The Girl Who Chased the Moon: A Novel - By Sarah Addison Allen Page 0,76
to the sound of someone pounding on the front door. She sat up quickly. She’d been too stunned, too exhausted, to turn on her MP3 player before she’d gone to bed. When she looked around, the new phases-of-the-moon wallpaper took her aback for a moment. That’s when it all came rushing back to her, everything she’d seen last night.
He glowed.
Then, out of nowhere, the thought: He almost kissed me.
The pounding continued and Emily climbed out of bed. She’d slept in her clothes, so she immediately jogged to her bedroom door and down the stairs.
To her surprise, the first thing she noticed was that the front door was closed. Vance usually left it open when he went to breakfast. She’d just reached the bottom stair when the accordion door to Vance’s room swung open. Grandpa Vance walked out, comb marks still in his wet hair. He hadn’t left for breakfast yet. How early was it?
Vance didn’t notice her on the staircase as he walked to the front door and unlocked it.
“We need to talk,” Morgan Coffey said from the porch. His white linen suit was rumpled, like he’d been wearing it all night. His dark hair, normally gelled, was falling across his forehead. It made him look younger, more like Win.
“Morgan?” Vance said, obviously surprised. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“Believe me, I would have been here earlier, but I had to wait until light.”
“Come in.” Vance stepped back and Morgan entered the foyer. “What’s wrong?”
Morgan noticed Emily right away and stiffened. His hatred rushed at her in one great wave. She actually took a step back up the staircase. “I take it your granddaughter hasn’t told you yet,” he said, nudging his chin at her. His stare was so hard that Vance put himself between them, as if protecting her. “Why did you let her come here in the first place, Vance? Hasn’t your family done enough to hurt mine?”
“What happened?” Vance demanded.
“It happened,” Morgan said. “Your granddaughter lured my son into the park last night. Just like last time.”
“Emily had nothing to do with it,” Win said from the porch. He opened the screen door and stepped inside. “I asked her to meet me there. And it was nothing like last time. Emily and I were the only two in the park.”
“I told you to stay at home,” Morgan said.
“This has to do with me. I am going to be here for it.”
Grandpa Vance looked confused. He turned to her. “Emily?”
“I thought I would show up and he would do something to humiliate me, to get back at my mom for what she did. I didn’t believe him when he said he glowed. I didn’t believe him when he said to meet him and he’d show me.”
“Child, why did you go if you thought he was going to humiliate you?” Vance asked incredulously.
“I thought it would help make up for—”
Vance held up one skillet-sized hand. “Stop, stop right there. You don’t have to make up for anything your mother did. Morgan, this ends now.”
“You’re letting her off the hook, just like you did your daughter.”
Grandpa Vance’s face tightened. He was angry. And an angry giant was a sight to behold. “I never made excuses for Dulcie, and I have always accepted blame for what happened, for not being able to control her. But listen to me well, my granddaughter is not Dulcie and I will not have her treated this way.”
Morgan cleared his throat. “I’d feel more comfortable if you sat down, Vance.”
Vance didn’t give an inch. “No one is ever comfortable around me. You, of all people, should know how that feels.”
“I want her to stay away from my son.”
“I’ve been watching your son in the woods behind my house for a while now. Emily staying away from him isn’t the problem,” Vance said pointedly.
Morgan shot an angry look at Win.
“You can’t make me stay away from her,” Win said.
“Did you learn nothing from your uncle?” Morgan asked him.
“Yes, I did. I learned from him that it takes courage to love someone your family doesn’t approve of.”
“You don’t seriously love this girl,” Morgan said with clear disbelief.
Emily couldn’t take her eyes off him. He loved her? But Win simply stared at his father, a power struggle going on.
“My brother committed suicide because of her family,” Morgan told Win. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“It was his decision,” Win said, and she was amazed by how composed he was. Morgan Coffey was a force to be reckoned