Page 11 of The Almost Bride
Luna sat at the breakfast table, swirling a spoon in her mug of tea. She’d had a scattered night of sleep, which was unlike her. Normally, she slept like a log, but visions of Mia danced in her head. That’s what she got for eating cheese before bed, she assumed.
The morning sun streamed through the window, promising another hot summer day. Meanwhile, her grandmother was sitting at the head of the table, delicately nibbling on toast and flicking through the morning paper.
Honestly, who still reads a real newspaper, Luna thought.
“I hear you’ve got a girlfriend.”
Luna froze. “Sorry?”
“A girlfriend,”
said her grandmother, looking up from her paper. “I heard you got one.”
She put down her slice of toast. “Word travels fast around Little Chipping. You should know that by now. Mrs. Hargrove let me in on your little secret last night.”
So it was working. Luna just about stopped herself heaving a sigh of relief. “Her name’s Mia,”
she said helpfully. “She’s really very nice.”
“Mmm.”
Her grandmother leaned back in her chair, sharp gaze never leaving Luna’s face. “I’m sure she is. I do hope, however, that this isn’t another one of your… fleeting distractions.”
Luna bristled, and her skin started to itch. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Her grandmother pushed away her toast plate and folded her hands neatly on the table. “One-night stands and aimless flings don’t exactly scream ‘responsibility,’ Luna. If you want me to take you seriously, then perhaps it’s time to take something or someone seriously yourself.”
The comment grazed even Luna’s thick skin, hitting her harder than she’d care to admit. “Mia’s not a fling,”
she said defensively. And then she wondered why she was springing to Mia’s defense quite so quickly. “We’re just… figuring things out,”
she added, more weakly.
“Good.”
Her grandmother’s gaze softened a little, but still held firm on Luna. “I want to see you grow into the kind of woman that your mother would have been proud of.”
For a moment, a shaft of pain went through Luna’s heart, then she nodded. “Noted,”
she said. Because what was she supposed to say to that? She could hardly argue it, not when she’d known her mother all of a handful of years. Who knew? Maybe her grandmother had a point. Maybe her mother would have wanted her married off and settled down and a mother herself by this point.
Her grandmother gave a small nod, dismissing Luna, before returning to her newspaper. And Luna got up from the table with a sigh, ready to head into work.
But the conversation remained in her mind as she walked down to the high street toward the florists.
“Morning,”
Jan said as Luna stepped inside and the bell jangled over the door. “Ready for another day of floral magic?”
Luna grinned. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She shrugged off her jacket and tied on the apron that Jan had provided her with the day before. “You sure this green is for me?”
“It matches your eyes,” said Jan.
“My eyes are brown.”
“I said it matched, not that it was the same color. You feeling a bit snappy today?”
Luna let out a breath. It wasn’t like her to be snappy. “No, sorry.”
She twisted her mouth. “Um, can I ask you something?”
“Anything,”
said Jan, picking up a large vase on the counter to wipe under it.
“Do you think Mia and I make a good couple?”
Jan paused and looked at her. “You make a good-looking couple, if you’re fishing for compliments.”
“No, I mean, just… You said opposites attract. Do you think that we can make a go of it, or are we too different? Or…”
She hesitated for a second. “Or am I too unreliable?”
Jan raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s been saying something. Let me guess, grandma?”
Luna nodded.
Putting down her cloth, Jan came closer. “You want to know what I think?”
Luna nodded again.
“I think that you’re Luna Truman. I think that you have a lot to give the world, and a lot to give the right person when you finally find her. And I think that if that person is Mia, then she’s very lucky.”
“Not a hopeless case, then?”
Luna said, grinning again.
Jan rolled her eyes. “Depends on whether the woman can stand to be around you for more than one date.”
“Joke’s on you,”
said Luna. “We’re having lunch, officially date number two.”
AS LUNCHTIME APPROACHED Luna couldn’t help but keep glancing at the clock. At exactly noon, she untied her apron and made a bolt for the door. “I’m heading out for lunch!”
she called to Jan.
Jan waved her off. “Go on then. Give Mia my love and don’t keep her waiting.”
Luna wanted to roll her eyes, but instead she couldn’t hide the small smile that was tugging at her lips as she left the shop and went next door to Helen’s.
The café was buzzing with customers already, and the smell of coffee made Luna’s mouth water. She was just wondering whether they’d have to get takeout and sit on a bench when she saw Mia waving at her from a tiny table in the corner of the patio.
“Looks like you were lucky to get a seat,”
Luna said, after she’d weaved her way through the crowds and sat down.
Mia offered her a faint smile and a sigh. “Yeah.”
Luna looked at her for a second, seeing the tension back in her shoulders, seeing her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the menu. “Want to talk about it?”
Another sigh, this one sounding like it came from the bottom of Mia’s boots. She was looking at something. Luna turned around and saw a young couple at the table behind them, laughing and feeding each other.
“Ah.”
“Ah,”
mimicked Mia. Her gaze dropped to the table. “I was just… thinking about the wedding. Or, well, the non-wedding.”
Luna leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand. “Feeling guilty?”
“Obviously,”
said Mia. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “I left a man standing at the altar, Luna. Who does that?”
Luna wanted to take her hand, but didn’t. “Someone who knew deep down that it wasn’t the right thing to do,”
she said gently. “Someone brave enough to walk away instead of settling for a life that didn’t make her happy. Someone who couldn’t breathe.”
Mia looked up, blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “It doesn’t feel brave. It feels selfish.”
“So what if it is?”
Luna said stoutly. “Selfish isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes you have to put yourself first. Trust me. I’m an expert at that.”
Mia huffed a small laugh despite herself. “I don’t know if that’s comforting or concerning.”
Luna smiled. “Comforting, obviously.”
She reached across the table and this time she did place her hand over Mia’s. It felt warm and right. “Listen, you did what you had to do. You deserve to be happy, Mia. You deserve the time to figure out what you want, not just what everyone else expects from you. You look after you, and leave everyone else to look after themselves for a change. The world might be a better place if everyone did that.”
Mia looked down that their hands and Luna felt her heart flutter a little. “I don’t even know where to start doing that,”
she admitted.
“That’s the beauty of it,”
Luna said, sliding her hand away from Mia’s. If she didn’t move it now, she was afraid it might have to stay there, forever joined to Mia’s, because she’d lack the strength and the will to break away. “You don’t have to know. You just have to take one step at a time.”
Mia looked up, meeting Luna’s gaze. For a long second they just looked at each other, and Luna could see the tiny blonde down on Mia’s cheeks, could see that one eyebrow was just slightly higher than the other.
“Thanks,” Mia said.
“Anytime,”
Luna said with a wink. “Now, how about we order some food? I’m starving, and if we’re not careful, Helen’s going to come out and start interrogating us.”
“What would I possibly have to interrogate you about?”
Helen said, stepping from behind Luna to the side of the table.
“Absolutely nothing,”
Luna said quickly.
Helen raised an eyebrow. “You sure? Because if the two of you are up to something, I’ll find out about it sooner or later.”
“What could we be up to?”
Luna said.
“You? Anything,”
Helen said. She gave Mia a smile. “I’m trusting Mia to keep you on the right side of the law, though. Now, what’ll it be?”
Mia looked down at the menu. “A slice of quiche and one of your cinnamon lattes, please.”
“Same for me,”
said Luna quickly. “But make it a coke. It’s too hot for coffee.”
“It’s never too hot for coffee,”
Helen said. “But your wish is my command. You know, practically the whole town is talking about you two love-birds. It’s nice to have something positive to gossip about for a change.”
Mia’s cheeks flushed as Helen walked away, and Luna couldn’t resist a chuckle. “See? We’re the talk of the town.”
“Great,”
muttered Mia. “Just what I need.”
“It’s not so bad,”
Luna said. “It’s sort of what we wanted, right? Plus, just think of it as practice at being in the spotlight.”
“Um, practice for what, exactly?”
asked Mia, raising an eyebrow.
“For embracing your fabulousness,”
Luna said with a dramatic wave of her hand. “For finding your inner self and spending the rest of your life in the spotlight that you deserve.”
Mia laughed and shook her head. “You’re ridiculous, do you know that?”
“Well, you do keep telling me,”
said Luna. “But I think you secretly love it.”
Their food arrived, and the conversation shifted to lighter topics, like books and films and the sort of information Luna thought dating couples should know about each other. By the time the meal was over, she could see that Mia’s shoulders had relaxed, that she was feeling better.
As they left their table and went out to the heat of the street, Luna turned to Mia and wiggled her eyebrows. “So, what’s next on our fake dating agenda?”
“I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” Mia said.
“Suit yourself,”
said Luna. “But don’t be surprised if I plan something outrageous without your input.”
Mia grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She thought for a second, then added, “but no bungee jumping.”
“No promises,”
Luna said solemnly.
She watched as Mia walked away, back to the hotel. And she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of something she couldn’t quite name. A feeling that she wasn’t sure she’d felt before.