“That woman needs help,” Bert said, shaking his head. “Maybe I should head over there—”
“You guys get going on that roof. I’ll bring a ladder over,” Luke said with a sigh of inevitability. “Cooper, stay,” he commanded.
Which of course made Cooper more curious than obedient. And as Luke ran to the fence, Cooper followed.
“Stay here,” Luke commanded, his voice even more stern. He waited until he saw Cooper sit, then climbed the fence crossing the sacred boundary.
But before he could get to Janie, she let go of the gutter and took another step up the ladder.
The step splintered under her weight, her foot came down and she landed on her chest on the top rung. The ladder swayed and would have gone over, if he hadn’t grabbed it, steadied it and pushed it upright.
His heart pounded in his chest. She had come so close to seriously hurting herself.
“Hey, Luke,” Todd called out from the back of the yard where he was sitting on the grass, reading a book. Autumn had been swinging on a swing set that looked as sketchy as the ladder he was holding up. But she stopped, staring at him. “Are you helping my mommy?”
Janie straightened and glanced down. Startled, she said, “I didn’t see you…you should have said…” She took a breath, then caught the gutter again.
“Don’t hang on to that,” Luke said. “It’s not strong enough.”
“Well, I don’t know what else to hang on to.” But she let go and placed both hands on the wall of the house.
“Get down from there. You’re going to do serious damage to yourself,” Luke said.
“Where’s Autumn?” Janie asked, her gaze narrowing as she glanced over at Luke’s yard.
And why was she worried about Autumn when she had just had a near-death experience herself?
Luke followed the direction of her gaze only to see Cooper with his front paws on the top of the teetering fence, watching the scene unfold with avid interest.
“Hey, Cooper. Good to see you,” Todd called out, putting his book down and walking toward the dog.
“Cooper. Down,” Luke called out, not trusting the strength of the fence.
Cooper barked. The fence shook.
And Autumn started to cry.
“Bert, get that dog away from the fence,” Luke called out as Janie clambered down the rest of the ladder, then ran to her daughter’s side to comfort her.
Bert ran over to Cooper and pulled him down. “Should I tie him up?”
Luke sighed. He had just finished cleaning up the yard so that his dog could run free. “Yeah. I guess.”
As Bert pulled a very reluctant Cooper toward the trailer to tie him up, Luke folded up the wooden ladder, surprised to see his hands still shaking.
“What are you doing?” Janie demanded as she carried Autumn to the house. “I’m not done.”
“I’m going to get you a new ladder. This one isn’t safe.” Luke set the ladder on its side. “And then I’m going to be the one going up it to clean the gutters.”
“There’s no need. I was taking care of it.” Autumn wriggled on Janie’s hip, and Janie set her down. “Suzie, can you please come out here and get your sister,” she called out.
“I’m not done with my homework,” Suzie called back from inside the house.
Janie sighed and pressed her fingertips to her temples as if she was holding something back. “Todd, can you take Autumn inside? You can play a game with her if you want.”
Todd, who was hanging over the fence, watching Cooper, reluctantly pulled away and trudged across the yard. He picked up his book, then held out his hand to his sister. “C’mon Autumn. What do you want to play?” he asked as he led her up the porch steps and into the house.
Janie turned back to Luke and gave him a smile that he could only describe as insincerely sweet. “If I could borrow a ladder from you, then I can finish the job and you can get back to your work.”
How convenient. She could borrow his tools, but he couldn’t set foot in her yard.
“I’d hate to disappoint you,” he said, his voice growing chilly, “but you’re not going to finish the job. I’m going to finish the job. Using my ladder.”
“I’m perfectly capable,” she protested, her blue eyes snapping. “I’ve done it before. You don’t need to be here.”
The remnants of the fear he’d experienced when he saw her near miss pushed his guard down.
He took a step closer, his voice growing quiet so the kids couldn’t hear.
“You just about killed yourself in front of your children just a few moments ago.” His anger was building as her eyes narrowed. “If you’re the responsible and concerned mother that you seem to be, then you won’t go anywhere near those gutters.”
Janie’s mouth opened then shut again. She looked like she was on the verge of a coronary, but Luke didn’t care.
“So why don’t you go inside where you’ll be safe from me and my dog,” he continued, pressing his momentary advantage, “and I’ll get the proper tools to do this job.”
Janie opened her mouth once more, but Luke didn’t stick around to hear her tell him again how she could do it herself.
He was halfway across the yard when a thought hit him. Following this hunch, he turned around and walked back to the wooden ladder she was struggling to pick up. Without a word, he took it from her as easily as he would a toy and carried it back to the fence.
“That’s mine,” she called out as he tossed it into his yard. “I got that ladder from my dad. It’s an heirloom.”
He didn’t acknowledge her comments as he hopped the fence but had to laugh at her last comment. Heirloom indeed. Fossil would be more apt.
He strapped on his pouch, grabbed a cordless drill and screws, slipped on his gloves and picked up an aluminum ladder on his way back to Janie’s yard.
He put the ladder over the fence and hopped over again, knowing that this route would give Janie less time to come up with some kind of alternate scheme to keep him away from her precious gutters.
By the time he got back to the house, Janie seemed to have calmed down. She even gave him a smile when he opened up the ladder.
“You know I can—”
“Forget it,” Luke said as he scrambled up the ladder.
The gutter was plugged solid, and it took him a few minutes to pull out all the leaves and mud. They musn’t have been cleaned for years.
While he worked, Janie stayed at the bottom of the ladder, watching. He felt like telling her there was nothing worth stealing up here, not with the shape her roof was in, but he kept his smart comment to himself.
When he was done with this part of the gutters, he fitted the screws to the dilapidated metal and spun them in with the drill.
“You’re going to have to replace these in the next year or so.” He tightened the last of the screws.
“I’m not surprised,” she answered. “How do the shingles look, or do I not want to ask?”
Luke tested the gutter. When he was satisfied, he gave the roof a quick glance. About one-fourth of the shingles were lifting off and curling up. “Bad news there, too.”
“Again. Not surprised.”
What did surprise him was the faint smile curving her lips as he came down the ladder.