Chapter 14
Luna
“Clay remembers the hands that shape it. So does the heart.”
—Eloisa Hobby
Like a trooper, Luna dried her eyes, squared her shoulders, and forgave her mother. What else could she do? She was stuck with Mom on this island for the next two months and they had a quilting contest to win if they had any hope of saving their home.
Holding a grudge served nothing. What was done was done. But she was angry and that was okay.
She left Jeanie in the chapel and stepped out into the bright sunshine of the quad. Blinking, she glanced around but saw no sign of Paul. She hadn’t really expected to see him. He’d told her he had to get back to work tending the island’s foliage.
But she wished he were here to give her another comforting hug.
Sharon, Isabelle, and Nanette passed by on their way to the beach decked out in swimwear, flip-flops, and sun hats. They waved to her. She waved back as if nothing had happened, not letting on that her world had turned topsy-turvy in many ways. Her mother had been deceiving her for twenty-plus years and Paul Chance was back in her life.
The trio veered over to Luna’s side of the quadrangle.
“Hi,” Isabelle said. “Are you and your mom coming to the opening quilting circle tonight?”
“Um . . .” Luna had no idea. Her mind was still reeling.
“You’ve got to come.” Nanette rubbed sunscreen over her arms. “We heard Clare is giving tips and hacks for winning the quilting contest.”
“Then yes,” Luna said. “We’ll be there for sure. Have a wonderful time.”
“See you at seven.” Sharon shifted her beach tote to the opposite arm and led the way to the beach.
“Please do bring your mother,” Isabelle said. “She’s lovely.”
“I will.” Luna wriggled her fingers in goodbye. Turning, she took a deep breath, trying to decide what to do next, then saw Artie and a teenage girl zipping toward her on scooters.
“Mom! Meet my new bestie, Orion!” Artie hollered as they rolled up.
Luna took in the pretty, purple-haired girl with familiar eyes. This was Paul’s daughter. “Oh, um, hi, Orion. Nice to meet you.”
Orion hopped off her scooter and extended her hand. She was dressed much like Artie, in denim shorts and a graphic T-shirt. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Paul’s child, a walking reminder of the man she loved and lost so many years ago and now they were unexpectedly brought back together. The girl could have easily been Luna’s child if her mother hadn’t forever altered fate with her deception.
“Please, call me Luna.” She shook the girl’s hand. Orion’s palm was warm and firm. A young woman confident in herself. She was impressed with the self-assured way the girl made direct eye contact.
“Luna.” Orion’s grin was a carbon copy of her father’s.
A strange feeling brewed in Luna’s stomach.
A sensation she couldn’t quite identify.
A sense of loss, for sure, but there was something more beneath it.
Should she say something about having known Orion’s father when they were teenagers? But that felt out of place, and she didn’t want to make such an announcement out of context without Paul around for backup.
And yet, she didn’t want to hide vital information from the girls.
She did not want to be like Jeanie.
Luna searched the crowd, looking around the quad, hoping to see Paul watering flowers or pulling weeds.
“. . . so can I go midnight beachcombing with Orion?” Artie was pleading, palms pressed together. “Pleeease?”
Huh? Oh dear, she hadn’t been listening.
“Midnight?” Luna said, sounding sterner than she intended. Artie needed a strong hand, yes, but the girl had been through a lot, and she tended to act out when she was hurt. “Certainly not. You have a ten p.m. bedtime.”
“Mom, we’re on summer vacation! Chill.”
“Artemis, do not speak to me in that tone.” Luna scowled. Paul let his daughter run around at midnight? She did not approve.
“Why do you have to be so mean?” Artie huffed.
Luna kept her voice even, firm. This motherhood gig wasn’t easy. Knowing when to stay the course and when to give a little leeway was a skill in progress. “You can go beachcombing at a normal hour.”
“Don’t you know anything about beachcombing? You have to go at low tide,” Artie said.
As much as she wanted to make her daughter happy, the idea of Artie out late with a girl she just met—even if it was Paul’s daughter—sparked anxiety.
“I’ll look after her,” Orion promised.
Slowly, Luna shook her head.
Orion smiled kindly and all Luna saw was Paul shining through. She wanted to trust those heartfelt eyes, but simply couldn’t. She might be Paul’s daughter, but Orion was a complete stranger.
“Not tonight,” Luna said, hedging. “We’re still settling in. Maybe another time.”
Artie’s crestfallen face almost broke Luna’s resolve, but she had to hold firm. Good parenting meant making tough choices, even if it was unpopular.
“Aww, man, you never let me have any fun.”
“Accept my decision with grace or you won’t ever get to go.” Luna shot her daughter a pointed look.
Artie rolled her eyes, but Luna let that pass.
“C’mon, Art,” Orion said, sounding like a diplomat. “Let’s go take an origami lesson at the bookstore. You’ll love it. The class starts in ten minutes.”
“Enjoy your class and the rest of your afternoon. Meet your grandmother and me right here at six p.m. We’ll go for dinner and then you’ll join us at the quilting shop for the remainder of the evening.”
Artie shot Luna a withering look and followed Orion to park their scooters and head for the bookstore. After the girls disappeared inside A New Chapter, Luna turned away and spied Paul at the far end of the quadrangle tending the abundance of potted plants outside The Yarnery. The plants thrived because of his tender nurturing.
Fingering her bottom lip, she smiled, thinking about how much she’d like to kiss him and see if his lips still held the power to knock her socks off.
He bent over and his khaki cargo shorts stretched tight across his backside. Luna couldn’t help tilting her head and staring. He looked just as physically fit as he had at eighteen and he’d always had a great butt.
The door to the chapel opened and Jeanie came out. She looked neither left nor right, all her attention focused on Paul as she made her way toward him.
Anxious, Luna sucked in her breath and put a palm to her chest. What would happen? Luna darted behind a jacaranda tree and peeked around the trunk, watching to see what her mother would do.
“Paul?” Jeanie called.
Paul pivoted toward her.
Luna glimpsed his handsome face unsheltered by his straw Panama hat. Her pulse quickened. He was so gorgeous. An old thrill she hadn’t felt in decades ran through her.
Paul set down his gardening shears, peeled off his work gloves, stuck them in his back pocket, and gave Jeanie his full attention.
Worry twisted Luna like a corkscrew. She fought the urge to creep closer so she could hear them. A group of tourists strolled by blocking her view for a couple of minutes. When they’d gone on past, Luna could see Jeanie talking fast and gesturing animatedly, but her mother was partially turned away from her, so Luna couldn’t see her face.
Paul listened, head canted, his expression inscrutable.
The sea breeze ruffled Luna’s hair. She strained to hear their conversation, but they were simply too far away.
Paul lifted his hat and wiped sweat from his brow with the long sleeve of his sun-protective shirt. He looked so sexy with his thick curly locks spilling from beneath the raised hat. When they’d dated, he kept his hair cut short. She liked this older, more relaxed reiteration. Being a dad suited him, but she’d always known he’d be a good father, even if she didn’t agree on his late-night beachcombing policy.
It occurred to her that if they were going to date—were they? She certainly hoped so—they needed a game plan for telling their children about their past. They needed to be deliberate about this and in agreement.
Should they wait to tell the kids until they were sure about resurrecting their romance? Decades had passed. They were virtually strangers after all, and their kids must come first.
Take it slow.
They had two months on Hobby Island. Perhaps by then, she and Paul could have figured things out. Wow, she couldn’t believe she was thinking about dating Paul Chance.
As Luna watched Jeanie and Paul continue their conversation, almost as if on cue, the outdoor speakers played Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.”
Jeanie hugged Paul.
He hugged her back. He must have accepted her mother’s apology, and everything was sorted between them.
Relief lifted her shoulders. Yes, maybe, maybe . . . Shh, she didn’t want to jinx it . . . but for the first time in a long while Luna felt hope.