Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“I forgot the toast.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I prefer bread.”
He found the bread, and Luna took it from him, along with the butter, and they walked into her dining room. Matthew had noticed her laptop set up, but the lid was down. He didn’t move it and opted to sit on the far end of the table.
He pulled out Luna’s chair, and she sat down. This time, he held the back of her head and kissed her. “Good morning.”
“Morning.”
Taking a seat at the table, he handed her a knife and fork, and she thanked him, cutting into a piece of bacon.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised that you know how to cook. You live with two freaking legends.” She laughed.
“I live with one. Mary doesn’t live with us.”
“Oh, right, I guess with the whole clubhouse thing. Mary is there, and you know, I put two and two together.”
“Believe it or not, it’s kind of hard living with a food blogger.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “You can’t be serious.”
Matthew laughed. “You don’t think everything they cook is great, do you?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I guess not.”
“Trust me. It’s not. Holly’s had many disasters. It’s so gross.” He shuddered, remembering an herb and cheese pie thing Holly had made him try. It had tasted like vomit, and it was a memory he would like to forget.
Luna snorted as she laughed and covered her mouth. “Stop it. It can’t be that bad.”
“Oh, but it is, believe me. Don’t even get me started on her molten cake. I’ve had them when they have been undercooked. Molten cake, undercooked, trust me, there is such a thing. Then we’ve got the kind that are rock hard.”
She shook her head. “This seems so unreal. I can’t even imagine it.” She took a bite of bacon. Matthew was starving. He grabbed some bread, thickly buttered it, and then took his tomatoes and placed it inside the slice, followed by several rashers of bacon.
“It’s all good fun. I mean, turkey gets a little old, but I know they love what they do. For the most part, the club loves it. They cook for all occasions, and it makes the club feel like home.”
“You’ve always loved the club.” She lightly buttered a slice of bread. Unlike him, Luna put hers on the plate and took little chunks with her bacon, eggs, and tomatoes.
“Yeah, it’s home. It’s family.”
“So are there any old ladies on the horizon?”
“Why? You want to come and check them out?” he asked.
She chuckled. “No, thanks.”
“What were you doing there that night?”
“I don’t know. I was just there, I guess. I think it was one of the final decisions that made me come home.” She shrugged.
“I’m glad you’re home.”
“Being a teaching assistant wasn’t what I wanted to do. Nor was working in a law firm.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was, I guess I felt like my life was turning into something I didn’t want. I was away from home, and while I was studying, that felt right. It felt good. I know I’ve grown since being away. I’m happier in myself. You know? This is probably crazy.”
He reached out to put a hand on top of hers. “It’s not crazy.”
She smiled at him, giving his hand a squeeze. He let her go so she could finish her food.
“But I didn’t leave home to do something I hated. I hated working in a law firm. Some of the lawyers, the way they spoke and, ugh, it was just awful. Then when I was denied at the publishing house where I wanted to learn from the ground up, I fell into a routine.”
“You don’t want to work at a publishing house, Luna. You never did.”
“True.” She sighed and looked down at the table. “And now, I’m back to waiting tables. Or I am when Mac decides to actually open. I shouldn’t complain. I’m getting paid either way.”
“Mac’s paying you?” Matthew asked.
“Yeah, odd, huh?”
“Yeah, that is odd.” He looked at her computer. “So write.”
Luna looked back at him. “You think I don’t want to?”
“I think you’re scared. You’ve got a job that is paying you without doing any work. You’re stuck in a rut, and you’ve got to get out of it, so why not write.”
“You think it’s that easy?” she asked.
“I think if you want it that badly, then yeah, it’s that easy.”
“What if it sucks?”
“And what if it doesn’t?” Matthew asked. “You’ll never know unless you take that time and just do it. I know you, Luna. You are good at everything. Even this. There’s no way you’re going to be bad at anything.”
“How? Why do you have so much confidence in me?” she asked.
“Because I believe in you. That’s why.” He took hold of her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I’ll always believe in you.”
****
Duke ran his hand down his face after hanging up the call. This wasn’t fucking good.