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“Me too,” she said and slid from my lap to wrap her bony arms around the woman. “Stay here, Auntie Luna. Please.”
“I can’t. Maybe when I’m done with school I’ll find a job close to you and I can bug you all the time.”
“Yes, please.” The words were muffled against Luna’s chest and I could feel the closeness between them, how hard this goodbye was for both of them. “I love you, Luna.”
“Love you too, honey bunny. Forever and always.” Luna smacked a kiss to both cheeks and took a step back, almost as if she knew that if she didn’t go now, she might never go. She shooed her towards me with a sad smile. “Be good for your father.”
“Okay.”
Luna looked at me. “She likes you and she doesn’t normally do well with new people. Be kind to her, none of this is her fault.”
“We’re already friends,” I assured the woman. “Just like me and Grant. I’ll keep an eye on her but she’s his, not ours.”
Luna nodded. “If you say so. Talk to you soon, kiddo.” She walked across the backyard looking so sad and lonely that I couldn’t take my eyes of her. What kind of love did it take to do what was best for another person, no matter how much it hurt you? I had a feeling that despite her angry exterior, Luna was one hell of a woman.
Mariana squeezed my hand again and I looked down at those big sad eyes. “You know what helps when I’m feeling sad? Chocolate.”
She grinned. “That’s what Mama and Auntie Luna say too.”
“Well, we can’t all be wrong, can we? Let’s go check out that chocolate fountain.” We loaded up two plates with dippers and filled our cups with chocolate before finding an empty place to sit. “Cheese? Is that cheese and chocolate?”
The first laugh sounded and it was as sweet as my sister’s kids. “Yep. It’s good, wanna try?” She held out a cube of cheddar, which sounded pretty disgusting to me, but I took it and tasted it. “Good, huh?”
Actually, it was. “Pretty good, Mariana. Weird but surprisingly tasty. Thanks.”
“Welcome,” she mumbled and dunked a strawberry into the chocolate, eating with a small, satisfied moan.
Eventually Grant made his way outside with a hangdog expression on his pale face. The poor guy looked like he’d been run through a washing machine on the cold cycle, stunned and a little shell-shocked. “Uh, hey.”
Mariana froze at the sound of his voice and looked up at him with worried brown eyes. “Hi.”
He held out a big hand, his posture hesitant and unsure. “I’m Grant, your dad. You can call me…hell, I don’t know. What do you want to call me?”
She shrugged. “Auntie Luna calls you Mr. Lucky.”
I snickered and he glared at me. “Definitely not that. We’ll figure it out, I guess.”
Right. That was my cue to remove myself from this situation before things got out of hand, or more out of hand than they already were. “I should get going.” I stood abruptly but seeing Grant and Mariana together gave me a glimpse of a future I could have, but wouldn’t. Not with this man and his daughter, anyway.
“No!” Mariana stood and came to my side. “We didn’t finish our chocolate yet.”
Dang it, she was right. “But your dad is here now and he’s got a much bigger capacity for chocolate than I do and you don’t want to miss out on that.” She didn’t look soothed, not even a little bit. I dropped down so we were eye to eye and sighed. “You and Grant need some time together, to get to know each other. Alone. Together. You know?”
Mariana shook her head, pigtails flying wildly around her head. “I don’t think he likes me.”
“That’s exactly why y’all need to get to know each other. Learn his favorite pizza topping and your love of cheese and chocolate. You’re gonna live together so you have to know each other, Mari. Okay?” She nodded and I wrapped my arms around her. “You know my name and it’s in your dad’s phone if you ever need to talk. Okay?”
“Okay. Bye, Brenna.”
“I’ll see you later, Mariana.” I stood and took a step back until my gaze collided with Grant’s. He was still stunned and now he had a wild-eyed look of a cornered animal. “Good luck, Grant.”
“You’re leaving?”
I nodded. “This has been a shock and Mariana needs you now.” And I needed to save myself from this complicated situation.
“But, what about…us?”
And that look right there, the slightly confused and scared expression told me that escape was my best option at the moment. Grant hadn’t given any indication that he wanted more than whatever the hell we were doing together, and the first time he mentions us and an us is when he’s had his life flipped upside down. “We’re still friends, Grant. I just think that you need to adjust to the changes in your life. I’ll see you around.”
