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She was an adorable kid and seemed as close to Luna as she was to her Aunt Harper. It was nice to see such close bonds, and I figured Silas, Raylen, and I would be like that with each other’s kids way off in the hazy future when we had them.
I pulled out the chair next to where I would sit to ensure that Luna sat next to me. Was I hoping for our thighs to brush together or some footsie action? Maybe. It had been a long time, and the dancing had awakened something in me I didn’t quite want to shut down. Then everything went to hell when it seemed like she had to leave. No more dancing, no moonlit stroll, definitely no footsie.
Harper proudly told us all that Luna was a nurse, but it was clearly aimed at Raylen. Raylen was already buttering a chunk of bread and didn’t even look up, but I was impressed. It was a tough, thankless job with apparently really shitty hours. Harper tried to get her to weasel out of going in, and while I hoped she would ditch, I was even more impressed when she stoically went. I knew exactly which of our employees went the distance and which used their sick days to go to concerts, and to me, it didn’t matter if they all got the same amount of work done. I valued honesty and dedication, and it was clear Luna wasn’t faking those two things.
“You two looked like you were having a good time,” Silas said pointedly, after we were settled in to eat. “Dancing up a storm over there.”
Harper’s arm moved sharply under the table, and Silas cringed. Did she just pinch him? “Don’t you like dancing, Raylen?” she asked, giving me a mildly dirty look.
Was she trying to tell me to back off, or still pissed that I’d been a jerk? Growing up with a sister taught me that you didn’t mess with female friendships, so I ate my steak in silence.
“Yeah, sure,” Raylen said. “Not so much to that old stuff, though. I’m more of a mosh pit kind of guy.”
“What’s that?” Addy piped up.
“You jump around and bash into people,” Raylen told her. “I’ll show you after dinner. We can put on some good hard rock.”
“Good Lord,” Harper muttered.
I kept my eyes down but couldn’t keep a triumphant smile off my face. She’d backed the wrong horse in the matchmaking game. Whoa, there. I was the one getting ahead of myself if I thought there was going to be anything between Luna and me. Some sweaty, laughter-filled contact was getting in the way of my ability to reason. We went on this guys’ retreats every year to reset, relax, and regroup. This wasn’t a singles resort. We weren’t here to mingle with the locals. As much as I liked Harper, despite her pretending to hate me in solidarity to Luna, and as happy as I was that Silas had found his soulmate, I was glad when she said it was bedtime for Addy and dragged her away from her mosh-pit lessons.
Raylen dropped into the lounge chair beside me and wiped the sweat off his brow. “God, kids are a workout. They never get tired.”
“Well, you don’t have to encourage them to act like heathens,” I said, sipping my whiskey.
Silas sat opposite us, looking like he’d had a bandage ripped cruelly from a fresh cut now that Harper was gone. “Just go home,” I said with a laugh.
He stiffened his spine. “Nah, I’ll hang out a little with you guys and then head back.”
Raylen cleared his throat. “I’m really glad you’re happy, man. I have to admit I was a little skeptical, but everything seems good.”
“Skeptical of Harper?” he asked.
“Of all of it,” I said, coming to Raylen’s defense before Silas ripped into him. “This dinky town, being able to work remotely, and yeah… Harper, too. But we see it’s all good now.”
“And this dinky town is pretty sweet,” Raylen said.
I adjusted my lounge chair down a notch, so I could look straight up at the blanket of stars that made it almost bright enough to read. My spine melted into the thick cushion, and I sighed. “I’ll second that. This is where I’m going to be from dawn to dusk tomorrow. Just a book and my headphones.” Hell, I might even sleep out under the stars. The weather was mild enough.
Raylen got up and stretched, ready to head in for the night. “We’re going hiking tomorrow, first thing. You’re not getting out of it.”
I only groaned in answer, having quickly adapted to the lazy life. He kicked the leg of my chair as he walked past. Silas followed him, eager to get back to his new family life.
“Yeah, we’d be out on the river if we went to Colorado,” Silas said. “You can handle a little hike.”
“Fine,” I said, just as easily adapting to the new idea.
It was vacation, after all, and I had my camera with me. Might as well see what kind of nature Virginia had to offer. So far, I hadn’t been disappointed with what I’d seen.
Chapter 6 - Luna
I woke up early despite the late shift at the hospital, and even after I reset my alarm and rolled over, I couldn’t get back to sleep. There was another meeting to discuss the Dante Theater project, and I had a terrible feeling it would be another utter failure. As I lay there getting eaten up with anxiety, I decided more sleep wasn’t an option. The best thing for that was to act normal and move around, so I put on my running shoes and headed out for a jog along my favorite trail.
Thankfully, I was right, and after about a half hour of steadily paced running, I felt loads better. There was just something about being surrounded by the fresh smell of the dirt, still damp with dew, and the trees waving overhead in the soft breeze. Pretty soon I was in the zone of not caring about anything at all when a man lurched out of the woods and nearly knocked me down, as he grabbed at me.
Shrieking loud enough to startle the nearby birds, I side kicked him hard, sending him flying backwards. He landed with a thump and a curse and I whipped out the little can of pepper spray on my keychain, leaning over to spray him to blindness for daring to try it with me.
“No, stop,” he said, wildly covering his face with his arms.
