Page 2 of Moonlit Temptation

He was sorry and wasn’t going to make it.

So casual. So blasé.

Like we were meeting for lunch instead of traveling to another country together.

And the reason he couldn’t make it?

Our father was accepting an award at a charity banquet and wanted his family in attendance.

Guess which one of his three children didn’t get the invite.

If it was anyone else but Archer who gifted me this trip, I would’ve thought someone was sending the little black sheep Novak across the pond so she didn’t embarrass her family like the last time her father accepted an award.

I was never going to live down getting caught stealing a bottle of vodka from behind the open bar. I was sixteen and my father, the mayor of our small and snobby Georgia town, was not amused, especially when I told him it was for a dare.

He hadn’t been amused by my antics in a while.

Still not finding shelter from the rain, I opened my palms, letting rain pool in the center of them.

I made it.

Years. I’d been wanting to come here for years, but never did I think I would be alone. Another person was supposed to be next to me right now. Someone other than my brother.

I made it, Mom.

I promised myself on the plane I wouldn’t be sad. She wouldn’t have wanted me to be. This had been our dream for years.

This exact day. This exact year.

And I made it.

Despite swearing I wouldn’t.

My hands closed into fists, splashing the water that gathered in various directions.

I shouldn’t be alone.

Mom said we’d go together. Promised, actually.

But promises and plans couldn’t keep cancer away. And cancer didn’t care about promises.

She died when I was twelve.

That was probably the worst of my luck on this trip, and it happened over seven years ago.

It wasn’t until my phone started to vibrate in my bag that I finally pulled myself out of the rain, finding shelter in a covered alcove.

I was honestly surprised my phone wasn’t ruined with how long I stood out there, but I guess my luck didn’t stretch that far.

I’d rather a dead phone than to talk to the person on the other end.

“Hello?” I answered on the last ring before voicemail.

“Hello? Hello? Are you fucking kidding me, Mady?” My brother’s loud voice assaulted my ears. “Your plane landed three hours ago and this is the first I’m hearing from you? I’ve called at least five times!”

“Well, there was customs, and then I had to check into the hotel. Oh, and let’s not forget the biggest, most time-consuming reason. I don’t want to talk to you.” I was fuming that Archer left me. Chose him over me. Today of all days.

“Mady—”

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