Page 16 of Stay With Me (Griffin’s Den #2)

SIXTEEN

Luna

“And that’s the last of them.” I set the final tray of cookies on the counter and wipe my forehead with the back of my hand.

The last two hours have been amazing.

While baking and making the chicken for the salads, we played what Amelia called twenty questions. It’s amazing how alike Jess and I are, even though we’ve been apart for ten years.

I don’t know what I was expecting her to ask, but she asked some really good questions about me leaving. Why did I leave? When did I know I was leaving? How did I get away without people realizing?

I was honest because she deserves the truth.

I left because the closer it got to my wedding date with Matthew, the more I realized that something wasn’t right about this process.

I also asked questions that I would get in trouble for, like, why couldn’t we spend more time in town?

Why did I have to get married? What made me the chosen female?

I don’t know what made me start asking questions, but I never got any answers.

I knew I had to leave before the marriage ceremony. I couldn’t go through with it, even if the Father said it was written in the stars. I also told her that Aspen helped me escape and that both she and Aspen were supposed to come with me, but something happened, and only I could get away.

Aspen. I need to remember to make sure Jess’s therapist asks about her. It’s been too long since I received a letter from her, and that worries me.

I tiptoed around how and why she left until we work with the therapist about how to talk to her about it, but maybe if I feed her tidbits about why I left, she will open up more about hers.

“Luna,” Jess giggles.

“Yeah?” I ask.

“You have something right here.” She points right next to her nose.

I rub the spot on my face. “Did I get it?”

She laughs harder at me, and between trying to catch her breath, she forces out, “N-no. You made it worse.”

I use the microwave glass to check my reflection and laugh with her. My hair is in its usual French braid, but more hair is framing my face than usual as it fell out. I have flour on my neck and on different parts of my face and what I think is peanut butter on my right cheekbone.

“How did I get this all over me and you barely have any?”

She laughs harder. “I don’t know, but you look silly.”

“Why does she look silly?”

We both jump and let out a scream.

Noah laughs as he sets down the pizzas and starts to take his belt apart so he can lock up his gun and Taser. “Sorry, ladies. I thought you heard me at the door.”

“Oh! The pizza, did we miss them deliver it?”

“No, they pulled into the driveway right after me. I also got a text from the guys, and everyone should be here in about fifteenish minutes.” He turns and walks toward us. “Did you guys have a good day so far?”

“Yeah! We baked some cookies and played twenty questions, and I got two packets of homework done, so I’m ahead of my schoolwork for the week!” Jess says excitedly. Then she looks around when she realizes how loud she was and immediately drops her eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry I yelled.”

My heart breaks seeing how quickly she went from being so excited to afraid she might get in trouble.

I go to say something, but Noah crouches down in front of her. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re glad you’re excited. You didn’t yell in a bad way. I’m proud that you got an extra packet for school done. I know it isn’t always fun to do, but you’re doing so well.”

“You think I’m doing well?” she asks him softly.

“I think you’re doing so well that you’ll not only catch up to your classmates but that you’ll be smarter than they are,” he tells her.

She smiles at him, then at me. “I’m kind of smart.”

“You are. You’re probably smarter than me,” I tell her.

“Who’s smarter than who?” Amelia says as she walks through the door. “Sorry, we’re a few minutes early. I was able to leave the farm early, so I figured we would just head over this way.”

“No problem at all. We were just telling Jess that she’s going to be smarter than all of us with how fast she’s learning,” I tell her.

“Oh, I believe it. You’re probably going to take over my farm one day, kiddo. Where can Luke set Penny’s water bowl?” Am asks as she walks into the kitchen.

As she asks, Luke walks in with Penny actually on a leash, which I appreciate. I don’t think Jess has ever seen a dog before.

“Sorry. Penny had to sniff half the yard before she went to the bathroom,” he says.

“Umm, Noah. There’s an animal in your house,” Jess says from behind Noah.

I kneel beside her. “He knows. That isn’t a wild animal. This is Penny. She’s Amelia’s dog.”

“And Penny is friendly?” Her eyes dart from Penny to me as she wrings her hands.

“I promise, Penny is the friendliest. Once you pet her, she’ll be your best friend for life.” I reassure her.

Jess’s shoulders relax a bit. “I’m allowed to pet her?”

“If you would like to, but if you don’t want to, that’s okay too.” Noah reassures her.

As I stand, Am balls her hand into a fist to give Penny her sit command.

Then she turns to Jess. “If you want to pet her, all you do is walk up to her with your hand like this.” She holds her hand out, palm down, loosely.

“She won’t stand up unless we tell her to, so you just move at your pace.

If you don’t want to do it now but decide you want to later, that is okay too. ”

Bravely, Jess takes a step forward and looks at Amelia. “I think I would like to pet her now before dinner.”

“Okay.” She kneels next to Penny, whose tail is swishing back and forth on the floor, excited to make a new friend.

As Jess gets closer, Penny lies down and puts her head on her paws, looking away from Jess, like she knows how nervous Jess is.

Jess creeps closer, and an arm lands on my shoulders. I look up to see Noah pulling me close.

“If anyone can win Jess over, it’s going to be Penny,” he whispers to me.

I nod because he’s right.

Jess gingerly puts her hand out like Am showed her, and Penny sniffs it and pushes her nose under Jess’s hand.

Jess beams. “She is very nice. What do I do now?”

“She is the nicest. Now, if you want to keep petting her, just move your hand like this.” She shows her how she pets Penny, and soon Jess is laughing when she brings her hand back by Penny’s head and Penny licks her hand.

“She put her tongue on me.” Jess giggles.

“She’s just giving kisses. It means she likes you,” Am tells her.

“I like her too. Can you hug dogs?” Jess asks.

“You can hug Penny, but you always have to ask if you can touch someone else’s dog. You wouldn’t want someone to hug you if they didn’t ask first, right?” Am asks her.

Jess thinks about it for a second before responding. “Right, I don’t think I would like that.”

“So thank you for asking if you can hug before just doing it. Let’s get her to sit up again.” She looks at Penny and says, “Penny, up.”

Penny sits up and waits for whatever is going to happen next. Jess bends over and gives her a gentle hug around her neck, and Penny licks Jess on the side of the head, making her laugh harder.

“Who’s having too much fun before I’ve arrived?” Sam says, walking in and standing behind Luke.

“Everyone will have more fun when you leave,” Abby says, walking in behind him.

“Hey, Abby, where’s your car?” Carter asks before walking through the door.

Abby looks to Sam quickly, then says, “Um, my car was giving me trouble, so Sam picked me up, and I’m just going to have it towed to Charlie’s for him to look at.”

“Well, let me know if you need a ride home since you’re on my way,” Carter says to her.

“Okay,” she tells him before walking toward the bathroom.

I look around the room, trying to see if anyone else thinks that was weird, when I feel Noah squeeze my shoulder. When I look at him, he raises his eyebrow, and I just shrug, not knowing what just happened.