“If we were on paddleboards you could just roll to the side into the water. After checking for sharks of course.”
“Here on land we have to take showers. We attend meetings with the sharks.”
Luna stroked lightly down his cheek and through his hair. “Just listen. Try not to argue or get too angry, just try to understand. It's easier to negotiate if you understand what everyone wants.”
“How did you learn that?”
“I spent a lot of time traveling in groups. A disagreement a day, and those were the good days.” Luna rolled off and stepped to the floor. Beckett watched her pull clothes over her sleek skin. She was still so beautiful, muscular and soft, angled and round. He grasped her hand and pulled her closer and rested his cheek on her rounded stomach.
“My number one priority is to keep the land, the house, for you and the baby. It's everything.”
Luna wrapped her arms around his head and kissed the top of his head. “You have to get dressed my love.”
_____________________
Ten minutes later Beckett was bustling across the porch to the truck. Chickadee was already idling the engine, waiting. When he stepped out from under the porch roof, he glanced up. “No rain, so that's good.”
Luna glanced up at the sky. “A storm is coming.”
“Really?” Beckett looked from the sky to the truck. Suddenly leaving seemed like a big deal. “When, later tonight? Is it going to be a big storm.” His hand paused on the truck door. “You'll be okay?”
Luna nodded. “Yeah, it will be — sure, I'll be okay.”
“Are you sure, I know how storms upset you, and I don’t —“
Chickadee rolled down the window. “We have to go dear, these contracts won't dissolve themselves.”
Luna said, “It probably won’t be too bad…”
“Well you don’t have to worry, because I’ll be back before it starts.” Beckett wrenched open the door.
“Promise?”
“I promise, before the storm. Do I look okay?”
Luna leaned close. “You look better than before, you look rumpled, well-sexed, and happy. So that's good.”
“Yeah that's good.” He slid into the seat beside Dilly. “I'll be back, by dinner.”
“No worries, I've got this, like always.”
“Sure, and you say that a lot, but you don't always. I'll be back before the storm.” Chickadee drove the truck away down the gravel drive.
Luna looked down at Shark, pulling at his leash toward the departing tail lights. “What are you going to do, chase it? Jump in the back?”
Shark looked at her head cocked.
Luna said, “I agree little guy, in my whole life I never saw people that leave so much.”
She knelt down and frisked the puppy behind the ears. “Apparently it's something we have to get used to as land-based mammals. Waving goodbye.”
Chapter 31
Beckett scanned around the table. Dryden was sitting beside her father and their lawyer. Beckett had Chickadee to his right, Roscoe, and Dilly, looking like she wished she hadn't come.
Dryden's face was set, her eyes glaring.
Her father introduced his lawyer, a Mr Peterson. They had brought a large imposing stack of papers.
Beckett hadn't been able to look at the contract yet, but Roscoe had said, enigmatically, “You're glad you haven't. You would be furious. Let me handle some of the big things, and we'll go through it line by line.”
Roscoe spoke first. “I'm glad everyone could make it today. If you need a drink, help yourself.” He gestured to the end of the table where there was a pitcher of ice water and a stack of cups.
Roscoe cleared his throat and began. “I've invited Beckett here today, as this contract names him the property owner. Also it reads like an agreement between Beckett and Dryden though Beckett was not present at the signing. Were you present, Dryden?”
She glanced at her lawyer before she spoke. “I wasn't.”
“Did you know of the contents or intents before the contract was signed?”
Dryden looked down at her hands. “I did not.”
Roscoe nodded slowly. It was as if in his head he was saying yes, yes, yes. “Beckett do you have any intention to marry Ms Dryden Jones at present or in the future?”
Beckett shook his head. “No, no intention.”
“Dryden, do you have any intention to marry Beckett Stanford? I ask this because I think we can take the prenuptial part of this contract and argue it separately from the property aspects. It will be easier I think.”
Dryden said, “I do.”
Chickadee interrupted, “Do what — have intention to marry Beckie, are you kidding me?”
Dryden leveled her gaze at Beckett. “I have a promise and a contract, so yes, I intend to marry Beckett.”
Roscoe said, “Okay then, we'll start with the beginning of the contract, page one.” He flipped open a bulky folder.
Dryden's father, Ted, said, “I also brought this, the minutes of the last meeting of the Buckhorn Mountain and Charlesville Adjacent Unincorporated Farm Community Council. Before Jimmy Stanford passed away. My condolences again Chickadee, Beckett.”
Chickadee imperiously straightened her spine. “None necessary, we're glad to be rid of the no good son of a—”
Roscoe said, “Chickadee,” and she bit her lips together.
Ted continued, “At that meeting we decided on many new ordinances and guidelines. I'm sure Beckett, as the property owner, will want to read over them.” He pushed a small stack of papers toward Beckett.
While everyone waited and seemed to be watching him, Beckett scanned down the first page, classic minute stuff, then the second page. His skimming stopped cold at the words: “To protect and secure the land of Buckhorn Mountain and the surrounding Charlesville Adjacent Farm Community from the immigration of refugees, migrants, Nomadic Water People, and other homeless and destitute peoples.”
And there were paragraphs titled: Patrols. Gates. And finally: Arms.
Beckett rotated the papers toward Chickadee and tapped those paragraphs. She scowled.
Beckett asked Dryden, “Is this meant to intimidate me?”
Her father interjected, “Not at all Beckett.” His smile was meant to be kind but couldn't mask his malice. “We simply want you to know what laws have been enacted. Besides that, a law prohibiting the migration to our village of refugees has nothing to do with you, right?” He raised his brows in inquiry.
Beckett scowled.
Roscoe said, “We're getting off topic.”
“Excuse me Roscoe, but,” Beckett turned to Dryden's father, “I'm seeing this for the first time. There are armed patrols?”
“Yes, the gates will be built at the end of the month. We have a sizable group of young men and women who have been hired to handle our protection. It's all here in the paperwork. The arms are bought and are stored at Village Hall.”
Beckett asked, “Laws have been passed?”
“Oh yes, marriage contracts, land contracts, we had to collect a new protection tax. You'll see when you read the minutes. Your Uncle Jimmy was very vocal about saving the land for his nephew and his eventual family.” Dryden's father gave a small nod and smile to his daughter.
Beckett's chest began to constrict, his breaths were becoming irregular, his panic rising.
Dryden's father continued, “Ultimately we want to keep the mountain for those that are born and bred on the mountain. We don't want to lose our land to an influx of people who don't belong here.”
Beckett shoved his chair back away from the table. He was close to springing across the table aimed at Dryden's father's neck, a man who he never really cared for. He also considered racing for the door, the truck, and going home.
Instead he sat, hands on knees, staring at the ground, thinking for a minute, trying to get the better of the meaning of the words.
Luna had said to listen.
He tried to think that all through.
; It sounded like there were laws forbidding his marriage to Luna.
Laws forbidding even her living there.
There were laws that his fucking Uncle Jimmy wrote that made it so that Beckett's child wouldn't get to call the mountain home.
There were armed patrols whose entire point was to keep people like Luna off the mountain.
He was going to be mired in this bullshit for fucking forever.
But his brain tripped on something Dryden's father had said. “You mentioned young men had been hired?”
“From the village, sons and nephews, some daughters, from the town.”
Beckett scrubbed his hands down his face. “Why aren't they off fighting or placing sandbags?”
Dryden's father put his hand on the contract in front of him. “That's what this lays out. We, as a family, will be paying off their service contracts with tracts of land.”
“My land?”
“In effect.”
Beckett stood. He spoke directly to Chickadee. “I didn't even pay off my own service contract. I performed my duty to keep the land. For six years.”
Chickadee said, “I know dear. Don't we know, Roscoe?”
“We haven't even started on this contract yet, Beckett,” said Roscoe as he straightened the papers in front of him. “Let's begin.”
Beckett glanced at the stack of papers that looked innocuous enough, but threatened to take every bit of land, happiness, strength he had. “I need a moment, please.” Beckett stood and left for the bathroom.
Chapter 32
“First, Sharky, we have to understand that—” Luna opened the refrigerator and pulled out the bag of bacon chips they kept for puppy training.
Shark bit Luna's foot.
Luna shoved her away, told her to sit, and gave her a treat. “Good Shark, so good. First thing to know is this: when land-dwellers tell you they'll give you a home, they literally mean a house to live in. In one place. Sometimes they'll be there, a lot of times they won't. Sometimes you'll get to go other places too. But mostly you'll be expected to stay by yourself. You'll have to come up with things to do. That's the truth.”
Shark jumped and barked wanting another treat. “Good Shark, good. They aren't big on sticking together these land-dwellers. That's important to understand. Want to watch TV?”
Luna scooped up the puppy, plopped on the couch, and picked a show to watch.
The light in the room dimmed.
This was one of her favorite sitcoms. And she had already watched this episode three times. The main character pretended to be a table so the other characters would divulge their secrets. She didn't look anything like a table, but that was the whole point. She was a terrible table, yet no one noticed. Luna usually laughed hysterically, but this time she was too distracted to find it funny.
When the main actress said, “Aha!” and revealed herself under the tablecloth, instead of laughing, Luna continued speaking to Shark. “But more importantly you should to know this—the land is the number one priority.”
Luna's back was to the window. She tried to ignore the ominous sky, but the room was darkening, dangerously. She pulled Shark to her chest and rubbed her face in the puppy's ruff as the storm clouds moved in.
Chapter 33
Beckett returned from the bathroom and slumped into his chair with a gruff apology directed at Roscoe.
“We're perusing Section 2: Addendum 39.” Roscoe passed Beckett a sheet of paper.
Dryden's father said, “I'm not sure why we're even discussing this. We only need to begin implementation. Most of the plans are already in motion. And Beckett, a breach of contract affects too many lives.”
Roscoe pointedly said, “Now Ted, Beckett hasn't even had a moment to read this, or to confer with me, so why don't we give him a break.”
Beckett's eyes shot to the window as an arc of lightning lit up the sky with a sizzling closeness and a kaboom that shook the window's pane. What Beckett hadn't been noticing, that the sky had darkened, that storm clouds had moved in, and that while he had been in the bathroom Roscoe had turned on lights so they could read, suddenly became evident.
“Oh crap!” He jumped from his chair. “Oh man, I have to go home. Chickadee can you handle this?”
“Oh, yes dearest, certainly. Roscoe, can you give Dilly and me a ride home?” She yanked the keys from her pocket and passed them to Beckett without waiting for Roscoe's answer.
“Okay, I have to go.” Beckett absentmindedly patted his pocket for the keys that were in his hand. “Roscoe can you make sure I have a copy of the contract?”
Roscoe nodded. “I'll bring it when I drive Chickadee and Dilly home.”
“Good, thanks.” Beckett rushed for the front door, crossed the porch, and sprinted through the rain to the truck. As he reversed out of Roscoe's driveway, he dialed Luna, and set it for speaker. The phone rang and rang.
“Come on Luna. Come on.”
She didn't answer.
He hooked the steering wheel left, headed up mountain drive, and dialed her number again. It rang and rang and finally her voice answered. “Hello?”
“I'm coming home, I'm—” An arc of a lightning bolt flashed across the sky. There was a loud boom. Luna made a noise like a whimper.
“I'm nine minutes away, where are you right now?”
“Kitchen.”
“Okay, good.” At a stop sign Beckett gunned the engine and hydroplaned for a second. “Now I'm seven and a half minutes away. How's the storm there?”
“Terrible, loud. Nothing I can't handle, of course.”
“Of course. Look, I know I promised I'd be back in time, but I was — I lost focus for a second, it snuck up on me.”
“It's okay—” Three distinct flashes of light interrupted her and an epically large boom crash. “Please come.”
“I'm at the intersection with Route 33, at a red light.” Beckett drummed his hands impatiently on the dashboard. “Green. Straight shot home, I'll see you in five minutes. No worries, right?” He sped up the curving mountain road. “What have you been doing while I was gone?”
“I was watching The Queen of Everything.”
“The scene where she's a table?” Beckett braked for a light and revved his engine impatiently.
“Yes.”
“It's funny because she doesn't look like a table.”
Lightning lit up the sky.
“Can you come Beckett, please?”
“I'm almost there. Just — don't be scared okay? I'm almost there.”
_____________________
Beckett swung the truck up to the porch, jumped out, and splashed up the steps. He yanked open the door. “Luna!” He rushed to the kitchen and found her cross-legged under the table with Shark in her lap.
He leaned down and smiled. “Hey babe.”
“Hey you.”
“Got room for me?” He swung himself down, under, and cross-legged right in front of Luna knee to knee.
Even sitting he had to bend forward because of his height. He cocked his head to inspect the underside of the table, “This is a view I've never taken before.”
“Shark seemed really scared, so I thought we'd sit here.”
“Well, that makes sense.” Beckett rubbed Shark all around the scruff of his neck. “No one wants a scared puppy.” Shark flipped to her back and wiggled her paws begging for belly rubs.
Luna asked, “Did you accomplish anything?”
“Nope not a thing. It's far more sucky than I thought, and I may have made it even worse.”
Lightning flashed, they both ducked their heads in anticipation of the boom. Boom! The room was dark, the rain loud.
“You didn't solve anything?”
“I left before it even started.”
“Oh. For me?”
“Of course for you. But Shark too, I couldn't leave Shark alone here during a storm, I promised him.” Beckett smiled and Luna leaned forward, her head on his shoulder, his arms around.
Chapter 34
; The next morning surprisingly Beckett was up first bouncing the edge of the bed. “Hey, sleepyhead, hey, wake up.”
Luna startled awake from a deep sleep. She was surrounded by a wall of pillows, one behind her back, one between her legs, one beside her stomach, one under her head. She looked up, creases across her cheeks.
“You're sleeping deep and late and something cool is happening.”
Luna smacked her lips groggily. “No rain?”
Beckett acted incredulous. “How do you know that, you literally just woke up?”
She grinned. “I can smell the north wind, plus the constellations, also the currents. And there's a block of sun on the wall right past your head.”
Beckett looked behind him. “Yes, sun! Sun, Luna. The rainy season has ended. Officially. Today. So I have made plans.”
“What kind of plans, going somewhere?”
“Yes, you're going to load your paddleboard into the truck, and we're going to go to Heighton Port and you can go for a spin, and then we have been invited to Dan's for dinner and even more, but I'm not telling you until later because it's a surprise.”
Luna bounced up. Her feet hit the floor, and she raced for the bathroom. “I'll be ready in three minutes.” She returned a second later, holding her toothbrush. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome. Now get ready. I'm packing some breakfast for the ride.” He disappeared down the hall to the kitchen.
_____________________
Thirty minutes later they were in the truck driving away from the house. Luna took a big bite of hard-boiled egg, chewed, and swallowed. “I'm disappointed that we aren't on your motorcycle.”
Beckett grinned. “You, my love, have lost the proportions necessary for being a rider. Specifically your belly is too big and your arms too short.”
She playfully slapped him on the shoulder. “You could have just said my paddleboard wouldn't fit.”
“Oh no, I promised I could make that fit. It's totally your belly. It behooves me to say you're gigantic now.”
Deep (Luna's Story Book 3) Page 9