“Thankyou.”
Calliope nodded once and headed out of the workshop, which was adjacent to the ops center.
Right now, the two of them were the only women who worked for Dark Ops. That would likely change as the organization grew. Until then, they were surrounded by testosterone-laden males, and having Calliope here to open up to was nice.
It also had Luna missing the fun times she used to have with Dawn whenever she went home from college during a break. She’d been lucky to go to a school near their house, but they both felt it was important for her to get the full experience of college life, and that included living in a dorm her first two years. She’d lived in a small, studio apartment her final years. Luna’s therapist at the time also thought it was a good idea and a great way for her to meet people and become more independent.
For one night during the weekends or holidays when she was home, Caleb would take Cade, their adorable little boy, and gohang out with Beck and his kids. He wanted to give them space for their “gab sesh,” as he called it.
Luna and her sister would each grab a pint of their favorite ice cream—vanilla chocolate chunk for Luna, raspberry vanilla for Dawn—then they would curl up under a blanket and watch true crime stories with the lights off.
As the show progressed, they would try to figure out how the killer got away with it or if they evenwerethe killer. They would yell at the TV, things like, “Why not just divorce her? You didn’t have to kill her!” or “What do you mean, there’s not enough evidence to charge him?”
Afterward, when the murderer was found and the ice cream was gone, they would turn off the TV, flip on the lights, and just talk.
Luna would ask how things were with Caleb and Cade, how things were at the hospital. Dawn was an ER doc, so her job was very high-pressure, which often meant high stress. Her sister would ask about her classes, life on campus, if she was dating anyone.
Luna only dated one guy during her college years, and he turned out to be a complete and total douchebag. Apparently, his male ego was threatened by the fact she was so far ahead of him academically. He had the balls to cheat on her, then blamed Luna for it. He whined about her spending more time studying than with him and couldn’t understand why she couldn’t be aschillas the other girls at school.
Boo-frickin’-hoo.Another excellent choice on Luna’s part.
She snatched her phone off the workbench and dialed her sister’s number.
It rang a few times, and Luna figured she must be at work. She was preparing to leave a voicemail message when her sister answered.
“Hey, girl!” Dawn sounded winded. “Sorry it took me so long to answer. Cade was doing his impression of a Cirque du Soleil act on his bed. I got to him just as he was about to do some kind of spinning jump onto a pile of his stuffed animals. That kid is too much like Caleb.”
“Do you want to call me back later?” Luna had missed hearing her sister’s voice. And no matter how much she screamed for her independence, she missed seeing her whenever she wanted to.
“Heck no! I passed that little hellion off to his daddy and told him to keep him occupied so I could talk to my sister.” She could hear the sound of Dawn’s bare feet on their tile floor, followed by a huff. “Okay, phew, I’m sitting down. What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is great,” Luna said.
“What’s that I’m hearing in your voice?” Dawn’s sister-radar had always been very accurate and finely tuned.
“It’s spooky how you do that.” Luna couldn’t hide anything from her. As a teen, she’d found it somewhat annoying. “Okay, so, the thing is … there’s this … well, I think I’m sort of interested in a guy.”
“What do you mean,sort ofinterested?” Dawn asked.
“Well, he’s nice. He’s a gentleman. He’s really good-looking—”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“What if he’s not … I mean, what if I’m making a mistake again?” She was two for two in the picking-crappy-guys department.
“Oh, Luna. Honey, you need to stop doubting yourself.” Dawn flipped from sister mode to mom mode. “Tell me more about this guy you’resort ofinterested in. Maybe I can help you get over your uncertainty.”
“Well, he’s great with animals, he grew up on a ranch, and—”
“Oh, my God! You like Boone Langston?” Her sister lowered her voice to a whisper and repeated what she said. “You like Boone Langston?”
“How the heck did you know I was talking about him?” Luna asked.
“Uh, hello, ‘He grew up on a ranch.’” She could hear the unspoken duh in her sister’s voice. “Unless you’ve been hanging out at rodeos or something, who else could it be?”
“He really is great, Dawn, and when I told him about what happened, he was totally understanding.” Luna thought back to their time beneath that old weeping willow tree. “He didn’t think less of me at all.”
“Wait a minute … you … you told him?” She was surprised because Luna avoided telling people about that time as much as possible. “That’s pretty meaningful, Luna.”
