Page 58 of The Sun and the Moon
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I say. My eyes instinctively slide away from Moira, seeking focus on the movement behind her. Cadence approaches with a wary expression, which she quickly wipes clean before Moira realizes she’s behind her.
“It’s the launch of the Danish festival tonight, so there’s all kinds of fun events. Axe throwing,” Moira says, looking at Cadence as if this should be of interest to her. Ranger Girl that she is, I expect she’s right. “Torch parade, concert, beer and wine, something like twenty-five varieties of bratwurst.” Moira pauses, a smile lifting her lips. There’s a look of vulnerability that fixes in her features only when Cadence is near. The piercing, cool focus she wears in almost every situation drops, revealing softer eyes and a lighter clench to her jaw. I realize all at once that withCadence, Moira doesn’t look like a predator on the hunt. She looks like a mother protecting her young.
“Apparently anyone can participate in the axe throwing,” Dad chimes in with a little thrill. The look Moira gives him is another one of surprising gentleness.
Turning to me, seamlessly, her gaze sharpens.
“We purchased some tickets if you’re interested,” Moira says in a subtle correction to Dad. “Cadence was always exceptional with an axe.”
Cadence can’t fight the smile at this surprising praise. “I did okay.”
“You won a gift certificate to the beer garden one year,” Moira replies.
“Which you cashed in on my behalf,” Cadence says.
“Well, you were sixteen. What did you need at a beer garden?”
“A pretzel and a sampling of their collection of artisanal mustards,” Cadence lists with a subtle smile. There’s tension between them, taut as always, but there’s also something else.
Camaraderie. Shared memory.
Family.
The word makes me ache for Cadence, who has untethered herself from the family she had here and acts like she’s cool with being such a loner. But no one can do this life thing completely on their own.
“I stand corrected,” Moira says, turning her gaze to me. “What do you two say?”
Cadence shifts her weight subtly toward me. It feels like a reminder that we’re in this together. And again, my heart aches because I want her to have someone. Maybe I even want to be that someone. The urge to reach for her hand, twine our fingerstogether, is strong. I can’t give in to it no matter how much I might want to. I said no-strings-attached to the kiss.
It’s the first time I haven’t wanted that.
“I’m in,” I say. “But I’d really like to freshen up back at the hotel first.”
Moira’s face brightens, and she points in the direction of the winery’s visitor center.
“The shuttle is here for our use—you two can head back,” she says, taking a small pause to look back and forth between us. “Freshen up.” Her tone doesn’t shift, but the energy around the words feels electrified. I have the distinct urge to run away, or attempt a lie, though I’m not sure what it would be about. Just something to make this sensation of being seen lessen in intensity.
I show her my teeth. “Perfect.” Then I look to Cadence, willing her to catch my drift and bail alongside.
“Do you want us to take Chicken back with us?” Cadence asks, her eyes dropping to land on Chicken’s tiny tan head. He’s currently sniffing a scrub of what looks like lavender. The vineyard has planted rows of lavender alongside some of the grapevines, but this little struggling plant was like a shoot from a seed on the wind.
“Ah, thanks for looking out for him,” Dad says. He’s smiling big at Cadence now, who looks surprisingly pleased herself. “He’s enjoying himself too much—we’ll just drop him by before we head out to the festival. That way he’ll be good and sleepy and won’t get too anxious being left alone.”
It’s hard to read Cadence—she seems especially skilled at masking her feelings—but I’m starting to pick up on subtle shifts. That Cupid’s-bow top lip flattens against the lower, causing the natural curl of her lips to straighten. It’s small, the disappointment, but I seeit. And the fact that she feels it in relation to my old dog causes my stomach to do a flip-flop.
“Well, then,” I say, trying to shove that feeling way down, “we should probably head back.” Cadence nods in agreement and bends to ruffle Chicken’s ears, then we both turn to leave. The parents are watching—the pressure of their eyes is heavy.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cadence
There was a random couple celebrating their twentieth anniversary on the shuttle back, plus a chatty driver, who homed in immediately on the fact that he could engage Sydney in conversation. My resting bitch face made me exempt. But that also made it difficult to talk to Sydney about my conversation with Lola. However, it did give me plenty of time to spin out over the way Sydney smelled (warm and bright and earthy) and the way her knee was bumping mine with the movement of the vehicle. It gave me plenty of time to fixate on the fact that the whole purpose of my being here was to thwart Moira’s nefarious plans, and now I’m worried her plans may not be as malicious as I want them to be.
Okay, so it’s not that Iwanther to be a conniving con woman out to swindle Sydney’s dad. Especially not when Rick looks at her as if she’s hung the moon. It would be tragic to see him hurt by her, to be proved right that she can’t be trusted with another person’s heart. But a reality in which Moira is in love with another person and not just in love with the use of them for her purposes is one I don’t know how to live in.
Wild things like us aren’t made for easy love.
Another Moira-ism. Even after she predicted my soulmate would appear on the doorstep of Kismet all because of her, she didn’t let me forget that just because a person is your destiny doesn’t mean that being with them will be easy. A common misconception is that soulmates are guaranteed a happily ever after like we see in the movies. The kind of connection a soulmate brings isn’t always the kind that settles down beside you for a long-haul life together.
