Luna was swallowed up by spicy perfume, and warm hugs as she and Nicky embraced. “It’s so good to see you, too, Nicky! This is my son, Jonah. I told you about him. He’s sixteen.”
Nicky tugged at his hand, admiring him. Luna saw the faintest stain of red on his cheeks as her sometimes shy son said nothing. “Look at you, Jonah! You are going to break a few hearts in Enchanted Cove! Goodness, you know Shaun's daughter Bonnie is a little older than him.”
“Nicky, she’s probably five or six years older. Goodness. Really! Don’t start setting my son up on dates and trying to marry him off. He has a life to build first, a career to secure, and lots of studying before he gets there.”
“Alright! Alright! Get in.”
Luna and Jonah hopped into Nicky’s pristine white car. She was afraid to touch anything. “I like your car. Though, I’m not sure how you can afford all this without a husband. Social media work must be good.”
“It is. I’m an influencer, Luna. You know me, fitness, fruit juices, and cleanses. At our age, we have to make the time to take care of ourselves. It's important if we want to live to be a hundred.”
Listening to Nicky drone on about her crazy rich lifestyle and the insane schedule she kept made the ride go faster. By the time they reached Enchanted Cove, Luna felt it in her chest.
“I didn’t think I’d feel this way, coming back after so many years away.”
“Well, here she is, home. I have to tell you that Shaun and I did the best we could to keep it up with the money you sent every week. It is such a shame, though, because it needs some serious repairs.”
“Oh my gosh, Mom, that’s the house you grew up in? What happened to it?”
Jonah’s shock, followed by Nicky’s amused laughter, did nothing to soften the reality before her eyes. “It really is a train wreck. Nothing we can’t fix with a bit of elbow grease. It will be good as new in a few weeks. Maybe Nicky and Shaun can help us.”
Luna was swallowed up by the memories that came flooding back to her. She and her sister playing tag in the front yard, riding bikes down the streets, and swimming in the waters.
“You okay, Mom?”
Luna pulled her eyes away from the house to look at her son, smiling. “Yes, just memories. Phoebe always beat me at everything. She climbed trees better, swam better, and rode a bike like nobody's business. The only things she couldn’t do better than me were cook and clean because she hated both.”
Nicky smiled. It was nice to have a familiar face to stand beside her at that moment. “I remember someone else, too. I remember Ronan. I had a crush on him for such a long time, and he never even looked at me.” Nicky said.
The mere mention of Ronan sent shivers of pleasure down Luna’s spine. She closed her eyes for a moment, soaking up the vision saying his name brought to life.
“Who’s Ronan?”
Her eyes flew open. The memory of her secret love she would forever carry with her. She turned to her son, who had the same eyes as the only man she could love. He looked so much like his father. “No one, just a man from my past. It was nothing.”
“Well, that nothing was something, kiddo. Let me tell you. He was handsome as sin and he only had eyes for your mother. I thought for sure they would get married. The entire town did, but they didn’t. I was so mad I never got the chance to kiss him.”
Not the least bit annoyed as her son was no sheltered child, Luna smiled. “You missed your chance at that football game when you cornered him behind the bleachers. He all but told you to go jump in the ocean because he wasn’t interested in you. I can’t say I wasn’t happy. At the time, it meant the world to me.”
“How come you never married him?” Jonah asked.
Luna swallowed her words and tucked her secrets and those memories deep into the recesses of her mind. “I’ll tell you that story one day, but today is not that day. We have a lot to do. Let’s get inside. Where is Shaun, anyway?”
“Probably working.”
“I can’t believe how little Enchanted Cove has changed. It’s like I’m stuck in a time warp. Everything looks exactly like it did when I left, Jonah. It’s so strange.”
“I told you, Luna, but apparently, you didn’t believe me. Jonah, this place never changes. If you looked at photos of how it looked twenty, thirty, or even forty years ago, it would look the same. People's clothing and cars would look different, but not Enchanted Cove.”
The house was damp, cool, and dirty. Cobwebs hung in places they had no business being, and the floors creaked way too much. “I see what you mean. I thought the outside was bad. The inside is so much worse. Goodness, we really have our work cut out for us.”
“Can’t we go stay in some pleasant hotel with Wi-Fi and the Internet? One that has soft beds, and no creepy rats running around.” Jonah frowned, clutching his suitcase to his chest.
“Come on, son, where is your sense of adventure? We don’t have rats. They’d never live in a place that has no food. Maybe a mouse or two.”
“What’s that?” Jonah stopped at a window overlooking the water.
“That was once the boat dock and pier. After Aunt Phoebe was lost at sea, I had it destroyed before leaving. I didn’t want the place she called home to remain standing for all to see. It was hers, and when she was gone, it was gone. That over there,” Luna pointed to a long, newer pier up the coastline, “that is the one Shaun had constructed for me years ago.”
