Simply Love(8)
Luke shared the sentiment and completely understood the youth’s abhorrence of winding up a charity case in a nunnery. “You did the right thing, taking your brother and sister to the nuns,” he said. “It’s too rough out here on the streets for little kids. Now we just have to figure out what should be done with you.”
“I ain’t goin’ to no orph’nage,” the boy stated.
Luke nodded. “I understand that.” He studied the kid, making a great show of sizing him up. “You look old enough and strong enough to turn your hand to honest work. Have you tried to find a job?”
“Ain’t nobody hirin’.”
“I was just wondering,” Luke said thoughtfully, “because I’ve been looking for a good man. You probably wouldn’t be interested, though.”
“Yes, I would!”
Luke narrowed an eye and shook his head. “Nah. It’s probably not what you’re looking for. It’d be really boring work for an adventurous young fellow like you. Just a position as night watchman at my offices. There’s a cot, of course, in the back room, and a place to wash up if you’ve a mind. Nothing fancy. And all you’d have to do is sleep there, keeping one ear open for intruders. Definitely not exciting employment.”
“It sounds grand!” the kid asserted eagerly.
Luke kept his expression carefully blank. Then, after a moment, he reached inside his jacket for one of his calling cards and his fountain pen. He jotted a brief note on the back of the paper, then handed it to the child. “You know where my offices are, those brick buildings midway down Diamond Street?”
“Yessir!”
“You take that card to my man of affairs, Mr. Brummel. He’s a tough nut to crack, so look smart while he interviews you. He does all my office hiring.”
“I can look smart,” the boy assured him. Then a worried frown pleated his brow. “I’m sorta dirty, though.”
Luke grinned. “Brummel will judge you on your character, not the fact that you need a bath. I put in a good word for you on the card.”
In actuality, Luke had only written, “Take care of this.” As the boy scurried away, still hugging his potatoes, Luke gazed after him, the ever-present loneliness that ate at his gut held at bay for a moment.
The rich bloke, the boy had called him. If only you knew, kid, Luke thought glumly. God, if only you knew.
TWO
As Luke resumed his walk toward the church, his gaze shifted to the spired rooftop of St. Mary’s, and he recalled the envelope he’d slipped into the breast pocket of his jacket that morning before leaving for his office. Why he felt compelled to make another orphanage donation, he wasn’t certain. He’d already made his second one just a little over two weeks ago, and even that had been uncharacteristic of him. Benevolent, he definitely wasn’t. Yet he had this urge to make a third contribution.
It made no sense. But, then, lots of things he’d been doing and thinking the last few weeks failed to make sense. He only knew this was something he had to do, part and parcel with the strange restlessness that had come over him six months ago and been growing increasingly worse ever since.
Coming to the corner of Diamond Street, Luke took a right on Gambler’s Way, his thoughts shifting to the young woman he’d encountered in the church the last time he’d been there. He hoped she wasn’t lurking around again today. Getting weird urges to make contributions to the orphanage was one thing; having others witness his actions was quite another. As things stood, people in Black Jack felt intimidated by Luke. If word got out that he was a bleeding-heart do-gooder, he’d lose that edge.
Not that he expected her to be there. A young woman that age probably had far better things to do than hang around a church. Though too strong of feature to be pretty in a conventional way, she was a striking little minx with an amazing wealth of sable hair and big blue eyes. She undoubtedly had a number of young men sniffing at her skirts and vying for her favor.
He smiled slightly, recalling the way she’d stared at him. A visit from the devil himself couldn’t have elicited a more startled or wary reaction. Clearly, he wasn’t an individual people expected to encounter in what they deemed a “holy place.”
Luke had seen the girl around Black Jack several times before, usually in the company of Milo Zerek or his son Ambrose. Both men worked in the Taggart Mine. Because of the family resemblance, Luke guessed she was probably Milo Zerek’s daughter. That would explain the threadbare condition of her dress. The combined earnings of Zerek and his son probably provided only enough for the family to scrape by, with little left over for anything else.