As he turned the corner onto Mountain View Street, he grinned at the sight before him. The framing on the first house looked almost complete.
He parked his work truck, hopped out. Refugio, the crew boss, met him on the sidewalk, and together, they walked through the framing so Luke could have a look. Satisfied that things were moving along, Luke was headed back to his truck when he saw Ben Stuart’s king cab pickup truck glide to a halt next to the curb. Ben emerged with a wave for Luke. “Hey buddy!” he said cheerfully. “I wondered when you’d be back.”
“I’m here today,” Luke said. “Framework looks good.”
Ben nodded, then looked back at Luke. “What do you mean, you’re here today? Your dad’s okay, right?”
Luke had told Ben that something had come up with his dad, but he hadn’t explained what. “Dad’s okay,” Luke assured him. “He just needs some help with a couple of things.”
Ben looked at Luke expectantly, wanting more.
Luke glanced at the two empty slabs. “Refugio said he could start framing this one next week.” He glanced at Ben. “But I need to go back home for a week or two.”
Ben’s pleasant expression began to fade. “One week? Or two?”
Honestly, Luke didn’t know long he’d be. He still didn’t know exactly what he was doing in Pine River, other than trying to stick his fingers into a bunch of little holes in the dyke.
Ben guessed as much and groaned. “Come on, man! You have three starts, Luke. Three. Someone’s gotta be here to manage it. These houses are clear across town from where I’m working right now.”
“I know,” Luke said apologetically. “I know the timing is bad. I know it’s a pain in the ass. But right now, my dad’s in kind of a bind, and I need to be there. No more than a couple of weeks,” he assured Ben, and sent up a little bit of begging to the heavens that what he was saying was true. He’d worked too hard for this opportunity to let it slip through his fingers, and the way things were going, he would never have the scratch to do this on his own. He needed Stuart Homes, needed them more than Ben would ever know. “Believe me, I don’t want to be in Pine River any more than you want me gone. I’ll come in and check at least once a week.”
Ben frowned. He glanced back at the men across the street hammering on the house frame. “Okay, Luke. I’ll cover you for a couple of weeks. But I can’t cover these houses forever—I’ve got my own work, and my wife is on my ass about the hours I keep as it is.”
“I’m sorry, Ben.”
“Yeah, well, sorry isn’t going to cut it in a couple of weeks, okay? This was all about giving you a leg up, Luke,” he said, gesturing to the housing pads. “We had this trouble with you last fall, always off to Pine River. We haven’t even finished the first frame and you’re doing it again.”
“Come on, Ben,” Luke said coolly. “It’s not like I planned this. It’s not like I haven’t thought of every option and tried to come up with a better one. But you know the situation with my brother. I’m all my dad has.”
That seemed to soften Ben a little. He nodded, turned his head and spit. “Yeah, I know. You’ve got a lot of talent, Luke. But maybe you ought to be using that talent in Pine River.”
“There’s no market for custom homes up there,” Luke said.
Ben nodded. “Okay. Two weeks.”
“Thanks, man,” Luke said. He didn’t tell Ben that not only was there no market in Pine River, but that he needed distance from Pine River. He needed time to himself, away from the constant pressure of disease and financial trouble.
Luke’s day only got worse when he showed up at the door of his economic professor, who held once-a-week open office hours. Professor Whitehall was less friendly than Ben. “Mr. Kendrick,” he said, looking at Luke over the tops of his glasses, “I thought you had withdrawn from school.”
It went downhill from there. Luke had missed too many classes. Professor Whitehall told him that he didn’t know if it was possible for Luke to catch up, but that he had one opportunity in the form of a test the following week. A test that covered material Luke had not even read yet.
His last stop before picking up Madeline was with the attorney Jackson had pointed him to. Dan Broadstreet was a big guy who wore a bolero tie and a short-sleeved shirt. He took Luke’s hand in his beefy one, shook it vigorously, and then invited him into a conference room. He had a pad of yellow legal paper and pencil, but he made only one note as Luke explained the situation to him.