AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luna pressed the button on her handheld. “Alex?”
“Yup!”
“Luna here. Incoming!” She unhooked Wiley’s lead and he made a beeline to the automatic sliding doors.
“Roger that!” Alex responded.
Ellie made her way to Luna and Chi-Chi, who were standing inside the atrium just outside the café. Ellie made a habit of stopping to greet the occupants of each stall she passed. She finally arrived where the two women waited.
“E kaaro.” Chi-Chi offered Ellie a slight bow with her morning greeting.
Ellie responded in kind. “E kaaro.”
“Namaste, Ellie.” Luna gave Ellie her version of a welcome.
“Look at us. Multilingual!” Ellie showed delight as the others smiled.
“Come. We have scones with your names on them.” Luna linked arms with Ellie.
“I am going to get fat,” Ellie chided.
“Not if you keep to only one per day,” Chi-Chi encouraged Ellie. “Moderation is important, yes. But one scone is important, too.” The women chuckled as Luna handed each of them a plate with a scone and a napkin.
“Having your regular?” Luna walked over to the coffee machine.
“Yes, please,” Ellie replied.
“Me as well. Thank you,” Chi-Chi echoed.
The three women took seats at one of the café tables.
Ellie leaned in. “So, Luna, what’s the latest with the handsome U.S. marshal?” Ellie was referring to Christopher Gaines, who worked for the service in the missing child unit.
Luna’s mind wandered. She had met him several months before the center opened when an AMBER alert was issued. She was still working in child services at the time. She and her dog, Wiley, joined the search party, and not surprisingly, Luna had a “feeling” about where the child might be. It took little convincing for the marshal to follow her lead. He understood the concept of having a “gut feeling” about things. In less than an hour, they found the missing little girl stuck in a large, felled tree trunk. She was unhurt except for a few scratches from trying to follow a bunny. The next day, Luna went to the hospital to visit the little girl and give her a stuffed bunny.
When Luna arrived at the hospital, she saw Marshal Gaines several yards ahead with a similar plush rabbit under his arm. It was at that moment that Luna wanted to swoon. The practical side of Luna told her not to even think about it. But several weeks after the missing child situation had been resolved, Gaines asked her to come to Charlotte to assist in a family emergency and a missing teenager. The service would pay her per day and her expenses, including a hotel. It was a two-hour drive in each direction, and the busy interstate was no place for a woman alone. Her boss let her use a couple of vacation days, insisting she not “make a habit out of it.” But it was an opportunity she couldn’t resist, in more ways than one. After it happened several times, her boss finally acquiesced to the needs of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Once they wrapped up for the day, Gaines, Luna, and one or two others from the field office would go out to dinner. It wasn’t easy for her to keep her giddiness in check, but Gaines was getting used to her zany but endearing personality.
She wanted to keep the communications open with him, but he lived two hours away. She didn’t know how many more times her boss would bow to the feds and let her go to Charlotte and she had no idea if there would ever be a reason for him to come to Asheville. Then it hit her. The grand opening of the center was a good opportunity for her to invite him back to Buncombe County. She wasn’t counting on his showing up, but for her own peace of mind she had to take the shot. What was the worst thing that could happen? Luna decided to pull up her big-girl pants and mailed him an invitation to the grand opening of the center. He hadn’t responded, which was rather disappointing. She told herself that maybe he didn’t get it. Or maybe he was on a case. Or maybe he just wasn’t interested. But a half hour before the event ended, he walked in with a bouquet of sunflowers. He had remembered. Luna was thoroughly impressed. During one of their earlier dinner conversations, everyone was talking about their favorite places on Earth. Luna mentioned Tuscany because of all the sunflowers. When she saw him enter her café, sunflowers in hand, she almost fainted.
When Gaines arrived at the gala, he and Cullen immediately clicked. Luna was beginning to feel like the “little sister” until she pulled Gaines into helping solve the mystery of a will that was lodged in one of Cullen’s salvaged pieces. As they pried into the origin of the will, they began to uncover a web of deceit. Between Luna’s “vibes” and Gaines’s resources, they were able to rectify a very bad situation. Since then, the three of them, together with Chi-Chi, had formed a comfortable bond.
* * *
Ellie cleared her throat. “Well?” Ellie pushed again. Luna started to blush. Thoughts of Gaines made her feel like a teenager.
“Wellll, I don’t know.” Luna fiddled with her coffee mug.
Chi-Chi put her hand on Ellie’s arm. “Do not believe the words that are coming out of her mouth.” Her voice had a lilting rhythm. No doubt, she could recite a passage from a poem by Edgar Allan Poe and make it sound like a nursery rhyme.
Luna blinked several times. “What are you talking about?” she replied, protesting just a little too much.
Chi-Chi then placed her other hand on Luna’s. “Luna,wnkan. You can be honest with us. We are your friends.” Chi-Chi knew very well how much of a crush Luna had on the marshal, but she wanted Luna to feel comfortable discussing it in front of Ellie. Ellie had become the matriarch of the group, and Luna and Chi-Chi welcomed her advice eagerly. Chi-Chi hoped Ellie could share some with her romantically reluctant friend.
“OK. OK.” Luna took a sip of her coffee. “We’ve had dinner a couple of times.”
“And?” both Chi-Chi and Ellie pursued in unison.
