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Chapter 2
Four days after his encounter in the florist with the hot girl, as he was now calling her, in the florist, Nash was working on the roof of his house. He had music in his ears and his land to the right and left. Life was good. He could see the mountains, Phil and Roxy, that stood behind his property. Maggs had told him they were named after the forefathers of Ryker Falls; apparently there had been twins born here.
If he stood on the roof he could see where his sister and her man, the local ranger, were building their home. It felt good to know Maggs was close. It felt really good to know this was his. All of it. He loved his family’s ranch, but this was his alone. His older brother would never leave their family land, and that was as it should be. But Nash needed something of his own. Somewhere to put down his own roots. He had plans for this place.
He’d built a two-storey cabin first, a place for him to live until the house was finished. When he stepped outside in the morning, it was onto his land.
“You will never guess who is in town, Nash!”
He nearly fell off the ladder at the shriek. Steadying himself, he turned to look down.
“Christ, Mal, my heart nearly stopped. This better be good.” Nash tugged out the AirPods
Mallory Hudson stood at the bottom looking up at him. Fin’s little sister was spending her vacation here.
“Sorry!”
“You’re shrieking.”
“Sorry!”
“All right, so spill. What’s got you excited?”
Mal was twelve going on twenty, and according to her brother, no longer the sweet little girl he’d met a few years ago. She now wanted the internet passcode for everywhere she went, then spent most of her time with her face in her iPad. Fin had other ideas, and had taken her hiking, which she secretly loved, and taught her to drive his ATV. She now drove that between his house and Nash’s. He hadn’t heard it approach.
“Did you wear your helmet?”
“Yes,” she hissed, making a sound like a snake. “As if Maggs or Fin would let me not.”
She wore baggy shorts and T-shirt.
“You could fit someone else in there with you.” He pointed to her clothes. “Your mom buy those so they’ll last until you’re an adult?”
“Ha ha, now I need to tell you that Luna McKinley is here, in Ryker Falls.”
Even several feet up a ladder, Nash could hear the reverence in her words.
“Who?”
“Luna McKinley. We just saw her, and Maggs follows her and said she’s amazing! She blogged about coming here.”
“But who is she?”
Her face was tilted up to look at him, and he could see the excitement. He’d been that young and innocent once. Hard to believe.
“Honestly, Nash. It’s like you live in a cave or you’re a dinosaur or something. How is it you’re so unaware of things.”
“You do know that no human has seen a dinosaur, right?”
“Yes, I know that.”
“Ok so tell me who this Luna McKinley is. I’ll add to that, who calls themselves Luna?”
“Plenty of people. It’s a cool name.”
“If you say so, but the only Luna I know is a Roman goddess, and that Luna means moon in Latin.”
“It’s like you have the soul of a ninety-year-old, Nash, and know really weird stuff. You seriously need to sharpen up if you’re going to find a girlfriend.”
