by Carol Rose
"No." She shook her head. "Scott and Melanie are coming later to help out with the clean up. Thanks, though."
"Okay, if you're sure. I guess I'll be going." Not knowing what else to do, he turned to leave.
"Luke!" Lillie caught his arm as he turned. As if giving in to a spontaneous impulse, she leaned closer, brushing a kiss against his cheek. "Thank you so much."
Nodding wordlessly, he left.
* * *
On the morning of Scott and Melanie's wedding, Lillie drove to the old stone house surrounded by Luke's immaculately-groomed gardens. She might be fighting just to face each day, but she still had work to do. If nothing else, she owed it to her brother.
The next few hours were a jumble of deliveries and arrangements. When Lillie went out onto the porch to direct the set-up of the chairs and the wedding arch, she spotted Luke immediately.
He was dressed in work clothes, his broad shoulders flexing as he and one of his crew bent to straighten a decorative concrete bench. Lillie turned away.
She'd been in a whirlwind of anguish and regret since the wedding shower. His response to her cake disaster had only intensified her frustration and despair after a brief surge of tenderness had swamped her. How could he declare her insignificant in his life and then do something as sweet as rushing to help her?
"Did you want these set up in the garden, ma'am?"
The delivery man's voice jolted her out of her thoughts. "No, the chairs are to be set up on the flat area by the river just through that hedge."
The next hour was busy. Lillie supervised the arrangement of the chairs and the arch, positioned between the two great willows. But Luke wouldn't leave her mind. Every glimpse she caught of him was like a knife shredding her dreams.
Although a florist had been hired to do the flowers for the wedding party, Luke had insisted on doing the decorations for the ceremony itself. Reluctantly, Lillie walked up the aisle to tell him the arch that would frame the couple was ready for his final touches. It took every particle of willpower she possessed to function normally when he was near. All she wanted to do was sit down and cry.
He was at the top of the stone path, setting out pots of flowers around the table where the guest book would be.
Another arch, covered in blooming vines, framed the pathway. Lillie stopped under it, feeling unsteady as she struggled to keep her face expressionless. "They've finished setting up the arch over the altar. It's ready when you are."
Luke swung around to face her, as if seeing her for the first time that day. A clouded intentness filled his dark eyes, his face serious.
Lillie's heart felt as if it were pounding an edgy rhythm.
"Thanks," Luke said, quietly. "We're almost ready to do it."
"You're welcome." Lillie turned and walked up to the house, forcing herself not to look back. Taking a deep breath, she made herself focus on Scott and Melanie's wedding regardless of the fact that her heart was crumbling.
The next hour was filled with small crises, the hallmark of any wedding. With sheer willpower, Lillie coped with them, wishing all the time that she could run away and drown in her misery.
When the minister arrived and all the members of the bridal party were dressed and in position, the ceremony started. Lillie directed the processional from the back, planning to slip in and take her place in the front row after the bride's entrance. Standing at the top of the aisle, she reminded the bridesmaids to walk slowly.
Luke escorted his mother to her seat and returned, waiting to walk Melanie down the aisle. Every nerve in Lillie's body went on alert when he passed where she stood.
Deliberately focusing on Scott as he stood waiting at the altar, Lillie thought how happy her parents would have been to see this moment.
As the flower girl and ring boy meandered down the aisle, Lillie waited beside Melanie, still struggling to keep her attention off Luke who stood on the other side of his sister.
"Now," she said, motioning Melanie forward when the congregation rose as the musicians began the bridal march. A sea of faces turned to watch Melanie's approach, admiring smiles evident.
Lillie watched as sister and brother walked gracefully down the aisle, Luke's tuxedoed shoulders magnificent next to his sister's delicate beauty. A minute later, everyone was in place, Melanie and Scott and Luke standing before the minister.
Slipping quickly down the aisle, Lillie sat down in her seat. Glancing up at the front, she caught Luke's eye. He stood watching her rather than the minister, his eyes dark and intense.
Lillie felt the faintest breeze feather across her skin, felt her heart accelerate as if she were running to meet him. In that second as tears clouded her eyes, she wondered if she were mad to turn him away. Couldn't the power of her own love for him sustain her?
Looking away, she focused on the scene beside the river. Melanie and Scott stood beneath an arch festooned with ivy. The giant willow trees made an arch of their own above, an occasional breeze rustling through the willow limbs.
After Luke took his seat next to his mother, the ceremony passed in a blur as Lillie replayed the last four and a half months. Never in her life had she been so confused about love. Her parents' quietly committed marriage, no matter how true, hadn't prepared her for the tumultuous fire storm Luke ignited in her.
It wasn't until the musicians struck up the recessional that Lillie jerked out of her reverie. She hurried to her feet, slipping away from the other guests. She should have been checking the reception area instead of getting lost in her own painful thoughts.
The reception was to be held in the gardens themselves. A head table had been set up with a dance floor ringed by clusters of round tables for the guests. The day had turned out to be beautiful. Skies were a clear Florida blue, the gathering breeze just enough to tug at the skirts of the tables. Luke had been right about the house and gardens being the perfect place for a wedding.
Try as she might, Lillie couldn't dismiss him from her awareness. Even though she scurried around assisting the caterers, she was still torturously aware of his every move.
Nervously arranging the napkins beside the punch bowl, her attention was unwillingly drawn by the sound of his voice.
Lillie felt her stomach clench as his dark gaze stumbled against hers. Luke held her stare a second before glancing up briefly at the clear, bright sky.
Frowning, Lillie forced her eyes down to the napkins in her hand. The buffet had been laid out on a table near the house. When all the guests had filed through the receiving line, the musicians struck up the first dance.
Soon the dance floor was filled with a happy throng. Lillie caught a glimpse of Luke dancing with the maid-of-honor. She remembered how it felt to be in Luke's arms, held close while they moved to the rhythm of their beating hearts. Feeling as if her eyes were glued to him, she wondered if she would always feel this way. Always know this slice of pain inside when she saw him.
He glanced up then, catching her watching him and that same intent, bewildering expression crossed his face.
Lillie turned and left. She hid in the house, unnecessarily straightening the kitchen and organizing the dressing rooms until it was time to initiate the cutting of the cake.
Luke stood to the side of the dance floor with several other men, the conversation ringing out with laughter.
As she passed him, Lillie saw Luke glance up at the sky, a frown on his face. She followed his gaze. Surely, he didn't think it was going to rain. The sky was perfectly clear even though the wind had picked up some.
With the cutting of the cake, there were more plates of food to distribute. Even attending to the reception details didn't distract her from her awareness of Luke.
When Lillie crossed half an hour later with a handful of dirty cake plates, Luke was still on the dance floor, now swaying to the music with his mother. The sight startled her. Although he seemed to have gotten over his initial refusal to have anything to do with Janet, Lillie hadn't realized their rift was mended to this degree.<
br />
Had he worked through his anger enough to actually forgive his mother?
As she approached, Luke looked up and met her gaze. Again he glanced up at the empty sky. Lillie looked up, too, feeling both foolish and compelled.
Nothing. She remembered the old trick when someone stood on a street corner staring up at nothing just to see how many people he could get to join him.
Maybe the man was trying to make her nuts. Feeling edgy and at loose ends, Lillie checked on the buffet table again.
"Everything's going very well." Luke's voice jolted her as she picked up a stray cheese ball from the table cloth.
Lillie glanced up. "Yes," she said nervously.
"You must feel proud of yourself," he suggested, flashing a glance up to the sky.
"Are you expecting rain?" she asked, unable to ignore his preoccupation.
"No," he said shortly. He reached for a plate, glanced at the sky again and swore under his breath.
"What's wrong?" He was starting to worry her.
"Nothing." Luke dropped the plate onto the buffet table and stalked away.
Lillie stared after him.
"Don't mind him." Janet's voice startled her from behind. "He's just been upset lately."
The woman smiled blandly. "Melanie tells me he lost the corporate contract he was hoping for. That's probably why he's been in such a bad mood lately."
"He lost the contract?" Lillie repeated. "That must be very disappointing."
"Yes," his mother agreed. "Although how he expected to win it when he missed his appointment with the vice president of the company, I don't know."
The expression on Janet's face puzzled Lillie, her mysterious smile odd considering the content of their conversation. "He missed his appointment? That doesn't sound like Luke."
"Yes, I believe it was a week ago Friday afternoon." Luke's mother said, still smiling. "Now what do you think could have been important enough to keep him away from a business meeting he'd been planning for months?"
Friday afternoon. A week ago.
Realization crashed over Lillie like a wave of ice water. "My van broke down last Friday," she said numbly. "I wondered why he was so dressed up."
Janet leaned forward and hugged her. "Yes, dear. Good luck."
With those words, Luke's mother turned and walked away.
Lillie stared after her, struggling to comprehend the significance of Janet's bombshell. Luke had lost out on his big contract because he'd chosen to help save her melting wedding cake?
Finding a nearby garden seat, Lillie sank down, oblivious to the celebration going on around her. Luke had sacrificed something very important to him. For her. He'd put her interests before his own.
Why on earth would he have done such a thing? He'd talked about that contract doubling his business. Yet he'd risked and lost it in order to save her business. And he'd done it without a whisper. It didn't make any sense.
"Lillie," Melanie swept up to where she sat. "Isn't it time to throw the bouquet?"
"Of course." Lillie shook off her bemusement and got up to encourage the single women to vie for the bouquet.
After the bouquet toss and the throwing of the garter, the crowd dispersed then, drifting back to the dance floor, some returning to the buffet table.
Pushing back an errant strand of hair, Lillie glanced around for Luke. She had no idea what she would say to him, but she felt a compelling urge to find him and throw herself into his arms.
While Melanie and Scott were changing in preparation to leave, Lillie walked through the crowd of wedding guests. This wasn't the time or the place to talk, but she couldn't stop herself from looking for Luke.
Ten minutes later, the happy couple ran out of the house in a shower of birdseed, racing down to Scott's car. When they'd driven off with a clatter of cans and a flurry of streamers waving behind them, some of the guests returned to the dance floor. Others made their farewells.
Anxiety crept into Lillie's consciousness as time ticked forward.
Finally she caught sight of Luke standing by the buffet downing the first glass of champagne she'd seen in his hand. He slammed the glass down on the table, the gesture appearing both angry and frustrated.
Lillie approached within a few feet of him on the serving side of the buffet table, just outside of his range of vision.
Suddenly, his head snapped up, his face both tense and relieved as he stared into the sky.
"It's about damn time," Luke muttered.
A sputtery, coughing drone drew Lillie's attention up as well. The small plane's engine was barely audible over the noise of the band. Only a tiny fleck against the expanse of blue, the plane meandered across the sky.
A movement from Luke caught her attention. He looked over, his glance halting when it met hers. A flare of something lit his eyes.
He looked up again, still tense, an air of expectancy in his movement.
The plane flew overhead. A drift of smoke trailed after it.
Lillie stared up at the sky as the plane looped around. The smoke it trailed began to look like letters. An L?
The buzzing plane looped down to outline a U. Lillie felt a prickle along her neck. When a K followed, the prickle turned into a shiver.
By this time, the wedding guests had noticed the sky writer above them. The crowd, already boisterous, began making bets on the finished message.
An E finished the first word as the plane swung around for another pass.
This was what Luke had been expecting?
The next word started with an L. By the time the plane trailed out an O, the wind appeared to be dissipating Luke's name. The next letter was hard to make out. Was it an E or an S? Something that looked like a T followed.
Luke lost? Lost what?
Lillie heard Luke groan.
A strange tingling filled her when the small plane started on the next word, inscribing an L in a thin stream of white in the sky.
"Hey, Luke!" a jovial voice called out. "What is it you've lost?"
Slamming an open hand down on the buffet table, Luke bit out a crude expletive.
Startled and almost as jumpy as he was, Lillie leaned forward to hiss, "What's the matter?"
His head reared back. "You want to know what's the matter? I'll tell you," he roared. "I stupidly shelled out money for a big romantic gesture that's blowing off with the wind as we speak!"
"What?"
Luke braced his arms on the table and leaned across to where she stood. "The guy up in the plane was supposed to spell 'Luke loves Lillie'," he ground out, his voice goaded and his face dark.
"Oh, my," Lillie whispered, too stunned to do anything but look at him.
Without another word, he spun around and stalked away through the laughing crowd.
Luke loves Lillie? Written on the sky for all to see?
A wild rush of emotion choked her, tears of joy stinging her eyes. He had struggled to say the words to her himself, but he'd paid to have them painted on the sky because he thought she needed a "big, romantic gesture."
She'd been wrong all along. A man could love a woman even if the trappings of romance made no sense to him. Love meant more than spouting poetry on Valentine's Day. Luke had been there for her in the most important moments, but she'd been blinded by his inability to tell her his feelings in words.
Blinded by his stumbling over the one word.
"Luke!" she called out, before realizing he'd completely disappeared.
The crowd of wedding guests were a kaleidoscope around her. Lillie quickly stepped around the buffet table, barely acknowledging their smiles and teasing remarks.
Hurrying through the garden, she stopped when Luke's mother reached out to her, smiling. "I'll take care of everything here. You just go after him."
Lillie smiled back tremulously and raced on to find Luke. A quick glance in the parking lot told her he'd left already.
Luke loves Lillie. A shiver trickled down her back.
Driving to his apartment, she c
oached herself, practicing words she immediately forgot. She turned onto his street, suddenly wondering if he'd gone to his office instead.
The sight of his car parked haphazardly in front of his apartment building reassured her.
She parked the van, got out and swiftly climbed the steps to his apartment.
He opened the door almost immediately. In place of his tuxedo, he wore faded jeans and an unbuttoned chambray shirt.
Luke held the door open, surprise in his face. "I was coming back to help you clean up," he started, looking almost embarrassed.
Lillie stood in front of his door, the scene so reminiscent of her middle-of-the-night rejection it seemed like deja vu.
And yet everything was different.
Without a word, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him. Their lips met in a heated reunion. A kiss that tasted still of desperation, of near losses. Lillie reveled in the strength of his arms around her, the thundering of his heart against her.
Breaking free long enough to swing the door closed, Luke buried his face in the curve of her neck, his breath warm against her skin, his arms holding her tight against him.
"I want you to understand," she said unsteadily, "that I don't give a damn about the sky writing."
Luke straightened, searching her face. "You don't."
"No, I don't. I've been confused all this time," Lillie said. "Love is more about actions than words. What you did--rescuing my melting cake instead of going to your appointment--it means more than any words you could ever say."
"Who told you?" he asked, his face filled with a tenderness and intensity she'd never seen.
"Your mother," Lillie told him. "At least she hinted at it enough so I figured out what happened."
"What I said about not believing in love?" he murmured against her cheek. "Well, I'm not very good at hearts and poetry, but I'm going to try. I need you. More than I ever thought possible."
"I don't give a damn about what you've heard about Angie. I never loved anyone till you. It didn't hit me until after you turned my proposal down flat, that this thing between us--wanting you, wanting to make you happy and feeling crappy when you're mad at me--it is love."
Luke set her away from him, reaching into his back pocket before sinking down on one knee before her. In his hand, winked a diamond ring in a tiny velvet box. "I love you, Lillie. Will you marry me?"