Page 49 of Only Ever You
Her dad stood from the table and held out his hand. I shook it, taking his measure as I did. His handshake was perfunctory. After he released my hand, he stepped closer to the windows.
Her mom smiled up at me. “I’m sure if you’re Jane’s boyfriend, you’re aware of our life. We were just chatting with Jane about?—”
Luna cut in quickly, “Mom, he knows my name is Luna.” She clenched her jaw and swallowed. “For God’s sake, everyone here calls me Luna because that’s my actual name. Please don’t call me Jane. It’s ridiculous.”
Her mother looked legitimately sad for a moment. “I’m sorry, honey, old habits die hard and all that. We still do the RV thing,” her mom said, a hint of apology in her tone. “It’s a little complicated to get out of that because that’s how we make a living.”
While I appreciated her honesty about it, the pain radiating from Luna made me angry. Her dad was staying mostly quiet. “Oh, I’m sure that’s difficult,” I offered vaguely. “Luna has chosen not to do that, so I’m glad you respect her choice.”
“Oh, of course, we do!” Her mom rushed in. “But we were just hoping to do a little?—”
When she paused, Luna interjected, looking at me as she rolled her eyes. “Content. Do whatever you need to do, but I don’t want any part of this.”
When I saw motion out of the corner of my eye and noticed her father holding his phone up, I shook my head sharply and crossed over. “Give me your fucking phone. He lifted it high,pulling it away. “This is mine. We have every right to record whatever we want.”
“Luna, do you want them recording in your house?” I asked, spinning toward her.
“No, absolutely not,” she said quickly.
“Okay, let’s go.” I reached for her hand, snapping my fingers for Fuzzy to follow.
Her mom hurried to follow us. I stopped by the door, glancing over my shoulder. “This is private property. You actually cannot record without Luna’s permission and you definitely cannot record or post this without permission. If you do, trust me, I’ll sue you.”
Luna’s father seemed to have realized this wasn’t a great plan and put his phone away. Just as we opened the door, her grandmother was walking onto the porch. “What’s going on?” she asked as her eyes bounced among us.
The distress on Luna’s face was so obvious that she didn’t have to say a word. Her grandmother glared at Luna’s parents before turning to smile at me. “You must be Parker.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I dipped my head. “Nice to meet you. We were just leaving. They want to make content, and Luna wants no part of it.”
Luna’s grandmother rested both hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Luna’s parents. “You need to leave. I don’t care where you park your RV. If you’re gonna pull this shit with her, you cannot be on my property. You absolutely do not have my permission. If you think I won’t file a cease and desist order and a restraining order to keep you off this property, think again. You do not have permission to do this.”
Luna’s mother burst into tears, while her father looked annoyed. Meanwhile, her grandmother continued, “You stole half of her childhood, forcing her to be online all the time. Leave her alone now. I know you love her. You’re both better thanthis. Why don’t you actually try to salvage your relationship with her instead of showing up and trying to ruin it all over again? At some point, this is going to have to end.” Her grandmother paused, shaking her head. “Do something else, please.”
When I glanced down at Luna, she was swiping tears off her cheeks. “Are you okay?” I asked under my breath.
Clearing her throat, she looked up at me and nodded. “I’m working on it.”
“We can still leave,” I said.
“I’d like that actually, but give me a minute. I need to say something to them.” She let my hand go and crossed over to her mother, stopping in front of her.
We were all gathered at the base of the steps in front of her small house. “I love you, Mom.” She glanced over to her father. “And, I love you, Dad. You have to accept I will not be a part of this. At all. No follow-up reunions on how I’m doing with strangers online. I respect your choice if you want to keep doing this, do it, but find a way to do it that doesn’t involve me anymore. It’s—” She blinked away her tears, and my heart twisted in my chest. “I can’t speak for both of you, but I think you’re tired of it. Gram’s right. Find something else to do.”
“We don’t have anywhere to go,” her mom said between sobs.
Luna looked toward her grandmother, who stepped closer. “You have made enough money to rent a place. Find another option. This isn’t her life.”
Marie was nodding while her shoulders shook with small sobs. Bill finally snapped out of his annoyance and stepped closer to his wife, curling his arm around her shoulders. “We’re gonna figure this out.”
Luna opened her mouth to say something, but her grandmother held a hand up. “You can park on my property, not here, but over near my house. Only if you agree to stop this. No filming at all, no content.” She looked at Luna’s father. “Youused to be a handyman. You can do that here. I can’t employ both of you, but there are options for you in town. Don’t use your daughter and guilt trip her into this. It’s not fair.”
Luna’s mother was nodding along. Her father was harder to read, and I sensed he was wrestling with his pride.
Her grandmother continued, “You’ll figure it out. For now, let’s move your RV over to park near my place. Are we clear on this? I don’t want to hear a peep from Luna that you’re pressuring her again.”
“You have my word,” her father said quietly.
Luna’s mom gave her a big hug, squeezing her hands as she stepped away. “I’m sorry. We’re just trying to figure this out.”
