Page 60 of Blue Moon

In the end, it all came down to the celebrity picture round. Mom had always complained about me watching TV in my downtime. It would rot my brain, she said. Ha. Tonight, the many, many hours I’d spent watching Netflix paid off when I recognised every single face, even a baby picture of Armand Taylor, although that one was a bit of a guess. His dimples hadn’t changed, and his eyes were still a brilliant blue. Our team won by five points. The prize was a hamper of goodies and dinner at the Rock.

“Should we divide up the hamper?” Ryder asked. “Each person takes it in turn to pick an item until everything’s gone?”

“I don’t need any more stuff.” Dusk shrugged and nodded toward Tulsa. “And she just likes to win.”

Ryder looked to me.

“If nobody else wants the Peanut Butter Cups, I’ll take those.”

Nobody did, and in the end, we decided to leave the hamper on the table so everyone else could help themselves. For me, the best part of the evening was spending it with Ryder, his arm wrapped around me because we were free to be ourselves here. And Rocky, who’d slept by my feet the whole time, only jumping up when folks applauded the results at the end.

“You did great!” Shani said, hugging me. “I didn’t think anyone would get the Armand Taylor question right. Thanks for looking after Rocky.”

“He’s the sweetest. I think I’d like a dog someday.”

“He’s available for adoption, just sayin’.”

I crouched to pet him the way he loved. “But I have work, and I couldn’t even walk him without a dozen reporters following us everywhere.”

“Just throw poop at them.”

I burst out laughing. “If only I could. Can you imagine the headlines? Luna Maara attacks paparazzi with lethal weapon.”

“He doesn’t actually need walks at the moment. Just potty breaks and the occasional sniffari. Why don’t you try taking care of him for a couple of days and see how it goes? I’d have to check with the folks at the shelter, but there are so many dogs needing homes that there isn’t room for all of them. It breaks my heart when they get put to sleep. We’ve had more interest now that you’re helping with our social media, but…” she trailed off.

“I have a show every night.”

“And I have an ulterior motive; I’ll be truthful about that. I need to go visit my grandma in Oregon this week, and I was planning to drive so Rocky could come with me instead of sitting in a kennel at the shelter. He gets so sad there. But if you’d look after him, I could fly instead.”

Rocky must have known we were talking about him because he licked my hand. Gah, I was such a sucker for his furry schnozzle and oversized ears. Plus I’d be so lonely when Ryder went back to Richmond.

“I’d have to ask Frank if he could come to the hotel.”

“Just don’t send him to our place,” Tulsa muttered. “Sin will want to keep him, and Marcel will lose his mind if she gets another dog.”

“How many dogs does she have?” I asked.

“Right now? Three. Two of her own, and one that’s officially a foster.”

“Oh, she’ll keep Kermit,” Dusk said.

“Everyone except Marcel knows that.”

“Let me try calling Frank.”

He’d said that if I needed anything, I could get in touch day or night, and although he probably meant about the show, he hadn’t said as much. I stepped out into the hallway and dialled, keeping my fingers crossed.

“Bring the dog,” he said when I explained the situation. “Alessia can play with him. She keeps asking for a pet, but she has school, and music lessons… Yes, that’ll work.”

Shani squeezed the breath out of me when I broke the news, and Rocky sensed the excitement and let fly with his weird whisper-bark. It broke my heart that someone had taken his voice away from him.

“Frank says Alessia can help to look after him while I’m singing. She’s his granddaughter. Super talented on the guitar, and adorable too.”

“She could probably use the distraction.” Dusk snagged a chocolate truffle from the tray Marcel carried past. “I feel so sad for her.”

“You know Alessia?”

“No, but everyone knows what happened to her parents.”

---