AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I assumed, rather than saw, that she nodded. Her footsteps, lighter and softer than my clicking heels, followed me down the narrow hallway to the end office.
Peter was sipping coffee at our tiny galley kitchen beside the restroom and gave me a long, hard look as I moved past him. My stomach twisted. I needed to speak with him too, to make sure he knew how incredibly vital he’d become in the past few weeks. I sucked in a breath. One confession at a time. This one was going to hurt enough as it was.
I dropped my worn leather bag on the edge of the desk, immediately toeing out of my heels and sliding into what I’d dubbed my work shoes. A pair of furry maroon slippers that I kept tucked under my desk. From the front you wouldn’t even be able to tell I had swapped the shoes out. But my ankles, and my poor swollen feet, thanked me for taking some of the load off while we could.
Luna stood by the door.
“Can you shut the door, Luna?”
She didn’t move, those icy-blue eyes tight on my face. “What’s this about?” Because of course she couldn’t make this easy on me.
I could practically feel Peter milling about in the hallway just beyond. This office suddenly felt even smaller than it usually did. I refrained from rolling my eyes, instead offering her a smile.
“Can you shut my door so we can talk, please?”
“I don’t know if I want to stay for this.”
“Dammit, Luna,I’m trying to apologize. So can you shut the door so I don’t make a total ass of myself in front of Peter and Ashlyn too?”
Luna’s arched brows rose even higher. She closed the door, stepping lightly across to my guest chair. Ignoring it, she sank onto the edge of the couch, farther away from me but still facing my general direction. I sighed. This wasn’t off to a great start.
I curled my toes in the bottoms of my slippers, grasping for even a little boost of comfort. Luna leveled me with one of her trademark stares. I’d never been bothered by them before but found them a bit unsettling now.
“I wanted to apologize.”
“Yeah, you said that.”
“Luna, please.” I curled my fingers together on top of my desk, my knuckles white. “You have been a part of my life since I was too young to remember otherwise. You helped to build Grove Communications. You were my father’s right hand, and against my better judgment, you’ve become the voice in the back of my head.” I stopped to clear my throat, which was growing thicker by the moment.
Her eyes never strayed from mine.
“A few weeks ago, you spoke up. You called me out. I snapped like the insanely tightly wound spring that I’d become. For that, I’m so incredibly sorry. I’ve had plenty of time to think about this, to think back on all the times you warned me that I was in over my head, that I was overworking myself and this company, and that I was putting the priorities in the wrong spaces. It’s really pretty impressive you lasted this long without calling me out.”
“It was. I called your father out all the time.”
“You did?” I didn’t remember that.
“All the time. He was so much like you in some ways, but also, he didn’t have your grit. Or your devotion.” Luna finally broke eye contact, dropping her chin to glance down at her hands. “I shouldn’t have let it go so far. But you’re harder to keep in line than he was.” She chuckled. “Probably because I like you better. And I like what you’re doing for Grove. And when you announced this baby, my mind just went blank. I’m sorry. I should’ve handled it better too.”
I gave her a watery smile. “I forgave you weeks ago. I just didn’t know how to apologize.”
“Me neither.” She looked decidedly uncomfortable. “I don’t really do emotions, Cici, but this is the closest thing I’ve had to a family my whole life.”
I stood, moving around my desk, slippers scuffing against the gray carpet. “I feel the exact same way. Are we okay?” I held out a hand nervously. Luna wasn’t really one for physical contact.
She eyed my hand, and then, faster than I could've imagined, she reached out to wrap me up in a quick, hard hug. I sniffled against the pressure, her head barely coming up to my shoulder. But I could feel the affection, hard-won as it was, as she held me.
“And Cici?”
“Yeah?” My voice was muffled against the top of her head.
“Those shoes are hideous. Promise me you’ll never let clients see those ever again.”
I half laughed, half sobbed a response, shoving at her shoulders. “You’re so rude. Get out of here.”
Mumbling a myriad of curses, Luna made for the door, but not before I saw the small smile pulling at her lips. We were good. I’d done something right today, and it felt great.
I scuffed back towards my desk as Luna opened the door. “One more thing,” she said from the door.
