True Love (3 page)

“W
hat’s all the noise about?” Julie’s father sauntered into the dining room, part of the Sunday paper in his hand, his reading glasses pushed down his nose.

“Nothing,” Julie said. Suddenly, she realized she sounded just like Luke, saying things were fine when they weren’t. “We had a little disagreement and Luke left.”

“He’ll come back when he’s cooled off,” her father said. “But don’t be hard on my man, Julie-girl. Luke’s had a rough season. He doesn’t need hassle from his girl.”

“Well, thank you, Dad, for your support. Did it occur to you that Luke might be the one in the wrong in this?”

Her father threw up his hands, the paper dangling limply. “Hold on. I’m not about to
get in the middle of some lovers’ spat. I was just wondering why the door slammed so hard.”

Julie thought it ironic that her father could be so high on her relationship with Luke and her mother so down on it. Traditionally, such things tended to be the other way around, but her father had always had a soft spot for Luke and Julie had often felt that he’d take Luke’s side against anyone—including his own daughter. “Next time Luke leaves in a huff, I’ll tell him not to slam the door,” she said.

He started to say something, but the phone rang and her mother called, “Bud, it’s for you.”

“Back in a minute,” he said to Julie. “And we’ll discuss what set Luke off.”

Julie didn’t want any discussion. If Luke wanted her father to know how bad he was feeling, he’d have to tell him. She wasn’t about to after the way he’d carried on over a measly doctor’s visit.

Twenty minutes later, her father was still on the phone when the doorbell sounded.

Luke was standing on the porch, looking contrite, his hands behind his back. “Can I come in?”

Julie pushed open the door, turned on her
heel, and headed to the dining room, with Luke tagging after her.

“Here. These are for you.” He held out a small bouquet of flowers. She recognized them as the kind sold down at the Kroger grocery store, yet they conjured up memories of bouquets from the past he’d given her. It was his favorite means of communication.

“Do you think you can solve every problem with flowers?” She took them and buried her nose in the petals of the yellow and red mums.

“Can’t I?”

He looked so cute and apologetic, she had a hard time not smiling. “Yes,” she admitted. “You know how I feel about flowers.”

He grinned. “And me? How do you feel about me? Am I forgiven?”

“I wasn’t trying to tell you what to do,” she said, returning to the topic of their disagreement. “I’m worried, that’s all. You’ve been sick for weeks and you don’t seem to be getting any better. I guess I can’t understand why you don’t go back to the doctor and demand he make you well. The football playoffs are over with now, so you really should go to the doctor. And money’s no excuse.”

He had sat down in a dining room chair while she talked. His long, lanky body
drooped, reminding her of a balloon that was losing air. She thought he looked thinner than usual, but she wasn’t about to mention it to him. “I know you’re right,” he said quietly. “I’ve been putting it off because … because I’m worried too.”

“You are?”

“Other glands are swollen—the ones under my arms. And at night I get these terrible sweats. I mean I wake up and the sheets are soaking wet. I’ve been changing them every morning so Mom won’t know.”

Julie felt her stomach constrict. “This doesn’t sound right to me. Maybe it’s more than the flu.”

“I guess I thought it would eventually go away.”

“But it hasn’t.”

He shrugged. “Look, I’ll go back to the doctor, but not until Christmas break.”

“That’s another three weeks!”

“I’m drowning in schoolwork. What with the playoffs and all, I really fell behind.”

“But—”

He placed his fingertips across her lips to silence her. “Julie, I’m not smart like you. I have to work hard for my grades, and I can’t slip up. Football scholarships to the best colleges
mean you have to be a good athlete
and
a good student. The better my grades, the better my chances.”

“But you have a whole year before you have to choose a college. Why not concentrate on your health now and work on your grades later?”

He shook his head and flashed a winsome smile. “Maybe you should be a lawyer. You’re worse than a bulldog when you get hold of something. You just won’t let it go, will you.”

She felt her cheeks color. “I’m worried about you. Don’t go brushing me off.”

He got to his feet and wrapped his arms around her. She started to tug away, but his arms were strong and made her feel warm and safe. In his arms it didn’t seem like anything was overly important, or frightening. “Besides,” he said, “I’ve got to take my girl to a big formal dance. What if the doctor puts me on bed rest or something? How will I take her to the dance then?”

“I don’t care if we miss the dance.” Julie said the words, but knew it wasn’t true. She really did want to go to the dance. She’d already bought her dress.

“Well, I care,” Luke insisted. “It gives me another excuse to bring you flowers.”

She pulled back and stared up into his face—the face she’d grown to love so much. “But the minute Christmas break starts, you’ll go to the doctor?”

“Yes.”

“Promise?”

“Unless I’m well, of course.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But you’ll have to go with me. I really don’t want to bother my mom with this. Not with Christmas and everything.”

“You bet I’ll go with you,” Julie said. “In fact, I’ll drive you personally.”

He bent his head to kiss her mouth, but just then Coach Ellis came through the dining room doorway. Luke let Julie go. “Guess who I’ve been on the phone with,” Coach said, looking excited. He didn’t wait for their guesses. “The head of the school board. It looks as if those funds are going to be allocated for Waterton High to build that new football stadium.”

Luke gave a high five. “All right!”

Julie knew how important the project was to her father. He’d been trying to push it through for over three years, but had met with steady setbacks. The present stadium was inadequate, since the number of kids attending
the high school had grown so large. The often overflow crowd had to be accommodated on makeshift benches along the sidelines and the present bleachers were rickety, even hazardous. “That’s great, Dad.”

“I guess our being runner-up in the state made an impression on the board,” Coach Ellis said, rubbing his hands together gleefully. “I’m going to get a jump start on this. I’ll have an architect draw up some blueprints and be ready to lay them out for the board at their meeting in January.”

“A new stadium.” Luke’s brown eyes gleamed. “When will it be finished?”

“If all goes according to my timetable, you could start your senior season in it.”

Luke looked surprised. “That’s not even a year from now.”

“If it gets hustled through, we could break ground this spring. But it’s not the construction that takes so long, it’s getting the turf ready for play. It’s possible that it could be ready by fall.”

Luke shrugged. “Even if I can’t play on it, the next class will. I’m just glad we’re getting it.”

“I want you to play on it.” Coach Ellis sounded so adamant that Julie half believed he
could have the grass grow on a schedule that met his demands.

Once he’d left the room, Julie turned toward Luke. “Dad sure doesn’t let much get in the way of his goals for his football team, does he?”

“He’s a great coach, Julie.”

“He’s the only coach you’ve ever had.”

“No matter. He’s a great coach by any standard. He doesn’t teach you what to think out on the field; he teaches you
how
to think. I’ve learned everything I know about the game from him, and it’s going to be my key for getting into college. And who knows—maybe even someday, the pros.”

Julie felt a twinge of jealousy over the prominent place football held in Luke’s life. Sometimes it seemed that the game was more the center of his world than she was. The feelings were childish, but that didn’t stop them from coming. She wished she was as focused on something as Luke was on the sport of football. Maybe someday she would be, but right now, there was only Luke. “Well, if you go to the pros, I’ll take out a franchise on you. How’s that sound?”

“If I go to the pros, you’re coming with me.”

“Really? And what will I do? Organize your social calendar and commercial endorsements?”

“Not to worry—I’ll find something for you to do.” He plucked up one of the bright golden mums from the bouquet lying on the table and poked the stem through the silky blond hair above her ear. “I’ll cover you in flowers someday, Julie-girl. And you won’t be able to refuse me anything.”

She laughed. “For every flower, you’ll get a kiss.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Y
our dress is awesome, Julie, and it really looks
great
on you.” Solena was stretched across Julie’s bed while Julie modeled for her. The dress’s full taffeta skirt made a swishing sound as she pivoted toward the full-length mirror mounted on the back of her bedroom door.

She admired her reflection and the way the black fabric shimmered in the pale winter light coming through the windows. “You don’t think it’s too plain?”

“No way. It’s elegant. And I love the way it falls off your shoulders. Pretty sexy.”

The bodice fit perfectly and the neckline scooped downward and out to expose her creamy white shoulders and the swell of her breasts. “It cost me every penny of my Christmas gift money, plus a month’s worth of
baby-sitting funds, but I just fell in love with it. I had to have it.”

“Wait ’til Luke sees it. He’ll positively drool.”

Julie smiled, imagining the look in his eyes when he saw her in the dress. “I like your dress too,” she said, catching her friend’s gaze in the mirror. “The color’s perfect with your dark hair.” They had come from Solena’s house, where Solena had shown off her new dress.

“Next to you, I’ll look like a frump tomorrow night.”

“That’s not true!”

Solena waved aside Julie’s protest. “I can live with it. Just so long as I look better than Melanie.”

“Are you still worried about her and Frank?”

“Maybe not worried … but I do want to be prepared.” Solena scooted off the bed. “Let’s run up to the mall and look for a new perfume. Frank needs an excuse to nuzzle my neck, don’t you think?”

“I’d love to, but I can’t. Luke’s mom invited me for supper tonight.”

“But it’s only one o’clock. Supper’s hours from now.”

Julie didn’t want to tell Solena the whole
truth, but this was the afternoon Luke was supposed to go to his doctor for another checkup. School had been out for a few days, but it had taken until today to get an appointment with the doctor. Half the town was down with the flu and Luke’s doctor had been booked solid. “I promised him I’d come early,” Julie told her friend.

“I’d say this qualified as early,” Solena grumbled.

“We can go to the mall tomorrow. I still have some Christmas shopping to do and we can look for perfume then. And if we get there when it opens, it’ll be less crowded. I mean, can you imagine how busy it is this time of day?”

Solena fumbled in her purse for her car keys. “Okay, but I want to be there when they open the doors tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up,” Julie said, seeing Solena off.

Once Solena was gone, Julie changed into jeans and a sweater and grabbed her coat. “I’m out of here, Mom,” she hollered, banging the storm door as she left.

It had snowed the night before, but the plows had cleared and salted the streets and traffic flowed smoothly. Julie drove across the
railroad tracks that divided the city of Waterton and soon reached Luke’s neighborhood. The houses were older and smaller here, clumped together, so that there were almost no side yards between them. The homes were close to the mill and changed owners frequently as the mill hired and laid off through the years.

Several homes were in need of repair. Luke’s house needed a coat of paint, but still it looked tidy and neat compared with that of a neighbor, who had old cars partially torn down in his front yard. In the cool light of winter, the block seemed shabby and dismal.

Julie parked in the driveway and Luke met her on the porch. He gave her a quick kiss. “Mom took the afternoon off from work and she’s cooking up a feast.”

Inside, the smell of bubbling spaghetti sauce made Julie’s mouth water. She followed Luke into the kitchen, where his mother was stirring a pot on the stove. “It smells wonderful,” Julie exclaimed.

Nancy Muldenhower put down her wooden spoon, wiped her hands on a dish towel, and hugged Julie warmly. “I’m glad you could come for supper. Although it won’t be ready for another three hours.” She shot Luke a
glance. “He insisted that you had to come this afternoon so that you could drive him somewhere. Why isn’t Luke driving? What’s going on with you two?”

Her lively brown eyes, so much like Luke’s, caused Julie to grow flustered. “He’s keeping a promise to me,” Julie said hastily.

“What promise?”

“We’ll tell you at supper,” Luke interjected, getting Julie off the hook. Looking at Julie, he said, “Let me get some things out of my room and then we’ll split.”