by Ella Brooke
Luna wanted to ask her what she was basing that opinion on, but somehow her throat had closed up, and all she could do was sob.
***
Somewhere between Otros Amana and Florence, Tucker realized that he was pushing his car up to 90 miles an hour. For one single mad moment, he wanted to push it even further, even harder, but then sanity prevailed, and he pulled over.
It was full dark now, and the roads were utterly empty. Eventually he would rejoin the hustle and bustle of Florence, but right now, the desolate roadside suited him far better.
Ever since Luna's departure had been reported to him, he had driven himself hard. There had only been two goals. He had to find Luna, and he had to put her somewhere where she would not be able to run away again.
Now that both of those goals were accomplished, however, he had to deal with the reality of what had happened.
Tucker tried to tell himself that this was no different from any number of betrayals and disappointments he had had with women over the years, but his heart shouted against the lie.
This was no normal woman, and this was no normal betrayal. Luna had held everything that he had offered her in her hands, and casually, she had dropped it on the ground, walking away.
The pain ripped through him, and he could feel a burning agony in his throat.
"No, he said, as if he could deny the reality of the world simply by speaking it. "No, no, no, no..."
Then when saying it wasn't enough, he shouted it, and in some tiny dim corner of his mind where things still made sense, he wondered when he would be able to stop.
Chapter Seventeen
Luna opened her eyes to see bright sunlight streaming into her room, but the sight brought her no pleasure. The manor was beautiful, but there was nothing joyous for her in its tall windows or its open spaces.
That morning, the urge to stay in bed and sleep forever was at least a little weaker than it had been. She got up and went to the en-suite bathroom to take a cool shower and to dress for the day. After two weeks at Otros Amana, she had managed to fall into a routine of sorts, and it was some kind of comfort anyway.
After she got dressed, Luna made her way to the kitchen where Isabella had set out food for the both of them. Joseph would already be working on the grounds, so there was plenty of time for Luna and Isabella to linger over their meal. Somewhat to Luna's surprise, she found that she took well to the other woman. Isabella welcomed more female company in the isolated area, where the only community was a small town thirty minutes away where Dr. Schmitt was staying.
Isabella's calm ways and sure hands were a kind of meditative comfort to Luna, and she smiled wanly at the other woman.
"Eggs today?" she asked, and Isabella nodded, sliding the covered plate across the table to Luna. Normally, they would talk about this and that, but today, Isabella looked a little nervous.
"What is it?" Luna asked, and Isabella took her arm, leading her to one of the unused rooms.
"This came for you very early."
Luna's breath caught in her throat.
It was the jewelry bench she had used in Florence, every detail exactly as she had left it except for the fact that it had been moved to this remote manor. She could see the ring she had been working on still mounted on the vise, and unconsciously, her hand went to its mate, the bracelet, that coiled in her pocket. She wasn't sure when she had started carrying it around like a talisman, but it had seemed right.
"It seems very beautiful," Isabella said, referring to the ring. "Perhaps you will work on it again?"
Luna thought about what it might be like to sit down and work on that ring again, to put in the time and effort it would take to create a precious piece of jewelry for a man who couldn't stand the sight of her. Mutely, she shook her head. At least, it was better than bursting into a sick laughter or a flood of tears.
"No, I don't think I can work on that piece again," she said softly, and she saw a look of understanding and pity cross Isabella's face. Isabella grabbed her for a quick hug and then linked her arm through Luna's.
"Well, perhaps you can make something for me, something pretty, yes?"
Luna laughed, and even if it was a rusty sound, it was real.
"Well, sure, that sounds like it might be fun..."
She and Isabella had only gotten to the hallway when she realized that something was very wrong.
For a moment, Luna thought that her pregnant body was now giving her a sense of vertigo on top of everything else that was happening, and then she realized that no, in fact, the floor was tilting. She turned to look at Isabella, whose face had grown dead white, and then Isabella said something in Italian that Luna didn't understand.
"No, no, what's that mean..."
"Earthquake!" the woman cried out, and Luna could see her trembling, shaking as if she was a rabbit who had suddenly caught sight of the predators.
Earthquake, earthquake, Luna's mind chanted. What do we do?
For a moment, she nearly fell prey to the same paralysis that had taken a hold of Isabella, but then a fierce urge to survive coursed through her.
"Come on," she said, and grabbing Isabella's hand, she dragged her back into the unused room where her jewelry bench had been placed. She noticed with grim satisfaction that it was set back from the windows, and she knelt, sweeping all of the supplies underneath the table top out.
"Come here, come here quickly, please, Isabella!" she cried.
For a moment, she thought that she would have to emerge from the bench to drag the other woman underneath, but then Isabella was kneeling with her, crying out with each progressive shudder of the earth. Above them, they could hear her tools rattling, but the bench was well-organized and secure; nothing would go flying.
No wonder people once thought that earthquakes were the end of the world, Luna thought, and it shocked her how clear her thoughts were.
She wrapped her arms around Isabella, and the two of them huddled together while the shudders slowed and stopped.
After a few moments of silence, Luna raised her head. Isabella tried to hang on to her, but she shook her off gently.
"I need to go make sure that Joseph is all right," she said. "You can't go. If there are any aftershocks, you might fall."
"You are in danger as well," Isabella tried to protest, but Luna shot her a cocky smile.
"Don't worry about me," she said. "I'm indestructible."
She even believed it as she slid out into the silent hallway. The air was weirdly dense and oddly clear, as if the world was waiting for something. She walked quickly, ready for another shudder. When it came, she crouched low to cover her head and her neck with her hands. It at least offered a little protection when a shelf above, containing pails and buckets, dropped on top of her, and then her vision went black with a blazing pain to her skull.
***
God, had clubs always been this irritating? The young redhead who was trying to sit on Tucker's lap was pushy to the point where he was afraid he might have to physically push her away, everything was too loud, and he was sure the bartender was watering his drinks.
In the last two weeks since leaving Italy, he had been out every single night, trying to capture the devil-may-care recklessness that he had always enjoyed, but it was nowhere to be found.
He had spent some time setting up the townhouse in Chicago to welcome his new son or daughter, but there was something peculiarly empty about it. Tucker couldn't help but feel that something was missing. Even if he knew exactly what that was, however, he did not allow himself to think of her. He had not thought her name at all, and that was nearly as good, he thought, as not thinking of her at all.
The redhead was willowy rather than lush like Luna was, her eyes blue and not green, but he wondered if she might help him exorcise Luna's memory.
"Come here," he said, too desperate to be polite, and she simpered a smile, as if her charms had worked on him after all. She didn't fill his arms right, and he could already tell that this would be a
wasted endeavor when he pulled her in for a kiss.
Then his ear caught a scrap of conversation behind him, and he actually did push her away, not hard, but enough to push her back firmly.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, but he paid no attention, instead waving down the bartender.
"Hey! Were you talking about Italy just a moment ago?"
"Yeah man," said the bartender, shaking his head. "Earthquake hit the town of Santiago, little place up in the north, this morning. First earthquake in the area for..."
He wasn't listening. Tucker was already on the phone, striding towards the door. He needed a plane. He needed a plane immediately.
***
Luna awoke with a terrible headache, and the first thing that struck her was fear.
Oh my god, my baby...
Her hands reached for her belly (was it already a little rounder than it had been?), and a large and very familiar hand closed over hers.
"The baby's just fine. Dr. Schmitt swore it to me. Isabella and Joseph are as well. They brought you to the hospital in Rhone rather than the one in Santiago, or I would have been here sooner," Tucker rumbled, and she turned towards him. For a moment, she simply took in the sight of him. Even as she reveled in how beautiful he truly was, she could see he looked like hell. His hair was tousled as if he had been running his fingers through it, his clothes were rumpled, and his eyes were red, from lack of sleep, she thought. It was too strange to think of him crying.
Tucker frowned at her, and when he opened his mouth to speak, she couldn't bear to hear what he had to say. Instead, she threw herself into his arms. Pride and anger could wait for later, when he inevitably pushed her away. Right now, all that she cared about was being close to this man, taking comfort in him.
To her surprise, he didn't pull away. Instead he held her tight, and she was the one who let go first. When she opened her mouth to speak, he beat her to it.
"Marry me."
She stared at him.
"Tucker! What are you..."
"You are the only thing that matters to me," he growled, and she had an idea of what kind of hell he had crawled through.
"You're saying that because you thought you lost me," she said, trying to fight back the tears. It wasn't fair. No one should have to deal with this while they were recovering. Her whole body felt as if it ached.
"Damn right," he growled, not letting go of her hand. "That was hell, and it is a hell I do not care to live in. Marry me."
"You thought I was running away. I would never run away from you," she said, tears falling freely down her face now. "You said... you said such horrid things to me... I still have nightmares about them..."
Tucker's face twisted in a moment of self-loathing, and to her shock, he knelt by the edge of the bed.
"God, I am sorry. I was a blind fool, and I had no idea what I was thinking. Well, I do know. I thought you were like the other women I have dealt with, and Luna, I had no idea that there are no other women like you."
His voice grew ragged, and she was shocked by the tears in his eyes.
"Luna, I swear, if you can find it in your heart to even begin to forgive me, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I will apologize every day to you if you want, I will give you anything if you will simply come live with me. Be my wife. Be the mother of my child. I went through hell when I didn't know where you were, when I thought you might be..."
He shook the thought away as if it pained him too much.
"Marry me," he whispered, and she took his hand.
"Say you love me," she said in return, and he kissed her hands over and over again. "That is what I want most..."
"I love you," he whispered, and her heart ached, but it was a mending pain.
"I love you," Luna whispered, her eyes clouded with tears as she kissed him. "I love you, I do, I will."
Epilogue
"Aw mama, I am never going to get this right," said Marianna with an adorable pout. She pushed herself away from her own tiny jewelry bench, staring at the pieces of wire in front of her balefully. The six year old looked so frustrated that Luna had to bite the side of her mouth to keep from laughing.
"It will come with time, I promise," she said. "Here, see this ring? I made it using the same wires that you did. Soon, you'll do the same."
She offered the simple wire ring, set with a tiny chip of opal, to her daughter, who admired it gravely.
Marianna was a perfect blend of both of her parents, with Tucker's dark hair, Luna's green eyes, and a stubbornness she got from both of them. She had exhibited a fascination with jewelry making that Luna recognized very well early on, and she was thrilled her daughter might find her art so early.
"Well, she looks pleased. Are you giving her gifts again?" Tucker asked as he came in.
Six years after they met, he looked calmer now, a touch of silver at his temples making him even more handsome. He smiled with ease, and she went to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Well, I have a gift for you too,” she said, and he raised his eyebrow. On his wrist glittered a bracelet she had made for him long ago, and on his finger was a gold ring he never took off. She had cried when she had finally finished it.
"Oh?"
The ring she drew out was a heavy plain gold with a sapphire set in it. It was a gorgeous thing, something a prince might have paid a small fortune for.
"So I need two rings now?" he teased, but he stilled when she looked at him seriously.
"The first is for Marianna," she said softly. "This ring is for our second child."
It took him a moment to realize what she meant, and then a nearly awed expression crossed his face.
With a joyful shout, he gathered her to his chest, kissing her soundly, and when Marianna came to see what all the fuss was about, he caught her up in a hug too.
"My god, I love you so much," he whispered in Luna's ear, and she laughed with joy because this was as good as gold. It was forever.
THE END
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