Page 58 of Proof
“That’s it. Right there. That’s all she wrote. Or he wrote. But nobody wrote anything else.” Then she scrolled to the next text. “Check this out.”
Cullen squinted and stared. “His wife?”
“Yes.” Luna sucked in her lips. “There are no other names in either obit.”
“Wow.” Back to the monosyllabic words.
“Yep.” Luna sighed. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about any of this.”
“True. And I suppose you’ve tried to ferret out additional information yourself.”
“Yep. I even checked the coroner’s office. It’s baffling.”
“Oh, and I know how you get when something baffles you.”
“Cullen, he was my friend. A good friend. It’s not going to be easy to let this go.”
“Listen to me. You’re going to have to. You can’t track down his family and demand information. They are probably still grieving.”
“But what about the memorial?” Luna whined.
“Let it go, dear sister. If anything comes up, I am sure you will hear about it.”
She sighed. “I suppose you’re right, but . . .”
“Nuh-uh. Don’t get yourself all twisted up.”
“Too late. I already am,” Luna huffed.
“Well, untwist yourself, girlie. Find something to occupy your mind.”
“It’s the timing of all this, too, Cul. You brought my dresser here, I found souvenirs of Brendan, and now he turns up dead.”
“Well, that wasn’t exactly the course of events. You discovered those items months after he died. You just didn’t know he was dead. You tried to make contact, and you got the news.” Cullen looked at her. “This is not a coincidence, Luna. Like I said, he was already dead.”
“Okay, okay. I get that he has left the planet.”
“Sorry, kiddo, but not everything has to be connected.”
“Have you met me?” Luna snickered.
Cullen took her by the shoulders and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“What’s with my forehead lately? People keep kissing it.”
“Because you’re so cute.” Cullen chuckled.
Luna perked up. “But I do have some exciting news.”
“Good. Care to share?”
“Ellie wants me to go to Sedona and scout out a few Native American artists for a holiday decoration display she’s planning in the atrium.”
“That’s great! You’ll have a chance to see Gail?”
“I hope I can stay with her. Ellie just told me about it an hour ago. I have to get my equilibrium back. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. She wants me to go to Tlaquepaque, the art center there. She also confessed she got the inspiration for the atrium landscaping from the developer. He built it around a grove of sycamore trees. There are live trees growing inside buildings.” She pointed to the atrium. “Et voilà!”
“When are you going?”