Page 51 of Luke

"I know. I just hate anyone else running my kitchen."

"It's still your kitchen."

"For a while anyway, until Luke makes his decision."

"Don't worry about that tonight."

"I won't, because I know you're worrying for me and for all of us. Good-night, Liz."

"Sleep well," she said.

She walked over to Luke, who was talking to Tina.

"This guy is amazing," Tina said with the same look of wonder most people wore after talking to Luke and hearing about his adventures.

"I know," she said. She glanced past Luke at Kaitlyn, who had gotten up from the couch but was texting on her phone. "Kaitlyn, what did you think of the movie?"

Kaitlyn didn't answer.

"Kaitlyn," she said more sharply.

"It was all right. Must be nice to do whatever you want to do, go wherever you want to go," she said to Luke, resentment in her tone.

"You'll get there," Luke said.

"No I won't. I'm not rich, and I don't have parents to help me get anywhere."

Liz felt like she'd taken a knife to the heart at Kaitlyn's words. She wanted to say she was here, she would help, she would do whatever she could to make Kaitlyn's life happy, but her niece wasn't interested in anything she had to say.

"I got myself everywhere I wanted to go," Luke told Kaitlyn. "And I worked for it. Nobody handed me anything."

"Whatever. I'm going to bed."

Liz watched Kaitlyn make her way to the stairs, hoping that her niece truly was going to bed and had no intention of sneaking out with the Harrison boys again.

"Don’t worry," Luke said. I talked to Roger Harrison earlier. I told him he might want to keep an eye on the boys. He said he was already on it. I guess the younger brother's guilt got the best of him, and he confessed they'd taken a bottle of alcohol from the parents' cooler and tried to share it with Kaitlyn. Roger said the boys would not be going anywhere tonight."

"That's a relief. I thought you weren't going to rat them out?"

"The opportunity arose, so I took it."

"I appreciate it. I'll sleep better knowing Kaitlyn isn't going to sneak out on me."

He folded his arms across his chest, giving her a speculative look.

"What?" she asked, feeling a little nervous all of a sudden.

"Do you want to get some air? I hear there's a rooftop patio with a great view of the stars."

She really should say no. No good could come of sharing a moonlit, starry night with Luke, but as her stomach twisted, her nerves tingled, and her heart beat faster, she became a prisoner of her own desire. Luke would leave. But he was here now, and she didn't want to just say good-night and go to bed.

"Let's go," she said, leading the way up to the roof.

There was a long bench on the flat roof, providing an excellent view of the starry sky.

Luke sat down and stretched out his legs as he directed his gaze upwards. He let out a sigh. "This is good."

She sat down next to him and looked up at the brightly lit sky as well. "A lot of stars out tonight."

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