Even though her grandmother had assured her that the doctor said he’d be fine, that they were only keeping him for observation, just as a precaution, and lots of other comforting language… Luna was still terrified. Her grandparents had taken care of her since her mother had left when she was six. As for her father, he’d never been in the picture. Grandma Grace and Grandpa Serge were all she had.
The last thing Grandma Grace had said on the phone call was to make Luna promise that she wouldn’t jump in the car and come rushing back to Valentine Bay. Luna had made the promise dutifully, not wanting to cause her grandmother to be any more worried than she already was, but the minute she’d hung up the phone, she threw some clothes in a suitcase and got her ass in the car.
Luna knew why Grandma Grace hadn’t wanted her to do this. She feared the thought of Luna driving through most of the night, scared and tired. Just like her grandparents were all she had in the world, she was all they had, too. It was understandable.
But she couldn’t let that stop her. She was a grown woman, she could drive carefully. Nothing was going to keep her from her Paw Paw when he was sick and needed her. Not fear, not a ten-hour drive.
Not the fact that she hadn’t set foot back in Valentine Bay since the day she’d left it ten years before. And not the reason why she hadn’t been back, Connor Adams.
Oh, Connor. She’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t spend time on the drive thinking about him or wondering if they’d see each other. Pssshhh. That resolution had turned out to be useless the minute his damn name popped into her head.
And then, his name was quickly followed by his image. She couldn’t squeeze her eyes shut because she was driving, so nothing stopped the tears that filled them from spilling right down her cheeks. His broad shoulders and muscular chest, his thick brown hair and doe-brown eyes. The five o’clock shadow that seemed to always be at the perfect length.
God, and that was when he was only eighteen. What must he be like now, ten years later? Broader shoulders? Muskier man scent? Even more freaking flawless perpetual stubble?
She shook her head as hard as she dared without risking vehicular disaster. NO!
This was exactly the kind of thinking she couldn’t indulge in. It was dangerous and it would distract her from the purpose of her visit, the thing that’d finally dragged her back to Valentine Bay after ten years - making sure Paw Paw was okay.
Finally, after a torturous ten-hour drive with nothing but the bare minimum stops for gas and pee breaks, she pulled up in her grandparents’ driveway and climbed out of the car. The sense of déjà vu was so overpowering that it nearly knocked her off her feet as soon as she got them under her.
Or, hell. Maybe that was just too many hours without food, sitting in the car sucking down coffee. That could make anybody lightheaded.
She marched up to the front door and knocked. It was late. She hadn’t thought about it until that very moment. She didn’t want to wake Grandma Grace if she’d finally managed to get to sleep.
Damn, there were a lot of things about this trip she hadn’t thought through.
She’d just shot off down the highway like a Fourth of July firework and hadn’t stopped to consider…well, anything, really. But now that she was here, she was going to have to think, whether she liked it or not.
“Come in, Luna. It’s open.” Grandma Grace’s voice echoed from the kitchen, all the way at the back of the house.
She shook her head and stepped inside, shutting the door firmly behind her and locking it with a satisfying click. Walking back to the kitchen, she saw the short, full frame of her grandmother bent over the stove. The smell of bacon frying filled the air and her stomach growled as she gave her a fierce hug from behind.
“Sit down, honey. This is almost ready. I know you didn’t stop to eat the whole way here. You must be starving.”
Luna took off her coat and collapsed gratefully into a kitchen table chair. “You made me promise not to come,” she accused, half playful and half petulant. “Why do that if you knew I’d ignore you? I’ve been feeling guilty the whole drive up.”
Grace pointed her spatula at her. “That’s right, young lady. And that guilt made you drive a whole lot more carefully because, while getting in a car wreck would be bad enough, getting in one after you’d promised me you wouldn’t drive would be worse, and you’d never do that to me. I know my girl.”
What could Luna say? Her grandmother had her number.
“How’s Paw Paw?” she asked, barely able to choke out the words around the emotion clogging her throat.
“Honey, he’s fine. As fine as a short order cook who’s been eating nothing but his own fried food for years could be, anyway. You’ll see him tomorrow.”
“What time do visiting hours start?”
“Eleven.”
“Great. So we can be there at ten-fifty.”
Grandma Grace turned the fire down under the bacon and sat down in the chair next to Luna, reaching over and taking Luna’s hands in her own. “Sweet girl, you have the biggest heart. That’s how I knew you’d jump in the car and drive straight here, even though this town hasn’t seen your pretty face in ten years. That’s how I knew you’d go without food. Why you’d probably have even skipped the toilet if the car didn’t need gas.
“But, honey, you’re here now. Take a breath. The last thing I need is two of you laid up with heart attacks. You hear me?”
Luna’s shoulders relaxed of their own volition. She hadn’t even realized how tense they were until they collapsed down from around her ears. Just hearing her grandmother’s no-nonsense voice telling her that everything was going to be fine was enough for her to believe it. It had always been that way.
In fact, in college, she’d seriously considered getting her grandmother to make recordings of herself telling Luna that things would be fine. That way, she could whip them out and listen to them whenever she started feeling overwhelmed, and comfort herself with the grounding sound of Grandma Grace’s voice. She wasn’t totally convinced it was a bad idea, even still.
“Now, then,” her grandmother continued, returning to the stove and turning up the burner again. “Let’s get some food in your belly and get you into a nice, warm bed.”
Luna dropped her forehead into her palms, all of the exhaustion that streams of adrenaline had been keeping at bay for hours suddenly flooding her body like a tidal wave. “That sounds amazing, Grandma. Thanks.”
“Maybe if you’re up in time tomorrow morning, you can go see Genevieve. I know she’d love to see you.”
“That’s a good idea. In fact, I think I’ll plan on it.”
Luna hadn’t seen her childhood best friend Genevieve in a few years. It wasn’t intentional. They always talked about making trips to get together, but life sped by. A day turned into a week turned into a month turned into a year. And then another, and another. They kept up on Facebook, but it wasn’t the same. It would feel so good to hear her voice again, to give her a hug.
Grandma Grace set a steaming plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of Luna and she shoveled the food in. She refused to think about being back in Valentine Bay. She refused to think about Connor Adams. She refused to think about anything but moving the fork between the plate and her mouth, then moving her feet down the hall to her old bedroom.