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With a groan, Luna retrieved dishes from a cupboard. It was clear she wasn’t the princess in this house.
“Are you excited about the new place, Luna?” Mia asked.
She shrugged. Luna wasn’t sure how excited she could be moving into Schnell Ridge. The best thing about it was she’d have complete privacy and a whole place to do whatever she could imagine. It wasn’t everything, but it was something. “I guess.”
“I don’t know why I have to help you move again. I already did this once,” Ross said.
“I remember packing up the car myself when I left for Chico, so I’m not quite sure what you’re remembering. Becoming a dad has turned your brain into mush.”
“Come here.” Ross grabbed her in a big hug, rubbing his prickled jawline against her cheek, exfoliating her face like sandpaper.
“Ross! Stop! You’re going to scratch up my skin.” She pushed him away. Yup, the man was ninety-five percent marshmallow fluff these days.
“Do you need help packing or moving?” Mia asked as she fished a strawberry from the bowl.
“No,” Ross replied. “I can do it. I don’t want you carrying boxes up a bunch of stairs.”
“Good Lord, Ross.” Mia rolled her eyes. “Stop acting like I’m going to break.”
“It’s not like there’s a lot to move anyway. Lulu only has two pieces of furniture and a bunch of clothes.”
“Ugh! Stop calling me Lulu.” She popped a piece of cheese from Ross’s cutting board into her mouth. “And I have more than that, but I do need to go furniture shopping.”
“Going shopping could be fun,” Mia responded with a hopeful smile.
“Oh. I’m not actually going to real furniture stores. I’ll probably just scrounge around at thrift stores—”
Ross gave her a subtle nudge with his elbow and his expression read,Come on. Throw a bone.
“But you can come with me if you want, Mia.” Luna stuck her tongue at Ross while holding a plate for him as he slid an omelet onto it.
*
“This should bethe last of it,” Ross said, dropping a heavy box onto one of the stacks in her new living room. He rested the upper half of his body on a pillar of cardboard. “God, Lu. Next time get an apartment on ground level. I’m beat.”
“It probably would have gone faster if you let Mia help. Although, it’s kinda nice hanging out just you and me. It’s like old times. Maybe you want to go furniture shopping with me. I’ll let you treat me to a milkshake afterwards.”
“Stop it. You don’t need to be a brat.”
Luna’s jaw dropped at the offense. “I’m not. I was just joking. God. You take everything so seriously.”
Ross ran a hand across his jaw. “You know Mia gets excited to hang out with you, but you always treat it like such a chore. This isn’t high school anymore. You can hang out with people who weren’t in the cool kids’ clique.”
“Excuse me. I am not like that. It’s just…”
It was more that Mia was sweet and nice most of the time, making Luna aware of her own deficiencies. Mia was good and good things happened to her. She was happy with Ross and starting a family. Luna, as hard as she tried, didn’t consider herself naturally good and therefore that’s why people left her, like her mom, and Tessa, and Viggo.
“Mia’s great and all,” Luna started. “But sometimes I miss how it used to be when it was just you and me. I came back to Placerville, and everything was different, you know.”
Ross sighed. “Everything is always going to be different. You just adapt and keep moving forward the best you can. Isn’t that why we’re moving you into a new place? This is a beginning for you. Just like Mia was a beginning for me and with the baby coming… Well, you can’t ever go back. Only forward.”
She did know, even if he didn’t say it. Once the baby came, she’d get even less Ross than she had now. Maybe Luna should start adjusting her expectations, and put her energy into something else, like fixing up her apartment.
She let the tension ease from her body. “Okay, Ross. You’re right. I’ll send Mia a text.”
“All right, come here.” Ross opened his arms.
“Ew, no. You’re probably all sweaty.”
