Turner's Rainbow 2 - The Rainbow Promise by Lisa Gregory Page A

enthusiastic greetings that they were special friends. Sarah introduced them to Julia as Jake and Mary Etta Crowley. The Crowleys seemed genuinely happy to meet her.
    Julia liked Mary Etta Crowley on sight. She was a large woman with traces of her youthful good looks still on her face. There were laugh lines around her mouth and eyes, and her brown eyes were sharp and alight with interest. "So you're Luke's sister, are you? I've heard him talk about you often. Such a pretty little thing you are, too. And such nice children. I'm sorry to hear about your husband. It must be quite a loss to you. "
    "Thank you."
    "But it's an ill wind, I always say, 'cause here you are to help Sarah when she needs it, I know she's grateful."
    "Oh, no, I'm the one who's grateful."
    "Hush," Sarah interjected pleasantly. "I don't want to hear any more talk like that from you. I need you. You've already been a tremendous help."
    "How have you been feeling?" Mary Etta asked Sarah, and they launched on a long, thoroughly engrossing discussion of pregnancy and its problems,
    Julia glanced over at Luke. He stood talking to Jake and the Crowleys' oldest boy, Burt, both of whom listened to Luke with great interest. Julia could see the respect in Burt's eyes.
    Other people joined them, some pausing only to say hello, others to chat, Sarah introduced Julia to everyone, and they returned her greetings politely. She was accepted, Julia thought, because of Sarah—and Luke, Nearly all the men stopped by to say hello, and some of them lingered to talk. There were no askance glances, no hesitations in greeting Luke, Some clapped him on the back or shook his hand with affection. Others simply nodded or said a word or two. But no one treated him as an outsider. And Luke— Julia was amazed to see his expression so open, sometimes smiling, sometimes serious, but never hard and bitter. He didn't stand with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed and suspicious, as if he were waiting for someone to say the wrong thing, as he once would have. Over the past few days Julia had become accustomed to the changes in her brother, but now, seeing him with other people, she noticed them all anew. Luke Turner no longer looked for trouble.
    The Crowleys joined the Turners for Sunday dinner and wound up staying most of the afternoon. Hearing Luke talk to Jake, Julia sensed the strong bond between them, and she realized that the older man was almost a father to Luke, the kind of father he had never found in his own flesh and blood. A lump of pain crystallized in Julia's chest, but she wasn't sure if it was sadness for what Luke had missed all his life or happiness for what he had now.
    Later, when the Crowleys had gone and Luke was outside doing the evening chores, Julia and Sarah sat alone in the parlor, their hands busy with the mending.
    "Luke's changed a lot," Julia commented, glancing at her sister-in-law, "He's happy, and I never thought he would be. It's because of you."
    Sarah smiled. "He hasn't changed. He just let out all the good stuff inside him that he never allowed people to see before. It's not me that's done anything. It's Luke."
    "Then you saw in him what no one else did, except me."
    "That's because I loved him," Sarah responded simply. "He's given me every bit as much as I've given him." She turned to Julia, her sewing dropping unnoticed into her lap. "He made me happier than I'd ever been in my life. I was never loved as Luke loves me, heart and soul. I love him the same way. Sometimes I lie awake at night, scared to death, thinking what if something happened to him? I don't know what I'd do without Luke. I wouldn't want to live."
    Julia's heart squeezed inside her chest, and she thought, suddenly, of Jimmy. She had felt that way about him, long ago, when they had been in love. She had thought that she couldn't live without him. But she had. "That kind of love is precious. I'm very happy for Luke."
    Sarah thought she caught the glimmer of tears in