Page 41 of Loyally, Luke
“Whew. That’s a long time.” Luke gave the announcement enoughobvious respect to see both girls smile in return. “I heard a secret once about friendships like that.” He leaned in closer. “Wanna hear?”
The girls’ eyes grew wide and they edged in. He lowered his voice. “I’ve heard that the best friends stay friends no matter how far apart they are.”
They stared at him, waiting for him to continue, so those words needed more... something. “Because we carry memories around with us that help us think of good times, and if we close our eyes real tight—” He closed his eyes and then opened them just enough to notice that both girls had closed their eyes too. He wrestled against a burgeoning grin, the itch to hug both girls nearly knocking him over. “We can see those folks we love as if they were near enough to touch.”
When he opened his eyes, both girls stared back at him, nodding.
“And we can write letters,” Faye said.
“Or emails,” Amara added.
Luke nodded, his grin twisting for release. One reason he liked kids so much. They liked practical more than sentimental too. “That’s exactly right.”
“Do you have people you email from where you live?” Faye asked.
“I do. I have three sisters.” Because he always counted Izzy as a sister instead of a cousin.
Both girls’ eyes grew wide. “And no brothers?”
“Nope.” He shook his head, sighing. “Not a one.” He tapped Faye’s nose. “But both my dogs are boys, so I could try to even out the score a bit.”
Both girls giggled, but another chuckle behind him sounded much too mature for a little girl. He closed his eyes with a sigh, almost certain of who it would be. He turned to find his fear confirmed. Ellie leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, staring down at him with a crooked grin on her face.
He rolled his gaze heavenward as heat traveled up into his face,almost enough to make his beard sweat. He wasn’t ashamed of talking to kids at all, but for some reason, her seeing and hearing it just niggled at him the wrong way. With all her high-class, she probably thought he was ridiculous.
Luke stood and the girls smiled and waved at Ellie.
“Hello, Ms.Ellie,” they said in unison.
“Hello, Amara, Faye.”
She knew the girls’ names?
“Are you making a new friend?” Ellie looked from the girls over to Luke. He kept his gaze away from hers and gave a tug to the collar of his T-shirt, just to have something to do.
“He’s breaking the kitchen floor to make it better,” Faye recited.
“He is.”
“Are you helping him?” This from Amara.
“I’m trying, but I have a lot to learn in regard to building.”
“What do you usually do?” Faye asked. “When you’re not here?”
Which meant she was probably at Cambric more often than Luke expected.
“She visits castles and rides horses.” Amara nodded, looking expectantly up to Ellie. “And wears beautiful dresses.”
Luke slid a glance over to Ellie to catch her response.
Ellie wrestled with her grin, her cheeks pinking a bit. And the look didn’t hurt her at all.
“There are a lot of castles in Skymar and they need lots of work.” She stepped closer to them. “And I do like riding horses, but I much prefer comfortable clothes than lots of dresses. However...” She drew out the word and dropped to one knee. “If I were going to wear a special dress, I would certainly want it to be a beautiful one.”
“Do you have lots of crowns too?” Faye asked.
Ellie’s smile faded. “Crowns?” She looked over at Luke like she’d lost what to say.
