He swallowed but said nothing.
“If someone physically attacks you, I would never tell you to stand down. You can always defend yourself if it’s necessary. But this is different.” She searched for the right words. “You can’t punch every jerk you run across. There are too many of them. You wouldn’t have time for much else.”
His mouth quirked. “I guess.”
“Bobby and his friends are in trouble often?” Bree asked.
He nodded. “He thinks a suspension is a vacation.”
“Then they don’t have as much to lose from getting into a fight.”
Something dawned in Luke’s eyes.
Bree continued. “You get good grades. You’re a star on the baseball team.” She paused. “When some people get jealous, they try to bring other people down instead of raising themselves up. And you have to realize that there are people who just aren’t as capable as you are of the kinds of success you’ve achieved. Not everyone is smart. Not everyone is athletic. Not every kid in school has an adult who gives a damn about them.”
Staring across the field, Luke snorted. “I guess I’m lucky?” His words brimmed with sarcasm. He’d lost his mother to violence, and his father—currently in prison for fraud—was worse than useless.
“In some ways, yes.” Bree paused, searching for the right words, afraid she’d get it wrong. “I’ve lived through a great deal of tragedy.”
Luke glanced at her.
Bree rarely spoke of her childhood with the kids. “But I consider myself lucky. I have you and Kayla, Uncle Adam, Dana, Matt. At first, I resisted appreciating all I’ve been given. I tend to look at the worst-case scenario. But I’m trying to do better. I’m learning to enjoy family and friends, to treasure each day, to look forward instead of back. I can’t change the past, and I can’t control everything, but I can damn well affect my future.”
“But what if everyone believes those pictures are real?” Luke finally met her gaze.
“I can only do what I can do,” Bree admitted.
“Will you lose your job?”
“It’s possible, but it’s only a job.” There. She’d said it out loud. “I will survive without it.”
“It doesn’t seem right that you could lose it for no reason.”
“No, it doesn’t. The world isn’t fair, but you know that. I can’t control what other people think, say, or do. But I can control my own actions.”
He scratched Riot’s withers. The horse bobbed his head and lifted his upper lip in approval. Like Bree and Adam, Luke’s soul was older than his chronological age. Tragedy and loss had aged him. Bree wasn’t often grateful for the horrors of her childhood, but today she appreciated her ability to empathize with Luke. How many people could understand what it was like to lose your mother to murder?
“So you have three days of riding Riot.”
“You’re not going to ground me or anything?”
“Nope. Promise me you won’t do it again, no matter what jerks like Bobby say or do?”
“OK.” Luke sounded reluctant, but his voice rang with sincerity. He’d keep his word.
“I understand why Bobby wouldn’t tell the principal why you punched him. He’d get into additional trouble for possessing and sharing pornography at school. But why didn’t you tell her?”
His face flushed. He blinked but said nothing.
“Let me guess. You didn’t want the principal to see the images. I’ve seen the pictures and the video, Luke. I know they’re bad, but remember, it isn’t me.”
He admitted, “I know they’re fake, but . . .” His cheeks reddened.
“It’s still embarrassing,” Bree finished. “I get it. But I’m going to tell her. She’s worried about you. Plus, she should know what Bobby was up to. Harassment is illegal, and I’m sure distributing pornography at school is against the rules.”
“OK, I guess.” Luke looked away. Looking a little relieved, he rubbed his horse’s neck. “Is it OK if I go for a ride?”
“Yeah. That’s a great idea.”
He went to the barn for a lead rope. Bree headed for the house. In the kitchen, Ladybug greeted her like a furry cannonball. Scratching the dog, Bree watched Luke bridle Riot, swing up onto his back like a TV cowboy, and ride across the meadow bareback. He’d been riding horses practically since he’d been born. He looked like a centaur. Without asking, she knew where he was going—the hilltop in the distance where they’d spread his mother’s ashes. It was the same place Bree went when she needed to feel Erin’s presence.