“Do you think there’s nerve damage?”Her brave mask slips as her worry peeks out.
It has to be done.My tickling turns into a sharp pinch.I even dig my nails in a bit.Luna’s reflexes are fine.She reacts with a gasp as her foot pulls out of my grasp.
She’s so happy that she felt something, Luna does not object to the way I got her to react.
“I felt that!Oh, thank God.Do you mind putting on the gas heater for me?I really need to get warm.”
I forget that she will need reheating—just like the soup.
The sound of the bubbling takes me back into the kitchen after I get a flame burning on the gas heater.Riffling through the well-stocked cupboards, I find a packet of crackers.
Picking four cellophane wrapped packs—‘cause I figure she’s got to be hungry for carbs after her captivity—I stick a spoon in the pan and carry it over to her.The smell of canned tomato soup wafts along with me.
With spontaneity that I’m coming to recognize, Luna blurts out, “Are you single?”
“Yep.Long time now.Why do you ask?”
Pointing to the soup in the pan, she chuckles.“Only a singleton would serve soup like this.Saves on washing up.You know.”
No, I wouldn’t know.But I’m glad she told me so I can learn from my mistakes.
Settling into the high-backed armchair, I adopt the most natural pose I can think of—leaning back, spreading out my legs in front of me, and crossing my arms.I smirk when I realize this is how I would lie in a coffin if I were more dead.
“What’s so funny?”Luna’s hazel eyes have flecks of green, gold, and brown in the iris.Finally, I start to notice little differences between Tempest and her.Tempest’s eyes were as green as glass, and the freckles were dark on her skin when she was young.
Tempest.Her death is disastrous.
“Nothing is funny.Tempest is dead.Forgive me if I don’t find that amusing.”
“You’re the one who’s smiling,” she reminds me, “but you’re going to have to give me a pass on feeling anything but gratitude towards my aunt.You see, I never knew her.”
Time for me to step cautiously.
“Why is that?”
As she empties the pan while sipping daintily from the spoon, Luna brings me up to speed.
“About… um, let me see now… two months ago, I got a phone call from an estate planner attorney.He informed me Tempest was dead.I was surprised by the call, of course, but I was downright shocked when he told me she had left me everything.”
Clocking my lifted eyebrow, Luna explains.
“Tempest was my mom’s elder half-sister.My maternal grandmother left her husband, remarried, and had my mom.Gran’s first husband took Tempest with him.They must have lost contact with one another.”Scraping the pan with her spoon, Luna looks contemplative.“I think that’s sad.Family is important.”
So far, her story scans.
Time for me to interject one of those empathetic grunts to show her I’m listening.
I’m not just listening, though.I can’t take my eyes off this woman.Not only is she temptingly lovely, but I’m already starting to enjoy some of the little gestures and expressions she makes.
When she talks, her hands move in lyrical circles, sweeping from the wrist into the air.If she needs to emphasize something, she points, finishing with a thoughtful nibble of her fingertip.
The sound of the nail tapping on her tooth enamel as she gnaws the finger entices me to smile again.
With her neck propped against the couch arm, her hair falls to the floor in a cascading waterfall of color.Russet, orange, ruby.There might even be a hint of vermillion in there, too.
But it’s her face that I find the most interesting.The freckles sprayed across the bridge of her nose and cheekbones are pale gold, fading as the summer sun moves further away from the earth.The traces of mascara cling to her lashes and stains under the rim of her eyes.A network of blue veins make patterns under her skin.
Her mouth is in constant motion, even when she is silent.The pink lips pout but are quickly bitten by her pearly teeth as a thought crosses her mind.The moment her bite releases the soft rosy plumpness, the corners of Luna’s mouth tilt up in a smile.
