3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Luna
Waking with puffy, red eyes has become commonplace for me, but what is completely out of the ordinary is a Thomas brother leaning against my car first thing in the morning with a bag of treats from Sweet and Salty and a cup of steaming coffee.
I blink a few times to make sure I’m not seeing things and slowly approach the youngest of the brood.
There is no mistaking that signature grin that often graces the faces of every single one of those men, but it’s early and I’m too tired from tossing and turning all night to decode what his means this morning.
“Mav, what on earth are you doing in Chatswain City?” I stop beside him and accept the goodies he offers.
Breathing in the coffee is a little bit of a pick-me-up, but it’s the heavenly scent of cinnamon and sugar drifting out of the bag that really gets my blood pumping.
I lean in and give him a side hug. At some point over the years, this kid grew forty-seven feet taller than me.
He’s always going to be like a little brother though, so whatever he’s here about, I’ll probably cave and do.
“I assume you still like black as night coffee and extra frosting on your cinnamon roll?” He winks and steps aside so I can unlock my car. I nod, waiting for an answer to my question. “If you have a minute, I need to talk to you about something. It’s kind of important.”
I check my watch and note that I will be half an hour early if I leave right now. “Yeah, I have some time. Want to come in?” I nod back toward my building but Mav waves his hand.
“It’s okay. I don’t want to keep you that long. I just…I um…” Mav shuffles around a bit and looks away. He’s always been a bit shy with me. Well, with anyone, really, but this kid has known me since he was still scrapping in the elementary school playground.
I poke him in the ribs and chuckle. “Out with it, kiddo. Why did you drive all the way here to see me?”
He wiggles away and that broad grin takes his face, puffing out the adorably freckled cheeks of his. He looks the least like anyone else in his family, though they all somewhat resemble their father.
“First of all, I’ve missed you. That’s reason enough to drop in, isn’t it?”
I chuckle. “Yes, but something tells me it’s not that simple.”
“Okay, I’m mostly here because I’m worried about my brother. He’s a mess, Luna, and I don’t mean the kind where he’s a little sad and forgot to take out the trash. I mean he has full-on grown a caveman beard, eats pizza seven nights a week, and refuses to leave the house.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Honestly, that sounds like Rafe on one of his usual coding binges. Are you sure he’s not just deep into planning his app?”
Mav scowls and clenches his jaw. “I’m serious, Luna.
He’s heartbroken that you don’t return his calls or messages, and he’s basically given up on doing anything remotely productive.
So Silas and I might have encouraged him to do something crazy, and upon a good night’s sleep, I realized we might have set him up for failure.
That’s why I’m here. To make sure he doesn’t do something that will get his heart completely flattened for the third time in a row by the same woman. ”
Ouch. That stung a little, but knowing me for a long time also means he’s up for total honesty, no matter how brutal. Still, it isn’t entirely my fault, at least not this time. If he and Silas are involved in something, there is a good chance it will blow up no matter what I do or don’t do.
Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I sip my coffee and prepare myself. “What did you two put him up to, and how much is it going to cost me?”
Mav licks his lips and looks away again.
“We encouraged him to do things for you, you know, like he used to when you dated, and he seems to have taken it a step farther. He’s planning something big.
Like…really big.” He raises his hands to quiet me when my eyes go wide.
“I don’t know what exactly he’s planning.
He was super quiet about it, but he was awake before I was this morning.
He hasn’t rolled out of bed before noon since the wedding. ”
“Yikes,” I say, unsure where this conversation might go. After all, saying and doing are two different things, and if I know Rafe, it’s the doing part that usually lacks.
Mav sighs again and I realize he really is frustrated with me.
“I don’t think you understand. It’s going to be his last attempt, Luna.
His go big or go home, and if you reject him, that’s it.
I don’t think he’s going to keep fighting for you.
So I gotta know, because I love my idiot brother, is he about to get his heart totally trashed, or is there a chance you still love him? ”
I should probably think about what I’m going to say before I open my mouth, but that dang thing has always had a mind of its own.
Without a moment of hesitation, I say, “I never stopped loving him. That wasn’t the problem.
” The second I admit it, my heart starts racing so fast I can barely form words.
“It was this overwhelming sense that we were never moving forward that I couldn’t live with.
I hinted, urged, pushed…whatever. I tried to show him what I needed, but he never moved our relationship past boyfriend and girlfriend.
” I shake my head. “I didn’t want to be his girlfriend forever, Mav.
I want marriage, kids, a future that is more than what we started in high school. ”
“He—” Mav cuts himself off and shakes his head. “He’s bad with words, always has been. Of all people, you know that. But he has changed so much.”
“You literally just said he’s binging on pizza and never leaves the house.
” I bite my lip, worried I’m about to do something just as crazy as whatever Rafe is planning.
If I follow my brain right now, I’ll be safe.
If I follow my heart…I’m about to pack for a road trip to Coldstone Creek and fall right back into the very same routine I ran away from months ago.
If I do, then I’ll only grow to resent him.
“Well, yeah, because the high he was riding after the wedding wore off when you ignored him. But even before that, he’s…he’s done things, okay? It’s not my place to divulge every bit of his life to you, but I had to come and see you before he makes a jerk of himself.”
Mav takes a step closer and settles a hand on my shoulder.
“We miss you, Luna. We love you, all of us, and it’s not the same without you.
I can’t tell you everything I know, but I need you to trust me when I tell you that Rafe cherishes everything about you.
Just because the words didn’t come out of his mouth, doesn’t mean he wasn’t planning things. ”
Shock forces a gasp. Planning what exactly? “Do you mean—”
Mav shakes his head. “I’m not sharing any more than that. If you want more, then you gotta respond to Rafe, okay?”
I nod, so very confused about what to do now.
“Back to my original question. Does he have a chance or should I steer him away from whatever crazy plan he’s working on to win you back?”
Gripping the bag tighter, I try to wrap my mind around this change of events.
Maybe it isn’t all that shocking a revelation.
Rafe has tried to contact me, and maybe if I’d given him a chance to talk, I might have discovered all the things Mav says have changed.
But fear has paralyzed me for so long that I’m too scared to do anything, let alone give Mav an honest answer.
I need to think, process this information, and search my heart for the right answer.
Above all, I need to pray about this before we both get hurt worse than we already have been.
I clear my throat and look up at him. “Can I think about this for a little while? Just until lunch, and I’ll text you.”
He frowns but nods. “Yeah, of course. You better get going before you’re late.
Wouldn’t want the famous curator late for the job.
” He grins, knowing full well I’m not famous, not even close.
Of all the brothers, Mav has always been the most intrigued by my work.
I tried to convince him to study history and join me, but he was dead set on following in his brother Novan’s footsteps.
He’s been a firefighter since the day he watched Novan graduate from the fire academy.
“You wanna come see what I’m working on?”
“For real?” The history buff in him shines through in that sweet sparkle in his eyes.
“Sure, why not? Follow me, and I’ll get you in behind the scenes.
” That’s all it takes for him to jog across the lot, hop in his car, and follow me downtown to the museum.
I don’t live far from work, so there’s barely any time to think about what Mav told me, especially while trying to pay attention to the awful rush hour traffic.
When I arrive at the employee entrance, I pull in and roll down my window.
“Good morning, Miss Parsons,” Fred, the employee parking attendant, says. “Looks like a bit of rain this morning.”
There isn’t a single cloud in the bright blue sky, but I nod anyway. “Maybe. I have a friend in the car behind me. I want to give him a little behind the scenes tour, if you don’t mind.”
“Well, I don’t know. He’s not an employee, and this lot is reserved for employees only.
I’m the attendant, you know. It’s my job to make sure the lot is secure at all times.
” He taps his badge with two fingers and puffs his chest. Fred is a bit of a character, but I flash him my sweetest smile and he caves like cheap concrete.
“Oh, put that smile away. Here, tell him to display this visitor pass prominently in his window and get out of my lot by lunchtime, hear me?”
I giggle and take the pass. “Thank you, Fred. I owe you.”
“You keep saying that, but I still haven’t gotten any brownies like you promised.”