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“Stop beating yourself up, babe.” I take a clean tissue and swipe under her gorgeous brown eyes that are now rimmed in red from so many tears. “I’m a big boy, and I can deal. I’m just not good with secrets.”
“I’m not either!” She shakes her head. “I hate them. I mean, I’m not talking about the small ones that you keep between your girlfriends and stuff like that. But these big secrets? I can’t handle it. But Apollo asked me not to say anything to anyone, and I agreed. Why did I agree to that?”
“Because you love your brother.”
“Yeah.” She sniffs, and the tears threaten again. “I really do.”
“Hey, no more tears.” I pull her in for a quick kiss. “It’s okay, Luna. Everything’s going to work out and be just fine.”
“I don’t think I realized until you said that how much I needed to hear it.”
“In the future, if you have something that you can’t tell me, just say so. I won’t try to drag it out of you. But we all need this. Someone to assure us that it’ll work out.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we do.” She tips her head to the side, studying me. “Who does that for you?”
Before the accident? I would have said that I didn’t need it.
But now… “You.”
A smile spreads across her face, and she leans in to kiss me. “I don’t think I’ve ever said those words to you.”
“You’ve shown me,” I reply, enjoying her. “You take care of me when the headaches hit. You supported me through the garage build. You’re here. You don’t always have to say the words.”
“You’re good for me,” she whispers and tips her forehead against mine.
“And you’re everything good about my life,” I reply, meaning every word. “Do you feel any better?”
“A lot better,” she confirms. “And the second I’m able, I’ll tell you everything.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
“I need caffeine,” I say to Zeke several hours later. “I’m going to walk down to The Grind and grab a coffee. You want anything?”
“Yeah, the usual. And if they have any of those chicken salad sandwiches, snag a couple.”
“Be back in a few,” I reply with a nod and walk out the door. The Grind has the best coffee in town, and it’s just around the corner from my garage on Main Street and across from the bookstore. The outside seating is spectacular with a deck and a view of the Pacific.
It’s a hotspot in Huckleberry Bay, but it’s not too busy today when I walk inside. About half of the tables are taken, some with laptops, others with new books from across the street.
And up at the counter stands Apollo Winchester.
“Well, hey there,” he says when he sees me. We shake hands. “How’s it going at the garage today?”
“We’re muddling through,” I reply and turn to Daisy to order. “Zeke wants his usual, and I’ll have mine, too. Oh, and three chicken salad sandwiches.”
“You got it, handsome,” Daisy says with a wink. She’s the owner of The Grind and flirts with everyone, male or female, young and old. The customers adore her. “I’ll throw in some cookies, too. Ava, grab some Oregon Trail cookies, will you, hon?”
Daisy and her crew get to work on our orders, and Apollo and I chat about nothing particularly important until I finally just say, “I’m confused.”
Apollo blinks at me. “About what?”
I rub my hand over my mouth and then take my order when my name is called. Apollo walks with me to a nearby table where we sit across from each other.
Luna’s brother is a tall man, lean and well-built from years of working construction and now as an electrician. He has the same dark hair and eyes as his sister, but their personalities are very different.
Where Luna is organized and sweet, Apollo is goofy and tends to live minute by minute. They couldn’t be more different. But the bond between them has always been strong.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I want to ask you the same question,” I say. “Your sister has been a wreck for the last few days and won’t tell me why. I get that it’s none of my business, she just says that she’s worried about you. But you seem…fine. You’re acting completely normal, so I’m a little thrown off balance.”
Apollo sighs and takes a sip of his latte. “I’m sorry she’s been upset. Listen, I have some medical stuff happening, and I thought I should tell her about it. I actually find out tomorrow how serious it all is. So, for now, yeah, I’m fine. Like I told her, there has been no reason not to be fine.”
“Except that the people who love you worry,” I reply simply. “If the tables were turned—”
“I get it,” he interrupts. “And I apologize. Like I said, I’ll know far more tomorrow. I expect it to be good news.”
