Magical Weddings (58 page)

Scooting backwards up the steps, he reached for his towel, lightly rubbing off droplets of water from his thighs and calf. He heard a gasp, as he began pulling himself up into the chair.

Luke turned to where he’d heard the sound. And there she stood, with her hands covering her mouth. He wasn’t really shocked to see her–he’d have to think about that a little later. But
damn–
he didn’t want her seeing him like
this.
“Kelly,” he growled. “What in the
hell
are you doing here?” Jerking upward from his seat, Luke began sliding the towel out from beneath him, so he could cover himself up. By the time he turned back to Kelly, she was running away through the woods.

He was shaking, he finally realized, closing his eyes. When he’d arrived in Crystal Rock, he must’ve known subconsciously she was there from the very beginning–and not just because of the erotic dreams that he’d been having about their one and only night together. The subtle scent of lilac had drifted through the house at the strangest times. And the murmuring of voices when he’d been napping? He supposed that he’d recognized Kelly’s voice immediately–because moving forward, it’d kept him grounded, and somehow reassured.

Luke buried his face into his hands. How in the hell was he was really gonna be able to go on without her? He’d have to try. He groaned, considering exactly what she must’ve seen. Even though the redness and swelling was long gone from the joint below his knee, his leg was an ugly sight. She must’ve been horrified at the sight of his shrunken, scarred body, so she’d run away…

Kelly had been on her way to the cabin to prepare dinner twenty minutes earlier, when she’d made her regular stop at the pool to sit and relax for a few minutes. The water of the built-in fountain spewed upward for a few hours during the day, so It was a lovely place to just sit and think about what was going on in her life. For some reason, running into Luke had been the last thing she’d been prepared for.

She’d hurried to the cabin after Luke had yelled. When Steve had seen her sobbing outside, where she sat on the steps of the deck, he’d rushed through the door immediately to see what was wrong. She’d finally managed to spit out the details between bouts of tears.

“I’m sorry, Kelly. I haven’t been paying attention. I had no idea that you’ve been walking here through the woods sometimes, otherwise I would’ve warned you first. Luke’s been pestering me about swimming there all week–which is a good thing, I’d say.”

Kelly spoke in a woeful voice. “He seemed so mad–when he saw me.”

Steve became thoughtful. “It’s not, I think, that he doesn’t want to see you–he still doesn’t want you to see
him
. He’s got burns across half of his face and body, and basically a stump for a leg. Well–you gotta know, you saw him when he came out from the water–didn’t you?

What
had
she seen? Luke’s face had been pale, and his body slightly shrunken–he was a lot less muscular. His hair was longer, and slightly scraggly. But, to her, he was as sexy as ever. “I…no–not really, Steve. I was too busy watching his face–and then I ran away because he began cursing at me.”

“This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. We’ve been working a little on his skills–encouraging his independence–shaving, bathing, toiletry–stuff like that.” Steve rolled his eyes, staring upward at the sky. “He was probably cursing at himself. He’s finally taken a good look at himself in the mirror, and all he sees is someone scarred, sick and scrawny.”

Kelly listened to Steve’s words intently. “I never thought about it like that.” She sniffed, scraping away the tears from her eyes.

“I know I keep saying this, Kelly, but you’re just gonna have to be more patient. Along with the trauma he’s gone through, he blames himself for his best friend’s death, you know.”

“No,” she answered softly. “I didn’t.” She hesitated. “What’s he gonna say if he sees me here, cooking?”

“The more I think about it , the more I’m pretty sure that he already knows you’ve been coming here.” Steve smiled when she appeared to be taken aback. “Why do you think I keep telling you to be patient?”

Kelly sighed heavily. “Alright. I guess I should get dinner going.”

Steve checked his watch. “I suppose I’d better go check on Luke.“ He hesitated. “Maybe we should eat later tonight? How about taking Hawk out for a walk–so you’re not here when I bring Luke back through the house to his bedroom? I think it might be useful to keep up the pretence for now.”

But Kelly was confused, staring at Steve. “Hawk?”

“Whoops–I guess I forgot to tell you–Luke renamed the dog. He thought Duke sounded a little too much like Luke.”

Kelly gave Steve a half-smile, nodding her understanding.

“And this is good–since Hawk was his best friend.” Steve hesitated, meeting Kelly’s questioning gaze. “This could mean that he’s finally coming to terms with Hawk’s death.”

For the next month, Kelly focused on work. She was staring hard at the screen of her computer in her office at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, on a beautiful weekday morning in July, when someone knocked before peeking through the door.

“I hate to say this–but you look like shit, Sis.”

“Dan!” Kelly jumped to her feet, and rushed into her brother’s arms.

“It’s good to see you too,” he said, gruffly. Gently unwrapping himself from her arms, he gave her a long, hard stare.

Kelly turned away uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry that I left so much of the responsibilty for Luke’s care on your shoulders.”

“Don’t be silly, Dan. Jake and Steve have practically everything under control. And Luke’s been having visitors now. Grandpa and Mom and Dad have all been over to the cabin. Even a few of the guys that were in his unit overseas, have come into town to see him.”

“But what about you, Kel?” Dan asked softly “Are you still so sure about all of this?”

“Yes.” She knew she was being stubborn, but it seemed like everyone–including her closest friends–had been trying to making a point at warning her away from Luke.”

Just then, there was another knock on the door, and Jake stepped into the office. Staring down at some paperwork, he began talking to Kelly. “I had a question about a few of these figures…” When Jake looked up, he finally noticed Dan, and blinked. “Oh–hi, Dan. When did you get into town?” Laying his clipboard on Kelly’s desk, Jake reached over, and shook Dan’s hand.

“Just a couple hours ago,” Dan answered. They chatted for a few more minutes while Kelly shuffled through Jake’s paperwork and then pulled up a screen on her computer.

Jake and Kelly began to finally talk numbers for a few minutes. Once they were finished, Kelly stared at Jake curiously. “I forgot to ask you, Jake–where’ve you been sending off this information to?”

Jake seemed startled. “Didn’t I tell you, Kelly? Luke’s been using your information, and working up proposals for several of the airlines.”

“Luke?”
Both Kelly and Dan answered in unison.

Jake grinned. “Yep. I got him set up with a laptop and small office at the cabin–wheelchair accessible, of course. He’s even been making trips back and forth to the airport, checking out the workability of the existing equipment, while he consults with the architect we’ve contacted through your dad.” Jake stared at Kelly intently. “I thought that Steve would’ve told you? You’ve still been checking in with him every day, haven’t you?”

Kelly nodded yes. “I’m usually there when Luke is working out–so Steve and I haven’t had a chance to talk about anything
except
Luke’s workouts since, apparently, Luke’s become determined to conquer his prosthetic.” But Kelly became thoughtful. This was great–wasn’t it? It looked like Luke was finally thinking about the future. She frowned.
His
future though–not theirs.

She didn’t have a chance to reflect on the situation any further though, when Jake began talking to her about another project that he and his wife were considering. “A facility to care for wounded warriors? That’d be a great idea!” Kelly answered fiercely.

“I agree,” Dan added quietly.

Kelly shook her head dazedly. “Isn’t that a lot for you to take on, Jake? You’ve already got Crystal Visions to consider. It has to be difficult raising funds for the kids every year?” Fifteen years earlier, Jake and his wife had created an educational facility in Crystal Rock for physcially and mentally impaired children. Eventually they’d added housing, and had recently expanded their services even further, to include a vocational center for both the children and adults.

Jake nodded. “Especially with everything Danielle wants included for those kids. Funding’s been limited - we’ve hosted countless charity events.” Jake lifted a brow at Kelly. “And you should know–considering all those fashion events that you’ve been nice enough to participate in. But I’ve heard the situation might be entirely different regarding a facility for veterans–we’d probably be eligible for a governemnt funding.” Jake hesitated. “Will you be able to handle another project Kelly? I’d like for you to look into financing–and possibly get some additonal information together, so that I can make an informed decision when the time comes.”

Kelly grinned. “Not a problem, Jake. I’ve pretty much gone as far as I can with the financials for the airport. We can’t really move forward until after all of my recommendations are put into place. Believe it or not, I was actually ready to ask if you had anything else for me to do.”

“I’ve also got some other good news–if we decide to go ahead with the veteran facility–Steve Ryder wants on board. He’s planning on moving here from Rice Lake to start over when he’s finally finished working with Luke.”

“Aww–that’s great!” Kelly smiled. “I know that he’s never really opened about himself–it probably has a lot to do with losing his wife–but I really do like the guy.”

“He’s got a great resume,” Jake added, turning to Dan with a question in his eyes.

Dan shrugged and grinned. “Don’t look at me–I barely know the guy. But anyone who’s able to motivate Luke definitely has my vote.”

Both Jake and Kelly began to laugh.

Luke was regaining his confidence, and had been having visitors regularly now. A few of his old friends, as well as the entire Callahan family had come to see him within the past few weeks. And the town’s chief-of-police, Sam Danielson had stopped by to give him an update about what was happening with his stepbrother, Josh. Even though Josh had decided years ago it’d be better for Luke, if he cut off all contact with him, it hadn’t stopped Sam from doing Luke a favor by giving him occasional updates.

It was a hot summer day in July, and it’d already been a busy day. Apparently, Jake had hired a combination accountant and business manager to work exclusively on the airport startup for Luke. A few weeks back, Jake had handed over paperwork, inventory requests, and even some information about a few airlines that might be willing to add the town of Crystal Rock to their flight schedules. Earlier that day, after consulting further with his accountant, Jake had brought over the final remaining data regarding the reopening of the airport, and Luke was beginning to become excited about the part he’d play.

After pouring over numbers and statistics regarding individual target airlines he’d been considering preparing proposals for, he began going over the budget for the airport reconstruction. As usual, Callahan Contruction had come in lowest on their bid. No surprise, there–Jake had been a close friend of Kelly’s dad for years. Luke sighed resignedly. Why was it that all of his thoughts led straight back to Kelly
?
He’d been working his butt off, trying hard not to think about her. In that regard, it’d been a long month since the day she’d caught him at the pool. Especially since–each time he’d returned there to swim–he’d been dreading, yet actually half-hoping, that she’d suddenly reapper.

Luke attempted focusing his attention on what was happening in his office right now. When Steve had informed him twenty minutes ago that someone else was here to see him, Luke had been taken aback to discover his visitor was Mel McDaniel, Hawk’s former fiancé–she’d walked into his office carrying a small battered trunk. Mel had tried to visit him in the hospital months before–but Luke had refused to see her. Since she and Luke had shared a smoke a time or two in the past, she’d immediately lit one up.

Apparently, Steve had smelled the smoke, so he’d rushed into Luke’s office to see what was up. Now, Steve and Mel were circling around each other like a couple of boxers.

Just the thought of what Hawk might be saying about Mel–if he saw her right now–made Luke begin to smile. But then he suddenly wanted to cry–it was such a bittersweet memory. And Luke had decided he was really pissed at himself.
Why
had he been such a jerk, and refused to see Mel, when she’d flown all the way to D.C. to visit him in the hospital at Christmas?

Steve was growling, “There’s no smoking in the house.”

“As if
I
don’t know the harm associated with smoking.” Mel deliberately inhaled deeply from her cigarette, before slowly and steadily expunging the smoke into Steve’s face.

The expression on Steve’s face was priceless–he looked like he was ready to explode. Luke couldn’t help it, he began to laugh. When Steve and Mel both turned to Luke with similar indignant stares, Luke began laughing even harder. He was surprised to realize, it was the first he’d laughed since the accident–and it sure as hell felt good.

When Luke was finally able to contain his laughter, he informed Steve. “Mel’s an R.N., you know.”

Steve stilled, staring at Mel. Hawk had loved the way Mel dressed, with her tight leather skirt, and spiked high heals. Her hair was a coppery red–but, he supposed, she did wear a lot of heavy makeup and jewelry–Luke had never really noticed before now. Hawk had loved the entire package.

But Steve…well, he was looking her over from head to toe. “You–
a nurse
?” he asked, scathingly.

Mel inhaled exaggeratedly from her cigarette again.

This time, before she could exhale, Steve turned away abruptly, purposely sliding open the door leading out to the deck. When he stepped outside to stand guard, Luke grinned. Steve seemed to be overly protective of him. Surprisingly, he and Steve had become pretty close–kind of like brothers. Did Steve get similarly attached to all of his patients, Luke wondered?