I clasped my hands together over the table. “Yes. First and foremost, I’d like to fund your school lunch program. To be clear, I’d like to fund it one hundred percent—annually.”
Chapter 14
Kayla
My tongue had become glued to the roof of my mouth. Lukas sat across from me and wore what seemed to be a mix between a satisfied smirk and a proud smile. He waited for me to say something—anything—in response to his generous offer, but I was rendered speechless.
“This is a good thing, isn’t it?” he pressed after several beats of my silence.
I nodded and reached for my water. Finding it empty, I frowned.
Lukas slid his across the table to me. I tilted it back, drank greedily, and set the glass back down on the table. I watched moisture slide down the side of the glass.
“Are you sure?” I finally managed to ask.
Funding the entire lunch program for a whole year wouldn’t be a small tab. He was biting off a serious expense. He could afford it, of course. He could likely afford anything he wanted. But that wasn’t the point. Regardless of how much money a person had, it was still a staggering amount for one person to throw at a good cause.
“I’m positive,” Lukas said. “And by annually I meant every year.”
I drank more water.
“This makes you happy, right?” he asked.
I nodded as I drank. Water dribbled out of the corner of my mouth, rolled down my chin, neck, and into the collar of my T-shirt. “Uh huh,” I said before swallowing and setting the glass back down. “It makes me happy. It’s a little overwhelming. I didn’t expect you to want to be so…”
“Children shouldn’t have to suffer because their parents have no money,” he said firmly. “Little girls like Angelica shouldn’t go hungry when there are people with the means to feed them.”
I wanted to crawl across the table, take his face in my hands, and kiss him.
Instead, I reached over and took his hand in mine. Surely, he’d been thinking about our childhoods. I knew he’d been sent off to school countless times with no food for lunch. I also knew he’d given some of his food away to Lisa on the days where she showed up to school with nothing but a piece of bread and butter. That was who Lukas was back then. He’d always looked out for his little sister and taken the brunt of any suffering in her place.
I saw that boy in him now.
“There’s more,” Lukas said, giving my hand a squeeze.
“More?”
“I want to use the farm we visited today and others like it to supply the program at cost. I think it’s important, especially if we’re going to do this under the Good Fellow’s umbrella that all the profits stay within the community. We’ll support local businesses and get all our supplies and products locally. It might cost a little bit more but I’m willing to absorb that in order to do this thing the right way. No ordering from out of state or country. We build our foundation here.”
“That sounds incredible,” I said. “I’m so glad you’ve found a way you want to get involved in giving back. I expected you to enjoy yourself today but I didn’t quite anticipate this much of an impact. Thank you, Lukas. Seriously. You have no idea how many lives your involvement is going to change for the better.”
Lukas ran his thumb over my knuckles and smiled. “And I’m glad my sister is a stubborn woman and forced me to follow through and reconnect with you.”
I laughed. “She is stubborn. I’ll give her that. I think it’s in your blood.”
“Perhaps.”
My hand still rested in his. His thumb stilled upon my knuckles and I gently pulled back, drawing my hand back into my lap. Closeness like that was something we would have to be careful of, especially if we were going to work together going forward. We couldn’t risk another moment like the one in my office. It was unprofessional and bound to invite complications into our project. I, for one, could not afford complications. My hands were already full with all of the responsibilities on my shoulders and it seemed safe to assume that Lukas had his own problems to worry about.
Our waitress arrived to take our orders. Lukas ordered several dishes with names I would never even try to pronounce, and I ordered a cheeseburger and more water.
After the waitress left with the menus, I bit my bottom lip and looked at Lukas. “I’m not one for fancy restaurants.” I let the unspoken words hang between us. I hope you’re not embarrassed by me and my lack of class.
“Sometimes, the occasion calls for a burger.” He leaned forward with a glint in his dark blue eyes. “Do you remember that diner on the corner? Beside Lisa’s building? What was that place called?”
“Lenny’s Diner.”
“Lenny’s Diner,” he said, sitting back in his chair. He chuckled softly and ran his thumb along the edge of the table. He looked thoughtful as memories resurfaced in both our minds at the mention of Lenny’s name. “Is it still there?”
I shook my head. “No, he sold it about four years ago. It’s a coffee shop now.”
“A coffee shop? Doesn’t Seattle have enough of those?”
I giggled. “More than a city needs. That’s for sure. I’ve heard they have decent enough coffee, though. And pastries.”
Lukas nodded absently. He looked incredibly handsome in the dim, moody lighting of the restaurant. Half of his face was cast into shadow and so was his throat. His jawline looked sharper than ever and his dark blond hair almost looked brown. I could see the beginnings of a five o’clock shadow forming.
He rubbed his jaw. “Those pies you had delivered this afternoon reminded me of the ones your mother used to bring back from her bakery. They were good but not quite as good as the ones her bakery had. Perhaps that’s just the nostalgia talking.”
“No, you’re right. The
