but it had been vacant since the old man passed, must be five years ago.
“We just moved here. We live in the blue house.”
Yep. The blue house. That was definitely Old Man Thompson’s place.
“I think you better get home before your mama wakes up.” I planned on watching the hobo sprite through the kitchen window to make sure she made it back across the field that separated our homes safe and sound. I could see the house and the path clearly from there.
“Okay.” She nodded decisively and then stuck out her hand. “Thank you mister…” her voice trailed off.
“Hank.” I leaned down and shook her hand once. “Hank Comfort. It was a pleasure doing business with you miss…” I let my voice trail off the same way hers had.
“Luna. Luna Thompson” Her tiny fingers gripped my palm with a firm handshake.
“Nice to meet you Luna Luna.”
Her eyes widened as she giggled. “Just Luna, not Luna Luna!”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Just Luna.”
This time her head fell back as she cracked up. If this kid’s reaction was any indication, I might’ve missed my calling by owning a construction company. I should be a stand-up for the under ten crowd.
I woulda thought nothing could’ve turned my day around after the morning I had. But the dark clouds that had been closing in on me were gone. And all it took was a few minutes talking to the girl version of the Jerry Maguire kid. I half expected her to tell me that the human head weighs eight pounds.
“Luna!” I heard a panicked voice scream from the direction of the Thompson place.
I glanced down at the kid who was now wearing the same expression my youngest brother Jimmy used to have whenever I caught him with his hand in the cookie jar and I couldn’t help but smile, which wasn’t somethin’ I did often.
“Well, I think your mama’s awake.”
CHAPTER 2
Skylar
“Luna!”
Panic rushed through my veins as I ran out of the house. I’d accidentally fallen asleep on the couch after driving for two days straight across the country. The last thing I remembered was sitting on the couch to unpack a box marked kitchen. I didn’t know how long I’d been out but when I woke up, Luna was nowhere to be found.
“Luna!”
I ran to the opposite side of the wraparound porch, the hundred-year-old boards creaking beneath my heavy steps as I searched the field for any sign of my little girl.
My hand lifted to block the morning sun assaulting my face. I’d searched the entire house and now I was looking out over a vast expanse of green grass that backed up to a thick bed of trees.
Everything was blurry when I woke up because my glasses must have fallen off when I was sleeping. It took me a second to get my bearings, but the first thing I noticed was the front screen door was open and banging against the side of the house and there was no sign of Luna. I jumped up and began rushing around without my glasses.
I couldn’t make out any sort of detail but my vision wasn’t so bad that I was blind. I could see shapes and colors they were just blurry. I frantically scanned the grass and saw no signs of movement in the meadow that backed up against a large body of water.
A pond?
When we’d arrived before sunrise in the early hours of the morning, I hadn’t seen the body of water behind my house. Luna had taken swim lessons last summer, but she hadn’t graduated past guppy because she was only four. She wouldn’t be five for three more weeks and you had to be five to graduate from guppy.
“Luna!” I screamed louder as I started to rush toward the water.
“Over here!” A deep male voice bellowed over the rustle of the branches and the birds chirping. “She’s here!”
It was coming from the opposite direction. Turning on a dime, I raced down the porch steps and sprinted across the grassy field toward a large farmhouse that I had seen when we’d arrived.
By the time I made it halfway across the field, I heard my little girl’s voice. I couldn’t make out what she was saying but she sounded happy. Not scared or hurt or upset. A wave of relief crashed over me.
I rounded the corner to the front of the farmhouse and took the porch steps two at a time. When I got to the top I saw my blurry baby girl