“Oh, who, me? No, I’m fine,” Luna babbled. She didn’t want to get caught up in a conversation right now – she just needed to get out of here!
“So you don’t need to make use of my facilities, then?” said the woman, jerking her thumb at the building behind her. The sign readEula’s Diner, and it rang a bell in the part of Luna’s brain that wasn’t taken up with finding the quickest route back to the B&B.
But then her brain caught up with what the woman was saying, and –
“You mean it?” she said hopefully. Normally she would make with the usual social niceties and turn down the offer in the first instance, but she wasdonewith that kind of thing.
“Of course I mean it,” said the woman – Eula, presumably – and she steered Luna toward the diner, unlocking the door and letting her in. “Down the end there, on the left.”
Luna practically yelled her thanks and made a beeline for the bathroom. Quickly, she unzipped her jacket, putting Fillmore down on the floor. He blinked up at her with his big, bulging eyes. “Now, you stay there, like a good boy,” she told him as she shoved the bathroom door open.
When she emerged, she felt mostly sane again. The last half an hour had been very strange, to say the least, and she was starting to feel like she was going just a bit crazy.
I mean, some person isn’t using cosmic forces to break all the portapotties in the area just to spite you. Right?
“Thank you,” she said to Eula with great seriousness. “I really mean it. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Think nothing of it,” said Eula with a wave of her hand. “We ladies have to look out for each other, don’t we?”
“That we do,” Luna said with a smile. “But seriously, I mean it. You didn’t have to do that. Thanks.”
A thought occurred to her, now that her head was clearer. “I think I met your grandsons earlier? Big guys, served up some amazing fried green tomatoes. Last I saw, they were vanquishing an unruly umbrella.”
Eula laughed heartily. “Yeah, that sounds like my boys. You liked the tomatoes?”
“They werephenomenal,” said Luna truthfully. “I’m going to have to make sure to have them again later in the week. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” said Eula with a twinkle in her eye. “When you do what you love for a living, it’s always nice to know that other people love what you do, too.”
“Very true,” said Luna with a smile. While she wasn’t feeling particularly well disposed toward her job right at this second, shedidlove it – mostly – and itwasa good feeling to know that what she wrote brought other people enjoyment as well.
Luna said her farewells and headed back to her car, Fillmore tucked safely under her arm. She couldn’t stop herself from glancing furtively about, just in case there was any sign of the source of the mystery texts… but, no.
I’m being very silly,she told herself firmly as she pulled the car door open.Very, very silly. It’s just some dumb coincidence. I think.
Luna slid into the driver’s seat with a relieved sigh, popping Fillmore down on the passenger’s side.
Well, today hadn’t gonequitelike she’d hoped, she reflected as she drove, but she still had more than enough to get started with. She’d sampled enough delicious food and drink that she could definitely start planning her article at least, and shehopedshe had some photos that she could send over to her editor, along with the outline for her article.
As she pulled into her parking space at the B&B, however, a sudden, enormous yawn forced its way up from what felt like the depths of her soul.
“Guess I must be pretty tired,” she murmured to Fillmore as she leaned over to pick him up from his seat.
Perhaps that wasn’t such a surprise. Looking back,a lothad happened today. Meeting Henry –as hot as he is elusive, she thought dreamily as she got out of the car and started carrying Fillmore up the drive to the house – seemed like it had happeneddaysago, not just a few hours.
She did her best to push down the churn of disappointment in her stomach that she hadn’t seen him anywhere at the festival.
What would I have said to him, anyway?she thought despondently as she made her way up the porch steps.Hey, I know you ran away from me, but I’m here! Stalking you! And I have your shirt! Better chase me if you want it back!
Mortification over a scenario that hadn’t even actuallyhappenedcrept its way up her throat. No, even the mereideaofthat was enough to have her flushing hot and cold in horrified embarrassment. Maybe it had been a good thing she hadn’t seen Henry after all.
Luna staggered into the house, exhaustion overtaking her as she fumbled with the keys. Just a few more steps, and then she would be back in her room and she could crash for a few hours. Just long enough to get her head on straight so that she could contact her editor about the text messages and get some work done.
She jiggled the key in the lock, turning it the wrong way first in her sleepiness, before eventually getting the door open. She entered the room…
… And stared, as a very handsome, very buff, verynakedHenry Grant, halfway through the act of putting on his underpants, stared back at her with wide eyes.
Chapter 7
