Lukas Grant – Chapter 1.2 – You Can’t Always Get What You Want

The paper didn’t have any jobs that were of interest so on my morning run I stopped at the nearby fire station. Luckily they had a job opening. I also saw that some of my dad’s old friends worked there too. Lucky Perkins is a hoot. Well, most of the time. 

  Later I went to the gazebo where Elaine and I spent so many Saturday evenings dancing. The memories were bittersweet but made me think of what I would do when I saw her again.

 Every day is a busy day at the fire station! Between fighting fires and maintaining equipment I am so tired at the end of the day that all I want to do is go to bed. Sometimes I don’t even go home, I just sleep at the station. On a positive note, I am starting to move up as a firefighter and  make a decent wage.

I have been able to do a little work on the house. The junk yard had some old windows that were in pretty good condition so I sanded them down, stained them to match the house and put them in. Now at least I have some sunlight coming in. Ma Bagley, a coworker and my best friend, Sherman’s mom gave me some hydrangeas to transplant in front of my house.After a long day at the station, I decided to drop in on Elaine Joy, my high school love. She wasn’t home but I had a good conversation with her father Norman. Norman was a friend of my father and a fellow military man and a farmer. We had a lot in common, including his daughter. He was concerned about her. Hal Breckenridge had used her up and thrown her away like he did all of his girlfriends. She was devastated. She realized what a horrible mistake she had made when she broke up with me and started dating Hal. When she realized I had left town and joined the Marine Core, she fell into a deep depression and hadn’t really come out of it. Since her mother died, she had spent all her time taking care of him and working. It was taking it’s toll he said. She needed a life, a good husband and to start a family of her own. She need to find Some happiness and as far as he was concerned, I was just the man for the job.Friday night I went back over to see if Joy was home, she wasn’t home but Norman said she would be back soon and was more than welcome to wait. When I saw her, the years just melted away. The smile on her face lit up my heart and we talked and joked for hours. I decided right then that I had to marry her.Friday night I went back over to see if Joy was home, she wasn’t home but Norman said she would be back soon and was more than welcome to wait. When I saw her, the years just melted away. The smile on her face lit up my heart and we talked and joked for hours. I decided right then that I had to marry her.

I went back over later that week and had dinner with her at her house. We talked for a long time and she told me about what happened with Hal and how sad she had been when I left. Dumping me for Hal had been the biggest mistake of her life she said. Her parents and her friends had warned her that his charm was just a facade to get what he wanted but she didn’t listen.  She thought  he really cared about her and that he loved her.   They dated for a few months and she fell hard for his charms and fell in love.  She thought they were serious and would be married some day.   One night he said he was working and she went for a walk in the park by the gazebo where she and Lukas used to hang out and she caught him making out with Lana Kali.  Her family and friends were right all along.  If she would have listened to them, she and Lukas would probably be married and have a family by now.  It will happen I thought, and sooner than you think. 

The next day was first weekend off I set about cleaning and making a real home for Elaine. The appliances I bought were second hand but worked. Again the junk yard came through for me again with butcher block cabinets. I sanded them down and gave them a nice varnish. I found an old bed and a kitchen table and chairs that just needed sanding and staining. Finally it is ready for Elaine to come over. It is humble but it is all we need for now.

Elaine came over for dinner and we talked for a long time. I still think there is something she is not telling me. She seems to want to spend time with me but is hesitant to get close. Is she concerned about leaving her father, am I reading her wrong? I thought about it a lot that night and tossed and turned. This may take longer than I thought. I figured since things went so well after I saw her again the first time, we could just pick up where we left off. What is going on?