Luke stood there staring at Mindi with unblinking eyes. She knew by the look on his face, he didn’t believe her. “Luke, just let it go, please.”
“I can’t. I told you I’d give you time to think. But I’m still not backing off.” She had no warning of his intentions. He had his hand in her hair, and her body pressed against him, with his mouth open over hers. He ran the tip of his tongue over her closed mouth, causing her to gasp. Taking full advantage of her response, his tongue darted between her parted lips.
She melted into him, wrapping her arms around him. It didn’t matter how irritated she was at him. One small assault with his lips, and she was a goner. He could do whatever he wanted. Despite the fact, that less than a minute ago she was thinking of doing the same thing, she was still irritated at herself for not being able to resist him.
When he pulled his head back and looked down at her, she was gasping for air, struggling to catch her breath. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was wishing he hadn’t stopped so soon.
“Can you honestly tell me you feel this way with anyone else? If you can, I’ll back off,” he said, fire burning in his eyes.
“No,” she whispered, her voice shaking with desire and emotion. “But you have to give me a chance to get things in the right order.”
He let her go and stepped back. “Fine. You need to start with Jake.”
“Grr. I told you, he’s not here for me.”
“Are you completely sure of that?” Luke was determined to keep pushing the issue. She felt like pulling her hair out.
Jake picked that moment to enter the kitchen. When he stepped through the batwing doors, he took one look at the scene in front of him, and turned around and went back out to the living room.
“Fine, if it will make you feel better, I’ll go talk to him. You’re welcome to sit in, so you know I’m not intentionally leading him on.”
Mindi headed through the swinging doors without a backward glance, knowing full well that Luke would follow her. He seems to have a very low opinion of me. How could he possibly feel for me what I feel for him? Oh yeah. That’s right. I lied to him. I brought this on myself. Now she was just irritated at herself all over again.
When Mindi and Luke entered the living room Jake was nowhere to be found. He had most likely gone back outside and around the house to get to the backyard. Luke and Mindi’s fights were legendary and he probably didn’t want to place himself in the line of fire. Everybody knew Mindi tended to throw things at Luke’s head.
Mindi turned and walked back through the kitchen and on out to the backyard. This was just going to be a small get-to-gather. Just their family and a few friends. Luke and James were there. And of course, the subject of their discord, there was Jake standing there talking to Teresa.
When Luke seen the two of them together, he just stopped for a few seconds, then with a sheepish look on his face, he turned back to Mindi and mumbled his apologies. It was obvious to anyone who could see, Jake wasn’t interested in Mindi at all, and he’d had no misinterpretation were his invitation to the barbecue was concerned.
There was a small handful of other friends. Some they had went to school with, and some of the guys Zane worked on the force with. Despite this being one of her parent’s smaller gatherings, the backyard was getting really full. Her dad was still standing at the grill cooking hot dogs when she walked up to him. The way she felt right now, if Luke followed her she might very well stick his hand to the hot grill.
“Hey, Dad. How’s it going? Are they about done?”
“Just getting ready to take them off. Heard you and Luke have already been fighting.” Her dad gave her a cheeky grin and motioned for her to pass him the tongs, so he could start removing the dogs from the fire. “What’s going on this time?” he asked while adding the hot dogs to the pile of hamburgers and dogs already over flowing the bowl.
She thought for a few minutes about whether to tell him or not. I always tell my parents everything, so why should this be any different. “He seems to think because I invited Jake Longworth, that I’m after him. I only invited Jake for Teresa’s benefit. She wanted him to come and was afraid if she asked him he’d say no. She’s afraid he still thinks she’s too young.”
“Well, she is too young right now. But it’ll keep,” her dad said, turning back to the grill. “Did you tell Luke you invited him for Teresa?”
“Yes, but he also asked me how many men did I need to keep on my string. What’s that supposed to mean?” I haven’t actually dated anyone since I left for college, and he’s accusing me of leading men on.
“Have you told him yet that you aren’t really dating Jeff?”
“No. I’m not sure I want to either. How am I going to explain the need to lie in the first place?” How does Dad always get straight to the point? He’s almost as good as Mom. It’s annoying.
“Honestly.” Her dad stopped working at the grill and turned back to her, and looked her straight in the eyes. “I know you don’t want to hear this. But you’re going to have to tell him you were scared of him getting too close.” Then he added after a pause, “And why.”
“I know. I’m just afraid he’s going to laugh at me. Or worse, use it against me.” I don’t know. It might be fun if he used to against me.
“I know Luke, Sweetheart. He won’t do either one.” Her father pulled her closer, and looked her straight in the eyes once more. “You’re going to have to take our word for it, Baby Girl, and tell him how you feel. How you honestly feel.”
And then on a lighter note, with a devilish grin on his face, almost like he had read her mind just a few seconds ago, he said, “He might use it against you a little bit, but I promise, it won’t hurt.”
Mindi just gave her dad a look that said she didn’t find this either amusing or reassuring.
*******
When Luke drove up to the garage, all he was thinking about was getting a shower and going to bed. He just wanted to put his latest argument with Mindi behind him. He knew now he had been making a complete jerk of himself. It had become very clear, that the only one Jake was interested in, was Teresa.
If he hadn’t been so self-absorbed when he pulled up in his tow truck, he might have noticed something was off before he got to the front door. As it was, when he got to the door, he noticed the door was just slightly ajar. Someone had broken in and could very well still be in there. He could guess who it most likely was, and he wasn’t taking any chances.
I wish she would just leave me alone, he thought himself as he turned and ran soundlessly back down the porch steps and whipped his cell phone out of his pocket. He didn’t even bother calling the station. He knew Zane was out in the patrol car. He was filling in for one of his buddies whose wife had just had a new baby, and needed a little extra time off.
Zane answered after one ring. “Yeah, Luke, what’s going on?”
“Someone has broken into my apartment, and I’ll give you three guesses who, but I’ll bet you only need one.”
“I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Got it.”
“And Luke, if you’re outside, stay there. If you’re not, get there. I don’t want to have to explain to my sister why you got yourself shot. You know she wants to do that herself.”
“Very funny. Just get here already.”
It hadn’t been a full three minutes yet, and Luke could already hear the motor of Zane’s patrol car racing down the road, and he could see the blue and red lights reflecting off the surrounding buildings as he made a silent approach. Luke was just hoping Zane managed to get there before whoever it was decided they were done and ran out of the building. It would be better if he caught them in the act.
Unfortunately, his luck didn’t hold out. They must have had a sixth sense. That, or else they were checking out the window. They could have seen his truck, or even noticed the flashing lights like he had. He didn’t figure they could hear the car coming down the road. And even if they could, they probably couldn’t ident
ify the make and model like he could.
A split second later, they come running out of the door and flew down the stairs, nearly running him down on the way. He was so stunned at first, he didn’t do anything other than stand there.
Despite whoever it was nearly smacking him in the nose with a flying hand that passed just an inch by his face, he didn’t think they had noticed him standing there in the shadows. They had been too intent on escaping before Zane got there. They ran down the street a little ways, and disappeared around the corner of a house.
Luke was still standing there, feeling somewhat addled, when Zane drove up. He shook himself and ran across the lot to meet him as he climbed out of the car.
“Whoever it was, they came running out and headed that way. They disappeared around the corner of that yellow house. I’m sure it was her, but she had on a black sweat suit with a hood on, and I couldn’t see her face. I’m not sure she could really see a whole lot. I don’t think she even noticed I was standing there when she ran by me.”
“Well, crap,” Zane said, taking off after her and calling it in on his shoulder mike. He knew he probably wouldn’t catch her, but he was going to at least try. Maybe she’d be crazy enough to stop and wait just around the corner.
When he got around the corner of the house Luke had pointed him toward, she was long gone, and he had no idea what direction she had went. He called back in to give an update and turned back towards Luke’s apartment.
Zane went ahead, and checked the place out before letting Luke go in. Once he did let him go in, he made him check to see if anything looked out of place.
Once Luke had confirmed that everything looked the same as when he left, Zane went on to file his report and left Luke to decide if he really wanted to try and sleep in the apartment. After Tracy breaking in, he wasn’t sure he really wanted to stay here for the rest of the night. Problem was, he was way too tired, and he could barely hold his eyes open. And he still hadn’t gotten the shower he needed so badly.
He decided against trying to go somewhere else, and just to try and get some sleep. It was just more than his exhausted brain could handle right now. It was already midnight, and there was church in the morning. Besides, he didn’t figure she’d make another appearance tonight, anyway. She would most likely wait for another night. Hopefully, she was spooked enough to leave him alone for a while. He wasn’t going to hold his breath, though.
Chapter 9 – Friday – Saturday, June 2 – 9
Luke had decided to take the week off and go camping. He had left James in charge of everything, so he knew the garage was in capable hands. James always asked one of the younger Townsend brothers to help out when he was gone. Alex and Mike would both be glad to earn a little spending money for the summer, and it gave him some much-needed time off.
He had come out here with nothing more than the provisions he needed to survive a few days in the woods. He had brought a sleeping bag, a small tent, a cast iron skillet, a few other miscellaneous items and a little bit of food in a cooler. He had even left his cell phone with James for business use.
He did not want to be disturbed. He needed this time by himself with no one, but God and nature. He needed to take a break from the chaos that Tracy coming back to town had caused in his life. He needed to work out what was going on with him and Mindi. He really felt their time had come, and he didn’t want to mess it up.
Mindi was home. And aside from the fact she was dating someone else, it looked like he finally had a chance with her. He didn’t want to be kissing her anymore until that changed though. He was going to have to work on that. He wouldn’t want to be the one she was cheating on. There was no way he was going to be the cause of her cheating on someone else.
Obviously, the relationship wasn’t that great, or she wouldn’t be kissing him. He didn’t believe she would just cheat on someone that easily. He could just be lying to himself, but he really believed something was amiss. There was something about Mindi’s relationship with this guy that just didn’t add up. He didn’t feel like this guy would be in the picture for much longer. And she had asked him to let her get things in the right order, which he took to mean she didn’t want to be cheating. She wanted to break things off with the other guy first.
He just couldn’t seem to catch a break. Tracy’s reappearance in town almost felt set up. He felt like she knew Mindi was back in town, and that’s why she had come back. Of course, it could have been nothing more than she knew it was the end of the college semester, and she figured that Mindi would be home. That was probably all it was. He just couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something was up though.
He had been out here six days now and was ready to go home. A person could only take so much solitude before they started to go a little stir crazy. It was time for him to rejoin the real world and see what had happened since he had left.
It wouldn’t surprise him if he found out that Tracy had been up to more of her old tricks. Why couldn’t she understand he just wasn’t in love with her. He never had been. That’s why he broke it off with her when he realized she was getting too clingy.
He packed up all his stuff and threw it in the back of the truck. It would only take about twenty minutes for him to get back to his apartment. It would probably take even less than that for the world to intrude on his peace.
When Luke walked into his apartment, the first thing he noticed was someone had been in and left a note tapped to his TV. He walked over to the black entertainment center and looked down at the yellow post-it note as if it were a dead rat he didn’t want to touch. He was almost afraid it was Tracy leaving him love notes.
“Well, I have to look at it sooner or later. It might as well be sooner, and just get it over with,” he said out loud to the empty room.
He reached down and pulled the note from the television screen and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was from Carl Townsend, instead of Tracy. His relief was short lived although when he realized something must be wrong for Carl to come in and leave the note on his TV. If it wasn’t urgent, Carl would have just waited till he came by after he got back.
Twenty minutes later, standing in the emergency room of Sapphire Springs Memorial Hospital, reality had definitely intruded.
His grandpa Sam had, had a heart attack early this morning. Knowing Luke was supposed to be in by noon today, Carl felt it was more prudent to leave Luke a note and stay with Sam at the hospital. There were too many places Luke could have been camping at, and he might have been back in town before Carl had even made it to the right sight.
Sam Ross had been raising Luke ever since his parents were killed in a car accident when he was only three. He was the only living relative Luke had left. Luke felt like he was in a state of shock. His whole body felt cold. He had been so young when his parents died, he could barely remember them.
He knew there were people that counted him as family. He felt the same way toward them. But it just wouldn’t be the same without his old grandpa. If anything happened to him, he’d feel truly alone. He knew that was crazy, but he couldn’t seem to shake the feeling.
He was probably crushing Mindi’s fingers, but he couldn’t seem to let go of her hand. She had told him she would go in with him to see Sam, and even though the curtain to his cubicle was only a few feet away, it felt like it was miles.
The ER doctor hadn’t given him any good news. It didn’t sound like the old man would be with them much longer. Jamie had talked like she thought he was hanging on till Luke had gotten there to say goodbye.
When they finally walked through the curtains, Luke’s hopes took a final nose dive. His grandpa was the color of chalk, and he looked older than he’d ever seen him look. Luke couldn’t remember ever thinking the old man looked weak, but he certainly did now.
“It’s about time you two got together,” Sam croaked out, speaking barely above a whisper. “Now I can die a happy man.”
“Please, Grandpa don’t talk.” Luke said, sounding a little emb
arrassed, but unwilling to correct his grandpa’s mistake. “Just listen. You can pull through this.” He felt Mindi squeeze his hand like she was trying to get his attention, but he just ignored her, and kept going. “You’re strong. You can make it.”
When Grandpa Sam started to speak again, Luke had to lean in real close to hear him. He was growing weaker with every second. “Luke, I won’t see another hour, much less another sun set. I’m an old man with a bad ticker. I’ve lived a good life, and raised you well. I’m very proud of who you’ve become. You’re a good man. Your grandma would have been proud. It’s time for you to let me go.”
He paused then for what had to have been just a few seconds, but it felt like several eternities before he spoke again. “Take care of Mindi. Get married and have lots of babies. And name one after me.”
After that he fell silent and he never spoke another word. He finally let go of the weak hold he had on this world, and passed on. When the monitor flat lined and the nurses and doctor ran in, Luke and Mindi just stepped back out of the way.
That was as far as he could go. He felt frozen to the spot. Like if he stayed where he was, they could bring him back.
There was a part of him, in the back of his mind, that knew better. But he just couldn’t seem to move. He felt like he had grown roots.
When the doctor finally pronounced time of death, he just looked over at Mindi. He still really didn’t know what to do. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks, so he pulled her to him, and wrapped his arms around her. It was a huge comfort to feel her warm and alive in his arms.
They finally made it back out to where Carl and Jamie were waiting on them. There was no need to say a word. He could tell they both had read the look on their faces accurately. Luke and Mindi both, just walked into her parents waiting arms. These people were all he had left in this world. Right now, it was enough to know they would be there for him.
Summer Obsession (The Townsends Book 1) Page 11