Page 35 of Moonlight Feels Right
"I didn't come here to talk about me. You don't look good, Mom. Aunt Linda says you're ill. You need medical care, and I want to help you."
"I'm feeling better," her mother said, which was clearly not true. There was not one part of her that looked healthy—not her hair, her skin, or her body.
"Don't lie to her, Sara," Linda said sharply. "You're not better. And you know it. The herbs they're giving you aren't working. You look worse than the last time I saw you. Are you eating at all?"
"I haven't been that hungry, and natural remedies have always been enough for our community," her mom said, but her voice lacked conviction. "I'm just getting older."
"You're forty-seven, Sara."
Linda's words actually surprised Emmalyn. She'd almost forgotten that her mom was only forty-seven. She looked more like sixty.
"I'll be all right." Her mom's mouth quivered. "I'm sorry, Emmy. I know I failed you."
She was shocked to get an apology. Maybe her mother's resolve was not as strong as it had once been. "If you want to make it up to me, you'll let Aunt Linda take you to the hospital to get some care."
"We can go today," Linda said.
"I don't have anything…no money, nothing."
"You don’t need anything. You have us. We're your family, Sara. We always have been."
"I—I don't know." Her mother gave them both a terrified look. "How can I leave? I don't know any other life. It's too late. It's been too long."
"I didn't know any other life when I had to start over, Mom. And I was a child. But you had a life before you went to Haven. And you can have one now if you come with us. I want you to get better. I hate seeing you like this."
"I would think you would hate me for more than my appearance."
"I have a lot of emotions about you," she said, unwilling to pretend she didn't. "But you're my mother, and if there's a chance we can start again and you can get better at the same time, I want to take it. But you have to want to take it, too."
Her mother gave her a look of anguish. "I'm scared, Emmy."
"I know, but you're not alone. Aunt Linda and I will help you get better. You can do this. But you have to decide now."
"Emmalyn's right," her aunt said. "This is your second chance, Sara. Please take it."
Her mother hesitated and drew in a breath that seemed to come from deep down in her body, shaking her limbs. She held it for a long second and then let it out. "Okay."
Emmalyn couldn't quite believe her answer. "Okay?"
Her mother nodded, her face tight, her eyes wide with fear.
"Let's go," her aunt said.
They started walking, each taking one of her mother’s hands, positioning themselves on either side like protective sentinels.
Hunter met her gaze, assessed the situation, and immediately followed. Every step they took was filled with tension. She was afraid her mother would change her mind and bolt, or that someone from the commune would see them and try to stop them. But they made it to the parking lot without anyone shouting or coming after them.
"I'll take her in my car," her aunt said. "I'm just over there." She pointed to a gray SUV in the second row, which was only a few vehicles away from Hunter's car, so they headed in that direction.
Ten steps away from the car, a male voice rang out, and they froze.
"Sara, stop!" a man shouted.
Emmalyn turned her head to see a tall man with a graying beard approaching them. Despite the years, she recognized him immediately—Jeremy. His eyes were as cold as she remembered, his mouth set in a thin, disapproving line beneath his beard.
"Get back here, Sara."
"I—I have to leave," Sara mumbled so quietly there was no way Jeremy could hear her.
