State of Grace
Chapter
6
The next few
days, Luke was nowhere to be seen. Rachael only appeared at
mealtimes. Grace often heard her climbing out of her window and
the sound of tires retreating down the driveway. At work,
Luke seemed dazed and unfocused which really affected his work.
Grace found herself picking up his slack, working from dawn
to dusk, and going to bed exhausted at night. Grace’s
school started up again but Rachael still had another week until
she had to return to her college. Grace often wondered what
Rachael did during the day with Luke in school. Meanwhile, Luke
in school without Rachael was not a good mix. He fell asleep a
lot and barley did his work. Not that Grace cared but she
couldn’t help but notice. This relationship had to end.
One Saturday morning when Luke was actually at work and fixing
the tractor with Grace, she decided it was the best time to
discuss it.
“Luke?”
He looked up at her and smiled. His blue eyes sparkled. The sun
was shining and the weather was warming up. A light breeze
ruffled his dark hair as he asked for a wrench.
“Luke, about you and Rachael…”
“Grace, what your cousin and I have is really none of your
business,” he replied, coolly.
“Luke! You guys don’t have anything! She is using
you!” Luke stood up and Grace realized how he much he
towered over her.
“Grace, I appreciate the concern,” he said, as he
touched her shoulder, “but it’s much more than what
you think.”
Grace tried not to focus on how much Rachael would hurt Luke when
she left. He was looking for a long distance, true relationship
and she just wanted some action on vacation with Luke.
Grace heard her conversation with someone on the phone late that
night:
“Yeah, babe, I miss you too.”
“No I still love you! I miss you here. It’s so boring
here.”
“Maybe we can get together the first night I get
back?”
“Okay bye honey! I love you!”
Grace felt like a weight dropped to the pit of her stomach. Not
only was Rachael using Luke, she was cheating on her boyfriend
back at college. She obviously didn’t care for Luke. But
why should Grace worry about Luke, as May constantly reminded her
whenever Grace expressed her concern for Luke. Grace shuddered as
she thought of the last time she brought it up to May.
“Grace,” interjected May, one night as they lay
watching a movie on May’s couch, “do you like
Luke?”
“Of course not,” said Grace right away. It got her
thinking though. What if she did like Luke? And worse, what if
she did like Luke and Luke didn’t like her?
“Are you sure?” asked May. But her attention was
already back on the screen. She smiled because she knew May must
be joking around. Her focus slipped from the thoughts of late
nights, long days and close situations with Luke and turned to
the fun night she and May had planned.
