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Chapter 3
Luna had come to Ryker Falls because she wanted to visit Charlie, her friend. The one friend that she could be herself with. If she was being completely honest, she also wanted a break from the crazy that was her life. Lately, things had been happening and she couldn’t work out why. Missing an appointment. Arriving late for another when she was always really careful with things like that. She checked her phone before she went to bed, for pity’s sake. Yet in the last month she’d been late to three appointments and turned up on the wrong day for one.
It wasn’t like her.
Then there was the post she’d written for Move with L.K. Riddled with spelling mistakes, and she’d even put a cuss word in there. Also not like her.
Hugo, her business partner, said she needed a break and a checkup with her doctor. She went for a break first.
“Hello, Lilly.” Luna answered her phone for the tenth time that day as she walked up the main street of Ryker Falls, the town her friend lived in. Dusk was falling. Mountains and quaint buildings offered a lovely backdrop. It was nothing like the view she had each day from her office windows in Chicago.
“Luna, are you there?”
“Sorry, yes, I’m here, Lilly. How are things from your end?”
“Okay.”
“Just okay?” Luna teased her assistant.
“I couldn’t find that file you said you put on my desk, Luna. With the graphics for the new ad campaign for the face oil. I looked everywhere.”
Luna remembered putting it on Lilly’s desk the day she left.
“But Hugo found it on top of the fridge.”
She never did things like that. Never. Luna was organized, thorough, and professional. Maybe there really was something going on with her health.
“All good, I have it now. You need to take some photos running up mountains and eating healthy food.”
“Which I always do, as that’s the way I live my life.”
Lilly sighed. “You’re the least fake person I know, unlike some.”
“Don’t be bitchy, Lilly.”
“It’s part of my charm. Now, I had a purpose for calling. You’ve received an invitation to the Walker event, and it’s in three weeks.”
“Lovely,” Luna said with zero enthusiasm, which surprised her. She loved her life. Loved the rush of being busy and the fact her bank account told her she’d never have to beg for food again.
“Hugo is waving at me frantically, so I’m handing the phone to him.”
“Okay, bye, Lilly,” Luna said, imagining her people in their office. She’d leased two spaces in the building. Huge floor-to-ceiling windows showed the city of Chicago in all its glory. She’d put them there. She and Hugo had done this. Her face, and Hugo’s smarts. He’d been her friend for years and helped her create her dream.
“Now listen,” Hugo said. “I have things you need to hear, and then I’ll diarize them.”
He went on to outline all the other things that he needed from her and what he’d put in her diary. None of which excited her. What had excited her was seeing the for sale sign in that florist window.Weird.
“That sounds fine, and I’ll be back in plenty of time to get ready for the shoot. Everything else is running smoothly. I spoke with Rodney, and he said the first shipment of our new range will be ready next week.”
“Excellent. You need to rest up, Luna. I’m worried about you. These things that you’re doing are not like you, which to me suggests burnout.”
“I know, and they’re worrying me too, but I’m all right, Hugo. I promise to rest. Now I’m just about to meet Charlie, so I have to go. Talk later. Say bye to Lilly.”
She disconnected the call before he could ask any more questions. This was the first time she’d left Chicago to go on a vacation in years. The last few weeks had been hectic, which she usually handled fine. This time she hadn’t, and mistakes had started to happen.
“I need to slow down.”
Looking in shop windows as she walked, Luna couldn’t remember the last time she’d shopped for fun. Often, people approached her and asked for a selfie. So far no one had done that here. It felt good.
