Page 77 of In the Light of the Moon

“This is great, O,” Ramona had started eating by making delicate cuts into her chicken and taking small bites of the arugula salad on her plate but quickly descended into taking larger, inhaling mouthfuls. Her black hair was pulled into a thick and shiny braid that fell over her shoulder. Though her oversized shirt and pants looked comfortable, I guessed that they were just as expensive as her mother’s clothes.

“Is that a compliment? You’re losing your edge, Mona.” Orion punctuated his words with a large bite of chicken, and I tried my best to hide my rising smile. His mother most certainly made him uneasy, but I could tell that he loved his sister.

Ramona rolled her light brown eyes, “Don’t push it, Casper.”

I almost spit out my wine. Meredith had been watching her children’s exchange with cool observation, her plate looking barely touched. But when I caught her eye across the table while I took a calming gulp of water, I saw her smirk before she threw it back with her drink.

“So, how long are you in town for?” I piped up. It seemed like a safe enough topic, and I tried to inject my voice with as much cheer and excitement as possible. Though Orion wasn’t close with his family, Iwasgoing to make a good impression on them, dammit.

Meredith just shrugged, but Ramona added, “Just the long weekend. We knew you probably wouldn’t come by for Christmas.”

“And what if we were out of town? What would you have done?” Orion added shortly. I fidgeted in my seat, worried about the direction this was looking to be headed, but they seemed to be running with it.

Meredith shrugged again, her almost-white hair slipping across her silk blouse, “Gotten a hotel, shown Ramona around town.”

“Youwould have shown her?” My eyes drew in confusion.

“Yes,” Meredith looked between Orion and I, “I did grow up here. Not much seems to have changed.”

I fought to keep my gaze forward instead of running a questioning glance Orion’s way. Had he told me that? My mind raced over the information he’d shared with me about his parents, but he’d mentioned so little about her.

And then another thought sprang in the forefront of my mind. “Did you know my mother?”

Meredith raised her napkin to pat the corner of her lips and threw it on her half-full plate. I knew that Orion would be irritated by the gesture, but my focus was on his mother’s face. She gave me an assessing once-over, and if I hadn’t been used to my mate’s tendencies at this point, I would have been taken aback when she leaned slightly forward and sniffed toward me. Ramona was looking between all three of us but remained quiet.

“Caley?”

My body immediately rose in my seat, my heart hammering in my chest. “Yes!” I glanced at Orion and found him already looking down towards me, smiling softly. He nudged his foot closer to mine.

“Hm, not sure why I didn’t see it before. Yes, she and I went to school together, actually.” Meredith seemed to soften a little bit with this knowledge. After a moment, she added, “I was sorry to hear about the accident. I went to her funeral. Though you were probably too young to remember my being there.”

Orion put an arm around the back of my chair, but the mention of my mother’s funeral didn’t make me feel upset or sad. My head tilted, and I tried to wrack my brain for memoriesof that day. Though, I was only two at the time, and any images I had could have easily been conjured due to stories I’d been told.

Meredith continued on, “I actually tried to bring this one with me,” she pointed to Orion, and my brows flew to my hairline. “He fought me all the way, and his father was not on my side on the matter. I eventually gave up and went alone.”

Orion cleared his throat, “I’ve never been too good in crowds… especially back then.”

He placed a kiss on my temple, and I muttered, “It’s okay, baby, I understand.” I turned back to Meredith, “Were you friends? I don’t know much about who she was outside of being my mother.”

Meredith shrugged and her face tightened, almost as if she were trying to furrow her brow but couldn’t, “I remember her being very… kind. Children can be quite cruel, as I’m sure you’re aware. But she never was. The least I could do was go pay my respects when she passed.” And then she stood up and drifted toward the kitchen. “Son, where’s the rest of the wine. I know this couldn’t have been the only bottle.” She picked up the empty and waved it around for emphasis.

I deflated a bit at her redirection but tried my best to keep the smile on my face. Meredith was busy looking in all of the cabinets, and Ramona had gone back to her phone. But my Orion noticed. His finger caught my chin and turned my face towards him. His kiss was chaste and soft, and though I was committed to play the welcome hostess, I wanted nothing more in that moment than to be alone with him. To digest the connection our mothers had, something I suspected Meredith didn’t want to discuss further for some reason, and to curl up into him like I’d planned.

A crashing shift of something in the kitchen made him flinch, and I chuckled before lunging to give him two more quick pecks.Orion nuzzled his nose against mine and said quietly, “I love you,” before standing up to go assess his mother’s damage.

My eyes followed his retreating form, marveling the way his ass shifted in his jeans all the while, until I caught Ramona giving me a knowing look. Heat rose on my cheeks, and the smile I gave her was almost in apology for ogling her brother in front of her.

“You two are cute,” she said with an upward tilt as if it were a surprise.

“Um, thank you?”

“Mom was worried that you were a gold digger or something when we first got here.” I blinked with wide eyes at her, though her words had less of a bite than Meredith’s did.

“And, do you think that?”

Ramona shrugged and started gathering her and her mother’s plates, “Wouldn’t make a difference if you were. Mom is, so like, it’s not like she can judge.”

Cleaning the kitchen and dining area should have taken far less time with double the people, but Meredith promptly settled in the living room with her wine once Orion refilled her glass. And though Ramona tried to help, her questions of how to use the dishwasher and which soap was for the dishes left Orion shooing her out of the way with an exasperated grumble.

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