser on a Friday night the third week of August. She even convinced them to cut the reservation fee as a contribution to the cause.
Ticket sales were off to a great start. Francesca was handling almost everything, but she kept me in the loop.
I’d gone with her the other day to seek donations and ticket purchases from some local business owners.
Not everyone was an affordable housing enthusiast per se, but most people agreed they’d prefer their favorite restaurants and businesses on the island be open seven days a week and recognized the need for more housing options to achieve that.
I was holding my breath now that we were alone in his truck. It made me think of the night he took me to Menemsha in pieces and brought me back feeling more whole.
I glanced at his profile. The angular nose, full lips, long lashes. He’d always been incredibly handsome, but now that I knew him—how beautiful he was on the inside—he was devastating.
“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked, his deep voice carrying easily over the tones of the classic rock song on the radio.
How good-looking you are.
Some women would say it. But I wasn’t a confident flirt like that, despite the numerous indications he’d given me that he was interested. Despite what my brother said about the way he looked at me.
It’d been almost two weeks since Luke visited me in the hospital and I told him Max and I were over.
He hadn’t done anything. I wasn’t surprised.
He didn’t seem like the type to move in on someone who’d only been single for a couple of weeks.
I tried not to let it make me think there weren’t feelings on his side.
It wasn’t like he had many opportunities while I was spending so much time with my family over the past week.
But in quieter moments, I’d begun to question whether he reciprocated my crush after all.
Maybe he’s just a good friend. Maybe he isn’t looking for anything right now.
I couldn’t let my mind linger on those thoughts for long, though.
The disappointment was too overwhelming.
He stole a quick look at me in the passenger seat, reminding me he’d asked me a question. “I’m excited to see the site!” I said finally.
He chuckled. “I appreciate the enthusiasm. The model home is just a slab foundation and the frame right now, but I can walk you through what it will look like.” A lock of hair fell into the middle of his forehead, and he pushed it back reflexively.
Within five minutes, we pulled up to the construction site.
It was tucked in a neighborhood off the main road, perfectly situated just outside of town and along the bus route.
We climbed out of the car—Luke tucking his hard hat under his arm—and walked over to the only structure on the site.
Three men in yellow hard hats, jeans, and T-shirts boasting the Karas Construction logo lugged two-by-fours and power tools to different spots in the structure.
Luke grabbed an extra hard hat from a folding table set up outside the framed-out door opening.
He motioned me to him with his hand, and my body obeyed.
He lifted both arms to place the hat on my head, and the motion brought me back to that night alone in his shed for a second.
I tucked my light brown hair behind my ears and looked up at him from under the little brim.
He was already looking at me, and our eyes locked.
He shook his head almost imperceptibly as the corner of his mouth lifted, revealing his dimple under his freshly trimmed beard.
What? I almost asked him, but he was already turning to enter the site.
When I looked up, all three of the workers were watching us. “Hey, boss,” one of them called.
“If I hear one whistle, you’re all fired,” Luke said.
My cheeks flamed as I looked down at my outfit: a V-neck T-shirt, a tennis skort, and sneakers.
“Alright, boss,” the same worker said, winking at me.
“I don’t even know how to whistle,” another one called from the far corner.
“Shut up, Tony!” Luke and the third worker said in unison. Luke was shaking his head, but a smirk tugged on one of his cheeks.
I smirked, too. They clearly had a good rapport.
“Alright, so, this is the front, obviously. We’ll hang a bunch of hooks here and build a closet here.
” He gestured to each side of the entry.
“The first bedroom is right off the entry to the left. If you walk straight back, there will be a kitchen and living room that spans most of the back of the house, full bathroom in the far corner where Tony’s working, and two more bedrooms off this hall with a Jack ’n’ Jill bathroom in between.
Oh, and a deck off the back of the kitchen.
And that’s it.” He spread his arms wide in what will be the kitchen area.
His words were humble, but his excitement was as clear as day.
This is what it looks like when you love what you do.
“I like the layout. It’s going to be so nice. You have me wishing I was twenty again with a job here for the summer. I’m jealous of these future renters.”
“Me too, honestly. You should have seen the place Jeremiah and I rented. It was…not nice.”
I giggled at his tone.
“Wanna see the rest of the property? Most of the other lots are cleared.”
“Of course.”
Luke turned to his employees. “Keep up the good work, guys. Let me know what you need. I’ll swing by later to help out.”
“See ya!” they called. A chorus of nail guns and country music on a radio sang us farewell.
I followed Luke down the makeshift dirt road created by tire treads from heavy vehicles.
Luke explained that there will be four bungalows at the beginning of the property.
Then on each side of the road, there would be some multi-level townhomes.
When it was done, there would be fifteen bungalows and fifteen townhomes, for a total of ninety bedrooms.
At the end of the road, he motioned to a large, cleared area. “The last thing we’ll build is a pool, small indoor gym, and basketball court.”
“This is so cool, Luke. No wonder you got the contract from the town. It’s going to be incredible.
” I spun in a circle, visualizing what the idyllic little rental neighborhood would look like when it was finished.
“And I can’t believe how much progress you’ve already made.
I’m so impressed. Plus, this is going to preserve some of the culture of the island—the seasonal workers traveling from around the world to live and work here for the summer. You must be so proud.”
He looked at me from under his eyelashes. “Thanks, Val.” He said it quietly, like he wasn’t sure he agreed.
“What?”
He swallowed, looking around. It was just gaps in between green trees, but with a dream’s worth of potential. “I am proud.” He said it like he was trying to convince himself. “I built something.”
“You did.” I couldn’t help my smile when I added, “Literally and figuratively.” His eyes flashed to mine and his own smile broke on his lips. “Why does it sound like you don’t fully believe it?”
He inclined his head in the direction we came from, and I fell into step next to him. The sky was gray, humidity making my T-shirt stick to my skin. The foretellings of a summer storm.
Luke finally answered my question. “My dad was one of the people that wasn’t super impressed with my career plan.
He didn’t think construction was sophisticated enough work for his son.
He considered it…I don’t know. He never said it like this, but I could tell he considered it a low-education, blue collar, last-resort job you did if you couldn’t get something else. ”
“You have an MBA!” I all but shouted.
His mouth curved. “Yeah, but it’s an online one from Southern New Hampshire University. They let everyone in. It’s not exactly Wharton.”
I stopped walking, wanting to look at him.
“I know, but that doesn’t make it inferior.
You learn the exact same things at Wharton.
And most people who graduate from there are too confident for their own good.
Successful businesses don’t spring up naturally from a Wharton diploma frame like a weed.
It’s hard work. You found something you loved, learned a skill, started your own business, decided to further your education to enhance your business, you’re working your ass off, and you’re thriving.
That’s so impressive. And even if you didn’t have that MBA, I still can’t see how your dad would be anything but proud of you.
” I was pacing in front of him, gesticulating wildly, not even trying to temper the flare of indignation I felt on Luke’s behalf.
He probably thought I was a crazy person.
I looked up, expecting to see a look of bewilderment at my outburst.
But instead he was staring at me with something that resembled admiration.
“Sorry,” I said, sheepish.
“Don’t be.” He stepped forward, pulled me into him, and wrapped his arms around my back. It was as if he couldn’t express what he wanted to say with words, so he said it with his body instead. He kissed the top of my hair, and I swore my heart stopped. He stepped back but didn’t break our contact.
We walked to his truck with his arm around my shoulders. Like we did that all the time. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.