Silver Moon (A Women of Wolf's Point Novel) by Catherine Lundoff Page A
Authors: Catherine Lundoff
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ones that didn’t hide things from her or make her feel funny inside.
She told herself that again when she hit the next town over. And again on the road away from it as Wolf’s Point dwindled in the distance. But there was a hole inside her and she ached to think about leaving her home and not coming back. It hurt more every mile she drove but she kept going, hoping that silencing her beastly alter ego would make the loss worth it.
Chapter 6
~
Certainly the distance from Wolf’s Point didn’t put a stop to her body’s other changes. Between finally getting her period, the occasional hot flash and her mood swings, menopause was going right along as scheduled. Pity she couldn’t leave that little bit of fun behind along with the rest.
Becca sighed a lot, stopped for more water and called her cousins to let them know she was on her way for a long delayed visit. Then she called and left a message about a fictitious sick relative for Pete and Shelly. It wasn’t an easy lie. But she told herself that she might need a job reference later. If she decided not to go back.
After that, she thrust all thoughts about home to the back of her mind and concentrated on driving until she hit Mountainview. She wondered as she drove past the “Welcome to Mountainview” sign if the other town had taken the name after Wolf’s Point gave it up. Her mood sank a little lower; who wanted Wolf’s Point’s leftovers?
It was a pretty little town by some standards, touristy with the kind of artificially quaint downtown that she always hated in towns like it. The buildings were trimmed with plastic gingerbread and a lot of the stores were called “Ye Olde” as part of their names. She made herself stop in front of a diner, almost inevitably named “Aunt Mabel’s.”
At least it looked like any other small town diner, with the exception of the poster on the door. Some words leapt out at her as she went in. “Missing,” it said. “Eight-year-old boy, not seen for two days. Possibly abducted.” There were other things about a reward, the boy’s name and his family’s contact information but she ignored them as she looked at the boy’s picture under the headline. He looked like any other kid. Only the words made his face heartbreaking.
It made her stomach turn. There were other monsters out there too, ones that she didn’t keep inside or know personally. The thought didn’t make her feel any better.
Neither did Aunt Mabel’s greasy burger and wilted salad, but at least she wouldn’t be showing up to mooch dinner as well as arriving out of the blue. She finished up and drove over to Hal and Marybeth’s. They gave her a kind welcome and a hastily turned down the bed in the den, once they realized she planned on staying the night. Best of all, they asked her very few questions.
So it certainly wasn’t their company that drove her out to walk in the moonlight that night. She had to promise them she’d bring her cell phone and a borrowed whistle from Marybeth. After all, you never knew what might happen and what with the Jensen boy missing and all, she really shouldn’t go out for a walk alone at night at all. Becca smiled patiently through their list of concerns and went out anyway.
Still, she admitted to herself that it had been nice to have someone care about what she did. Someone besides those women from the club who she thought were her friends. Walking would ease the lump of ice in her center that was doing nothing to cool down her outsides. That was what she told herself.
She looked up at the mountains as she walked and felt something stir inside her. Whatever it was, it was calling her to run but she resisted. She didn’t know the roads here. Or the neighbors. Maybe normal middle-aged women didn’t run down the streets in the dark out here.
Her senses were sharper than she remembered them being, probably from the clear air. She inhaled deeply, pulling the wind inside her with its scents of woods and wild, exhaust
She told herself that again when she hit the next town over. And again on the road away from it as Wolf’s Point dwindled in the distance. But there was a hole inside her and she ached to think about leaving her home and not coming back. It hurt more every mile she drove but she kept going, hoping that silencing her beastly alter ego would make the loss worth it.
Chapter 6
~
Certainly the distance from Wolf’s Point didn’t put a stop to her body’s other changes. Between finally getting her period, the occasional hot flash and her mood swings, menopause was going right along as scheduled. Pity she couldn’t leave that little bit of fun behind along with the rest.
Becca sighed a lot, stopped for more water and called her cousins to let them know she was on her way for a long delayed visit. Then she called and left a message about a fictitious sick relative for Pete and Shelly. It wasn’t an easy lie. But she told herself that she might need a job reference later. If she decided not to go back.
After that, she thrust all thoughts about home to the back of her mind and concentrated on driving until she hit Mountainview. She wondered as she drove past the “Welcome to Mountainview” sign if the other town had taken the name after Wolf’s Point gave it up. Her mood sank a little lower; who wanted Wolf’s Point’s leftovers?
It was a pretty little town by some standards, touristy with the kind of artificially quaint downtown that she always hated in towns like it. The buildings were trimmed with plastic gingerbread and a lot of the stores were called “Ye Olde” as part of their names. She made herself stop in front of a diner, almost inevitably named “Aunt Mabel’s.”
At least it looked like any other small town diner, with the exception of the poster on the door. Some words leapt out at her as she went in. “Missing,” it said. “Eight-year-old boy, not seen for two days. Possibly abducted.” There were other things about a reward, the boy’s name and his family’s contact information but she ignored them as she looked at the boy’s picture under the headline. He looked like any other kid. Only the words made his face heartbreaking.
It made her stomach turn. There were other monsters out there too, ones that she didn’t keep inside or know personally. The thought didn’t make her feel any better.
Neither did Aunt Mabel’s greasy burger and wilted salad, but at least she wouldn’t be showing up to mooch dinner as well as arriving out of the blue. She finished up and drove over to Hal and Marybeth’s. They gave her a kind welcome and a hastily turned down the bed in the den, once they realized she planned on staying the night. Best of all, they asked her very few questions.
So it certainly wasn’t their company that drove her out to walk in the moonlight that night. She had to promise them she’d bring her cell phone and a borrowed whistle from Marybeth. After all, you never knew what might happen and what with the Jensen boy missing and all, she really shouldn’t go out for a walk alone at night at all. Becca smiled patiently through their list of concerns and went out anyway.
Still, she admitted to herself that it had been nice to have someone care about what she did. Someone besides those women from the club who she thought were her friends. Walking would ease the lump of ice in her center that was doing nothing to cool down her outsides. That was what she told herself.
She looked up at the mountains as she walked and felt something stir inside her. Whatever it was, it was calling her to run but she resisted. She didn’t know the roads here. Or the neighbors. Maybe normal middle-aged women didn’t run down the streets in the dark out here.
Her senses were sharper than she remembered them being, probably from the clear air. She inhaled deeply, pulling the wind inside her with its scents of woods and wild, exhaust
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