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“Layton told you?”
“No, sir. I saw a picture of your family from probably twenty years ago online. I recognized her name as the password to get into the hospital and Googled her when I didn’t see her mentioned with the land development case earlier this year. I found her obituary.”
“Interesting.”
“It sounds like I stalked your family. That’s not the case. Braxton had made me an offer, and I knew too little to make a smart decision. A single woman being asked to move across the country can’t do too much research.”
“I can only imagine all you saw online. What made you think this was an acceptable risk?”
“Your son.”
Kimp’s head lifts, and his gaze holds mine.
“He stood up and did the right thing by me. On two different occasions, he did the hard thing when it wasn’t convenient, but because it was the honorable thing to do. In my estimation, that’s a rarity. And I had—I have—the opportunity to do the same. I hope he lets me.”
Kimp takes a long drink of his coffee. “I may be speaking out of school, but Layton has struggled since Emilia died. The accident was horrific, but it was the second setback, not the first. The wreck, though, it took away the way he coped with losing her. I don’t mean this all woo woo, but he’s going to have to deal with both since they go hand in hand for him.”
“Thank you for trusting me with that.”
He stands and moves to his refrigerator. “I heard you’re vegan. We didn’t plan for that and we didn’t plan for tea. I have some fruit, and you can raid the pantry for whatever you can eat. We’ll figure things out today so you have what you need for as long as you stay here.”
It doesn’t take much to see Layton is Kimpton’s Mini-Me. It’s just that neither recognizes it. They are poles on magnets that push back on each other instead of being drawn together.
I was right yesterday. It’s about being too close to that fact, not missing the truth altogether.
* * *
Layton
I wake to warmth at my stomach. I’m spooning Luna who knows better than to be on the bed, but is here nonetheless. I’ll never admit that I coaxed her up here to make it easier to pet her. Brighton wouldn’t appreciate it, but I certainly do, so here we are.
I stroke her fur, glomming on to her relaxed, easy breathing.
“Looney, you’re the best girl ever. You know that?”
The calm she provides me is something I don’t take for granted. My head is a mess. My body is a wreck. My emotions can be tumultuous. But Luna offers me her serenity daily.
Sola gives me joy; Luna gives me peace.
It’s early, and I don’t want to get up yet. But for the first time in a long time, I feel excitement in my belly.
My body, on the other hand, is worse off for yesterday’s exertion. I feel like full-contact two-a-days in high school when my body hadn’t built enough bulk to insulate the hits.
I take a pill from the nightstand so I can participate in life today. Without it, I’d be bedridden, and there’s a smart, beautiful woman here who makes me feel ten feet tall. At least when my back hasn’t decided to lock up like Fort Knox.
Thirty minutes later, I amble toward the kitchen to find Pop and Livy having just finished breakfast.
“Well, you’re up early,” Pop says. “Coffee?”
“Sure.” I drop into a chair near Livy and pop a leftover piece of melon from her plate into my mouth.
“Livy drinks tea,” he continues, apropos of nothing, as he stands and pours me a mug.
“Okay.”
“We don’t have tea.”
“It’s not a big deal,” the tea drinker beside me replies.
