He could have a conversation with his mother, and I didn’t have to be there to make it easier for him.
Because Noah was a grown ass man…not the man child that Leo was.
Leo was older than both Noah and me, so why had I spent so much time taking care of him? Had Leo ever taken care of me?
God, I’d been so caught up in our life, I hadn’t realized there wasn’t any love.
Before I could fall into the rabbit hole, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
Ashley.
I smiled and flopped onto the bed. “Hey.”
“You okay?” she asked immediately.
I blinked. “Yeah. Why?”
“I don’t know. Mom called. She said something about you possibly not finishing the tour, and then when I tried to stalk your location, your little dot was, like, off the grid for eight hours.”
Off the grid? “I’m at the Grand Canyon. And I got to see it from a helicopter.”
“There wasn’t a helicopter ride on the itinerary.”
“No. There wasn’t.” And then, because I couldn’t contain myself, I told her about Noah and I. Being together. Just for now. And all the stuff with his mom—him coming back from that river trip early and the way he surprised me today. There was no point trying to hide the gushing from my sister.
She knew me too well.
There was a pause while I just stared up at the ceiling. Then, in a softer voice, she said, “You sound pretty freaking happy.”
I smiled. My mouth really was tired from all the smiling I’d done. “I kind of am.”
And then my older and usually wiser sister surprised me by not offering a warning or word of caution, but instead, sighing…sounding a little wistful maybe.
“Good,” she said. I could hear the faucet turn on and off, and a few dishes clinking together. It was a bittersweet reminder that while I’d been sashaying around the mountains and deserts, she’d been living her normal life, taking care of the twins and our mom. “Is that why you weren’t with the tour today, then?”
“Yeah.” But then my brows furrowed as I finally processed something she’d said earlier. “Hang on. How did Mom know I wasn’t with the tour today?”
Ashley hesitated. “Um…I think she might have seen something on Facebook?”
I sat up. “But I haven’t posted anything in ages.”
“I don’t know, Luna,” she huffed. “She might be in that Facebook Group for your tour still. Since she was originally supposed to be the one going.”
Oh. Right.
I really needed to look at this Facebook group. I probably should have been keeping better track of it this whole time, to be honest, especially since my anonymity had initially been the only upside to coming on this trip.
But what could a handful of senior citizens have really gotten up to in that group? Most of their posts were probably harmless—some sunset photos, maybe a few blurry selfies, or Tay posting the daily schedule. And even though Josie went a little crazy sometimes, Facebook groups were private.
I’d accepted a few friend requests early on, but otherwise, I hadn’t even glanced at it in days.
And honestly? That had been incredibly freeing.
When I’d been working on the show, I’d had no choice but to monitor multiple pages almost hourly—mine, Leo’s, and the show’s—refreshing, scrolling, tapping my way through, responding to comments and messages. I’d practically lived on my phone.
But not this week.
This week, I’d just been living.
