Indelible

by Jove Belle

  “What? This?” Luna raised their joined hands to her mouth and kissed the back of Angie’s. “I’m positive.”

  “No, not this.” Angie jostled her hand slightly. “But that’s good to know, too. I was talking about them.” Oliver and Josh ran ahead of them, playing tag between the parked cars. “I should have warned you that Josh was coming.”

  Luna shrugged. “Maybe. I’m just glad I’m here. You could have invited the entire varsity football team and the marching band, and it wouldn’t matter to me.”

  “I almost canceled completely.” Angie let the sentence hang, glad she didn’t need to rehash her reasons. After all, Luna had been there.

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “I wanted to see Josh.” Angie collected her thoughts. She hadn’t been able to explain why she not only wanted to continue with the outing, but to include Oliver’s friend as well. “I…wanted to see them together. See if they act different.”

  “Than what?” Luna faced Angie and gripped her hand a little tighter. She was concerned, which made Angie smile inside.

  “Than before this week.” Angie couldn’t force herself to describe the situation more clearly. What should she say? Before my son assaulted someone. Before the angel incident. Before… The list of possibilities was long, and every one of them made her stomach ache.

  “And?” Luna probed gently.

  “No difference that I can see.” That bothered Angie. She wanted some clear indicator in Oliver or Josh’s behavior, preferably in the form of a neon sign declaring what went wrong to cause them to cross that line. But she didn’t see anything but the same two boys, sometimes sweet, sometimes surly, but with no hint of violence.

  “Maybe it’s there and it’s just too small to notice,” Luna suggested.

  “Maybe.” Angie released Luna’s hand and dug her wallet out of her pocket. They were almost to the ticket booth. “I made him wash the tattoo off.”

  The boys reached the entrance and turned to wait. Oliver tapped his foot, pointed at a make-believe watch on his wrist, and scowled at Angie. Josh poked him in the side and they both burst into giggles. Angie shook her head. She still couldn’t reconcile the teasing boys in front of her with their actions earlier in the week.

  “That’s good.” Luna’s simple acceptance eased Angie’s mind. She’d worried that Luna would be upset, possibly think Angie’s decision somehow reflected on Luna’s tattoo. That wasn’t the case, but it helped that Luna didn’t ask her to explain or justify her reasons.

  They joined the boys at the entrance and Angie paid for their ride bracelets. Luna protested, but Angie shoved her money through the slot in the window first and won the argument by default.

  “Which ride do you guys want to do first?” Luna fiddled with the red plastic band around her wrist.

  “The scream-n-eagle!” both boys yelled at once.

  Angie stared at the ride in question, which looked like a surefire ticket to vomitsville. She pointed to a more sedate ride. “How about the carousel?”

  “Oh, Mom.” Oliver kicked the ground.

  “Come on, Angie, we want to go on the cool rides.” Luna nudged her arm. Angie could tell Oliver’s excitement was beginning to rub off on her.

  “You want to go on the scream-n-eagle?” Angie couldn’t believe it. Not a single adult was on it. They were waiting in a circle around the ride.

  “Yeah, Perez and I came here last year. It was a blast.”

  Angie shrugged her defeat and motioned for them to go. “I’ll wait here.”

  She watched as Luna joked and laughed along with Oliver and Josh as they stood in line. She stole Oliver’s ball cap and put in on her own head. Oliver leaped up and stole it back. Luna laughed, pointed to their right in an exaggerated look-over-there gesture, then swiped Josh’s when they looked away. Josh didn’t protest her wearing it, but gave her a sloppy, puppy-dog look. He smiled and told her she could keep it.

  “Nah, I’m okay.” Luna dropped the hat back on his head, then looked over at Angie and winked.

  Angie wished for her camera as the three climbed on board the ride. She wanted to capture Luna mid-hurl. Gross for an I-told-you-so moment, but since Oliver was born, Angie’s threshold for disgusting was amazingly high.

  Surprisingly, Luna didn’t puke, but Oliver did. Six steps away from the ride, Oliver’s face paled, he clamped his hand over his mouth, and ran for the nearest trash can. Luna chased him.

  “You okay, buddy?” Luna rubbed big circles on Oliver’s back.

  Oliver nodded and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. Angie cringed.

  Josh teased Oliver. “That’s gross.”

  “Let’s get you something to drink, get that taste out of your mouth.” Luna slung her arms around both boys’ shoulders and hollered back to Angie, “You coming?”

  Angie jogged to catch up. Why had she resisted Luna’s inclusion in her life? She fit in seamlessly, simultaneously teasing and encouraging Oliver. It was like she’d always been there.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sunday, September 13

  Luna stood in the open door holding a bouquet of lilies, then kissed Angie on the cheek as she handed her the flowers.

  “Come in.” Angie stepped back, giving Luna room to enter the house.

  Luna stopped on the other side of the threshold and stuffed her hands in her pockets. Even though they’d enjoyed a pleasant outing together the day before, Luna was unsure where she fit.

  “Let me put these in water, then we can go.” Angie headed toward the kitchen, and Luna remained behind.

  Oliver ripped around the corner and caught Luna with a flying tackle. She caught him midair, drew him into a stumbling hug, and swung him around before standing him back on his feet. “Hey there.”

  “Mom didn’t tell me you were coming over.” The excitement on Oliver’s face—he vibrated with it—made Luna smile.

  “I’m not really, we’re on our way out.”

  Oliver’s excitement faded. “Where are you going?” Oliver’s tone fluctuated between pouting child and overprotective parent.

  Luna regarded him seriously, resisting the smile that threatened to surface. “Friends of mine are having an anniversary party. They’ve been together for fifteen years.”

  Oliver’s eyes grew big. “Fifteen years? They must be really old.”

  Luna laughed. From a ten-year-old perspective, everyone was old. “Hate to break it to you, champ, but they’re not that much older than me.”

  “Really? How old are you?”

  “Thirty-three.” Recently Luna had realized how much her friends shared, and she wanted what they had. They’d committed to each other while still in college and had managed to keep the promise through the years. While Luna was out chasing skirts, they were chasing their children around a cramped apartment.

  Oliver looked awed. “You’re like three of me plus some.”

  “You say that like I’m ancient.” Luna didn’t feel old prior to this conversation, but Oliver’s assessment was not flattering.

  “You’re older than Mom.”

  “How old is she?” Angie had mentioned a ten-year reunion, so that put her below thirty.

  “Twenty-seven.”

  “Really?” Luna was shocked. That meant Angie was seventeen when she had Oliver. Luna had carefully avoided the subject of Oliver’s origins because she wasn’t ready to pit herself against an ex-lover, one Angie deemed worthy of helping to create a child. With her head-in-the-sand approach, she’d missed out on learning about what must have been a very difficult time for Angie. She felt like an ass.

  “Really.” Angie joined their conversation. “Are you ready?”

  “Sure.” Luna held the door open.

  “You girls have a good time.” Jack stepped into the living room wearing a plaid skirt and combat boots, a dish towel tucked into the waist. “Oliver and I are going to make brownies.”

  Angie stopped halfway through the door and turned toward her father. She gave h
im a hard look and said, “Just make sure you follow the recipe exactly.”

  “No worries, Angie.” Jack chuckled. “We’ll do just that.”

  Angie nodded and walked out of the house. A few moments later, they were inside Luna’s car and rolling out of the driveway.

  “I hate when he does that.” Angie blew out a frustrated sigh.

  “What?” As far as Luna could tell, Angie was lucky to have a loving and supportive father. Granted, he was a bit eccentric, but he loved Angie and Oliver and, really, wasn’t that enough?

  “Makes jokes about teaching Oliver inappropriate things.”

  “Huh?” Luna was even more confused now.

  “Think about it, Luna. What’s the special ingredient sometimes added to brownies?”

  Special ingredient? More than once Luna had brownies made with marijuana at parties. “Are you talking about pot? He wouldn’t do that, would he?”

  “No, I don’t think so, but he would torment me about it. He likes to watch me squirm.”

  “That’s crappy.” Luna turned onto the freeway on-ramp. Normally she tried to stick with surface streets, but I-205 was the fastest way to Nan and Vi’s house.

  “He really isn’t being mean, he’s just teasing.” Angie rested her hand on Luna’s thigh, a distraction that probably wasn’t safe at freeway speeds, but Luna wasn’t about to stop her. “I think it hurts his feelings that I constantly bring it up, so it’s a defense mechanism.”

  “Maybe, but it’s still crappy.”

  “I owe my father a lot. I should cut him some slack.”

  Luna was intrigued. What had Jack done beyond the normal things a father does for his child? “Like what?”

  Angie stared out the window. Eventually she said, “He made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, and I’m still working through all that, but he stayed. And he tried.” After a brief pause, Angie said. “He was there when my mom left, and he was there when I had Oliver. That’s worth a lot.”

  Normally a ten-and-two driver, Luna grasped Angie’s hand and gently squeezed it. “You’re right, that is worth a lot.” She wanted Angie to tell her everything, but had learned that Angie didn’t respond well when asked to reveal more than she was willing to share. She doled out secrets in sparing bits and pieces, and Luna treasured every one.

  “I was so scared. I knew nothing about having a baby.”

  Luna kept her eyes carefully on the road. She didn’t want to crowd Angie, and the moment felt too precious to intrude by staring. “You’re a great mom.”

  “Thanks.” Angie turned her face toward Luna, a small smile on her lips. “I’ve spent too much time talking to the assistant principal at Oliver’s school to agree, but it’s still sweet of you to say.”

  “I got into trouble all the time as a kid, didn’t change that my mom was great.” Luna’s mom had ruled their home with equal parts loving embrace and iron fist. When guidance didn’t work, she’d force Luna back onto the right track. So far Luna had witnessed Angie do the same with Oliver. “You were really young when he was born. You had every right to be scared.”

  “I was seventeen and so stupid.”

  “Do you ever see him?” Luna took the off-ramp. They were almost to Nan and Vi’s.

  “Who? Oliver’s father? No.” Angie’s answer was succinct, her tone distant.

  “Why not?” Luna knew she shouldn’t ask, but couldn’t help herself.

  “He doesn’t know.”

  “Doesn’t know…” Luna let the thought roll around in her head. What possible reason could Angie have to hide something like a baby? And how had she managed it? “How?”

  “It was one time, and when I found out I was pregnant, I left school.” The blood drained from Angie’s face, like she’d admitted more than she intended.

  “You didn’t graduate?” The concept was completely foreign to Luna. Above all else, Angela Rinaldi insisted on education. Dropping out would have been unforgivable.

  “No, I went to work full time at The Cadillac and tried not to think about the catastrophe my life had turned into.”

  Luna gripped the steering wheel. “And you never went back?”

  “I took the GED a few years ago and got my high-school diploma.”

  “Well, that’s good, right?” Luna tried to imagine her own life if she hadn’t earned her degrees. She might have been able to gain an apprenticeship without her master’s, but the odds of doing so without her bachelor’s were very slim. Not to mention the experience she gained while in school. Some of her best memories came from that time in her life. Angie had suffered a tremendous loss.

  “Yeah, I’m taking classes from PCC now.”

  “How do you fit that in?” Between Oliver, work, and the time Angie spent with her, Angie had a tight schedule.

  Angie shrugged. “It’s all online, so it’s flexible.”

  They neared their destination and Luna pointed to a house with cars lining the driveway. “Here we are.” She parked and glanced into the rearview mirror. “Perez and Tori are just pulling in behind us.”

  As she opened the door and started to climb out, Angie put her hand on her arm and asked her to wait. “How do you feel about sleeping with a high school dropout?”

  Eventually Luna hoped she would get used to Angie’s take-no-prisoners style of asking questions. The woman did not hesitate when she wanted to know something.

  Luna pulled Angie to her for a brief, proprietary kiss. She gripped the back of Angie’s head and held her, meeting her gaze solidly. “It feels pretty damn awesome to be with you. The rest is just details.”

  “You have a master’s.”

  “Yes.”

  “I have a GED.”

  “And a beautiful son.” Luna had to bring Angie back to the most important part of her life. After all, everything came at a price. “Tell me who wins in that contest?”

  “When you put it like that…” Angie kissed her again, lingering longer than considered decent in public. “How do you do that?” She breathed the question into Luna’s lips.

  “What?”

  “Always say the right thing?”

  A sharp banging on the hood of her car drew them out of the moment. “You two coming in, or are you going to make out on the street all night?” Perez teased.

  Luna pressed her lips to Angie’s one last time. Even though she recognized the prudence in disengaging, she’d be damned if she’d let Perez taunt her into aborting her favorite activity prematurely. She rested her forehead against Angie’s. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” Angie’s warm breath puffed across Luna’s face and she debated abandoning the party before they even went in. She’d much prefer to have Angie alone and naked than clothed and surrounded by people.

  “We need to let go long enough to get out of the car.”

  “On three?” Angie did the count and they exited the car giggling.

  Perez and Tori leaned against Perez’s car, holding hands and sharing the occasional kiss. They looked more serious than Perez had ever indicated to Luna.

  “Is that your car?” Angie sounded disbelieving, and her eyes were open wider than Luna remembered seeing. Granted, Perez drove a nice car, but it really didn’t deserve that kind of response.

  Perez slipped her sunglasses over her eyes and struck a pose in front of the Audi roadster. “You like?”

  “She’s your apprentice, right?” Angie asked Luna.

  “Right.”

  “So why is her car nicer than yours?” Angie looked pointedly from Perez’s car to Luna’s and back again.

  “Luna puts her money in the bank.” Perez shrugged. “She’s practical, whereas I’m still young enough to worry about important things like having a sexy car.”

  That wasn’t the only reason Luna drove the fifteen-year-old Camry, and Perez knew it. Luna was grateful for the attempted smoke screen, but she was at the point of full disclosure with Angie, even if the revelation included emotionally difficult baggage. “It was my mom’s car.”


  Angie’s eyes softened and she focused on Luna. “I love it,” she said softly.

  “Thanks.” Luna forgot about Perez, Tori, and the entire damn party. She gazed into Angie’s eyes and surrendered her heart completely.

  *

  The anniversary party was more intimate than Angie expected. Rather than a lot of people, finger foods, and drinks, there were a few couples, a catered dinner, and mellow music. The only negative so far was Ruby. She sat directly across from Luna, and every time Angie glanced in her direction, Ruby shot icicle glares at her. It was growing tedious.

  “Angie.” Vi had cornered Angie as she looked over family photos on the wall in the living room. “How did you meet Luna?”

  Angie sipped her wine and evaluated Vi. Was she asking because she wanted to know or because she was close to Ruby and was looking for an opportunity to slam Angie as the treacherous other woman? “Luna did Tori’s tattoo. I went along for moral support. We met Luna, Perez, and Ruby all at the same time.” Angie glanced at Tori, who was seated on the sofa and studiously focused on Perez.

  “And then what? Did you guys hook up then?”

  “God, no. Luna was with Ruby. I wasn’t willing to go there.” Angie mentally squirmed under Vi’s scrutiny. What was she up to?

  “Really?” Vi looked confused. “But those two never really dated. They were more just friends with benefits.”

  Wow. So Luna had been telling the truth about the nature of her relationship with Ruby. It was just so at odds with Ruby’s display of possessiveness outside Coraggio that first night. That had stayed with Angie long after Luna left Ruby. Despite Luna’s assurances that their relationship was purely sexual, Ruby clearly had designs on Luna’s future. Discovering that her plans would never reach fruition must have been a bitter pill. Ruby’s animosity bothered Angie a little less when she kept that hard truth in mind. She wouldn’t have wanted to trade roles with Ruby.

  “That’s what Luna said, but I wasn’t taking any chances.” Angie studied Luna, who was obviously listening but avoiding involvement in the conversation.