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“Luna.”
“What?”
Ross sighed as he smoothed her messy hair. “I can manage more than one thing. You’re still my family. You can talk to me.”
He led her to the couch, kicking discarded tissues away like snot-filled soccer balls. “Take a seat. You want me to make you some tea or coffee? What do you need?”
“Can you make me an omelet or a grilled cheese sandwich or something?”
“Sure.” He kissed her head before strolling to her kitchen. “Oh God. What happened in here? Has Mia been by?”
Luna hadn’t been doing dishes or throwing away delivery food or much of any household chores these days. Her place wasn’t worthy of any Instagram photos. If she did take some, most of them would consist of ceiling shots. #NotBlessed #Cursed #SadNapping
“Where are your pans? I don’t know where anything is in this kitchen,” he called from the other room.
She stopped crying enough to groan, dragging herself to the kitchen. “You’re supposed to be taking care of me. How are you doing that if I have to do everything?”
“It’s either that or I’ll dump some of this old Chinese food on a plate and nuke it for you.”
Luna set a clean pan onto a burner while Ross perused the ingredients in her fridge. She leaned against a wall, watching him as he put cheese between slices of bread and spread mayo on the outside of the sandwich. He dropped it into the skillet, before grabbing the trash can and discarding the garbage on her countertop.
“I’m assuming this disgusting mess has something to do with your love life. It must be bad. This is worse than the last bastard. You haven’t even created a makeshift dartboard yet.” Luna appreciated having someone take the mantle of hate on her behalf, but she wasn’t ready to make Sam the villain yet.
“I know. It’s ridiculous. It was just Sam. It’s not like I was going to marry the guy or anything. I-I shouldn’t be upset at all.” The last part of the sentence came out as a warble as she covered her eyes and cried against the wall.
He flipped the sandwich in the pan, studying her. “What happened?”
“The usual thing. I was being a brat about my birthday coming up. I think he’d just had enough of everything. He left.” She couldn’t tell Ross the whole truth because, after considering their last conversation, maybe Sam was right to protect his mother from her. If Luna could say horrible things to her own mother, it would be safe to assume she’d have no problems doing the same to someone else’s parents.
“Can you get a plate?” He slid the sandwich onto the dish she retrieved. They returned to the couch, and he put his arm around her shoulder as she nibbled on her lunch. “So, you really like this guy, huh?”
“Or I hate him. I haven’t really made up my mind yet.”
“I don’t believe that. I haven’t gotten a list of everything that’s wrong with him.”
“Maybe there’s so much I’m overwhelmed.”
“Except I remember what it was like when Mia left, and you look as miserable as I felt back then.”
“Yeah, well, it seemed pretty clear that you guys were going to work out and you were in love with each other.”
“Clear to who? It definitely doesn’t feel that way when you’re inside the bubble. Figuring everything out is work, Lu. It’s never going to be easy. But when not having the person is worse, then you find you’ll do almost anything, even the hard stuff.”
Luna lifted her eyes to him. “I’m not sure anyone will ever feel that way about me. I’m not sure I’ve ever been a good person. Maybe I’m more like my mom than I thought.”
“Stop it. You’re a good person. You shouldn’t hold back so much of yourself.”
Her gaze dropped and she picked at what remained of her sandwich. “When have I ever held anything back?”
“Harsh truths are easy. Telling someone how much you really care, that’s the scary part.”
Honesty: Luna Lanza never had a problem telling the absolute truth.
Brutal honesty: Luna Lanza never had a problem telling the absolute truth unless the cost was revealing her own vulnerability.
Ross was right, of course. Her whole life’s motto was all about never giving too much of herself. Luna could never truly change as long as she kept giving in to her fears, kept from showing how much she cared. Maybe all this time she’d been holding the wrong part of herself back from the people she cared about the most.
Her cousin reached into his pocket, retrieving a scrap of paper. “This was lodged in the door.”
