Letting You Go (Stone Lake 1)

Chapter Twenty Four

Luna

I can hear them yelling. Mom and Dad never yell, but they’re definitely yelling now. I’ve known for a while now that something was wrong. Mom crying at night was a clear sign that all was not right. I never in a million years thought it was this bad. The way my parents are going at it, it sounds like they hate each other. I don’t understand. My entire life my parents have always been happy. They’ve laughed and were so much in love that my friends thought it was kind of sickening. I always envied it. I knew that when I fell in love, I wanted what they had. The kind of love that lasted, that created a family, created a world like the one I live in. I’d have kids and they’d know they had a good life and be happy. It sounds hokey, but I saw my friends live in broken homes, I saw how unhappy they were, how lost they became when one of their parents moved off. I knew I was lucky. I loved my family.

I don’t know what the fight is about, they’re doing their best to keep their tones hushed, but I heard Dad yelling and my mom crying and that alone makes my stomach twist in knots.

The doorbell rings and I practically run to the door.

“Hey—”

Gavin stops talking, his breath coming in a large gasp as I crash into him. He wraps his arms around me and holds me.

“What’s wrong, Luna?” he asks in my ear, his voice full of worry.

“Luna, who is at the door?” Dad asks from behind me. I look up at Gavin and I know he can see the worry and stress on my face. I wish I could tell him, but I can’t talk about it with Dad here.

“It’s uh… my boyfriend, Dad. Gavin,” I tell him, turning around. Dad’s face is red, and I can see the barely controlled anger all over him. I hold Gavin’s hand tightly. This is all so different. I’ve never seen my father so angry.

“I didn’t realize we were having company for dinner,” Dad says, barely sparing Gavin a glance. Gavin’s hand clenches tighter in mine, and I hate that Dad is being like this. Gavin was already worried enough about meeting my family.

“I, well I asked—”

“She asked me, Arthur, and I think we’re being rude to our guest,” Mom says. “Hello, Gavin. It’s good to finally meet you. Luna has been telling me a lot about you.”

“No one mentioned anything to me about him.” Dad crosses his arms over his chest and his voice still contains the anger from earlier. He’s so different from the man I’ve always had in my life, I don’t know how to react.

“You haven’t been here to tell, Arthur,” Mom says, and her voice may sound pleasant enough, but the look on her face is definitely filled with hurt and anger. I’m only seventeen and I can read that plain as day.

“Come on in, Gavin. It’s cold out there.”

“Ms. Marshall, thanks for having me,” Gavin says, closing the door. He takes his coat off and I take it from him and hang it on the hall tree that Mom keeps in the foyer.

“We’re glad to have you. Let’s see about getting dinner on the table,” Mom says. When she walks by my father, he follows her into the kitchen the yelling is low, but clearly heard.

I close my eyes and when I open them back up, Gavin is standing in front of me.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, not sure of what else to say. I’m so embarrassed and panicked over the way my parents are acting. This was not how I wanted Gavin’s first dinner with us to go down.

“Babe, what’s going on?”

“I swear I don’t know.”

“If they don’t want me here—”

“I want you here, Gavin.”

“Luna—”

“I don’t know what’s going on with them. Honestly, I don’t. Whatever their damage is though, it’s not about you, I promise.”

“Babe, I’m not so sure. Your dad—”

“Trust me, Gavin. They’ve been fighting since Dad got back in town and you haven’t been mentioned once. I don’t know what is going on with them, but Dad’s anger has nothing to do with you. Do you know that my parents have never fought in front of me before? Not once… I’m scared.”

Gavin sighs then closes the distance between us, pulling me into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Babe. I truly am.”

I let him hold me and put my head on his shoulder, breathing in his scent. When Gavin holds me, I feel safe and right now I need that feeling desperately.

We stay like that for a while. I’m not sure how long. We don’t break apart until my father comes out of the kitchen.

“So, Gavin, tell me about yourself,” he says after we all sit down in the living room. Gavin and I on the couch and Dad in a chair.