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Chapter 1
Luna
Driving through the dark and listening to random Christmas music on the radio, Luna couldn’t help but feel like Meg Ryan at the beginning of Sleepless in Seattle. That movie was one of her favorites in a genre of her own creation– namely, movies that weren’t technically Christmas movies but that took place, at least partly, at Christmastime.
Sure, it was tough to boil that down to a snappy one-word descriptor like “Drama” or “Action,” but that didn’t make it any less valid.
Christmas had always been one of Luna’s favorite holidays but she’d never been able to stomach the saccharine sweetness of so-called “Christmas Movies.” So, as a compromise, she’d watch movies that happened at the holidays but weren’t about them. Die Hard. Gremlins. Lethal Weapon. Home Alone. And, yes. Sleepless in Seattle.
There was just something about watching people onscreen going about their business with holiday lights and carols in the background that always put her in the holiday spirit.
That Christmas spirit was tough to find as she sped toward her grandparents’ house that night. It felt more like a nightmare than a dream. Just that morning, she’d been cheerfully preparing for their arrival at her apartment in San Francisco, with Marc Broussard’s Magnolias & Mistletoe album on her speakers as she put the finishing touches on her tree decorations.
When Grandma Grace had called her cell phone, she hadn’t been immediately worried. She’d just figured that maybe their flight had gotten in early. But, no. She’d been calling to tell Luna that she and Grandpa Serge had to cancel their annual Christmas weekend trip to San Francisco. He’d had some chest pains and was in the hospital.
Even though her grandmother had assured her that the doctor said he’d be fine, that they were only keeping him for observation, just as a precaution, and lots of other comforting language… Luna was still terrified. Her grandparents had taken care of her since her mother had left when she was six. As for her father, he’d never been in the picture. Grandma Grace and Grandpa Serge were all she had.
The last thing Grandma Grace had said on the phone call was to make Luna promise that she wouldn’t jump in the car and come rushing back to Valentine Bay. Luna had made the promise dutifully, not wanting to cause her grandmother to be any more worried than she already was, but the minute she’d hung up the phone, she threw some clothes in a suitcase and got her ass in the car.
Luna knew why Grandma Grace hadn’t wanted her to do this. She feared the thought of Luna driving through most of the night, scared and tired. Just like her grandparents were all she had in the world, she was all they had, too. It was understandable.
But she couldn’t let that stop her. She was a grown woman, she could drive carefully. Nothing was going to keep her from her Paw Paw when he was sick and needed her. Not fear, not a ten-hour drive.
Not the fact that she hadn’t set foot back in Valentine Bay since the day she’d left it ten years before. And not the reason why she hadn’t been back, Connor Adams.
Oh, Connor.She’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t spend time on the drive thinking about him or wondering if they’d see each other. Pssshhh. That resolution had turned out to be useless the minute his damn name popped into her head.
And then, his name was quickly followed by his image. She couldn’t squeeze her eyes shut because she was driving, so nothing stopped the tears that filled them from spilling right down her cheeks. His broad shoulders and muscular chest, his thick brown hair and doe-brown eyes. The five o’clock shadow that seemed to always be at the perfect length.
God, and that was when he was only eighteen. What must he be like now, ten years later? Broader shoulders? Muskier man scent? Even more freaking flawless perpetual stubble?
She shook her head as hard as she dared without risking vehicular disaster. NO!
This was exactly the kind of thinking she couldn’t indulge in. It was dangerous and it would distract her from the purpose of her visit, the thing that’d finally dragged her back to Valentine Bay after ten years– making sure Paw Paw was okay.
Finally, after a torturous ten-hour drive with nothing but the bare minimum stops for gas and pee breaks, she pulled up in her grandparents’ driveway and climbed out of the car. The sense of déjà vu was so overpowering that it nearly knocked her off her feet as soon as she got them under her.
Or, hell. Maybe that was just too many hours without food, sitting in the car sucking down coffee. That could make anybody lightheaded.
She marched up to the front door and knocked. It was late. She hadn’t thought about it until that very moment. She didn’t want to wake Grandma Grace if she’d finally managed to get to sleep.
Damn, there were a lot of things about this trip she hadn’t thought through.
She’d just shot off down the highway like a Fourth of July firework and hadn’t stopped to consider…well, anything, really. But now that she was here, she was going to have to think, whether she liked it or not.
“Come in, Luna. It’s open.” Grandma Grace’s voice echoed from the kitchen, all the way at the back of the house.
She shook her head and stepped inside, shutting the door firmly behind her and locking it with a satisfying click. Walking back to the kitchen, she saw the short, full frame of her grandmother bent over the stove. The smell of bacon frying filled the air and her stomach growled as she gave her a fierce hug from behind.
“Sit down, honey. This is almost ready. I know you didn’t stop to eat the whole way here. You must be starving.”
Luna took off her coat and collapsed gratefully into a kitchen table chair. “You made me promise not to come,” she accused, half playful and half petulant. “Why do that if you knew I’d ignore you? I’ve been feeling guilty the whole drive up.”
Grace pointed her spatula at her. “That’s right, young lady. And that guilt made you drive a whole lot more carefully because, while getting in a car wreck would be bad enough, getting in one after you’d promised me you wouldn’t drive would be worse, and you’d never do that to me. I know my girl.”
What could Luna say? Her grandmother had her number.
“How’s Paw Paw?” she asked, barely able to choke out the words around the emotion clogging her throat.
