Beach Rental(101)
Juli looked at him. “Luke?”
He smiled. “What she said.”
Maia gave up with the pillow and tossed it across the room. “Juli, what’s the doctor’s phone number? Oh, never mind. I know her name. I’ll get the phone book.”
“I’m outnumbered. Fine. I’ll go, but you’re forgetting something.” She pointed at the front door. The door frame was splintered. “I can’t leave the door unsecured. I need to get it fixed.”
Adela spoke. “Luke didn’t have time to fiddle with a key. I’ll call a carpenter and get it taken care of.”
Pat came back inside. “They’re going now. They got the statement from you, Juli, but they’ll want more. They understand they’ll get it later. First, you need to be checked out.”
“So, I’m told. How did you get involved in this? You were holding a gun on Frankie.”
Pat looked at Luke. Luke looked at his shoes.
“Luke?”
“Get angry if you must. You wouldn’t accept my help. I had to keep you safe. I hired Pat to keep an eye out for Frankie and for any other threats that might come your way.”
She digested that. She didn’t like the idea of people keeping secrets about her, from her. “Okay. Well, you were conspiring to help me. I can live with it this time. Thank you.”
“What about you, Adela? Where’d you come from? Why the change of heart?”
“I came because Luke told me about the baby.” She folded her hands together. “I was upset at first because I didn’t understand, but Luke explained something to me.”
“What?”
She struggled with the words. “That sometimes you have to trust people. Sometimes you have to—you have to have faith.”
“What?”
“If you insist, I’ll spell it out. Faith. That things will work out, sometimes in ways we don’t understand, if we—if I put my faith in God and not try to control everything myself.” She looked down, shaking her head. “But, it’s hard for me.”
Juli reached out and took Adela’s hands. “It’s very hard, I know. I’m trying to learn that wisdom myself.”
Maia said, “Dr. Oehler said you should come into the office now.” She put her hands on her hips. “Right now.”
Luke knelt next to Juli and took her hand. “We’re going to the doctor now, but when we’re done, you and I have to finish our talk.”
“You remember what I said before….”
“I do. I’ll wait if you insist, but after Ben’s child is born, I hope you’ll marry me and there’s no reason we can’t agree on that now.”
Adela snapped, “Marry?”
“I’d marry her this minute if she’d have me.”
“Nonsense.”
“I mean it, Adela.”
“Nonsense, Luke. It will take at least six months to arrange a proper wedding. Longer would be better.”
After a few speechless seconds, Luke said, “Six months is too long to wait.”
“Shows how much you know about planning a wedding. Let’s do this one right.”
Maia pushed in between Adela and Luke. “Wait a minute, both of you. You can fight this out later. Juli, get up. We’re going to see your doctor.”
“I’m taking her,” Luke said, “if she’ll go with me.”
Juli held out her hands. He clasped them, pulled her to her feet and wrapped one arm around her back.
“I’m with you, Juli, on this journey and any other. You can trust me.”
“We’ve already come a long way. Both of us. I can hardly wait to see what lies ahead, Luke. It’s going to be wonderful.”
Epilogue
On a Friday morning in late April, Juli knocked on the door of Sea Green Glory East. She could have telephoned, but she wanted to deliver the news in person.
Luke opened the door. “Is it time?”
“I think so.”
“We should have known it would be today.”
She laughed. “You mean the anniversary of the day Ben and I met? And—”
“And of the day we met.” He grabbed the keys from the table by the door and the jacket he’d kept nearby for the past two weeks. “We’re on our way.”
There was no suitcase to carry because it had been packed and in the trunk of her car for the past two weeks. Luke had insisted. He held her arm as they stepped carefully down the front stairs. He got her situated into the passenger seat and then himself, cool and calm. “Where are my keys?” He started checking his jacket pockets.
“In your pants’ pocket.”
“Right.” He grinned. “On our way.”