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Chapter 22
Luna
“Are you going out to the town Christmas tree lighting tonight, honey?”
Luna considered Grandma Grace’s question. On one hand, she was exhausted. The thought of going to bed at 8 p.m. was way more appealing to her than it should’ve been to anyone under the age of seventy-five.
But on the other hand, she really didn’t want to miss any of the classic Valentine Bay Christmas activities. This was her first Christmas at home in so many years…and who was to say if it might not be her last in so many more?
Sure, she was in control over whether she came back next year, or the year after. She knew that.
Wanting to escape this train of thought before it led to self-recrimination over how long it had taken her to come to these realizations, she popped up from her chair at the dining room table. “Yes! Definitely. I just want to go take a shower and wash the hamburger and fries smell out of my hair.”
Grandma Grace chuckled. “Not a bad idea.”
Luna lost herself in the hot water streaming over her head and down her body. As wonderful as it was being back around Connor again, and back in Valentine Bay, the one thing that unsettled her was how it seemed like her head was spinning a good three quarters of the time, if not more.
Every time she let her mind wander to what the future held for too long, she started feeling like she was going to faint. Or barf. Or something else equally unpleasant.
So she’d developed the habit of ducking out of rooms or changing subjects on a dime. She was becoming pretty fucking stellar at it, actually. It was growing to superpower levels.
The only problem with that was that it was a terrible superpower. Why couldn’t she have gotten Makes Amazing Decisions At The Speed Of Light in the superpower lottery? She’d been robbed.
She toweled off, chose her clothes, styled her hair, and did her makeup…and at every step of the process, wondered what Connor would think about her choices.
Just like she did about everything she wore lately.
As she was headed out the door, her grandmother gave her a hug. “Well, don’t you just look pretty as a picture,” she said.
“Thanks, Grandma Grace,” she said.
When she bent down to hug her grandpa where he was sitting on the couch, he insisted, “Prettier than a picture.”
She straightened, laughing. “You two are good for my self-esteem.”
“Now don’t worry about getting in at a certain time. We won’t be waiting up. Just go have fun with your friends,” Grandma Grace said as she shooed her out the door.
Luna had to smile as she headed down the walkway. Her grandmother couldn’t have been more obvious if she’d just flat-out said, “Now go have a good time with Connor. He’s a nice boy and we want you to get together with him.”
And…yeah. She had a point.
Luna started to dig her keys out of her purse but then realized that she’d been doing a lot of retrieving her car from various spots around town because Connor had given her rides home. She figured she may as well just walk to the town square for the Christmas tree lighting.
Breathing in the cold air helped her feel more grounded. A lot of people might find the misty dampness unpleasant, but it was what she’d grown up with. You couldn’t live on the Oregon coast if you hated a little fog and some bone-chilling winters. Luna loved them.
Turning the corner onto the town square, she saw all four Valentine brothers standing at the edge of the plaza, their ladies by their side.
As she walked up to the group, she saw that there was a young teenage girl standing with them, smiling and laughing. Familiarity tugged at the edges of her brain, but she couldn’t quite make the connection.
Had she seen the girl out and about somewhere while she’d been in town? Had she been in the diner more than once?
Luna hadn’t placed her yet by the time she reached the group.
“Hey, girl!” Gen said, giving her a hug. “I was hoping you’d make it out tonight!”
“Yeah, it’s great to see you,” Abby added as she hugged Luna.
Ella then gave her a hug, and said, “And you remember Allison from the meeting the other night.”
