Page 45 of Lavender Moon

I scurry back over to my vanity and have a seat, picking up my curling iron.

“You know,” Cassidy muses as she taps the purple heel against her hand thoughtfully. “When I said you should stay and catch up with him, I didn’t actually mean run off and marry him and move to Butt-fucking-Nowhere with him.”

“We have our reasons,” I blow her off as I wrap a strand of my hair around the hot barrel. I really need my mom to touch up my purple coloring next time I see her.

“That you won’t even tell me,” she adds, sourly.

I let out a sigh. She’s my best friend, I should really trust her with something. “We’re protecting each other,” I clip out quickly, and keep focused on the soft curls I’m putting in my hair.

“From what?” she asks, exacerbation dampening her tone.

Staring at the vanity’s surface, I absently unwind my hair from the barrel and set it down before turning to look at her.

“Kaleb’s dad is his only living relative and he’s… not a good person,” I say vaguely, not wanting to expose all of his troubled past. “Kaleb wants to protect his assets from him and keep him from getting any information on him.”

Cassidey stares at me straight, her eyes softening as I see all the new information processing in her head.

“I know it’s not the way this usually goes, but there’s no way I won’t help him, Cass.” When she presses her lips together and gives the subtlest of nods, I add, “Also… Carter’s been trying to get in contact with me.”

Her eyes widen and her gasp slices through the air in the room. “What? What the fuck?!”

“It’s okay,” I hold up a hand before turning and resuming styling my hair. “I mean, it’s not okay, but he’s not going to pull one over on me again. And getting married to Kaleb will change my last name…” I feel my cheeks warm at the thought, “which will hopefully make it a little harder to harass me.”

“Jesus Christ, Luna,” Cassidy exclaims on a heavy sigh, dropping her shoulders and tilting her head dubiously at me.

“You know, you could just look at this practically, like me,” I suggest, crooking an eyebrow at her in the mirror. “You don’t have to make it out to be some tragedy. Kaleb and I do love each other, and signing a piece of paper that says he has one-person back home who gives a shit about him is actually kind of a no-brainer for me,” I finish tightly.

“Sorry.” Her face falls slightly as she nods, and I feel rotten. The truth is though, I’m still processing all of this myself, and I’m not ready to lay it all out for dissection with someone else yet. Speaking of which…

“Have you told your parents?” she asks, hitting the hot button topic.

“No,” I reply, feeling bad about that too. “Not until Kaleb comes back.” My parents have always known that Kaleb is special to me, but this is out of nowhere – even to us, let alone them. Out of fear of them intervening, especially my dad, I feel like it’s best if I just let them know he’s come back into my life and leave it at that. When they get used to the idea of us being together in a more permanent situation, I’ll tell them.

After Cass helps me with my makeup, I slip into the shoes in time for a heavy knock to sound through my door. Clacking over to the barn-style metal door, I yank it open to reveal Kaleb like I’ve never seen him before. The bad boy that put his tattoo on me just yesterday is clean shaven, and completely neat and polished in his Army greens. He’s an absolute conundrum as he stands completely straight, yet takes me in with an amorous smile.

“Hey, silly girl,” he greets as he steps inside, and I think I hear a swoony gasp come from somewhere behind me, but I’m too distracted at how debonair Kaleb looks. It’s like seeing some surreal, alternate version of him, and it’s doing something strange to my insides. The perfectly tailored slacks, the buttoned green jacket… I love my rough and edgy Kaleb, but I can see this being a treat on special occasions.

“Hello, soldier.” I give him an exaggerated, approving look, and he lets out a quiet chuckle while looking away for a beat and then turning back to me, pulling me into him.

“Don’t get used to it,” he whispers cheekily in my ear.

“Don’t worry,” I wave him off. “At the end of the day, I prefer your ripped jeans.”

“Yes,” he celebrates under his breath with a heavy nod before adding, “you look beautiful.”

“Thanks.”

“Got everything?” he asks, his voice a soft croon, and I nod, stooping to retrieve my duffel full of some clothes, and he scoops up a box of art supplies that was sitting next to it. Cassidy trails behind us out the door, her reservations seemingly forgotten for the moment as she emits a subtle glow. It must be the uniform.

We had agreed that we would get married here in the city in front of the Justice of the Peace, and then move some more of my things back to his house. And then while he’s gone, I’ll be dividing my time between here and Kaleb’s home –ourhome, technically – depending on my classes and work. Maybe I can see if some ladies in Coyote Creek want to throw a Corks and Canvas painting party.

As Kaleb treks down the long flight of stairs to the ground floor, I hang back a little bit with Cassidy.

“Thank you again for doing this,” I say softly, linking my arm through hers. I’m sincerely grateful that she agreed to be our witness, despite not knowing all the details.

She shrugs with a quirky smile. “Everyone at camp thought you and Kaleb would get married one day anyway. I just don’t think this is what anyone pictured.”

I see dazzling stars in my mind for a moment at the mention of other people noticing back then. I always thought it was only Kaleb and I that saw it. “Me neither,” I lift a shoulder. “But who knows, maybe it’s better.”

---