“Can’t bring myself to do it. Doesn’t seem right when she has so much and I have so little.”
“Love?” Naomi asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Emmett snorted. “’Course not. Money’s the problem, not love.”
Luke checked on Pam and Clifford’s table. “Then you’re leaving the door open for the likes of him. I agree with Naomi. I’m sure Pam would rather have you than that character. But she might be tired of waiting for you to get over this hang-up.”
Emmett muttered something that could have been a curse.
“I have an idea.” Luke tucked his napkin beside his plate. “Go over and ask Pam to dance. Stake your claim.”
The light of battle lit Emmett’s blue eyes as he pushed back his chair. “All right, I will. That sonofabitch probably can’t dance a lick.”
Luke grinned. “If he could, he wouldn’t dress like a peacock.”
“That was brilliant,” Naomi murmured as they watched Emmett amble over to the table.
“Let’s hope it works.” Luke thought it might. He hadn’t spent his adult life romancing women without learning a thing or two. Pam looked surprised, but she left her chair and walked to the dance floor with Emmett.
Luke pushed back his chair. “That’s our cue. Dance with me, Naomi Perkins.”
Laughing, she took the hand he offered and soon he had her right where he wanted her, in his arms. He’d had a hunch that she’d be a good dancer. He thanked the series of coincidences that had given him the opportunity to dance with Naomi. What a joy.
Her breath was warm in his ear as she twirled with him on the polished floor. “Did you talk Emmett into dancing for his sake or yours?”
“I figured it would help us both out.” He spun her around. “I couldn’t leave here tonight without at least one dance.”
She brushed a quick kiss on his cheek. “I knew you had more hidden talents.”
“Anything I have is yours for the taking.” He moved her smoothly across the floor in a spirited two-step.
“I’m taking it.”
“When?”
“I’ll be up on my platform by ten in the morning. After that, it’s up to you.”
He twirled her under his arm. “Are you sure we can’t manage something tonight?”
“Positive. You’re going home with Emmett and I’m sleeping in my parents’ house.”
He brought her in close for one precious second. His heart hammered so loudly he could barely hear the music. “I want you so much.”
“I want you, too.” Her cheeks were flushed. “And I will have you. And you’ll have me. Tomorrow.”
The music ended, and he held her close. “Promise you’ll think about me when you’re lying alone tonight.”
She gazed up at him, her lips parted as she breathed quickly, recovering from the exertion of the dance. “Only if you’ll promise to think about me.”
“That’s an easy promise.”
“I think I should leave now.” She eased out of his arms. “See you tomorrow.”
He watched her go and fought the urge to follow her outside for one last kiss.
“That was a good idea you had.” Emmett came over and clapped him on the shoulder. “We dance great together, and I don’t think she’ll be flirting with that Clifford guy so much now. Thanks, son.”
“You’re welcome. Ready to go home?”
“Yeah. I made my statement.” He reached for his wallet and tossed some bills on the table. “Let’s leave.”
Back in Emmett’s truck, they rode in silence for a couple of miles. But finally Luke decided he needed to clear the air. “I know you’re worried about me getting involved with Naomi.”
Emmett blew out a breath. “I wouldn’t be, except you keep talking about leaving. I wish you’d rethink that, Luke. Frankly, I’ve never quite understood it.”
“I have more things to see and do. Too long in one place and I get restless, wondering what’s on the other side of the hill. When you start getting attached is when you’re reluctant to leave, and then you slowly settle into your rut.”
“I suppose you think I’m in a rut, then.”
“From my vantage point, yes, but if you’re happy, that’s all that matters. I was born a wanderer, just like my dad.”
Emmett slowed down so that a family of raccoons could cross the road. “So he travels all over the place, too?”
“Nope. He got mired in a mortgage, car payments, a lawn that has to be mowed, a fence that has to be painted, a garage that has to be cleaned. My mother wanted all that, and he became trapped by those things in order to please her, or at least keep the peace. He never went anywhere. He warned me that he was a cautionary tale.”
“Hmm. So your father is miserable?”
Luke nodded. “Not completely miserable, but he has regrets. He sighs when he glances through the travel section of the newspaper and he watches every travel documentary he can find. He even clips out coupons for discount travel adventures that he can’t follow up on.”
“Excuse me for saying so, Luke, but unless he’s an invalid, he could still travel. What’s stopping him from going?”
“Like I said, the responsibilities at home, and my mother, who has no interest in traveling.” But as Luke laid it out for Emmett, he had to admit that his father was an adult with free will. If this was his passion, he could find a way to make it happen. Maybe it was easier to stay home and complain.
“You know, son, could be he’s using your mother as an excuse not to go.”
“Maybe. He might be scared to actually go now. I see your point, but that only emphasizes mine. I don’t want to tie myself to the same things that weigh him down, whether he’s allowing that or not. I’d rather avoid being in that mess in the first place. I wouldn’t be good at settling down, and I know it.”
“I suppose, with an example like that, you don’t think so.”
Luke had the feeling that Emmett had more he could say, but he was refraining from saying it. That was okay with Luke, because they’d strayed from the topic, which was his intentions toward Naomi and hers toward him.
So he tackled the subject again. “Naomi knows all about my wanderlust. She and I are attracted to each other, and I’ve told her I’m not a forever kind of guy.”
“Yes, but she might think she can change you.”
“I don’t think she wants to.”
“All women want to get a man to settle down. It’s the way of the world.” Emmett spoke with certainty.
“It used to be, Emmett, but not so much anymore. Naomi’s like a lot of women—not sure where she’s going, what her next job will be. She wants to stay flexible. She’s no more ready for a husband than I’m ready for a wife.”
“She told you that?”
“She did. And she’s not the only woman who’s said the same kind of thing. I don’t want to go behind your back, Emmett, but I intend to spend time with Naomi, and she’s heading into it with her eyes wide open. In fact, she likes the idea that I won’t be begging for her hand in marriage.”
Emmett was quiet for at least a full minute. “Her