Deep (Luna's Story Book 3) Read online

  Chickadee said, “What are you even talking about Beckie?”

  “We should speak about this first, before you do something so rash,” said Roscoe sternly.

  “I'm sorry Roscoe, I've decided. I mean, we've decided. Luna and I.”

  “Beckie, all those acres, what are you thinking?” Chickadee wadded up a piece of paper out of frustration.

  Beckett chewed his lip. “With Luna's urging, I'm thinking about all those lives.”

  She leaned back in her chair, her brow furrowed. “Well, that seems purely nonsensical.”

  “It's not nonsensical. Or maybe it is. Okay, it probably is. But Luna and I lost a friend to this war. We heard about it this morning and we’re still reeling from it. And maybe we’re acting foolishly…” Beckett gulped and reached back for Luna’s hand. “But I don’t think so. She’s right, I know all these people. And I have enough land to save their lives, so I will. And after I’m done we’ll take stock of what we have left and we’ll make do.”

  He took a deep breath and turned to Roscoe. “I’d like you to write up individual contracts with each person on this list. Each family will put forward what they can afford and I’ll make up the difference.”

  Dryden's father said, “We already have a contract.”

  “It has the signature of my abusive uncle on it. And it ties our families together forever. I won’t sign it. I'll fight over it for the rest of my life before I sign it. We're all aware I have the better lawyer. Your guy has been sitting there barely speaking this entire time.” Mr Peterson flinched and shuffled papers angrily. Beckett continued, “You'll lose, or you can take my deal, which keeps your son home from war.”

  “Are you sure about this?” asked Roscoe. “I could win this case, it was just a matter of time.”

  “Sure, you could. I one hundred percent believe you could. But, also, we decided that we won't watch anybody on that list go fight because they're too poor not to.”

  Roscoe leaned back in his chair and tapped his pen up and down on the contract. Then he leaned forward and spoke. “What if in the next draft, the stakes are higher, and you have less? How will you pay your own taxes?”

  Beckett flinched. And blew out a gust of air. “I can't think about that, what ifs and future problems. I can only do this. So I will.”

  Roscoe sat back with a long slow breath. “Okay, I'll write it up. Are you in agreement, Ted?”

  Dryden's father scowled at Beckett but nodded, shoved his chair away from the table, and ordered Dryden to gather her things.

  As they headed to the door Dryden turned back around for one final protest. “You could have told me. Told me that you got your little nomad girl pregnant and that you had to marry her now. You could have saved me the embarrassment.”

  Chickadee interrupted, “I think you should get used to feeling embarrassed, girlie, it suits you.”

  Dryden huffed and flounced out of the room.

  Beckett pulled Luna's hand up and kissed it.

  Roscoe shook his head. “You're sure, absolutely sure about this?”

  “No, I’m not. And yes, kind of. It’s going against everything I thought I was supposed to do, but Luna hasn’t led me wrong so far.” He squeezed her hand. “I’m making sure that she and the baby are my biggest priority.”

  Chickadee said, “I can't understand a word you're saying. You're giving up everything you have.”

  Beckett said, “Not everything.”

  “Most everything. Talk some sense into him Dilly. You see what he's doing, make him stop. Be the voice of poetic reason for his sad man-brain.”

  “I won't.” Dilly shook her head. “It's not his brain that's making this decision. It's his heart, and I think his heart might be the wiser.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence, Dilly.” Beckett blew out a big gust of air. The one that kept getting stuck in his chest, while he pretended to know what he was doing, saying, thinking. He was relieved to let it go, but also felt deflated that it was gone.

  Luna spoke for the first time. “I'm sorry our decision is causing you to feel so upset and worried and I just love you all. I have to do this and I begged Beckett and it’s my fault. But please don’t be mad at me.”

  Chickadee said, “Pshaw, child, I'm not mad. Beckett is a grown ass man now, and rich as hell, and I've been living on this land taking care of it, fighting for it, arguing about it, for years, because he was a little boy, and I had to protect him. I could have been producing shows in the city, and well, if most of the land isn't here, I'm going to call myself free to go. But I just want to point out that a year ago this grown ass man bellyached to me that,” her voice went up to a falsetto, “'the land was everything to me' and 'his number one priority.' I've heard that so much I can't believe one forty minute conversation could change his mind.”

  Beckett looked sheepishly at his aunt. “It's for Luna, can you blame me?”

  Chickadee sighed melodramatically. “I cannot dear child. She is a beautiful soul. I too would follow her anywhere. Especially after that whole thing earlier about bonking you twice yesterday. Hoo-whee, I thought I would fall right out of my chair!” Chickadee reached over and squeezed Luna's hand. “That there will be a punchline in my next show.”

  “Now Chickadee it almost sounds like you're saying that you're going to move back to the city,” said Roscoe. “As my best-friend, I think you might have to discuss this first. What I would do without you?”

  “How can I move back to the city? There's a literal baby about to be born. Are you going to miss it Dilly?”

  Dilly said, “That baby will have to get used to me hovering about it every day.”

  Chickadee said, “Yes, I'm not leaving you dear Roscoe, not this decade, but also, I was talking with Peter, and we have an excellent idea for our next show. So I might travel back and forth for a little while. The film schedule would be a couple of months, and then I'd come back, and see, now I can, because I'm not the caretaker of like a billion acres. I can trust you, Beckie, to be in charge of the one goat you're left with?”

  “You can trust me.” Beckett had a solemn smirk on his face. “Probably I can keep more than one goat though. It will just be a tighter fit than before.”

  “So to answer your question, dearest children, no I'm not mad. I actually feel a little liberated. Like a party might be in order.”

  Luna said, “That's good Chickadee because Beckett and I are going to be married—”

  Chickadee jumped from her chair. “Married! Married, do you hear this Dilly?”

  It was an unnecessary question, Dilly was already up, rushing them, hugging and tearfully kissing them both.

  Roscoe busied himself collecting the papers and smiling to himself. After the hugging was over, Chickadee asked him, “You'll of course get right on the drawing up of paperwork for all of this.”

  To which he answered, “Of course.”

  Chapter 48

  Two days later at dinner, Dilly clapped her hands and announced, “We need to make wedding plans!” She slammed through a drawer for a notepad and pen. Shark took her excitement as an excuse to jump on her legs.

  Then Dilly returned to her chair and held her pen poised above the pad, looking at Luna, waiting.

  Luna opened her eyes wide. “Don't look at me, I don't know what the heck this is about!”

  “You don't? You haven't been planning your wedding since forever?”

  Luna shook her head no.

  Chickadee chuckled. “Well, the good news is Dilly has been planning ten different weddings since she was eight, so you can simply nod and smile, dear one, and let her write down whatever she wants.”

  “What kind of wedding did you have Dilly?”

  Chickadee interrupted, “It had all the usual parts, bombastic speeches, mushy vows, drunken relatives, and both brides wore a white dress.” She laughed merrily.

  Luna squinted her eyes and looked from face to face for the truth.

  Dilly asked, “Have you never been to
a wedding before?”

  Luna shook her head.

  Chickadee said, “Well Dilly, you're going to have some fun, aren't you?”

  Dilly jotted down a giant number one and circled it three times. “First, we need to discuss a dress.”

  Luna looked down at her belly. “Do they sell dresses with these dimensions? Couldn't I just wear my normal—”

  It was Dilly's turn to look afraid. “Your normal clothes are yoga pants and a floral hand-me-down robe! You wear it open in the front! It won't do for a wedding dress. For one, it's too casual and comfortable.”

  “So I need an uncomfortable dress?”

  Chickadee said, “Exactly! In white, to be impractical too.”

  Luna said, “Beckett do you hear this? This is complicated, did I not tell you?”

  Beckett grinned widely. “You did. You also said I was worth the complications, so here you are, planning the big giant dress you're going to wear. Wait until you see the monkey suit I have to wear.”

  Luna said, “A suit?”

  Chickadee said, “A tuxedo. We'll get his father's cleaned.”

  Luna said, “Well that might be worth it. I bet you're hot in a suit.”

  Chickadee said, “Luna those hormones are swinging aren't they child? You're a hot mess one minute and a horny toad the next!” Chickadee giggled some more and scooped up Shark and rubbed her face in the puppy's soft fur.

  “I have the best idea!” Dilly clapped her hands, sending her bracelets jingling, “We'll get Chickadee's wedding dress tailored for Luna! Would you like that Chickie, for Luna to wear your—”

  “I would love it if she would. There isn't a place in the world it's useful for, and there's plenty of fabric. It would probably make four wedding dresses.”

  Dilly drew a check mark on her list, mumbling something about Tillie Millerson doing the tailoring. “Okay, flower arrangements, what is your color theme?”

  Luna looked at Beckett with wide eyes. “Is this the way it's going to be — for how long?”

  Beckett said, “Three weeks.”

  Dilly said, “Three weeks! How am I going to get all this done in three weeks?”

  Beckett grabbed Luna's hand and joked, “Exactly, pick a color, pick a color!”

  Luna asked, “Blue?”

  Dilly clapped her hands and Chickadee said, “Dear child, hold on to your seat. That's literally the first of a million decisions that mean nothing, but will have to be made as if they're the most important thing in the world. When this is over you'll need a honeymoon.”

  Beckett kissed Luna's fingertips.

  Dilly continued with her list, not listening to anyone around her. “There's your vows of course, you'll have to write them soon.”

  Luna jokingly collapsed over the back of her chair with an over-dramatic croaking noise. To add to the effect, she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

  Beckett said, “See there Dilly, you killed her. Love of my life, dead, because of your insistence on the wedding of the century.”

  “This is only going to be the wedding of the decade.” Dilly circled the number five on her list and under it wrote: important.

  Chickadee said, “Plus, that whole thing, 'love of my life,' you've written your vows already. Say that three times, no one will even notice.”

  Beckett feigned incredulous. “No one will even notice that I'm reading the same line over and over again?”

  Chickadee erupted into laughter. “No one will even notice you at all. They'll be too busy trying to figure out why the bride is wearing your Aunt Chickadee's white tent like a kimono!”

  Luna melted into giggles. Beckett and Dilly were laughing.

  Chickadee's laughter grew louder and more hysterical. “And why the bride is nine months pregnant but wearing white — trying to pass as a virgin!”

  Luna laughed so hard that tears rolled down her face. She snorted loudly. “Oops! I peed myself!” and jumped out of her chair. “Pee running down my leg, darn it!” She bolted out of the room.

  Chickadee roared with laughter. “I do love that girl!”

  Chapter 49

  It was after four a.m. and Luna was up, standing at the porch railing, listening to the dew. She loved this time of day. Misty, usually cooler by degrees, but today it was still hot, or already hot, hard to decide which. There was steam coming off the grass. She shifted her weight and a board creaked. She was usually more cautious with her middle of the night sounds, not wanting to wake anyone. She was the watch after all. The number one rule of the lookout is to let everyone else sleep. Its sole purpose. Especially because land-based people slept soundly and expected it to last, but she was a wanderer, a staring, sometimes worrying, shifting and sighing, watcher of the world.

  This morning she was also very uncomfortable. Drips of sweat rolling down her belly to her panties kind of hot. She also felt pretty damn heavy. Also like she needed to burp and fart both. Finally, like she wanted to cry. Happy tears. Mostly.

  Footsteps sounded across the living room. She could tell it was Beckett, coming to check.

  He peeked his bleary eyed, rumple headed self out of the screen door. “Can't sleep?”

  “Not really.”

  “Me neither,” he lied. Beckett always said that, but it was always untrue. He could sleep. As soon as he wanted to, he could. “Mind if I join you?”

  “I'd like that.”

  Beckett dropped into the chair and steadily rocked. “Check out the mist on the gravel. It's beautiful this time of night.”

  Luna turned and leaned facing him. “Morning, you mean.”

  “And whatcha thinking about out here?”

  Her arms were crossed over her chest against the damp, the dark tendrils of her hair curled on her cheek. Beckett considered brushing one back behind her ear and kissing there.

  “You know me, I'm worried about the complex nature of dew vs rain and the velocity ratio between wind and current.”

  Beckett gave her a smile with a full dimple. “I don't think so, I think you're out here worried about the complexity of the wedding plans.”

  Luna screwed her face up in pretend-despair. “I am! We talked about wedding dresses and wedding dinners and something called a wedding vow, and now it's hot as hell in here.” She leaned over and fanned her belly and her armpit. “It's so hot and I'm like a giant whale and I can't,” she pulled her panties out and fanned down into them. “Get cool. How am I going to wear Aunt Chickadee's dress?” She started panting.

  Beckett raised a brow, chuckling. “What would help?”

  Luna threw her arms out wide. “Water? I want to float. Can we go to Heighton Port? Spend the day with Sarah and Rebecca and Dan?”

  “I have another meeting this afternoon with Roscoe, to sign all the individual contracts and pace out the land. It will be a doozy. I can't — wait—” His face transformed as if a suppressed memory had just been recovered. “I have an idea, there's a lake, small, about two towns over, we could be there in about thirty minutes.” He looked down at his bare arm for the timepiece that wasn't there. “We could load up your board and go, right now, eat breakfast there, swim, paddle around, and be back in time for lunch.”

  Relief washed over Luna. “Could we? That would be awesome. Really—” She kind of felt like crying again.

  “Yeah, really. Let's get dressed, quietly.”

  _____________________

  Thirty minutes later Luna's board jutted from the back of the truck and a basket with some food nestled between them on the seat and Beckett rolled the truck slowly out of the driveway for the mountain road. Traffic was light because of the time of day. The sky still so dark they had to burn the headlights and their windows were rolled down because of the heat. Luna sprawled in the front seat, legs wide, fanning herself. “Is it always so freaking blazing hot?”

  Beckett said, “Summer. You've never had the pleasure of a full summer without a place to plunge.”

  “What's plunging in a lake like?”

  “
Exactly the same and completely different. No salt, not as floaty.”

  “Really? Weird.”

  “Yep and the bottom can be super disgusting. Muddy silt, black, no waves.”

  “It's like you're describing a foreign world. No waves, what is that?”

  “Just follow me.”

  “Follow you? You're going to swim?”

  Beckett grinned over his driving arm. “Of course! I always swim!”

  Luna said, “Speaking of swimming, I have to pee.”

  Beckett scoffed, “You just went, twenty minutes ago.”

  “Baby has a knee on my bladder.”

  “I think you're just used to being on the water and going whenever you can put your butt over the edge.”

  “True that. You Stiffneck land-livers with your toilets.” She crossed her legs. “Seriously, if we keep joking and not stopping I might pee in the truck.”

  He squinted through the front windshield as he pulled the truck into a little store parking lot. There was one other car and through the small window a small light burned inside.

  Luna said, “I'll knock and ask them to take pity on me.”

  “Want me to come—” Beckett's phone rang. “It's Dan.”

  Luna pantomimed she was going to the store without him, and he nodded while he answered. “Hey! You got the invitation? Yes, it will be good to see you guys. We almost came today, but I have lawyer stuff. Yeah, yeah...”

  A few minutes later Luna returned carrying two drinks and three bags of chips. “Junk food! I so needed this.” She ripped open a bag, put one foot on the dash near the steering wheel, and one on the passenger door, and propped the bag on top of her stomach with a giggle. “I look like Chickadee.”

  “Kind of yeah, except she's all soft fluff. You're more stretched out over-expansion about to burst.”

  The baby kicked and the bag of chips slid down Luna's belly. “Literally burst,” she said.

  Chapter 50

  Twenty minutes later Luna was cautiously stepping down a rocky shore, snaking between pine trees toward a tiny inlet with sky-reflecting water. The sun was coming up. The mud was squelchy, and the water was a little warmer than perfect, but cooler than the air.