“If you feel like coming to a full moon circle with me sometime, I found it really freeing. I’d just gotten out of an abusive relationship.” Her unvarnished words don’t hide the pain that shadows her eyes. “I needed to figure out what I wanted my life to be after that. Who I wanted to be.”
“I’ve, uh, never heard of a full moon circle.”
“I was skeptical.” She nods. “A bunch of women get together in a circle and connect with the energy and power of the full moon. We did meditation and set an intention, and then we let go of something or someone we wanted to get rid of in our life. Mine was my ex. And it felt good.”
“Good for you. I’m sorry about the abusive relationship.”
“Thanks.” She makes a face. “It was a hard time. It was hard to leave him, even though he was making me miserable. I finally realized I had completely lost myself, trying to be what he wanted me to, and I had to get out.” She gives me more details without me asking, and I regret thinking that she doesn’t know what suffering is. Clearly, she does. But like her brother, you wouldn’t know it.
“Anyway, there are other things you can do for self-care.”
“I’ve been having a lot of showers,” I confess.
She tilts her head. “I don’t know if that counts?”
I lift my shoulders. “I’ve also been making bread. Would you like a loaf of sourdough?” Marek’s freezer is now packed full of crusty round loaves.
“Um, sure. You need to do something for you every day,” she continues. This woman can talk, but this time it’s not giving me a headache. “But you know what is one thing you can do that’s really easy but really hard?”
I slowly move my head side to side.
“Let people help you.” Her smile is compassionate. “Easy, right? But also so, so hard sometimes.”
I feel like this is a deeper message she’s sending me. I stuff popcorn into my mouth and nod.
“I didn’t want anyone to know about how my ex was treating me. I didn’t want to be seen as weak and helpless. A victim. But I was robbing the people who love me of the chance to help me. I didn’t realize it at the time—oh!”
We both swivel our heads toward the TV where the Storm have just scored the first goal of the game.
“Benny!” Mabel claps her hands. “My man! Yay!”
As I settle in with my popcorn, candy, and lemonade and my chatty companion and the hockey game, I’m actually pretty happy.
18
MAREK
“I booked us a place in the Finger Lakes region for a few days.”
Nikki’s head whips around and she gives me a blank look. “Pardon me?”
“I think you heard me.”
“Okay, I did hear you, but I don’t understand.”
“I have a two-week break. I don’t want to hang around here all that time. I thought it would be good for both of us to get away. See something different.”
“But…” She nibbles her bottom lip in that sexy way that makes me want to grab her and kiss the breath out of her. “But…”
“There’s no reason you can’t go. You can take showers and watch TV there.”
Her eyes narrow and her mouth thins. “I do more than that.”
“Not much.” I’m playing with danger, teasing her about her activity or lack of. I lift one eyebrow. “Or is there something I don’t know? Have you been writing songs? Working out?”
She swallows and her lips push out. “No,” she mutters.
“Okay, then. We leave tomorrow. We’ll drive up. We’re staying at the Lakeside Inn. It looks like a nice place—there’s a spa. You could have a massage.”
