Indelible

by Jove Belle

  Ruby’s words, combined with the overpowering scent of expensive perfume and top-shelf gin, made Angie’s head spin. She reacted before she could think. The loud slap of her palm against Ruby’s cheek shocked both of them to silence.

  Ruby cupped her face protectively, her breath ragged. “You bitch.”

  Angie could hear Ruby’s voice behind her as Luna guided her from the room and closed the door.

  *

  “That was awkward.” Luna pulled to a stop in Angie’s driveway. They’d sat in uncomfortable silence the entire ride to her house. Luna was desperate to break the tension, to figure out how Angie was reacting.

  “To say the least.” Angie gave her a weak smile.

  Luna laced her fingers with Angie’s. The contact soothed her. “I’m sorry about Ruby.”

  Angie shrugged. “It’s not your fault.”

  It felt like it was her fault. She knew how nasty Ruby could get, yet she hadn’t shielded Angie, hadn’t protected her. “I wish I’d done something to stop her.”

  “She uses the truth as a weapon, doesn’t she?” Angie sounded sad, like a woman with regrets. Her tone made Luna nervous.

  “Nothing she said was true, Angie. Nothing.”

  “Mmm.”

  Luna didn’t know how to convince Angie. Ruby had been lashing out, plain and simple. The woman did not fight fair.

  “I should walk you to the door.”

  Angie shook her head and pulled her hand free. “You don’t need to.”

  “Of course I do.”

  Angie stared out the window and didn’t respond.

  “If you factor out the fifteen minutes with Ruby, tonight was really fun.” Luna squeezed Angie’s hand. “Let’s do something with Oliver again next weekend. We can take him to the movies. Or maybe hiking. I know some great trails.”

  Angie pulled away. “I don’t think so.”

  Luna pushed her hands through her hair. It was tangled at the bottom. Angie frustrated her so much. When they were alone together, Angie was so passionate, so present. Luna couldn’t get enough. When the rest of the world encroached, Angie fled. Luna wanted more. She wanted to be a part of the family that Angie guarded so fiercely. She wanted to matter. One thing was certain, she couldn’t continue on the emotional scraps that Angie doled out.

  “Angie, what are we doing? You and I? I need to be more than just an afterthought in your life. I want to build something real together.” Luna held her breath and waited.

  Angie looked her in the eye for the first time since leaving the party. “I don’t think we should see each other again.”

  “What?” This was not the outcome Luna was hoping for.

  “Ruby was right about a few things.” Angie looked at her feet, then up again to meet Luna’s gaze. “I can’t let you break my heart.”

  “I won’t.” Luna shook her head once, hard and with certainty. “That’s simply not an option.”

  “You will. Eventually.” Angie gripped the door handle and cracked the door open. The dome light came on. “It’s easier this way.”

  “You’ve been looking for a reason to run away from this, from us,” Luna gestured between them, “since the beginning. Please, Angie, I need you to find a reason to run to us.” Angie had this wall of eerie calm around her and Luna didn’t know how to crack it.

  “Why?” Angie’s eyes glistened in the dim light, her bottom lip trembled slightly.

  “Because I love you.” The words slipped out. Very true, but very unintended. Luna straightened her shoulders and waited.

  “I wish that was enough, Luna.” She climbed out of the car and walked away into the night, leaving Luna behind. Tight bands of loss circled Luna’s chest and the weight was crushing.

  If love wasn’t enough, what was?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tuesday, September 22

  “It’s perfect.” Perez spread her arms and spun in a circle.

  Luna inspected the warehouse with slightly less enthusiasm. It wasn’t that she didn’t like it. She did. But since Angie told her they shared no future together, her life had been covered in cellophane. Her emotions were still there, she just couldn’t quite touch them. Still, Perez’s hard work and excitement deserved acknowledgment.

  “It’s great.”

  “Great?” Perez shook Luna’s arm. “It’s way better than great, Luna.”

  The industrial building had a spacious, open floor plan that could easily be partitioned off. Luna mentally placed the reception area and eight private rooms. That left more than half of the available space unaccounted for. “It’s more space than we need.”

  “That’s true.” Perez pulled the folded property listing from her pocket and smoothed the creases. “But it costs less than other places with half the room.”

  Luna didn’t understand why. The neighborhood wasn’t great, but it wasn’t the worst in Portland. Hell, the crime rate was probably a little lower than it was at their current location. The building didn’t appear to have any major structural problems, but an inspection would determine that for sure. “Why is that?”

  Perez shrugged and looked at the real-estate agent, a cheerful woman named Jean.

  “The current owner is very eager to sell. Some unfortunate personal events make quick turnover more important than a big sale.”

  Luna tried to remember the numbers that Perez had laid out in the car. She’d outlined in detail the asking price, required deposit, and projected monthly payment. It had turned into a jumble of numbers in Luna’s head. “Tell me the numbers again.”

  Perez broke it down for her. Luna’s income alone would cover the mortgage, but not much else. Between her and Perez, however, a piece of cake.

  “And this is the place you want?” Luna was in no shape to make major decisions, and maybe she was making a serious mistake leaving it all to Perez to decide. She was willing to find out.

  “Hell, yes.” Perez nodded, momentarily abandoning her normal cool.

  Luna looked around again, trying to take it all in, force order into the chaos in her head. She sighed. “I don’t know, Perez.”

  Perez stared at her, then turned to Jean. “Can you give us a minute?”

  “Take your time.” Jean smiled. “I’m heading across the street for a cup of coffee.”

  Perez waited until the door closed behind her, then said, “It’s been a week. Have you talked to her at all?”

  Luna hated how absolutely dependent on Angie she’d become so quickly. More than that, she hated how obvious it was to others. She was a wreck and Angie could fix it with one word.

  “She won’t return my calls.” Luna had phoned nonstop for the first couple of days. When she realized how desperate her actions were, she forced herself to slow the pace. Now she held herself at a strict limit of ten messages per day. She was pathetic and she didn’t care.

  “Have you seen her?” If Perez was annoyed at suspending their business dealings, it didn’t show. She was all concerned friend the moment Jean left the building.

  “No.” Unless she counted watching Angie walk past on her way to and from work. She’d stared longingly from behind her window, willing Angie to open the door and come in. Since Angie didn’t so much as look in her direction, Luna didn’t consider those non-encounters worth mentioning.

  “Why don’t you go to her house?”

  Luna looked twice to make sure Perez was serious. She was. “Because she’ll call the police. You gonna bail me out?” Luna was only half joking.

  “Her dad won’t let her do that.”

  Luna liked Jack, and he seemed to like her. But most likely his affection didn’t extend far enough to shift his loyalty from Angie to her. At least she hoped not. It would break Angie’s heart. “I’m not willing to take the chance.”

  “Really? Then you need to forget about Angie and move on.”

  “What the fuck, Perez?” Where did the supportive friend go?

  “If you don’t grow some balls, and soon, you don’t stand a chan
ce. It’s best if you let her go now if that’s the case.”

  “That’s harsh.”

  “It’s the truth. Either do something or get over it. This whole walking-around-in-a-daze thing needs to end.”

  “I’m only allowed to be hurt on your timetable, is that it?” Luna bordered on shouting.

  Perez put her hands on her hips. “Stop being such an asshole and go see Angie. Beg if you have to, I don’t care. Make her see how much she means to you.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “It is. Exactly that simple.”

  Luna paused. When Perez said it, it sounded so easy. But it wouldn’t be. “I already tried that and it didn’t work.”

  “If you love her, really love her, then you’ll try harder.” Perez spoke like Luna was a particularly slow learner.

  Jean returned with a carrier full of coffee. “Hope I’m not too soon.” She handed a cup to Perez and one to Luna.

  Perez smiled at Luna, her eyes soft and encouraging, before turning her attention to Jean. “Just in time, I’d say.”

  “Did you make a decision?” Jean smiled like the eternally optimistic salesperson that she was.

  “I don’t know.” Perez looked pointedly at Luna. “Did we?”

  Luna considered what they’d discussed and wondered how much of Perez’s message was just about Angie and how much had to do with Coraggio as well. She had too much up in the air. She needed to decide about something, even it was just surrendering the decision-making to Perez. After all, this move meant just as much, if not more, to Perez as it did to her.

  Luna sipped her coffee and nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  *

  Angie rubbed her eyes and reread the paragraph for the third time. She inserted her bookmark and considered officially giving up on accounting for the day. The receptionist smiled at her in an I-take-too-much-Zoloft kind of way, and Angie doubted her decision to let Oliver talk to the therapist alone. She genuinely believed he would open up easier if she wasn’t present, but at the same time she didn’t want him emerging from the inner workings of Dunloff, Knopp, and Lee in an overmedicated stupor. Oliver was entitled to the full measure of his emotions—providing he didn’t force them on others—rather than the mellow middle ground that mood-enhancing drugs produced.

  She was overreacting, but knowing it didn’t stop her. Oliver was her only child. She was supposed to protect him. With that overactive mama-bear instinct also came some seriously overactive paranoid delusions.

  Angie sighed and reopened the book. The practical side of her personality insisted that she use her time in the waiting room wisely. Simply sitting there and imagining the worse wouldn’t do any good. She gave up trying to understand what she was reading and compromised by moving her eyes over the words while allowing her mind to wander. This imperfect compromise was the best she could come up with.

  “I’m ready, Mom.” Oliver ran over to Angie, moving on overdrive, like always.

  Dr. Knopp followed. “Can I speak to you for a few minutes, Ms. Dressen?” She gestured for Angie to enter her office. “Oliver will be fine here, won’t you, Oliver?”

  “Yeah, go ahead, Mom. I’ll be okay.”

  Angie smiled at Oliver, not at all sure he would. She followed the doctor through the door.

  “Please, have a seat.” Dr. Knopp seated herself behind the desk. Angie was glad. If she’d chosen the traditional therapist chair and client on the couch layout, Angie would have been uncomfortable enough to consider leaving.

  Angie waited, but Dr. Knopp didn’t speak again. Was this a cheap parlor trick that therapists used to see how long the other person could go without filling the silence? Angie’s threshold proved to be fairly low. She didn’t feel like dicking around when it came to Oliver’s well-being. “What did you need?”

  “I’m not sure what your concerns are with Oliver?” Dr. Knopp raised her eyebrow, inviting Angie to fill in the blanks. This time Angie didn’t. Dr. Knopp continued. “But I can assure you that Oliver is a normal prepubescent boy.”

  Angie relented. She needed to know if she should expect a repeat performance or if Oliver’s uncharacteristic display that day had been a one-off. “He got into a fight at school where he held down a smaller boy and drew a tattoo of an angel on his arm.”

  “And you want to know if he’ll do anything like that again.”

  “Yes.” God, Angie hoped not.

  “Of course I can’t predict the future, but I don’t see evidence of a violent nature in Oliver.” Dr. Knopp consulted her notes. “He knows that was wrong and is genuinely remorseful.”

  “Well, that’s good, right?” Angie dared to hope.

  “It is, yes.”

  “Do you think he needs to come back?” Angie held her breath while she waited for the answer.

  “Not for that issue, no.” Dr. Knopp left the sentence up in the air, like she had more to say even though she’d technically finished the answer.

  “But?” Angie hated what came after but. It was never good. She forced herself to breathe.

  “He has some issues to work through, just like any other child his age.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Angie didn’t want to deny Oliver help if he genuinely needed it, but didn’t want to condemn him to a life of therapy before she’d had a chance to truly drive him to require it. She stood. “If there’s nothing else?”

  “That covers it, Ms. Dressen.”

  Angie made a hasty retreat before Dr. Knopp could think of another reason to detain her. Strangely, the experience felt reminiscent of being called to the assistant principal’s office. She didn’t slow on her way through the reception area. “Come on, son, time to go.”

  Oliver scrambled to catch up. “Can we stop for ice cream on the way home?”

  “Why not?” As far as Angie was concerned, a clean bill of mental health was reason to celebrate.

  They pulled through the local Dairy Queen on the way home, a vanilla cone for Angie, a chocolate swirl for Oliver.

  “Mom…” Oliver caught Angie’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He still wasn’t old enough to sit in the front seat because of the airbag. That was a milestone he was looking forward to and Angie was dreading. It would be one more irrefutable sign that her little boy was growing up.

  “Yes, baby?” Angie tensed and waited for Oliver to throw a fit about being too big to be called baby. When it didn’t come, she smiled. Could she get away with tousling his hair, too? She’d never find out because she was driving, but the thought made her feel good.

  “I miss Luna.” He took a hasty lick of ice cream, catching a potential drip before it could fall. “When is she coming over again?”

  Angie’s heart clenched. This was exactly why she hadn’t wanted Luna to get involved with Oliver. She knew when he got attached, something would go wrong and she’d be left to protect him from a broken heart. As it was, she wasn’t doing a very good job keeping her own heart safe, so how could she hope to do so for Oliver?

  “I know you do, son.” Angie opted for frank, if not all-inclusive, honesty. “So do I.”

  “Then make her come see us.”

  “It doesn’t work that way.”

  “You’re the mom. That means you’re in charge.”

  “Yes, but I’m not Luna’s mom.” In spite of Angie’s denial, she knew that one word from her and Luna would be over before she could disconnect the phone call. She wasn’t ready. “So that rule doesn’t work with her.”

  “Well, that’s dumb.”

  “I agree.” Angie turned into the driveway and pushed the button on her garage-door opener. She was halfway in before she realized Luna was sitting on her doorstep.

  “Luna!” Oliver yelled, and jumped out of the car before Angie fully stopped.

  Angie parked the car and followed Oliver out of the garage to the front porch. She stood back and let Oliver talk to Luna uninterrupted. Luna stood, hands stuffed in her pockets, and smiled at Angie over the top of Oliver’s head. “Hi,
Angie.”

  “Mom got me ice cream. I didn’t know you’d be here or I would have brought you some. You can have some of mine if you want.” Oliver thrust his melting ice cream into Luna’s face.

  “Whoa, easy does it, buddy.” Luna laughed and took an exaggerated bite of Oliver’s ice cream.

  “Are you coming in? Grandpa is making pizza tonight. It’s way better than takeout, and I got a new video game. You have to play it with me. Come on.” Oliver tugged Luna’s arm.

  “Let me talk to your mom, okay?” Luna’s smile was sad, and Angie wanted to send her after Oliver just so they could play video games together and be happy for a few hours. She didn’t.

  “Oliver, go help Grandpa with dinner.” Angie handed her ice cream to Oliver.

  “Fine, but you can’t let her leave without coming inside first.” Oliver pouted, then ran inside yelling, “Grandpa, did you know Luna’s here?” The door slammed behind him.

  “Luna.” Angie ached to take Luna into her arms. It’d been too long since she’d felt her body against hers. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.” Luna twisted her hands together.

  “Does Jack know you’re here?” Angie couldn’t imagine her father leaving Luna on the front step if he was aware of her presence.

  “He does, but I insisted on waiting here. Didn’t want a repeat of Labor Day.”

  Angie knew she should invite Luna in. It was the only polite thing to do. But she didn’t feel like being polite when it would cost her emotional ground. She gestured toward the step where Luna had previously been seated. “Want to sit?”

  Luna nodded, her face grim, and settled onto the top step. Angie sat next to her. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

  “You haven’t returned my calls.” Luna didn’t look at Angie. “So I came here instead of leaving another message.”

  “You shouldn’t have.” Angie could forget why she didn’t want to see Luna if she stayed much longer. “You should go.”

  “I had to see you.” Luna remained seated. “Please, Angie, you have to talk to me.”