Julie clenched her teeth, hating that her mother was partly right, yet not wanting to admit it. “Of course I like Luke. But I do plenty of things with my friends. And I’ve never once let my grades drop, have I?”
“Julie, I’m not trying to be a nag. It’s just that I want so much more for you.”
Julie spun and peered down at her mother on the sofa. “More of what? Why shouldn’t I have a boyfriend and have fun with him? What have you got against Luke?”
“I haven’t got anything against him. He’s a nice boy. But I want to see you go to college. I want you to get out of this smelly little steel town. Have a career. See the world.”
Julie rolled her eyes. The same old argument. “Mom, just because you hate Waterton doesn’t mean I do. Daddy and I both love it here.” By bringing her father into the discussion, Julie felt a sense of leverage. It was true that her dad liked the small steel town where he’d grown up and where he now held the job of athletic director and football coach for northwest Indiana’s top-rated high school.
“And don’t forget,” she added hastily, before her mother could react. “Luke’s going to get a football scholarship and be out of here in two years. So, based on your logic, why would I even want to stay if he’s gone?”
Her mother’s hands, folded in her lap, appeared rigid, as if she were gripping something so tightly that she couldn’t let go. “I wasn’t badgering you, Julie. I only want you to think about your future. Not Luke’s.”
“I do think about my future. I’ll go to college, Mom. And I won’t end up at any ‘Podunk University,’ either.” She bent and kissed her mother quickly on the forehead. “Now, I’ve got to get to bed. It’s late and I promised Mrs. Poston I’d help her with Sunday school class in the morning.”
Julie breezed from the room and up the stairs without giving her mother a chance to stop her. And once safely in her room, she flopped on the bed and exhaled deeply. She’d heard her father say many times, “The best offense is a good defense.” And that was what she’d offered her mother tonight—a great defense.
Julie wasn’t fibbing when she’d said she wanted to go away to college. But what she hadn’t said was that she wasn’t about to choose a college until she knew where Luke was going to attend. Hadn’t her father said that college coaches were already lining up to offer Luke athletic scholarships? Well, once Luke got down to serious negotiations, Julie would begin to apply to those colleges.
She knew her mother wouldn’t like her plans, but right now, Julie didn’t care. She wasn’t about to spend four years apart from Luke Muldenhower. Besides, her mother was right about one thing: Julie Ellis was smart, and as long as she kept her grades up, she figured she could get into most any college she wanted.
And Solena was right about something too: the world was full of girls waiting to steal a guy like Luke. “I won’t let that happen,” Julie said out loud. “Not in a million years.”
She loved Luke with all her heart. And she wasn’t about to let him get away.
“I think you have a fever, Luke.” Julie pressed her hand on his cheek as she spoke. Automatically, she moved her hand to the side of his neck, to where she’d first felt the swollen gland the night before. “And your gland doesn’t seem any smaller.”
It was Sunday afternoon and he’d come over to study with her. Their books were strewn across the dining room table, but Luke had spent most of the past hour resting his head on the book in front of him.
“I’m fine,” he said, not too kindly. “You’re not my mother, Julie—get off my case.”
“Well, excuse me for being concerned.” Julie shoved her chair backward and stood up.
“Wait a minute. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I didn’t sleep good last night, and today I’ve got a pounding headache.”
Instantly, she was sorry for being cross with him. “Why don’t you go back to your doctor?”
He shrugged. “I just don’t want to. What’s he going to do? Give me another prescription for antibiotics? The last prescription didn’t help.”
“Then that’s all the more reason to go.”
Pale November sun shone through the window and shimmered in waves across the table. “Office visits and prescriptions cost money,” he said. “Things are tight with Mom this month. She doesn’t need any extra expense.”
Julie knew it was hard for Luke to talk to her about his poverty. Ever since his father’s death, his mother had worked full-time and he had worked summer jobs, but there still never seemed to be enough money to go around. “She has health insurance from her job at the mill,” Julie said. “She’ll get reimbursed.”
“Yeah, but she has to pay up front, then wait for the insurance company to reimburse her.”
“So what’s your point?” Julie crossed her arms, refusing to back down.
Luke tossed his pencil on the table. “My point is that I don’t want Mom to spend the money for some stupid flu bug that will eventually run its course.”
“That is so dumb, Luke Muldenhower. Tell my dad and he’ll see to it that you get to the doctor. And it won’t cost you a thing!”
He shoved away from the table and stood. “I don’t need charity, Julie. It’s my flu, you know. And I don’t want your daddy to foot my bills.”
“That’s the dumbest—”
She got no further. Luke stepped around her and headed out the door. She called for him to return, but all she heard was the slamming of the front door behind him.
3
“What’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 abo
ut 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.”
4
“Your 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.