Chapter Twelve
When Luke announced that Rafael’s design would be used for the mural and that he would indeed receive a cash prize, the young artist fought to maintain a studied indifference, but a boyish grin quickly overcame his sullen frown. Nick, Tina, Polly and most of the kids slapped him on the back and offered teasing congratulations, but there were a few who, obviously badly disappointed, hung back from the crowd.
Catherine hated to see any of the teens feel slighted. “Does the center have access to a digital camera?” she asked. “I’d like to photograph all the entries now for the greeting cards.”
Luke nodded, then called to Dave. “Mrs. Brooks is going to have her hands full with the mural. So I’ll need you to get the camera to record all the entries, load the photos into the Mac and oversee the artwork for the cards.”
“Sure, I’ll get on it this afternoon.” Dave raised his voice slightly to make an announcement. “Make sure your names are on your drawings, then leave them where they are so that I can take photos. Each one has something we can use to promote Lost Angel’s cause, and I know Mrs. Brooks will expect all of you to help paint the mural.”
“I most certainly will,” she promised.
“Come on back to my office,” Luke murmured. “I need to give you the center credit card to pay for your supplies.”
“I could hand in receipts a
nd be reimbursed,” Catherine replied.
“No, let’s keep things simple for Pam and use the card.”
“All right, then, I don’t want to create bookkeeping problems.” She followed Luke to his office, but on the way, it was all she could do not to tell him exactly what she thought of the shabby way he’d treated Rafael.
“Were you able to pick a winner?” Pam asked as they entered the office.
“Yes. Rafael turned in an incredible effort after you left,” Catherine responded. “You’ll have to go over and see it.”
“I’ll make a point of it,” Pam promised before reaching to answer the telephone.
Luke drew Catherine into his office, and the instant he shoved his door closed, he grabbed her in a boisterous hug and lifted her clear off her feet.
“I may have insisted that you not argue with me over how I run the center, but we couldn’t have played that scene with Rafael any better had I written a script.”
He was about to dance her around the small office, but she put her hands firmly on his chest to discourage the idea. “Wait a minute, are you admitting you intended to humiliate Rafael?”
Shocked as much by her question as by her accusing tone, he released her and took a single backward step. “I wasn’t out to humiliate him. Like a lot of the kids here, he gives up on things too easily and then claims he didn’t care about them in the first place. I wanted to shake him up a bit to inspire him to stand up for his artwork. There was a risk he’d shrug off my challenge and walk away. But my ploy worked, and he fought to win.”
That Luke could so easily justify his actions didn’t surprise her, but it also failed to impress her. “You played him,” she insisted, “and because I had no idea you weren’t sincere, you played me as well.”
His lighthearted mood burst like a soap bubble, Luke retreated behind his desk and dropped into his chair. “I didn’t play anyone,” he swore. “Look, my job is to help these kids become responsible citizens. Sometimes they need to be jarred out of their indifference, and I do it gladly.”
Her voice was honey-smooth. “So you manipulate people for a just purpose, is that it?”
“No!” he shot back. “Is that what you think I’m doing with you?”
His threatening scowl was all too familiar, and she just shook her head. “I don’t know. You have a way of asking odd questions, and now I wonder if it isn’t just for effect.”
He leaned back and propped his hands behind his head. “I already apologized for asking if you were seeing anyone else. It was a stupid question, and I’m sorry I let my fears get the better of me.”
Intrigued, Catherine propped her hip on his desk. “What fears?”
He appeared startled to have spoken the word aloud. He sat up and yanked open his top drawer to find the credit card he’d mentioned. After a quick search, he handed it to her.
“We all have the same fears. That we’ll always be alone, or God forbid, we’ll be with the wrong person and wish we were.
“Had I realized Rafael was such a talented artist, I’d have warned you I was going to hassle him. As it was, I was as surprised as everyone else when he turned in such a stunning design. I saw an opportunity to make a point and seized it. If Toby doesn’t take Rafael over to Art Center for a tour, then I will. These kids have such slim hopes for success, I sure as hell won’t let Rafael waste his.”
Up to a point, his righteous indignation was convincing, but Catherine still harbored the suspicion she’d been used. It was an uncomfortable sensation, as though she’d worked in her garden all morning and left home without rinsing off the dirt.
“Do you have any other especially effective techniques you’d care to warn me about now?” she asked.