She leaned back and looked up into his dark, intense gaze. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. And I don’t want to miss you anymore.”
He smiled down at her, then bending over, he kissed her. His mouth was warm and gentle, and Janie melted into his embrace.
When he pulled away, her heart was beating quickly, her cheeks flushed and she felt as if her feet didn’t touch the ground.
He smiled down at her, then slowly drew in a breath. “I love you, Janie.”
His simple declaration surrounded her. Filled the empty places. “I love you, too.” Janie stroked his cheek, resting her fingertips on his mouth. “And I’m glad you came into my life. You’ve taught me a lot. About letting people help. About not trying to do everything myself. And I think I’ll need your help. For a long time.”
Luke rested his forehead against hers, and the sigh he released seemed to embody her feelings as well.
“That sounds like a proposal.”
“Well, I think that’s your job.”
“I would hope so.”
She stood on tiptoe and brushed a kiss over his lips. He caught her close and deepened the kiss full of promises and hope.
“So, I suppose we should go back to the house. The kids will be wondering what is going on.”
“And what do we tell them?” Luke asked, his voice holding a gentle intimacy as they turned around. “That for better or for worse—”
“For richer or for poorer,” Janie added her voice to the quiet vow.
“I’m looking forward to telling them.”
“And of course, after that, we’ll have to tell my mom and dad and Dodie. Aunt Dot and Uncle Morris, Ethan and Hannah and Francine. Uncle Fred and Sarah and Logan.” She gave him a rueful smile. “You’re not just getting me and the kids, you know. You’re getting a clan.”
“I’ve never had a big family.”
Janie hesitated, then plunged in. “And your mother. She’ll need to know.”
Luke glanced down at her, but he was still smiling. “Of course.” He brushed his lips over hers, as if drawing from her. “I’d like you to come with me. I’d like her to formally meet you.”
“Maybe we could take the kids along. Go all together.”
“Together. I like the sound of that.”
“And we can’t forget Cooper.”
“Especially Cooper. He does have a stake in the relationship,” Luke said with a laugh. “After all, if it wasn’t for him…”
“I’d still have some nice petunias.”
Luke laughed and gave her another hug.
“And the house?” Janie asked. “Are you still selling it?”
“I don’t know. I’m kind of attached to it, though I did buy it with my partner to flip it. I might have to buy him out, after all.”
“You know, if you’re interested, I know of another place you could pick up on the cheap that could use some work,” Janie said, letting a coy note enter her voice.
“I don’t know. I have a bunch of money tied up in a building downtown. Used to have a coffee shop in it?”
Janie frowned, trying to gather what he said. “You bought the building?”
“I had plans. Lots of plans. Something about a bookstore run in conjunction with a coffee shop…” He let the sentence, rife with promises and expectation, drift into the night.
Janie laughed. “So you’re the mystery buyer.”
He nodded.
“That’s unexpected.”
“It’s the way I operate.”
Janie held his gaze as her mind flipped back to the first time she saw him. How she resented his intrusion in her life. His and Cooper’s.
And now she stood in the circle of his arms, the promise of a future shimmering around them both.
A family. For both of them.
Epilogue
Two months later
“Luke. Can you put this on the table?” Janie took a platter of ham from the oven and set it on the island between the kitchen and the dining room. She nudged Cooper aside and walked to the refrigerator to get the sauce she’d made just this afternoon.
Luke frowned, and then his eyes met hers across the kitchen and he grinned. “Sorry, I was just helping Todd with the two-headed Hydra.”
“How supportive of you,” she said smiling at her husband.
Luke frowned as he reached for the platter. “I thought Suzie was helping you?”
“She’s getting a bowl from the other house.”
Luke set the platter on a table that already held three salads, a bowl of buns, gravy and sour cream. “You realize you won’t have room here for the potatoes.”
The ringing of the doorbell sent Cooper scurrying across the tile floor.
“Cooper, down.” Luke and Janie cried out in unison.
Cooper skidded to a halt before he got to the wood floor of the hallway, then turned to look at Luke and Janie as if checking to see if they were indeed serious.
“Hello, the house,” Dodie called out from the front door. “We’re here.”
Dodie was shrugging off her coat, walking toward the closet in the hallway as her parents stepped into the house.
Her mother carried a bouquet of flowers, her father a jug of sweet cider.
“Come on in,” Janie said, shivering as the cool fall air followed her parents inside.
Her mother was looking around the house, her eyes missing nothing. Janie resisted the urge to straighten the rug Cooper had been lying on moments before and to pick up the toys Autumn had dropped before she went upstairs to change.
“Hello, hello,” her mother said, handing Janie the flowers. She leaned forward and kissed her daughter. Then, as she stepped back, reached out and straightened Janie’s collar. “The house looks lovely. Are you all moved in?”
“I’m sure it will take a couple of weeks yet, but we’re getting there.”
“Have you sold the other place yet?” her father asked as he looked around the entrance as well.
“Luke is going to fix it up first.”
“In all his spare time?” Dan Westerveld asked, pushing open the doors leading to the living room.
“The shop is going pretty good. Right, Dodie?” Janie asked, staying in the front entrance with her sister.
“Gangbusters,” Dodie said as she bent over to fondle Cooper’s ears. “Though I don’t know how impressed Luke is with the knitting concept I want to introduce to that empty corner of the bookstore.”
“You still campaigning for your knitting corner?” Luke asked as he met his in-laws coming through the door from the living room into the dining area. “Hello, Tilly. Dan.”
“I’ve got the bowl,” Suzie announced as she stepped into the kitchen from the back door.
“Here I am,” Autumn announced, pushing Cooper aside as she came down the stairs.
The family converged on the dining room. As Janie put the flowers in water, she directed Suzie, who was mashing the potatoes.
The talk circled from the house, to the changing cost of real estate, to the business Luke and Janie had set up in the building Luke had purchased.
“I think we can eat,” she said as Suzie put the steaming bowl mounded with yellow potatoes on the table.
Luke frowned at the place settings as everyone found a chair and sat down. “You put out one too many,” he said, just as the doorbell rang again.
Relief surged through Janie. “Just sit down. I’m expecting someone else.”
She ignored Luke’s frown as she hurried down the hall, hoping, praying. Then she opened the door and there stood Luke’s mother.
She held a fruit platter and wore beige slacks, a leather jacket and a tentative smile.
“Am I too late?” she asked.
Janie glanced over her shoulder as Luke joined them in the front hall. His frown slowly shifted, and Janie saw in his eyes a flash of hope.
“You’re right on time, Lillian,” Janie said, stepping aside to let Luke’s mother in. “Suzie, can you t
ake the fruit platter from Ms. Harris and put it on the island?”
“Why can’t Todd do it?” she complained.
“Because you’re my slave,” Janie said with a wink.
Suzie just rolled her eyes but thankfully did as she was told.
“Thanks for having me,” Lillian said, her smile tentative.
Luke’s arm tightened around Janie’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming, Mom.”
“So, shall we eat?” Janie asked. “I’m sure everyone’s hungry. Suzie, can you show Lillian where she’ll be sitting?
Suzie nodded, then turned and led the way into the dining area. Janie was about to follow when Luke pulled her back. He turned her to face him, his expression bemused. “You’re an amazing woman, Janie Harris. Have I ever told you that?”
“Not for the last few minutes,” Janie returned with a teasing smile.
“I’m losing my touch.” He stroked her face, cupped her cheek and brushed a lingering kiss over her lips. “Well, you are. And God has blessed me beyond blessings.”
“And me, Luke,” Janie said, returning his kiss.
“Can we eat?” Autumn called out. “Cooper is hungry.”
“We’d better go,” Janie said. “Don’t want to keep our family waiting.”
“Our family.” Luke smiled. “I like the sound of that.”
Dear Reader,
This story came to me as I was watching my daughter’s dog, also a golden Lab, also a Cooper, running around the yard. He was so full of life and energy, most of it uncontrolled at the time. So I wondered what would happen if a dog like that were to burst into the lives of a woman and her family. A woman who wanted—needed—control.
A woman like Janie Corbett.
The dog would, of course, need an owner who felt adrift. Enter Luke with his desire for family and connection. And because he lived next door…
This is a theme that comes up frequently in my books and is, in fact, the theme of my Web site—Coming Home to Family and Faith. I believe we are all looking for a connection of one sort or another. We find it in family, community. We find it in our pets.
But I pray that you may find your strongest connection in the Lord, who is constantly seeking us and waiting for us to find Him.
If you want to find out more about me and my other Love Inspired books, stop by my Web site:
www.carolyneaarsen.com.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What do you think is the theme of this book?
Which character did you sympathize with most, and why?
Luke was seeking family. Why do you think he didn’t bother to look to his mother for what he needed?
Why do you think Luke kept avoiding his mother? Was he justified in doing so?
Why do you think Janie kept Luke at arm’s length?
Who was Janie protecting more, herself or her children?
How did this book make you look at the people in your own life?
Has the author of this book portrayed faith realistically? Why or why not?
How are pets important in our lives?
Do you think our society places too much importance on pets? Why or why not?
Luke had to learn to forgive his mother. Is there someone in your life you are struggling to forgive?
How was Luke’s attitude toward his mother hampering his faith life? Was Janie right to challenge him?
When do we decide that we have forgiven enough? Is there such a time?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-2700-6
A FAMILY FOR LUKE
Copyright © 2009 by Carolyne Aarsen
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.
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*Stealing Home
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A Family for Luke Page 18