Free About that Night by Hunter J. Keane Page A

prove it to me.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
    It only took a few minutes of watching Luke mingle with the shelter residents to realize that I had underestimated him. The women were skeptical when I would first introduce him to them. Many of them had ended up in the shelter precisely because they had fallen for charming, attractive men. But it didn’t take long for them to see that Luke wasn’t like those men. The way the kids flocked to him, scampering for attention, made the mothers smile.
    I didn’t have time to stand around and smile. I had food to make, decorations to set up and kids to entertain. At one particularly frazzling moment, I stood in the kitchen staring at the floor where one of the kids had just knocked over an entire container of eggnog. I needed to get the ham out of the oven, but now a river of liquid Christmas stood in my way.
    “How can I help?” Luke asked, noticing that I was about to tear out my hair. He reached for a roll of paper towels and tore off a bunch before handing me the roll.
    It wasn’t until I looked over at him that I realized the child responsible for the mess was cowering in the corner of the kitchen, quiet tears sliding down his cheeks.
    “Timmy, what’s wrong?” I forgot about the mess and knelt in front of the boy. Luke stepped up behind me and Timmy crouched in fear.
    “Hey, it’s okay,” Luke said, startled.
    “Timmy, look at me,” I said, as gently as possible. Timmy peaked out at me from behind his hands. “It’s okay. No one is mad at you. It’s just a little spill. No problem.”
    Timmy stayed frozen, looking from me to Luke. He finally lowered his hands. I held out my arms to him. “Come give me a hug. Please?”
    He kept his eyes on Luke as he crawled toward me, looking away only after I held him in my arms. I motioned for Luke to crouch next to us.
    “Luke isn’t going to hurt you,” I whispered in Timmy’s ear. He lifted his head and glanced at Luke.
    “You promise?” he said in his tiny voice.
    I squeezed him tighter. “I promise. I would never let anyone hurt you.”
    Timmy wouldn’t take his eyes off Luke, who was doing his best to look unintimidating. “I won’t hurt you, Timmy. I swear.”
    Timmy swallowed and wiped tears from his cheeks. “Okay.”
    Luke tilted his head at him and smiled warmly. “I was thinking, if you want to, maybe we could go outside and build a snowman. Does that sound fun?”
    Timmy nodded shyly. “Okay.”
    “Cool.” Luke held out his hand and Timmy took it after just a second of hesitation. Luke glanced at me. “I’ll take the other kids outside, too.”
    “What an excellent idea.” I returned Luke’s smile. Watching him talk to Timmy as they left the room, holding his tiny hand, made my heart melt.
    “He’s good,” Sue observed, grabbing the paper towels that Luke had abandoned. She stooped to clean up the mess. “Timmy doesn’t trust anyone. Well, anyone male anyway.”
    “I know.” I had seen Timmy run screaming from the janitor. “Luke is one of the good ones.”
    “I hope so.” But Sue’s eyes said that she didn’t quite believe me. “For your sake, I hope you are right.”
    An hour later, the meal was complete and ready to be eaten. Luke had kept the kids entertained outside, and they came to the dinner table with red cheeks, damp hair, and empty stomachs. It didn’t take long for them to clear the table in front of us.
    After dinner, we gathered in the large living area and the kids sang Christmas carols while their mothers took pictures of them in front of the tree. Luke and I hung toward the back of the room.
    “You were pretty great today,” I said, nudging him with my arm. He nudged me back.
    “You are pretty great every day.” Luke put his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. “Today has been pretty amazing. You’re really helping people here.”
    “I hope so.” I thought about what Sue had said to me in the kitchen. “Sometimes I’m not so sure. It’s hard