Page 4 of Luke (Rogue County Rangers #1)

Luke

I knock on the door to Marie’s home at nine the next morning. A tired-looking Alice answers, though her ever-present smile is in place. Her hair was always thin, but I can see where it’s starting to fall out.

“Luke!” Her smile widens. “I haven’t seen the likes of you here in some time! I should get cancer more often if it means handsome men will come knocking on my door.”

“Mom!” Marie appears beside her mother, looking embarrassed. When she eyes the box in my hands, her eyes narrow. She wears a flattering cream colored sweater and jeans that hug her in all of the right places.

“What’s all this?” She asks.

My mind goes blank. All I can think about is running my hands over her thighs. I used to be so much better at keeping this under wraps. I guess, I’m out of practice. She snaps her fingers, bringing me back to the here and now.

“Uh, Fresh is better than frozen. Where can I put it?” I look down at the box of fresh fruit and veggies. Maybe I should have brought more.

“I thought you were bringing a blender,” Marie says, unable to take her eyes off my box of goodies.

“It’s in the car.” I step past her and make my way into the kitchen. Marie follows me like she’s trailing a criminal.

“I didn’t poison anything,” I say.

“You didn’t have to bring so much,” she says. “I have it covered.”

“You want your mom to live off strawberry puree?” I chuckle. “All this stuff came from the Horace’s garden. Laurel went a little overboard this year. She was happy to share.”

“That’s really nice of her.” Marie looks shocked as if she can’t believe old fashioned neighborly kindness exists.

“All this stuff is real healthy, too,” I say. “Lots of antioxidants, vitamins, and other stuff I don’t understand. Blend it all up and you’ll have a bonafide health potion.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she says.

“Luke, you’re my hero?” I prompt. “Luke, I’m sorry for disappearing six years ago? Anything along those lines will work.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t plan on leaving like that. I had a chance and I took it.”

“You can take chances and also make a phone call,” I say.

“It was…” she hesitates, “more complicated than that.”

“How?” I ask. “Tell me.”

She lets out a long sigh and runs a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to get into this now. I have a lot on my plate with my mom and everything, okay?”

“Don’t you think I deserve an explanation?” I press. I don’t want to push her too hard but if she knew how many sleepless nights, I’ve had while trying to figure out why she left town the way she did, maybe she’d change her tone.

“You do,” she agrees quickly, to my surprise. “You do. I’m just not in a place to give you the quality explanation you deserve. My mental and emotional bandwidths are at capacity, right now. I’m sorry.”

“That’s fair,” I shrug and walk out of the kitchen. I hear her rush after me.

“Wait, where are you going?”

I look over my shoulder with a smile.

“To get the blender,” I say. “I’ve got some recipes I want to try out.”

The visible relief that crosses her face makes me smile. At least, I know she wants me around.

“How’s your mom?” She asks when we’re back in the kitchen. I weigh out smoothie ingredients in an attempt to pack in the most nutrition.

“She’s good,” I say. “She’s dating.”

“Oh?” Marie’s brows shoot up in surprise. “That’s amazing. I’m glad she’s getting back out there.”

When my father died, my mom shut down. It took her years to start acting like a human again, let alone a mom.

She’s only been seeing Brad for two months, but he’s been good for her.

A small part of me hates that she’s moving on from dad, but I know she has to.

She doesn’t deserve to spend the rest of her life alone just because an idiot kid took my dad away.

“Are you okay?” Marie asks quietly.

I realize I’m holding the blueberries too tightly. Purple juice leaks onto my palm.

“Fine,” I nod and dump them into the blender.

“I light a candle every year, you know?” She says. “For Andrew.”

It’s always weird hearing someone say my dad’s name.

“Thanks,” I say. “I bet he likes it.”

“I like to think so.”

“Are the smoothies ready?” Alice walks into the room rubbing her hands together like a child who’s about to get a treat.

“Just about.” I put three big handfuls of spinach on top of the fruit and almond milk.

“You’re putting spinach in a smoothie?” Alice cries. “That’s like putting Brussel sprouts on birthday cake. Have you lost your mind?”

“You won’t even taste it,” I assure her.

“And what are those little black things floating around?”

“Chia seeds, mom,” Marie answers. “They’re good for you and they have no taste. You won’t even notice them.”

“None of this seems natural.” Alice peers into the blender with a skeptical eye.

“It came from Laurel Horace’s garden,” Marie says. “It’s as natural as it gets.”

I fire up the blender. The blueberries and the spinach make a weird color. Alice wrinkles her nose. Her expression doesn’t improve as I pour the smoothie into three glasses. Marie is the first one to take a sip.

“Crap, that’s delicious,” she says. “Did you sneak in a little vanilla extract?”

“Just a drop,” I wink.

“Mom, you have to try it. It’s good!”

“I just don’t see why I have to change my whole diet,” Alice grumbles. “I like my chicken fried steak from Harry’s. I like bacon. I like butter. What’s so wrong with that?”

“You can still have those things,” I say. “However, these smoothies are going to taste just as good going down as they will if they come back up. Can you say the same for chicken fried steak?”

“Luke,” Marie says through clenched teeth.

“Don’t chide him,” Alice says. “Everyone keeps talking to me like I’m a toddler. Luke’s right. At some point, it’s going to be hard for me to keep food down. It’s okay to acknowledge it.”

“Let’s also acknowledge that I practically had to tackle you to get you to take your pills this morning,” Marie says. “Did I baby you then?”

“Those pills make me all screwy. I don’t like them. They sure as hell don’t make me feel better.”

Marie sucks in a long, slow breath. Tears shine in her eyes but she blinks them away.

“They will if you take them correctly. Is it okay to acknowledge not taking your pills is a bad idea?”

“When you can prove it.”

“I can’t deal with this right now,” Marie mutters and strides out of the kitchen. Alice lets out a sigh.

“I’m not trying to make this difficult, you know?” She says to me.

“I know,” I nod. “So does Marie.”

“It’s just all these doctors telling me what I can and can’t do. I hate it. Complacency isn’t in my nature. It’s not part of Marie’s either.” Alice picks up her smoothie to examine it.

“No, it’s not,” I chuckle. “That just means both of you are natural fighters. That’s going to come in handy in the coming months. All those doctors just want you to have the best weapons.”

“Like this?” She shakes the smoothie glass.

“Yup.”

“When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound like a list of demands.” She takes a small sip. “Wow, that’s good. I can’t even taste the green stuff.”

“What did I tell you?” I grin. Alice looks up at me, her eyes clear and bright.

“I’m glad to have you around again, Luke. Marie is going to need a friend like you.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too.”