Reagan let out a cackle. “I know. Boy, do I know.”
Luna thought of some of the things Reagan had shared with her that she’d done when she was trying to convince Hudson they were good together. Just the idea of it made Luna blush. “It’s not that I’m against the sex. He’s superb at it. It’s the rest where we have issues.”
“Look, I know you think Hudson suffers because he doesn’t speak to his parents, but it’s been liberating for him. He spent his whole life feeling suppressed by them due to their attitude about every little thing he chose to do. Now he makes decisions based on his happiness and mine, and he’s working on not feeling guilty about it.”
“But Davis is close to his parents; at least, closer than Hudson is to his.” Luna crossed her legs and leaned forward. “He’d be unhappy without them in his life.”
“And you’re positive he’d have to choose between you and them?”
“When we met, Sophia shook my hand, but she wouldn’t really look at me. Like I was a piece of furniture she had to step around to get in the apartment instead of her son’s closest friend.”
“What about Ian?”
“He was decent to me, but you know that Sophia runs the show. What she says, goes.” Luna got up and paced around her postage stamp-sized living room. “I don’t want to be the reason Davis is unhappy, but it honestly seems like he will be no matter what I do. If I go back to being friends only, he’ll be hurt. If I come between him and his parents, he’ll be upset. Which one will destroy his life less?”
“I can’t answer that for you, Luna. You have to decide what’s right for you.”
“Ugh, that’s not at all what I was hoping you’d say.”
“I can tell you that Davis is amazing and the two of you would make a spectacular couple. Anyone can see how much he loves you. But you already know these things.”
“I do.” Luna dropped back to the couch and put her head in her hands. “If I didn’t think that I was terrible for him, I’d jump on him in a heartbeat.”
“Just remember that one day he might give up waiting for you and choose to be happy with someone else.”
“I wish he would.” Luna winced. “Scratch that, I don’t wish he would. I need to find somebody; then maybe he’ll move on and be happy.”
Reagan frowned. “Uh, I don’t know about that. You wouldn’t want to watch him with someone else. Imagine how he’d feel if he had to see you with some guy.”
“Don’t you see? If I’m happy and well taken care of, he’ll move on and be happy, too!”
“What are you going to do, hit up a singles website? The bar?”
“What? No!” Luna threw her hands up in frustration. “I don’t know.”
“I’m not really on board with this idea. I want you both to be happy, though.” Reagan patted Luna’s shoulder.
“It’ll work out, you’ll see.” Luna stared into space for a moment. “Can you stay for dinner?”
Reagan checked her watch. “I can. Let me tell Hudson I’ll be home after we eat. What do you want for dinner?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Luna went to the refrigerator and dug around. “It looks like I can offer you spaghetti or a sandwich. Or we can order in.”
The women made dinner together, laughing and kidding around. Luna felt the lift in her heart and knew she’d been right to call her friend. It was what she’d needed. When she was alone again, her thoughts turned to Davis and how they’d left things in his office. Normally, he would have called her a few days after a tiff so they could work it out. The fact that he hadn’t this time solidified in Luna’s mind the decision she’d made. She would go forward with her plan to set him free.
Luna had no idea where she would begin to look for a date, but she should have known it wouldn’t be as difficult as she feared. She’d put the other middle grade science teacher out of her mind shorty after meeting him, but she was reminded of his flirtatious ways when she found him waiting in her room Wednesday morning before class. She initially met him when she was a teacher’s assistant, and the reintroduction on the first day of school was an eye-opener. He was charming and funny, putting himself in her path as often as possible. Now she found him to be the perfect way to kick off her plan.
“Luna, how are you this morning?” he asked as she walked in the room to put her things down.
“I’m great, Luther, how are you?” She shot a genuine smile in his direction. It was hard to miss the surprise he tried to hide before he smoothed his features and smiled in return.
“I’m having a pretty good hump day, I must admit.”
Luna put her purse in her bottom desk drawer and locked it before straightening and finding him watching her. “That’s good. I’m looking forward to the upcoming field trip to the museum.”
He beamed. Luther was in charge of planning the sixth grade field trips. “That’s fantastic. I think we’ll have a good time.”
“The kids”—she stressed the word—“deserve to see what they have to offer at the Maryland Science Center.” She was interested in him, but didn’t want him to think a class field trip was the place to express this interest.
