Page 31 of Clashing Moon

I’d been brought home by family, too, but for different reasons.

“I hope we can provide comfort in the months to come,” Annie said. “You’re part of our community, and everyone loves you.”

I thanked them, touched by their words. As tragic as it all was, I felt greatly comforted by the Moon family. What would it be like to be a Moon for real?

To be Rafferty’s wife?

Whoever it was and wherever she was, I felt jealous. I knew for certain he would never choose me, but I had this strange longing since we shared the cabin. A yearning to be with him. All day. Every day.

What had happened to me up there?

Atticus and Annie excused themselves, and I sat alone for a moment, sipping my tea and wishing I had something stronger. This had been a day. But what could I expect?

Elliot, who was about to give birth at any moment, had managed to make it to the funeral and was now at the gathering. Caspian kept a close watch on her, I’d noticed. Again, a twinge of jealousy poked at me. What would it be like to have a man look at me the way Caspian did his wife? Elliot came to say goodbye, wrapping her arms around me, her round tummy between us. “You hang in there. And let me know if you want to talk.”

“Thanks for coming and bringing the cookies.”

“It’s all I could think to do,” Elliot said.

Somehow, although greatly pregnant, Elliot had made tiny sugar cookies with raspberry filling. She’d remembered how much I enjoyed them when she served them with a dollop of ice cream at the restaurant last month. As the pastry chef of the Moons’ dude ranch, she never failed to delight her guests with her rotation of delicious concoctions.

Finley came by next, her sweet face crumpling slightly before she embraced me. “I know a little of what you’re feeling, having recently buried my sister. She and your father made it hard to love them, yet we did anyway.”

Finley’s twin sister had struggled with addiction and died in the most traumatic of ways, right in front of her eyes. I’d admired her for how courageously she handled such a blow, especially because her sister had done so many horrific things to Finley over the course of her life.

“That’s right. Still, I feel strangely…untethered,” I said.

“Yes, I know all about that too.” Finley smiled kindly before wrapping me in another hug. “I should go, but call me if you need anything.”

Soren, her husband, lingered behind to give me a hug. He was remarkably less grumpy than he’d been before he fell in love with Finley. “You’re family, you know that, right?” Soren asked. “You reach out if you need me.”

If I hadn’t before the last few days, I certainly did now. “I do, yes.”

Sammie and Thad approached, sitting down together on the couch next to me. “We wanted to say how sorry we are,” Sammie said.

Thad reached over to squeeze my shoulder. “It wasn’t right—what happened. I wish there was something someone could have done.”

“Rafferty and I tried,” I said. “And almost ended up dead in the process.”

“We’re glad you’re both okay. That was a long night waiting to hear,” Sammie said softly.

Sammie’s little girl, Chloe, came running up, throwing her four-year-old arms around my legs and placing her cheek on my knee. Children were like dogs. They always knew just what a person needed.

“How’s your kitten doing?” I asked Chloe.

“She’s good.” Chloe’s mouth curved downward into a frown. “But she’s big now.”

“That’s good. That means she’d growing up just right.”

Thad scooped Chloe onto his lap and kissed the top of her head. “Chloe’s been taking excellent care of our new family member.”

“We should go and leave you in peace,” Sammie said. “Please reach out when you’re ready for a girls’ night out. We can let down our hair, so to speak.”

I promised to do so, then watched as the family of three headed toward the front door.

My father’s old cronies had come by next. They said a few perfunctory things about my father before excusing themselves.

This left just Stella, Jasper, and Rafferty. Stella and Jasper were in the kitchen, presumably cleaning up, but Rafferty came over with a bottle of wine in his hand. “You ready for something stronger?”