Read Online Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr - Free Book Online Page A

long time.”
    “Right,” Luke said. Apparently he wasn’t going to get an answer to the question about whether they’d had a nice visit. “Help load up, will you, buddy?”
    Art did as he’d been asked, but the whole while he mumbled and fidgeted. He was extremely upset, that much was obvious, and Luke quickly learned why. They had barely left the parking lot when Art said, “I have to go to Costco. Back to Costco.”
    “In a couple of weeks, Art.”
    “ Now! I have to go now! ”
    “Forget something?” Luke asked.
    “She could come to Costco. Netta could come and I could be there, too—I didn’t see her in a long time! I can be there if she comes back. She shops there!”
    Since they hadn’t driven far, Luke turned into a parking lot and stopped the truck. “She left, Art. Did you get her phone number or address or anything?”
    “No,” he said, his voice thick. “All of a sudden the woman Ellen came and said time to go. And all of a sudden Netta said goodbye. I have to go back.”
    “No going back today, buddy. Just like us, she’s not going to be shopping for a couple of weeks, I bet. You know her last name at least?”
    “Blue,” he said. “Netta Blue.” Then, with watery eyes, he stared at Luke and in a plaintive voice he just said, “Luke!”
    Luke felt his heart drop. The poor guy. Art might not know much, but he sure knew when his heart hurt. Netta Blue, his onetime girlfriend, gone. He’d barely seen her after a separation and whoosh , she was gone again. He was desperate to see more of her, but did she want to see more of him? And how would her caretaker, Ellen, feel about a Down syndrome man hanging around Netta? This was going to instantly get bigger than Luke was. Lately he felt like everything was bigger than he was.
    “Now, calm down, Art,” he said. “I’ll help you find her. We have to go home first. Netta has gone home, too. We’ll go home, and then we’ll see if we can find her later.”
    “Okay, Luke,” Art said thickly.
    Luke stroked his arm. “Don’t worry, okay? It’s going to be all right. How many bakeries can there be in Fortuna?”
    “I don’t know that answer,” Art said miserably.
    “I didn’t need an answer, buddy. I just meant, we’ll find her, so don’t worry.”
    He sniffed. “Okay, Luke.”

    By the time Luke and Art got home, Art seemed much calmer. He had stopped mumbling and talking to himself and he was back to responding in his easygoing, good-natured way. But Luke was a little shook up, maybe a little afraid Art would take off for Costco. After all, that’s how Art came to be living with Luke—his caretaker had hit him and Art had run away, preferring homelessness to abuse. For someone who couldn’t always think for himself, Art had certainly made a decision there.
    Luke said, “I’m going to put the groceries away, Art. Go fish for one hour, then come to the house.”
    “Okay,” Art agreed.
    “Look at your watch and remember, one hour. Shelby will be looking for you.”
    “One hour,” he agreed.
    Luke stored all the extra paper and cleaning products for the cabins in the shed, then took the groceries into the house very quietly. Just as he expected, the bedroom door was pulled almost closed. Shelby could be lying down with her feet up for a little while or she could be asleep. When she didn’t emerge from their bedroom after all the groceries had been stored, he crept out of the house. It was in his mind to make sure Art was fishing, but the door to Aiden’s room stood open to catch the June breeze and he saw Aiden sitting inside, his laptop open on the table in front of him.
    He gave a couple of taps. “Hey. You back from today’s trek?”
    “I just went over to the coast to walk along the beach for a few hours,” Aiden answered without looking up.
    “Got a minute?” Luke asked. “Because I have a situation…”
    Aiden sat back with an impatient sigh. “Look, Mom’s going to be just fine—”
    “Not Mom,” he