Page 27 of Carson

Once she sees where I’m taking her, she squeals, the lights in the house forgotten. She hops onto the walking path. “Oh my gosh! This is incredible.”

I watch as she leans over to smell one. “Is your mom a fairy princess?” she asks, crossing the little bridge my dad built for mom’s birthday last year.

“No, just a woman well loved by her husband,” I say, running my fingers through my hair as I watch her take everything in.

A huge smile pulls at her face. “He did all this for her?”

“With her, yeah. Don’t get me wrong. My mom knows how to do things for herself. She just doesn’t have to.”

Luna looks up at the moon and takes a deep breath. “It feels good here.”

Her words make me emotional, and I turn away. “Anyway, here’s our rock collection. I can’t take credit for all of them, because my brother is a bit of a rock kicker himself.”

“Where?” she asks.

I point to her feet. “You’re standing on it.”

Her gaze drops to her feet and the smile melts from her face. She drops to her haunches and runs her hand over the spiral pattern of rocks on the ground.

“She’s always adding to it as we find rocks.” I point to a barrel a little further down the path. “That’s where we put them for her.”

She lifts her head and follows my finger.

“Our mom is an artist.”

Luna rises, taking in the curving paths that cut through the hundreds of sunflowers. She makes her way toward the barrel, but her eyes follow the designs paved over the ground as she does. Her fingers sift through the rocks once she’s reached them.

“Our mom got tired of finding rocks all over the house and in our pockets, so she came up with the idea. Some kids have piggy banks; we had a rock barrel.”

“Do you still add to it?”

“Will you make fun of me if I do?”

Finally, the smile returns to her face. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

“We do.”

Her gaze goes to the house. “I like that you always include your brother when you speak. Do you think you should check on him?”

“Yeah, I probably should.”

“I’ll wait here,” she says. “There’s so much to look at.”

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” I get the distinct feeling she wants to be alone. When I glance over my shoulder, I notice she’s settled on the bench that serves as a memorial. She traces the little plaque with my late grandmother’s name on the back of it before relaxing against it.

“Grandma, I think I’m going to marry that girl,” I say to her in Heaven as I slip through the back door.

I give Luna one last look before turning around.

My parents are standing in front of the refrigerator in their pajamas, staring at me.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t think you guys would be home.”

“That seems to be the consensus tonight,” my dad says, noticing my mother’s mouth is hanging open. He reaches around her and gently closes it with a finger under her chin.

It snaps her out of it, and she rushes toward me, placing her hand on my forehead. “Who were you talking to?” she asks.

Fuck, they heard me.