Waiting For The Moon by Kristin Hannah

Author:Kristin Hannah [Hannah, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

190

She gave him another dazzling smile and skipped from the room, leaving the door wide open behind her.

He listened to the quiet patter of her bare feet on the wooden stairs and smiled. Then he laughed softly.

Damned if little miss innocent didn’t have an iron will.

Ian stood at the edge of the forest, listening. Muted strains of conversation floated through the emerald thicket. Every now and again, a woman laughed.

He felt like a fool for standing here, motionless, and yet he couldn’t quite force himself to take another step. Tea with his mother. What a nightmare this could be. Steeling himself, he forged ahead, following the twisting, leaf-and needle-strewn path through the tall, moss-furred trees. Finally he veered to the right and stepped over the fallen logs and mushrooms and ferns to reach Selena’s hideout. What he saw stopped him dead again. Selena and Maeve were seated at a small, oval table. A bright patchwork quilt covered the table and draped to the dirty ground, puddling in folds of vibrant color. Several of his father’s hunting trophies sat clustered on rocks and stumps between the two women. An eerily wide-eyed white owl leaned against a badger, his face frozen in a vicious snarl, his waxen paws poised in midair. Several stuffed peacocks huddled on a flat slab of granite, their blinkless glass eyes focused on the lopsided cake in the center of the table. Red apples and cut flowers were scattered around the purple cake. Purple.

Selena smiled at Ian and clapped her hands. “He came, Maeve. Look, it is Ian.”

Maeve’s head turned slowly toward him. She gave him a blank look that made his stomach tighten. Then, wordlessly, she turned back to the stuffed coyote in her lap and pretended to feed him cake. Ian groaned. Oh, Jesus …

191

Selena patted the stump next to her. “I saved you a seat. Come.” Reluctantly he sat down beside her.

Selena made a great show of pouring him a cup of tea and cutting him a slice of cake.

He balanced the tiny, delicate china cup on his knees and stared at the cold amber liquid.

Maeve waved a hand in the air. “Oh, put it anywhere. My husband loves bread pudding.”

Selena looked up. ‘Truly? I do not believe I have had bread pudding. Perhaps we shall try it sun. Soon.”

Ian rolled his eyes and took a sip of the weak, tasteless brew. “You shouldn’t indulge her sick fantasies, you know.”

Maeve’s smile faded. She closed her mouth abruptly and hugged the animal to her chest, rocking it frantically.

Selena turned to him. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You’re encouraging her to be mad. She should be alone in her room when she’s like this.”

“She would be in her room too much.”

“So she would.”

Selena stared at him. Slowly she put her cup down, but she didn’t look away.

Ian shifted uncomfortably. “What are you looking at?”

“You made her stop smiling.”

He snorted. “I often have that effect.”

Selena frowned. “That is not something to be proud

of.”

“I didn’t say I was proud of it. I said I often have that effect on my mother.

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