Chapter 51
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
“ I think that’s all of it.”
Larissa couldn’t understand why Moon looked so pleased. The mountain of boxes he had transferred from the storage unit, plus her things she had taken to his house, was now sitting in the living room in her house, waiting to be put where they belong. She was so overwhelmed trying to figure out which job she should tackle first, she didn’t notice Moon coming up behind her.
“It looks worse than it is.”
Larissa waved a helpless hand at the stacks of boxes surrounding her. “Usually, Priss or Lana do the moving. How am I supposed to know where they want their things to go?”
Moon turned her to face him. “You look like you’re ready to run for the door.”
She was desperately trying not to burst into tears. “I’m not any good at this type of thing.”
He frowned down at her. “What kind of thing?”
“Normal stuff, like moving.”
The comforting hug he gave her lessened the panic threatening to overwhelm her.
“I know it seems a lot, but with both of us working together, we’ll get it done. It doesn’t have to be done in one day, does it?”
“No, I suppose not.” She nodded against his chest.
“Are you regretting us moving in together?”
“No, moving always makes me nervous. I hate for things to be out of place.”
“Technically, nothing’s out of place if we haven’t taken them out of the boxes. It’s a brand-new house; you haven’t found a place for the things to go.”
“You’re right.” Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself out of his arms. “Okay, where should we start?”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than she heard a knock on the front door. Opening her mouth to call out, “Come in!” she caught Moon’s glower.
“I’ll just get that.”
He wasn’t appeased. “If I catch you doing that again, there will be hell to pay.”
“Oh … I’m so scared.” Lighthearted, she went to answer the door.
Surprised to find Lana and Priss on the other side of the door, she started laughing when she saw what they were holding— a welcome doormat and a bottle of apple juice.
Lana walked inside with the juice while Priss laid the mat down before following her.
“I thought you had to work?”
“We lied.” Lana gave her a hug. “We thought we would help you get a good start, and you can do the rest when you figure out where you want things.”
Priss took a long look at the boxes then glanced toward her. “I forgot how much stuff we had in storage. I bet this is driving you nuts.”
“If you had arrived a few minutes earlier, you would have seen me whining on Moon’s shoulder,” she confessed.
“Lucky for Moon,”—Lana rolled up the sleeves of her sweater—“we’re here to save the day.”
Priss was less enthusiastic. “I should have scheduled appointments, for real.”
Lana wasn’t having it. “Most of this is your stuff. Larissa, have you picked out which room you want the baby in?”
Larissa led her sisters to the bedrooms, showing them the master bedroom first. She raised the blinds. “I thought this room would be Moon and my room. The room next to it would be the baby’s. The one at the end would be either yours or Priss’.” Leading them to the small room off the front door, she turned on the light inside. “And one of you could take this one. It has a private bathroom.”
Lana nodded at her then turned toward Priss. “Which one do you want?”
“I can take either. Which one do you want? The bedroom upstairs is bigger, but this one has a private bathroom.”
“Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll take this one. With my hours, it’ll be the quietest, and I won’t wake the baby up when I get ready for work. We can evaluate who gets the master bedroom if Moon and Larissa decide to move into his house.”
“That works for me,” Priss agreed.
Both sisters looked at her.
“Works for me, too.” Larissa nodded cheerfully.
“Good. Then let’s get to work. I have to be back at the hospital in a couple of hours.” Lana took command, which made Larissa ecstatic.
“Moon, your job is carrying the boxes to the rooms written on the boxes.”
Moon seemed as relieved as she was.
“Priss, I would just stack your boxes to the side. There’s no need opening them until we’re ready to move in, unless you need to get something out. I’ll do the same with mine.
“Larissa, you can empty your boxes, and when Priss and I get done, we can help. Moon, when you get to the boxes for the kitchen, you can start opening them. Just set them on the counters, and you and Larissa can decide together where things go. Any questions?”
They all said no.
“Then let’s get cracking.”
T wo hours later, Moon and Larissa both appeared shellshocked at the amount of work they had been able to accomplish.
“I think you two are good to go now.” Lana looked extremely satisfied as she glanced around the empty living room. “When does the new furniture arrive?”
“Tomorrow. Moon said he took off half a day.”
“Good. Don’t forget not to lift anything heavy.”
“I won’t,” Larissa assured her sister. “Where’s Priss?”
“Here.” Walking into the room with an armful of clothes, she gave them a wry smile. “I couldn’t resist. I’m tired of wearing the same clothes.”
Moon went to the kitchen and came back with an empty box, which he handed to Priss. “Feel free to come and get anything you want.”
“I pretty much took what I wanted. I should donate the rest to the church’s store.” Putting the clothes she was carrying into the box, Priss looked toward Lana. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
After giving Larissa brief hugs and Moon a quick goodbye, they left in a rush so Lana wouldn’t be late.
“Whew.” Moon stared at the door after them. “If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t believe it. Lana is like a hurricane. She sweeps in, and you don’t know which way you’re going.”
Larissa laughed at his assessment. “Lana takes after Mom. She’s really smart. I wish I took after Lana. She doesn’t let anything faze her, takes charge, always knows what to do …” She stopped when she saw Moon was staring at her curiously. “Anyway, I’m glad they came by.”
“I am, too. You seem like you’re in a better mood.”
“I am.” Brushing her hair back behind her ear, she felt for the first time like she could manage what work was left to be done.
“Are you hungry?”
Larissa patted her stomach. “We both are.”
“Make that three.”
Her face fell. “I was going to the grocery store but didn’t make it there.”
“That’s fine. Let’s get changed. We can eat out and head to the grocery store.”
“Okay, I’ll go change.”
“I need to take a quick shower.”
It was only when they were heading to their bedroom did it sink in that she would be sharing a room with Moon.
“I’ll shower while you get changed.”
Glad at the reprieve of undressing in front of Moon, she hurried to change before he could come out of the bathroom. She’d had three weeks to decide to move in with him, so she couldn’t understand why she hadn’t considered they would be living together not as roommates but as a couple.
As she brushed her hair, she tried not to let her nerves get the best of her.
“It’s going to be okay,” she told herself, unaware she had spoken out loud.
“Yes, it is,” Moon concurred, coming out of the bathroom.
Larissa stared at him sheepishly. “I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never lived with a man before,” she admitted.
“You didn’t live with your boyfriend?”
“God, no. We were both so busy getting our degree that that was our only priority. At least, it was mine. He lived at his home. It just made more since so he could concentrate on his studies and wouldn’t have to work. And when he was matched with a hospital after graduation, I found out he was cheating on me.”
Larissa kept her eyes on her reflection in the mirror as Moon dropped the towel around his hips to pull on a pair of jeans.
Sitting on the bed, he tugged on black leather boots. “That must have been upsetting.”
“It was, and it wasn’t. A friend of mine had told me he was cheating on me, but I didn’t believe her. Come to find out, she was telling me the truth.” Larissa changed the subject before Moon could ask any further questions. “Are you ready to go?”
He stood up to pull on a dark gray shirt. “I am. Where do you want to eat?”
“I’m craving steak. How about King’s?”
Larissa couldn’t understand the pained look he gave her.
“I’ll stay in the car until you get us a table. You can text me when you’re seated.”
“Why?”
“Put it this way … mistakes were made.”
They ended up going to a casual dining restaurant that had steak on the menu. The Pink Slipper was the closest to an Applebee’s that Treepoint was ever going to get.
Moon and she sat and talked as they ate. The more time she spent with him, the more comfortable she felt. He was a fun companion, attentive, and made her feel special in a way she had never felt before.
After finishing her meal, she watched as he ate the last of his cheesecake. She caught more than one woman’s eyes straying to their table. He drew their eyes like a magnet, like he did hers. Like he had caught Lana’s the night at the bar.
Larissa twirled the melted ice cubes in her drink, her mind on that night. What if she hadn’t gone into his bedroom? Would Lana be the one sitting here tonight?
“You’ve gone quiet all of a sudden. What are you thinking about?”
She smiled at him. “Nothing.”
“You’re lying.”
Larissa made a face at him. “Yes, I am.”
“So, what were you thinking of?”
She leaned forward to cup her glass between her hands. “Do you ever wish you could do a do-over?”
Moon gave her a cautious glance. “Somehow, I don’t think I’m going to come out ahead by answering that question.”
“I already know the answer to that question.”
Moon frowned at her. “There’s no way you could know my answer to a question you haven’t asked. Don’t presume to—”
“Never mind,” Larissa cut him off, waving to their busy waitress when she would have rushed past them. “I’ll take the ticket.”
Moon sighed. “Come down off your high horse, Larissa. The question you presume to know the answer to is: would I go back in time and not have sex with you, therefore we wouldn’t be looking forward to having a baby in a couple of months? Is that not the question you think you know the answer to?”
“Yes.”
“Then let me give my answer. No, I wouldn’t do anything different, other than turn on the damn light.”
She nodded, reaching into her purse for her credit card.
“Stop, Larissa. I’m paying for our meal.”
“I want to.”
“If you want to pay for something, you can buy half the groceries.”
She put her card back in her purse.
“What was the question you wanted to ask?”
“Nev—”
“If you tell me never mind one more time, when we get home, we’re going to play a new game—how many times can I spank that pert ass of yours until you tell me you’re sorry.”
She gaped at him. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Good choice.” He handed the waitress his credit card, then stared at Larissa until she started squirming in her seat. Her mom would look at her the same way until she would confess to doing something, knowing it would lead to punishment.
Inevitably, she caved and confessed. Avoiding his gaze, she stared back at her glass. “Do you ever think about fate?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“The night we had sex … do you think, if you hadn’t gone upstairs … and had stopped and talked … and Lana approached you, do you think you would have …?” Larissa couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.
When Moon remained silent and just continued to stare at her, she found herself trying to explain further.
“If Lana had made a play for you, would you have … been receptive?”
He didn’t answer, nor did he move his eyes away until the waitress came and set the receipt and card back on the table. Scrawling his signature, he handed the slip back. Only when she was out of hearing distance did Moon speak.
“The real question you should ask yourself is: would you rather Lana were sitting here with me, carrying my child?”
Larissa picked up the glass to take a drink to buy time. When she placed the glass down, she nearly dropped it. Moon reached out to right it, his demeanor so void of emotion that it was scary.
“I feel guilty,” she admitted. “I feel as if I stole something from her.”
Moon’s expression showed his surprise. “For God’s sake, what?”
“Her happiness. I feel guilty I’m so happy.”