Chapter Ten Full Moon
“Mr. Wymark?”
“You’re my neighbor, and Jasper’s friend. Call me Alban, please.”
“All right, thank you.” Why is this place so welcoming? Why do things fall into good places so quickly?
Either this place is magical, or I’m about to have the worst “waiting for the other shoe to drop” moment in my life. And if you look at my life, that would have to be really messed up. “Alban, did your cousin have any luck with the papers?”
“Well, he delivered the petition for divorce with the option to sign an agreement of no-contest divorce. Mr. Lane didn’t sign it at that time, but that’s not uncommon. He’ll want to retain a lawyer to look over it, I’m sure,” Alban says in a calming voice.
“What if he doesn’t sign it?”
“Then we proceed. Refusing to sign like a stubborn person throwing a tantrum won’t stop this from happening.
We have to wait twenty days from yesterday to proceed, which was when he was served, and Alain has the proper service notices and paperwork.
At the forty-day mark, we can get you on the docket.
I guess New york likes to offer a ten-day window for the unforeseen. ”
“Oh. Th-that soon?” Wait, what? No, it can’t be that easy. Won’t be that easy.
“If he doesn’t sign and doesn’t follow up by asking for a hearing to determine the split of assets or custody. All your petition states is that you would like full custody, no visitation. You didn’t even ask for personal belongings.”
“I don’t need them. Just her,” I whisper.
I think Mr. Wymark—I mean, Alban, just sniffled. “It’s a full moon tonight, isn’t it?”
“Uhh, is it?”
“Come to dinner, I know Jasper will be busy. Harper is making lasagna.”
“Well, I...”
“I’ll pick you up and drive you home if you’re worried. And don’t worry about being worried, I would be worried if I had what you have to worry about.”
That string of word vomit makes me laugh. “Okay. But I’m eating early with Jasper. I’ll save room, though. I love lasagna.”
I LIKE THE WYMARKS. Their kids are adorable, a twin boy and girl of about three, I think.
The wife, Harper, looks like the kind of woman who models for understated brands that actually cost a month’s rent, with long dark hair and gorgeous eyes.
Despite this, their big home is loud, colorful, and kid-friendly.
Harper holds Ari and whispers that she has baby fever again, and she wants Alban to hold her so he can catch it.
I laugh along, watching their interactions.
I hope they’re as happy as they seem. I wonder if they have cracks under the surface.
I wonder if others could see the fractures between Matt and me?
I never, ever would have believed I’d be the one to leave a marriage, to pick someone who was so volatile.
What if you’re being stupid again? You kissed another man today, a man who’s not your husband. You’re living with him. People are going to get the wrong idea.
People like me.
“Is Jasper as nice as he seems?” I blurt out when Alban shows me to the twins’ nursery. They still have a changing table in there, although the twins have their own rooms now. I guess Harper and Alban are hoping for more, like Harper hinted.
“Jasper Wainwright is the nicest, friendliest person I know. He’s a—a shaggier version of a golden retriever. Always wanting to help, always ready to please. Here’s my acid test. I imagine a horrible situation—”
I wince. “Some of us don’t have to imagine very hard,” I murmur.
Alban goes on, undeterred. “Well, I imagine a horrible situation, one where life and death situations are going down. I ask myself, ‘Would I hand my babies to this person?’” He gives me a long look.
“I would not hesitate to give my kids to Jasper. They would be safe as long as he was breathing. He’s also smart, a snappy dresser, and not too hard on the eyes. ”
I burst into laughter at that. “Are you a mind reader?”
“Not one of my powers,” he laughs back, “but you don’t need to be psychic to see that Jasper thinks of you as family.
He’s also a kind, patient person. If you want him to wait for you, he would, until the end of time.
If you wanted him this minute, you could just say so, Loretta.
” His voice turns serious. “So don’t say so unless you mean it.
He means a lot to us in this town. He’s been a groomsman at dozens of weddings, interviewed everyone from kindergartners to octogenarians, and we love him.
We’re all rooting for him to get a chance at happiness—and I think his happiness depends on you and Arianna being safe and happy.
That’s the kind of loyal heart he has.” Alban hands me a fresh container of wipes and backs away as I lay Arianna on the changing pad.
“Your soon-to-be ex? You found out things about him over time, right?”
“The hard way, I guess.”
“No matter what you ever find out about Jasper, I would stake my life on the fact that he’s a good man.”
“What would I ever find out?” I ask.
But Alban’s gone. Like, gone-gone. Not heading out the door, not in the hall. Vanished.
I shudder a little. I like Pine Ridge, but sometimes I get a weird feeling about this place.
ALBAN AND HARPER ARE amazing hosts. They end up inviting Izzy and Ardy Walsh over, and soon we’re all playing Trivial Pursuit, drinking a little wine, and eating adult snacks like fancy almonds, Italian meats, and French cheeses.
I feel like I can relax and have fun for the first time in a long time.
Harper assures me a little red wine won’t hurt the baby, so I even join in with a tiny tipple in my glass, calculating that Ari won’t nurse again until after midnight, so the two sips will have metabolized away.
But at last, I have to leave. The twins are in bed, Ari is in her carrier, snoozing away, and Ardy and Izzy offer to follow me up to Jasper’s house and make sure I get in okay, even though I lie and say I’m not worried and don’t need an escort, even though I tell them I have a key and I’ll just let myself in.
“That is one gorgeous moon,” I say, staring at the huge, silvery-white moon when Izzy and Ardy help me out of my car.
“It’s beautiful. Let’s help you inside.” Ardy insists, taking my arm, his eyes alert.
Izzy nods, carrying my diaper bag in.
“You are all such nice people. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Thank us by staying safe,” Izzy replies.
“And staying in town,” Ardy winks.
“We’ll see.” I unlock the door and put a finger to my lips. “Jasper is doing some live recording or something in the basement. I want to get right upstairs and get Arianna into her crib.”
“Good,” Izzy and Ardy say as one, both sharing an emphatic breath.
“Geez, does everyone know his schedule?” I ask, that prickle of unease running up my spine again.
“Well, yeah. Three nights a month, Jasper Wainwright doesn’t do the news,” Izzy points out. “And it’s always the same three nights.”
“Ohhh. That makes sense. The 4th, 5th, and 6th?”
“Uh. Well. The three nights of the full moon.” Ardy looks slightly uncomfortable.
The prickle becomes more of a stream, but I don’t know why. “What’s so special about the full moon?”
“He’s working with, um, a big multi-year astronomy research team. Recording them for a documentary.”
“Oh! Oh, wow, that’s so cool!” I exclaim, and the unease melts.
“But I don’t think you're supposed to know that,” Ardy says, waving a hand in warning.
“I’m pretty sure the team doesn’t want to talk about their work until they’ve completed their findings.
You know how cutthroat it is in the sciences.
People want an asteroid named after them, not some other guy from Switzerland. ”
“Got it. Mum’s the word.”
“Great. I’m going to just do a sweep real quick,” Ardy takes off and zips around the corner. In seconds, I can hear something thumping upstairs, but moving far too quickly to be a man. “Oh, my gosh. Jasper doesn’t still have a cat, does he?” I ask Izzy.
The beautiful redhead shakes her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Upstairs and downstairs look good. Let’s go, hon. Great to see you tonight, Loretta. Lock the door after us. I’m going to wait until I hear it click to go away.”
“Thank you so much for being so protective. I hope you don’t think I’m paranoid.
My husband— Matt, I guess I’ll call him now that divorce proceedings have started, did make a lot of threats, but that’s what he does.
He yells and pushes. He bullies and insults, belittles.
I guess since I wasn’t in shoving range, he had to up the ante on the yelling. ”
“If he calls again and makes any more threats, I want you to report it.”
“I will, I promise,” I say.
Pine Ridge may be a little strange, but they sure do look out for their visitors, and they really care about their community.
I think I could be happy here.
I walk silently up the stairs, Arianna’s carrier in one arm, the diaper bag over the other, and head to bed with a smile on my lips.