Chasing His Kickass Luna Back Chapter 387

Abby

The air is sweet and heavy with the scent of blooming flowers as the three of us step off of the helicopter. Leah, who has only seen this place in pictures, looks around with an expression of wonder in her eyes as she takes in the sunlit scene.

“Wow,” she breathes, stepping forward with a small suitcase in each hand. “This is beautiful…”

“This isn’t even half of it,” I say with a smile. “Wait till you see the rest of the estate.”

Despite the idyllic scenery, though, I can’t help but feel a hint of melancholy tugging at my heart. We’ve finally left behind our old life—our friends, our pack, the restaurant, the city—and have started on the next chapter of our journey.

Beside me, Karl wears an equally pensive expression on his face. He doesn’t want to admit it, but this is just as bittersweet for him as it is for me. Phones and the internet exist, yes, and we’ll be able to communicate with our loved ones.

But it’s just not the same.

“Abby! Karl!” Reginald’s voice booms across the air as he approaches the landing pad. He stops in front of us and smiles, nodding politely to Leah. “And you must be Miss Leah.” He reaches out his hand for a handshake, and when Leah takes it, he gently kisses her knuckles.

Leah blushes a deep shade of red. “Hello, Sir,” she says, bowing her head slightly.

Reginald chuckles. “Please, call me Reginald. Come, let’s head inside and I’ll show you all to your rooms.”

We spend the remainder of the afternoon settling in; the estate is so massive that there’s plenty of room for all of us. Reginald has generously prepared a small cottage on the property just for Leah, the perfect place for her to settle into this new life at no charge. Meanwhile, Karl and I have an entire quarters to ourselves, even with our own personal housekeeper.

“And here is where you two will be living, if this suits you,” Reginald says, pushing through the oak doors to the quarters. “It’s about the size of a penthouse apartment, if I’m not mistaken.”

A soft gasp escapes my lips as I look around. When we stayed here before we were given a beautiful bedroom, but this is even better. It really is an entire apartment; we even have our own kitchen and bathroom, and three bedrooms.

“Oh, Karl,” I murmur as we step into the smaller of the three bedrooms, which has the same large, open-air windows as the rest of the mansion. “Won’t this make a beautiful nursery?”

Karl grins and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “It sure seems like it.”

Reginald smirks. “I figured you two would have the same vision I did,” he says. “And please, if you need any furnishings for the nursery, let me know; we will order whatever your heart desires.”

As Reginald leaves a little while later, Karl and I turn to each other in the middle of the lavish suite. With our things piled up in boxes and suitcases around us, it feels like the potential is palpable.

I can’t help but smile and wrap my arms around Karl’s neck, planting a gentle kiss along his jaw.

“Well?” I murmur. “What do you think? Glad we came?”

Karl pauses for a moment, considering, before he nods—I can see the hesitation there, but I choose not to speak on it for now.

“I am,” he says, offering me a nervous, but genuine, smile. “I am.”

Suddenly, just as I’m about to say something else, there’s a knock on the door. A moment later, Reginald, who has only been gone for a few minutes, pokes his head in.

“One more thing,” he says, his face reddening somewhat upon seeing Karl and me standing so close. “There’s a festival going on tonight in town. You two should go.”

…

Hand in hand, Karl and I walk along the cobbled streets toward the source of the music. My skirt billows around my legs, ruffled by the cool night breeze, and Leah walks on my other side, humming to herself.

“This place really is beautiful,” she muses. “I’m so glad I came.”

I offer my friend a smile and take her hand with my free one so that the three of us are walking abreast for a moment. “I’m glad you came, too.”

Eventually, we make our way to the town square where the center of the festival is going on. My breath is taken away when I see the spectacle of it.

Colorful paper lanterns line the cobbled streets and hang from bright green garlands. Children reach into baskets of flower petals, throwing them around excitedly. The air smells like sweet fried dough, and the sound of music and laughter is so loud it’s almost deafening.

“Flower, miss?” a tiny voice calls out to me. I look down to see a little girl wearing a purple sundress and sandals, holding a pink flower up to me.

“Oh!” I crouch down to her level and pluck the flower from her hands. “Thank you so much. What’s your name?”

“Rebecca,” the girl responds.

“Rebecca. That’s a pretty name.”

The girl giggles, then skips away to hand out more flowers. When I rise again, I find Karl and Leah smirking at me. “What?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing,” Karl says with a chuckle. “Just you being your typical self.”

“You’ll be a good mom someday, that’s all,” Leah adds, making me blush.

Before I know it, we’re being pulled into the festivities. We light lanterns, eat sweet street food, and eventually, the music livens even more, if that’s possible.

People begin moving tables and benches out of the way in the center of the square and begin to dance, and before I can protest, Karl has shoved a flower crown onto my head. He’s got one of his own, too, and the color of the petals almost seems to make his eyes shimmer.

“Where did you get these?” I ask, reaching up to touch the flowers.

But Karl doesn’t answer. He just grins, taking my hand, and pulls me into the throng. And for the first time in a long time, we dance. We really dance with nothing holding us back.

Shouting and laughing, I hike up my skirt and skip around Karl. Our eyes never leave each other beneath the flickering light of the lanterns, no matter how the rest of the world seems to spin and blur around us. At some point, we kick off our shoes, feeling the cool, smooth cobblestones beneath our feet.

“Follow me!” Karl suddenly shouts over the cacophony.

“Wait!” I call out, laughing as Karl begins to spin off into the crowd. I reach for him, giggling and running after him.

The world turns into a flurry of pinks and purples. Petals seem to rain down all around us, thrown up into the air and fluttering back down like giant, colorful snowflakes. I laugh even more, shielding my face from the petals.

When there’s a break in the flurry of colors, I open my eyes to see Karl standing in front of me with a fistful of them in his hand. He grins, stepping toward me, and throws them up into the air over our heads.

I grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him close. He dips me low, and petals rain down on our cheeks as he kisses me.