“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine. I’ve deadlifted. It’s weightlifting but different. Don’t get yourself all flustered now.”
“Alright, well, that’s fine. Right now, I want to clean the house. I will think about what you said, Shaun, think about it. Nothing more. If it’s alright, we're going to go home as I have a lot to do.”
“Now, now, take it easy. You Graces were always so flighty. Listen, I’ll give you both a lift home. That way, I can look at your place again. I know we’ve been taking care of it, but when you stopped sending money a while back, in all honesty, I let things go a bit. Oh, and we are having a party for you two tomorrow night to welcome you home. Be prepared. I won’t take no for an answer and neither will the Italian over there.”
Luna waved to Nicky and Emma as they were huddled together, thankful she was getting back to the house. Ideas were brewing in her brain, mostly about the boat charter. “I have to hire someone to do the boat charters because I am not going out on the boats.”
“I could teach your son.”
“No. He is not allowed out there. I won’t have another Grace ending up like my sister. It might be a family curse or something.”
Shaun glared at Luna, his distaste for her fear written all over his face. “The only curse is that wicked thinking. Just becauseshe disappeared so many years ago doesn't mean her nephew is going to do the same.”
“Still, the answer is no, so don’t ask.” Luna verbally put her foot down and left it at that. She was thankful her son had the good sense in his head to keep quiet.
“I know a few people who are good at being a captain of a boat and doing boat charters. Two of them know these waters like the back of their hand.”
“Well, get me somebody, anybody, as long as they are an expert and know these waters. I want to have this done in a week's time. The sooner I generate money, the better.”
“Well, gee, look who turned rogue boss on me.”
Luna was back at her house, staring at its aging facade against the rippling waters of Enchanted Cove. “I never thought I’d be back here at the Willows, Shaun. It feels strange.”
“Yeah, well, I remember playing hide and seek with you and Phoebe in that backyard. You hid so well that it was hard to find you. I always found Phoebe first. I think it was because she liked me.”
“She did, and it was.” The memory of that time was suddenly so fresh in her brain that Luna could almost see the image of her sister running to hide in one of the boats while she scurried to hide under the deck.
“I remember when she fell in that one time. She was sitting way too close to the edge and leaned back, trying to hide from me even though I could see her. Then she fell. I had to dive in after her and rescue her.”
“You didn’t have to. She swam better than you. You just wanted her arms around your neck as you rescued her.”
“Absolutely. What can I say? I was smitten even at twelve.”
“Well, it’s time to go, my little Olive. I know that bed feels way too good for those old bones of yours, but we gotta go. Time is ticking and I can feel it. Somebody needs something in Enchanted Cove. I just hope it’s not that foolish friend of mine, Shaun. I sent him a letter about a week before we left, telling him I was coming. It will feel good to be home, and not. A part of me will always be missing, I think.”
Ronan scooped up his pretty white Olive and placed her in her carrier. He was back on the road again, and in a few hours, he’d be back in town, looking at his childhood home. The drive was enjoyable as he listened to his favorite bluesy style of music played on the radio.
Despite the eagerness to get home, his chest felt tight and his nerves on edge. He took his time driving the rental car. He’d had no use for cars while living in Europe, and getting his bearings took a few minutes.
As the miles ticked by, Ronan thought of everyone. There was the effervescent Nicky. He had kept up with her life by following her online. Next was his roughneck Irish brother Shaun, who’d been like his brother for most of his childhood. They’d kept in touch over the years, and Ronan was happy he’d found joy with a wife and daughter.
Then there was Luna, the woman he’d never forget as long as he breathed. He’d left her in the Caribbean many years prior with no desire to continue to fight for her attention.
“There is no winning when you're fighting a dead woman, Olive, so I gave up. What can I say? I got tired, and she didn’t seem to care.” Ronan gave Olive’s head a good rubbing. He’d shared their story many times before.
No matter how many times he’d rehashed it in his mind or thought about Luna, it was always the same. Time didn’t rob him of the pain he still felt so deep in his chest. It didn’t soften the unease that he’d felt when he gave up fighting and left her. It did nothing to ease that ache that never went away.
“Luna’s been living in that place for almost twenty years and probably found herself some fine island man to marry and has three kids. At least, that's what I hope.”
Olive looked unmoved, her eyes darting to him and away as she tried to rest. Ronan knew he was almost home.
Four
The afternoon and evening were long, and while Jonah seemed more enthused about hanging out at the gym the next day and documenting it on his phone than working, Luna sank herself into cleaning up the mess in the boathouse after Shaun left.
Despite his demands, Shaun respected her wishes for time to think about her plans. Luna wasn’t so sure she was cut out to be a waitress, even though she’d spent more time beside her mother in the kitchen than in a boat growing up.
Fond memories kept creeping into her mind. At first, she’d thought the sorrow of remembering them, knowing her sister was gone, would be too much. “We had this Easter egg hunt once when we were young, and by young, I mean about thirteen. All the kids in town were encouraged to not let go of being a kid until they had no choice, so I was sixteen when I stopped trick or treating. So, during the Easter egg hunt, my sister and I were to hide all the eggs in town. Here at the boatyard, we were to host the teenagers, kids between twelve and sixteen. Then, the park on the other side of town would be for kids eight to twelve, andall the kids younger than that were in the empty lot behind the daycare.” Luna said to Jonah.
