Page 4 of Lonesome Moon

She laughed. “As usual, a little light on the details, Grant Walker.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I simply nodded.

“Jack’s told me some stories from the road,” Luci said. “I know you guys get more than your share of offers.”

“From women we don’t know. It’s weird.”

“Some men would take advantage of the opportunities.”

“None of us are like that,” I said. “Jack was clear from the beginning—about how he expected us to conduct ourselves.” Including, no one was to get near his sister.

“Jack’s always been kind of square,” Luci said, chuckling. “Even when we were kids. Probably because he had to step up after our dad left.”

“How old were you then?”

“Jack was eight and I was four. I don’t remember much about him. Or what it was like when he was still around.”

“You ever think to contact him?”

“God, no. I doubt he’s alive,” Luci said.

“Why do you say that?”

“If he were alive, he would have come to Jack for money.”

She was probably right. I’d seen it a lot in the music business. Nothing like success to bring out dysfunctional relatives looking for an easy payday.

“Have you seen your parents?” Luci asked.

“No. No more holidays with them. That one four years ago finished me off.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s better this way,” I said.

My father treated discipline and physical training like the family religion. He’d been supremely disappointed I didn’t follow him into the Army. He couldn’t comprehend why I would want to be a drummer. Drumming is not music. That was one of countless other hurtful proclamations he’d said to me over the years. He refused to come to any of our shows. Refused to acknowledge my success. If it weren’t for my mother, I would probably have ceased all contact with him. Four years ago, I’d joined them for Christmas. That visit was the last one.

I shook the memory aside. No reason to think about it now.

I glanced out the window. Snow had begun to fall onto the meadows along the highway. In the distance, mountains were frosted with white.

“Can I ask you something?” Luci once again placed her hand on my arm.

I met her gaze. “Sure.”

“Is there a reason why you … why you kind of disappeared on me? After that Thanksgiving weekend three years ago? Do you remember much about that weekend?”

“Yeah, of course I remember. That was the first Thanksgiving I didn’t go to my parents. Best one I’d ever had.”

“For me too,” Luci said. “It was an amazing four days. For me, anyway.”

I looked away, afraid she would see the longing radiating from me. She was right. We’d spent an amazing four days together at Jack’s over a long Thanksgiving weekend. Cooking together, taking long walks, listening to music, watching movies and talking long into the night. I’d never met anyone I could talk so easily with or felt more of a connection with. Which is why I had to stop it before anything really started. Jack had been explicit the first time he’d ever introduced his little sister, then only twenty years old, to his band members. “Keep your hands and your thoughts to yourself.” At the time, I thought he’d been worried about Knox, who had some kind of bad boy charisma women couldn’t seem to get enough of. I’d not thought anything about it. Back then, she’d been a kid. Jack’s baby sister. Cute and smart, but way too young. We met many times after that and yes, I noticed she grew more beautiful with every passing year. However, it wasn’t until that Thanksgiving three years ago that I truly saw her as a grown woman. She’d been a year into her residency, excited to be studying pediatrics, with dreams of opening a clinic of her own.

“We had this amazing connection and then you sort of went radio silent,” Luci said. “I’ve often wondered why. Like did I do something?”

“No, you didn’t do anything.” Other than be perfect.

“But?”