smiled at the term “those ladies” as he turned his eyes from the tranquil scene in front of him to the hot-pink golf cart bouncing down the dirt lane. Nimbly, he climbed down the ladder, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel he picked up off a table. Casually, he ruffled the hair on Caleb’s head as he watched the vehicle approach them. The boy didn’t smile, but he didn’t pull away as he had a habit of doing when Luke touched him. They were still getting used to each other, and signs of physical affection from a father he had just met were new to him. Luke understood the boy’s caution and felt no irritation. He knew his son would come around, with God’s help. Luke prayed for it daily.
“Hello, ladies,” he called. “Say hello, Caleb,” he instructed the boy.
“Hi.” Caleb inched closer to his father and Luke draped an arm around his thin shoulders, feeling a burst of happiness when the boy let it rest there.
“Hi there, Caleb!” Both ladies smiled broadly at the youngster.
“Oh, it looks just fantastic!” Katie Salter declared as she pulled the cart close to the brick terrace adjoining the new screened porch.
“Just perfect!” Annie Salter concurred as she sprang from the golf cart with the agility of a woman half her age, a wicker hamper in her grasp.
“What have you got there?” Luke reached a hand to help the elderly lady, but she waved it off, carrying the basket with ease to the table.
“Brought you and Caleb lunch. You both must be starved what with all of the work you’ve been doing for us this morning,” Katie chirped as she began pulling wrapped sandwiches and containers of what appeared to be various salads from the white basket. Luke’s stomach rumbled audibly at the sight. The women laughed, Annie reaching out to slap the source of the rumble lightly.
“Guess I am pretty hungry. How about you, Caleb?” Luke’s face reddened slightly with embarrassment as another loud growl emanated from his midsection. This time Caleb laughed with everyone else.
In no time the sisters had the small table on the terrace set with paper plates, napkins, forks and plastic cups. Katie deftly poured frosty sweet tea into four of the cups, while her sister made short work of setting out fresh shrimp salad, coleslaw and several kinds of sandwiches. Luke got Caleb to help him pull four chairs up to the table while the women worked on the food. Honestly, he could not think of a better place for lunch or better company.
Once they were all seated Annie reached for his callused hand and the smaller, slightly wrinkled hand of her sister, while Katie reached for Caleb’s. The boy hesitated before placing his smaller hand in hers, a questioning look on his freckled face. She winked at him, giving him a reassuring smile.
“Will you bless the meal, Luke?” she asked in her soft Southern drawl.
“I would be honored.” He nodded. Reaching for his son’s other hand, he began.
“Bless this food to our use, and us to Thy service, and make us ever mindful of the needs of others, Lord.” He paused and continued with a twinkle in his eyes. “And thanks for the company of two such beautiful women and my son. I am truly blessed three times over, Lord. Amen.”
The two elderly women giggled like young girls and Annie squeezed his hand in response.
“Ah, Luke Barrett, if I were twenty years younger you’d be in trouble!” Annie proclaimed, her sparkling brown eyes taking him in appreciatively.
Her sister snorted. “More like forty years younger. And even then you’d be a...what do they call it nowadays?”
“Cougar. I’d be a cougar, which I don’t mind being at all!” Annie declared with a spirited nod, almost dislodging the wide-brimmed straw hat that covered her blue-gray hair.
Luke choked on the bite of the ham-and-cheese sandwich he was eating. Katie absentmindedly began pounding on his back, her attention still focused on Annie. Caleb was following the conversation with a great deal of interest, his blue eyes moving from one adult to another as he dug into the food as though he was starving.
“Annie May Salter!”
“Oh, like you never thought of it.” Annie laughed at her sister’s scandalized expression.
“Well, yes, but good manners dictate that you do not voice such thoughts aloud. And there are young ears present.” Katie tried to be prim, but Luke noticed she was close to laughter, as well. He also noticed she was still thumping on his back.
“I’m fine, Miss Katie,” he assured her.
“Sure?” she asked kindly, giving his back a couple more wallops for good measure.
Luke nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” Gently, he led the topic in another direction by asking, “When do the new tenants arrive?” Luke knew the cottage was rented out to vacationers each summer season.
Miss Katie frowned slightly, her eyes focused on a hummingbird that was flitting gracefully among the flowers of a nearby scarlet hibiscus bush. “Tenant,” she corrected. “That poor girl,” she added softly. “She should be here sometime today or this evening. She’s driving down from Raleigh.”
“She just needs a little R & R and TLC,” Annie asserted firmly. “She’ll be right as rain in no time. Isn’t that what you marines call it, Luke? R & R?”
“Yes, ma’am, rest and relaxation,” Luke confirmed as he leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs in front of him. “Although we don’t use TLC very often at all,” he said with a crooked grin. He couldn’t imagine telling his troops they needed tender loving care, no matter what condition they were in.
“The cottage won’t be rented out for quite some time,” Annie said. “Tess has been invited to use it as long as she likes. That’s why we added the screened porch. Thought it would be a comfy spot to curl up and read on rainy days.”
“Well, she is family, after all, and Swansboro is the perfect spot for her right now. I reckon she’ll be glad to get away for a while.” Katie began packing the hamper with the remains of the lunch as she spoke, then stopped when she noticed Caleb eating another sandwich.
“Extended family, but family is family,” Annie amended. “Sister! Perhaps you should ask our guests if they are finished before taking their meal away from them.” Annie looked pointedly at the little boy, who was wolfing down his second sandwich with a great deal of relish.
“Family?” Luke asked, wondering about this mysterious tenant. “Is it someone I know?” He wasn’t related to the sisters, but they’d adopted him so thoroughly into their lives and their hearts ever since he’d moved to town that he felt like part of their family. Given his own troubled background, it was a feeling he relished.
“No, dear, you haven’t met her,” Katie answered. “Tess is Livie’s sister-in-law.”
Luke nodded in understanding. Livie was the sisters’ grandniece—a sweet girl who Luke had known for the past few years, along with her husband, Adam, and her adorable twin daughters, named after the Salter sisters. “This Tess is Adam’s sister?” he asked.
“That’s right. We love Livie and Adam, and by extension, we love Tess. Just like we love you, Luke. And now we have Caleb to love.” She flashed the boy a warm, grandmotherly smile.
Caleb stopped eating, looking at Katie curiously. “How can you love me if you don’t really know me?” The question was honest and straightforward, but neither of the sisters was taken aback. Katie’s answer was honest and straightforward in return.
“We chose to love you and we have plenty to go around. No sense in letting it just sit there and go to waste.”
“Yep.” Annie nodded. “Don’t fight it, kid. Just go with the flow.”
God bless both of you, Luke thought. He watched his son closely, gauging his reaction to their words. Caleb seemed to be considering what they had said, then shrugged his shoulders,