I give a quick shrug. “Not much. Gage and I did the Costco run and then I took him to the airport. I’m just getting ready to go into work.”
Reid yanks the camera to face him with a deep frown. “What do you mean, you took Gage to the airport? Where the hell did he go?”
“Up north. He got called in to replace someone.”
Jules pulls the camera back to him with a scowl. “What the fuck? We never would have come out here if we didn’t think he’d be there for you this week!” He growls. “Fuck it! We’ll be on a flight home tomorrow. I’m sorry, Cin.”
My heart melts that they’re so worried about me but I shake my head.
“No, you will not. I’m fine, guys. Gigi and I have plans for Monday on the anniversary. I can handle it. As much as I love you all, we need to start moving on and living life. I’m so glad you guys went to Van for the festival. It makes me happy that you’ve started to do things that you love again. I hate that you all put your lives on hold for me for so long. It’s time to stop that.”
“Bullshit,” Jules growls. “Stop being a brat. We haven’t done anything we didn’t want to do. If we want to fly home tomorrow, then we ‘ill.”
His gruff statement loses some of the impact as he slurs the last word in his inebriated state so I humor him with a big nod, knowing he’ll probably forget this conversation by the time he sobers up.
“Okay, whatever you say! I have to get into the restaurant to start my shift so… be safe, please? Drink lots of water before you pass out and call me when you wake up tomorrow?”
Reid moves into the screen as he’s pulling the elastic from his hair and all those golden curls swing down around his face. He bats them away like a cranky child who’s missed his nap with a pout.
“Wish you were here, Hobby.” His amber eyes go all soft and dreamy. “Everythin’ is better when we’re together. When we get home… I wanna…”
Whatever he’s about to say gets cut off when Jules yanks the phone away from him and directs it back at his face. He looks into the camera with those intense, icy blue eyes of his and smirks.
“See you soon, Cin. Be agood girluntil we get back.”
I bite hard on my bottom lip, scrunch up my nose, and narrow my eyes while shaking my head at him. Ever since he found one of my smutty books that had that phrase highlighted, he’s been throwing it at me to try and make me blush, the jerk. I toss back, “Later, Richie Rich!” and end the call.
I gather up my stuff from the passenger seat and lock the doors as I walk toward the restaurant with my own smirk. Julian Stillwell may be richer than God but he hates being mocked for it. It’s my go-to punch back whenever he gets too insufferable. I’m pretty sure he likes that I sass him back though. I push thoughts of them aside as I clock in and get to work.
An hour later, I balance a heavy tray of food against my hip as I pass out the steaming plates of pasta to one of my tables with a smile. My tenth-grade teacher, Mrs. Cartwright, and her husband are regulars at Alfredo’s, the Italian restaurant where I work at as a waitress.
“Thank you, Luna. It looks amazing as usual.” She beams at me even as pity slides into her expression. “Do you have plans to go back to university in the fall? I know it’s been hard but I’m sure your parents would want you to get back to school.”
I swallow past the knot in my throat and force my lips into a small smile. It’s hard living in a smaller town when everyone knows your business. I know she means well, but…
“I’m not sure yet what my plans are but I have been taking some coursework online to keep my foot in the door,” I tell her and then glance over my shoulder like someone has called me. “Enjoy your dinner!”
I rush away to the kitchen and take a deep breath when the swinging door closes behind me. Anxiety tightens the knots in my stomach if I even think about leaving here to go back to the city for school. I’m not ready. I’m not… stable… enough yet to think about moving away from my home, my… guys. Soon, but not yet.
Maria, the owner and head chef, glances up from the line and shoots a look of concern at me.
“You okay, Luna?”
I straighten up and nod quickly. “You bet!” I answer with a more upbeat tone than I actually feel and then rush to pick up my next order to be delivered. It’s easier if I keep moving, keep busy. That way I don’t have time to think about the empty house I’ll go back to tonight or the anniversary that’s creeping closer. Instead, I keep my thoughts on work and refill drinks and bread baskets. I’m three hours into my shift and things are starting to slow down when there’s a loud crash of metal, followed bya blaring horn from the street outside. Every person in the restaurant turns to the large street-facing windows in concern for whatever accident just happened out there but it’s the sounds of multiple people screaming that get people jumping to their feet.
I’m standing at the hostess station to return menus and I turn to look back at the kitchen when Maria pops her head out with a look of concern on her face. She spots me near the front doors so I motion to her that I’m going to go take a look and get a nod of agreement. I grab my phone from my apron in case I need to call 911 and push out the doors to the sidewalk. Right away, I see a grouping of four cars that have crashed together at the closest intersection but it’s all the people standing and staring up in horror that has me frowning and lifting my eyes to the sky. What I see has my own sharp scream flying past my lips and my feet staggering back in disbelief.
The moon… “No, no, no, no… This isn’t the moon I know, the one I was named for. This moon is huge – it's a giant, broken boulder moving toward us. I swear it’s getting bigger as I stand paralyzed, watching. This moon is… cracked. The right side of it is broken in a jagged line and I can see pieces of it falling away. My knees give out and I drop to the hard cement as my brain tries to process this. It doesn’t make any sense. The moon is falling. The moon is broken and it’s heading right at us.
I lift my hand to press against the scream that’s clawing at my throat to be released but the air around me ripples and everything slows right down like time is flowing through thick syrup in slow motion. My gaze drops from the moon that isn't my moon, that’s getting bigger and bigger in the sky, and I squint when the buildings across the street and all the cars flicker then disappear to be replaced by an open field of long grass. Standing in that field is a man with a stricken expression of confusion.
He’s dressed in leather that looks like what a warrior from another time would wear. Half of his long black hair is held away from a strong, elegantly rugged face by a leather cord woven into small braids, revealing slightly pointed ears with a few metal hoops in them. I can see two sword pommels jutting from his back behind his broad shoulders. Hard eyes of deep grey meet mine and narrow briefly before widening in shock. He takes a few hard steps toward me, his hand going up and back to one of the swords on his back. In a blink, he’s moving quickly toward me with that sword pointing right at my chest.
The world around me blurs as tears fill my eyes. I’m going to die. The moon is falling, some guy straight out of a Lord of the Rings movie is about to split me with a sword, and I’m going to die. There’s so much more I wanted to see, to do… be… before I left this world. In that split second, my mind flashes through the memories of how I got to this moment. I close my eyes and let it all wash over me as I wait for the end.
Part 2 - In the Before
Chapter 3 - Luna
