Page 69 of Loyally, Luke
Chapter12
Ellie didn’t show up to work the next day, but left a message through Mrs.Kershaw that she was on business in the North Country and would be back the following day.
Maybe it was a good thing to allow Luke the time to focus on work instead of the woolly mammoth in the room when he’d see Ellie again. But the atmosphere sizzled with a new type of tension.
Guards had been posted at the gates of Cambric Hall, requiring Pete and Luke to show identification before entering. Mrs.Kershaw shared that the king had sent them in preparation for any news crew that would likely follow the story of the orphanage and anything associated with the “princess-in-hiding.”
Luke had noticed some extra traffic in Crieff as they’d passed through. Could that really be from the media yesterday? He had no idea how people responded to royals in general. His only real experience was his younger sister, and he really hoped she was the exception to the rule. Penelope created an entire “experience” for watching any of the royal weddings and hoped to name one of her children Catherine.
Luke sighed as he helped Gordon, the man he’d become closest to among the workmen, install another cabinet. Having Penelope as his sister even meant that Luke knew exactly who people were talking about when they mentioned Will and Kate by their first names.
“She’s been good for this orphanage,” Gordon murmured, almost too quiet for Luke to hear, the older man casting a look over his shoulder as if some of the other workers may have overheard him.
Luke didn’t have to ask who “she” was.
He knew.
The air simmered with her absence.
“And the North Country,” Gordon added, his voice even quieter. His pale gaze rose to Luke’s. “I ken she’s had her ways in the past, but she’s ours and she’s proud to be.”
Luke may not have understood everything behind Gordon’s words, but the meaning was clear. The people who saw Ellie’s reform embraced it deeply.
“Dinna believe all you read.” He paused, holding Luke’s gaze in his steely one before giving a curt nod. “You ken who she is.”
It wasn’t a question.
And down deep, Luke wondered if Ellie from the last few weeks was much more “real” than Princess Elliana, whatever, of the North Country.
The situation from a few days before gnawed at the back of his mind. He hated unresolved conflict. Even if the situation wasn’t going to turn out the way he’d hoped, the idea that it lingered without an answer kept distracting him throughout the morning.
When lunch break came, he retreated to the front lawn of the castle, just to breathe in more space or the quiet or the simple peace of being alone. He took a bite of the sandwich Mrs.Kershaw had offered and looked up at the sky.
He’d always prayed that God would help him make a difference in the small part of the world where God had placed him. Simple things, like helping a neighbor with some house repairs, or giving a stranger a lift to the bus station, or even working with the children’s home—a temporary choice that turned into a long-term arrangement.
Even agreeing to travel here for Lewis Gray had been a choice to help, as well as see a little more of the world. But surely God hadn’t chosen Luke, of all people, to help a princess heal? And if God had chosen Luke, why hadn’t God also taken away the attraction from day one? Because there was no mistaking the two of them shared a mutual attraction.
Could he even offer friendship without wanting to kiss her silly every day?
Seemed like too big a feat for a simple man like him.
And a princess? He raised a brow to the blue sky. Really?
A sudden sniffling sound nearby pulled his thoughts from contemplating God’s sense of humor and toward the corner of the front portico. There, sitting on a step, coatless and crying, sat Faye. Her little body shivered with her quiet sobs, and there was nothing else to be done but to take his jacket off and lay it over those little shoulders as he lowered himself to her side.
“Now, what’s got you all upset?”
Faye rubbed her fingers into her eyes as if to plug up the tears. “Amara left today.”
Luke’s chest deflated and he slipped an arm around the little girl’s tiny shoulders. “That’s hard for sure.”
Faye nodded, another tremor quivering through her. “I don’t want her to forget me.”
“You think she will?”
“She didn’t cry very much.”
“Well, she had to show she was happy to see her granny too, right?” Luke gave her little shoulders a squeeze. “But I bet she was torn up too. Half happy, half sad.”
