Chapter 20
After such a long drive, Luna was so excited to pull down the street she’d grown up on. The yellow house sat by itself, the surrounding trees nothing but skeletons in the midst of a heavy snowfall. Somehow, the house portrayed a sense of comfort and peace each time she came back to it. She suspected it was less the structure itself and more likely the people that lived there. The sunny shade of painted siding had become a beacon over the years; it heralded the end of a rough journey. Even in the snow, it seemed to shine with an innate brightness.
Luna hated that she didn’t get home as often as she would like, but the drive took at least nine hours. Money wasn’t as tight as it had been in college, but she still drove home rather than waste money on a flight. Not that there was an airport close to her parents’ home, anyway.
Putney, Vermont was home to slightly more than two thousand people and the perfect place for Chester and Iris. There was a grocery co-op, a farm-to-table restaurant, and a colorful little shop full of yarn that her mother adored. She made their clothes and still threw pottery once in a while. Iris grew every vegetable known to man in their expansive backyard, at least when it wasn’t covered in snow. It was the town her family had grown up in for generations; their roots ran deep.
Luna parked in what was typically used as the driveway but currently was almost too hidden to be seen. Her father must have shoveled it at some point during the day, but the ever-present snow had mostly covered it back up. She exited the car and dashed for the porch, thinking she would get her bags later or ask her father to do it. She remained grateful for the heavy-soled snow boots she still owned as she hurried up the brightly painted steps. Her breath was coming heavier as she knocked on the door; she could have gone straight in, but she no longer felt it was appropriate.
Chester answered the door, his rusty hair covered by a knit cap the color of the summer sky. Luna’s grin split her face in two.
“Daddy!”
He grabbed her around the waist and spun her, letting all the cold air into the house as he did. “Lulu.”
Her heart warmed at the nickname only he called her. “It’s so good to see you. Where’s Mom?”
He ushered her inside and closed the door on a gust of winter air. “Upstairs, hiding the last gift.”
Luna chuckled. “Another scarf?”
“I’m not telling.”
Luna unraveled the last scarf her mother had made for her—forest green entwined with what appeared to be a hundred other shades—and peeled off her coat. The boots came next, propped on the spot her father called a boot holder. Essentially, wooden pegs to tip your boot upside down over and let them drip dry.
“The house smells amazing.”
“Oh, Mom has been baking like a creature possessed,” he said. “Breads, pies, cookies. And I haven’t been able to touch any of it, so it’s a good thing you’re here now. Otherwise, there would have been a mutiny.”
She laughed, feeling relaxed. “I would love some tea. Surely you have some of your specialty?”
“Of course, or my name’s not Chester Moss. Let’s go back and wait for Mom.”
They headed through the living room and into the large, warm room covered in wood paneling. The center of the house, both situationally and figuratively, their small family had always spent the majority of their time in that room. Luna was so eager to see her mother she nearly bounded up the stairs to find her, but she knew she should wait if hiding presents was involved.
“So, tea and whatever cookies your mother has made? I believe it’s snickerdoodles.”
“Sounds like a piece of heaven.”
“Luna?” They both heard the quick tread on the stairs as Iris hurried down. “Oh, my dear girl!” Iris crushed Luna in a hug the second she stepped off the last stair.
“Mom.” She squeezed her back just as tightly. “It’s so good to see you.”
She felt a difference, a plumpness in her normally slender mother, but she said nothing. If Iris put on a little weight since she last saw her, who was she to say anything?
“We’re having tea and snickerdoodles, love.”
Iris beamed at Chester and gave him a kiss. “Perfect.”
Luna sat at the table, her mother taking the chair by her side.
“Tell me what’s been going on with you.”
Luna folded her hands on top of the table. “I love my job. I have a really good rapport with the kids in my classes. I haven’t any bad apples, so to speak. One or two that like to be rowdy, but nothing I can’t handle. Thanks, Daddy,” she said as Chester set the plate of cookies on the table.
“And you’re not scared of being alone in the city?” Iris asked.
“Our daughter knows how to care for herself,” Chester spoke up.
