Lost & Found Ch. 06 Pt. 01

Joey was deeply asleep, dreaming he and Karen were bustling about on the boat, and when he hugged her from behind, he buried his face in her lustrous bronze hair, enjoying the scent and feel of it, his hands roaming over her baby-bump as he basked in his love for her and thoughts of the new life growing inside her.

Suddenly something struck him as very wrong; red hair? Karen had black hair, and she wasn't pregnant when they made the trip to Lakebay. Who was he holding? He spun her around, and it wasn't Karen at all, Karen was gone, and in her place was Luna Hollister, reaching out to him, her face concerned.

"Joey? Baby, what's wrong?" Even her voice was wrong; it was Karen's voice, but Karen was gone, and this other girl was here in her place, talking in her voice.

"No...no, why are you here, ...Karen, Karen, where are you...?" His voice trailed away as he took Luna by the shoulders, needing to drag answers out of her; what had she done to Karen, where was she, why was Luna here instead of his wife?

Joey came awake with a jolt, most of the dream fading away, but the memory of dream-Karen sharp and vivid, and then she'd gone, and he'd dreamed of a girl he'd only met for a few minutes that day. Joey slumped back miserably; how could he get over his loss when she haunted his dreams and brought their life together back to him again and again, and what was he doing dreaming of Luna Hollister anyway? With tears in his eyes, feeling empty and betrayed by his dreams, Joey set himself for yet another weary, sleepless night as his emotions raged once again, misery, loss and anger churning inside him, compounded by his treasonous dreams about a girl he hardly knew.

Morning found him once more at a loose end. Tired as he was from a night of little sleep and no real rest, he couldn't bring himself to try and sleep again; sleep brought dreams of her, and then he'd wake and find it had all just been a dream, and the hurt would roll back in again. After the vivid, disturbing dream of the night before, he had even less inclination to sleep.

So it was that Luna found him, quiet, withdrawn, uncommunicative when she dropped in as she said she would. She tried to draw him into conversation, but from the tired look in his eyes and the drawn lines on his face, she guessed he'd had a bad night, so soon made her excuses and left. Joey was uncomfortable with her presence, but with her gone the house seemed even emptier.

Every morning for the next week, Luna dropped by, checking on him. Joey had developed the routine of emailing Casey to give her a daily update on what he was doing and how he was, and from the tenor of his emails, Casey and Robbie decided that he wasn't making anything like the effort he'd promised to try and put his life back in focus; quite the opposite, in fact.

Something was going on with him, and it was dragging him back down. They'd shared their misgivings with Sarah, and Sarah in turn had been talking to Jonah. He'd passed some of her worries on to Luna, who then pondered how to bring Joey out of the funk he seemed to be slipping back into.

Finally, ten days after he'd first come home, Luna decided that it was time he stopped brooding alone in that house and found some of the world again, and with Luna, to think was to act.

That evening, Joey answered a tapping at the door, to find a smiling Luna there, but instead of the usual jeans and tank-top, she was wearing a short-sleeved clingy white top with a low-cut back and a black tight skirt that barely came to the tops of her thighs. Her shining hair had been pulled over one shoulder in a loose twist and she was wearing black platform pumps, emphasising her long slender legs and making her almost the same height as him now.

"Come on Joe Anderson, tonight Springfield awaits your presence!" she grinned, her eyes narrowing slightly as Joey shook his head.

"Luna, I...I can't ...I, I..." he stuttered, making her purse her lips in exasperation.

"I said, come on!" she gritted. "You've been holed-up in here for over a week now, you don't step outside, you don't talk, you just sit in here and mope; well I've had enough; you're coming with me, whether you like it or not, and I won't take no for an answer! Now get your coat, Joe Anderson, and get in the car!"

Joey stared in silence at the fire in her eyes and swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. Luna stared at him in silence, one eyebrow slightly raised, a gesture he found hauntingly familiar, her flat expression segueing into a sunny smile as he slowly nodded and picked his leather jacket off the hall stand.

"There now, that wasn't so difficult, was it?" she cooed, and Joey had to grin slightly at the note of triumph in her voice.

They made landfall in a bar on Serramonte, what passed for 'downtown' in Springfield. Joey was intrigued to see the envious looks from the other male patrons, but no-one accosted her when she slipped up to the bar and had a quick, whispered conversation with the bartender. When she rejoined him, her smile lit up the room, and a couple of seconds later, a girl brought over two beers and placed them on the table. Luna picked up her beer and tipped the bottle at Joey.

"This is nice. Thank you for coming out with me. There's a band coming on later; local boys, but I hear they're good. Maybe later you can show me some of those California dance moves!"

Joey made to protest, but caught her teasing grin, and smiled back sheepishly.

"I don't really know how to dance properly; Karen always said she'd teach me, but..." he trailed off, breaking eye contact and taking a quick swallow of his beer rather than finish the sentence. Luna reached out and touched his arm gently.

"Then maybe I'll show you some of them ole Springfield moves, Joe Anderson. Why, we practically invented Western Swing, right here in good ole Laroque County!"

Joey grinned as her accent broadened into a rural twang, Luna grinning back at the first genuine smile she'd seen from him.

"I've got to go to the little girl's room; you wait here, I'll only be a minute," she smiled, patting his hand as she stood up and walked to the ladies' restroom. Joey couldn't help watching her hip-swaying strut as she walked away from him, her walk all the more sexy for being completely unconscious of his scrutiny; she wasn't trying to tempt him or work him up; this was just Luna being herself, and Joey could feel himself responding to her on all sorts of levels; part of him saw her only as the family friend trying to help him over his shattering loss, but another, more primal part, saw her as something else entirely: a beautiful, desirable girl.

He tried almost in a panic to suppress and deny that thought; he loved Karen, and he always would; he couldn't help it that a small, treacherous voice deep inside him insisted that she was gone, and that life went on, and perhaps it was time he accepted that. Besides, how many guys had a beautiful girl practically dragging him out of his house to take her dancing?

"Hey, you're Joey Anderson, aren't you?" said a young female voice, and Joey looked up to see a pretty waitress with a tray of empty glasses.

"Guilty," smiled Joey. "Do I know you?"

The girl grinned in an open, friendly way.

"Prob'ly not; I was a sophomore when you graduated High School, but I remember you playing real tight with my brother against El Cerrito in the state championship playoffs; he was your defensive tackle."

Joey looked closely at her, at her suddenly familiar features.

"Wait, you're Elvis Hood's little sister? I remember you! How is your brother? I haven't seen or heard from him since the Senior Prom."

The girl grinned.

"I guess you know about him, how he was, I mean. He came out to Mom and Daddy that night, they had a real big fight, and he left right after. He's living in Long Beach now, he's got a ...y'know, a partner, they run a fitness club together, and I guess he's happy, he says he is when he calls me, and he don't sound like he's lyin'. He told me he'd tried to get with you, and how you turned him down but were good about it, and you didn't say anything to anyone, so thank you for that; I don't think the other guys would have understood."

She smiled again, and leaned closer.

"I saw you come in with Luna Hollister, so you just be careful; she's nice, real nice, and I do mean that, but just you remember: you touch her anywhere 'tween neck and knee-bones and she don't like it, her uncle Jonah's liable to get real indiscriminate on your ass, and if them other two are around, weelll, I wouldn't give much for your chances! Just a friendly warning, y'understand!"

Joey nodded gravely.

"No chance of that; Luna's just a family friend, helping me out while I'm..."

The girl cut him short.

"I know why you're here, most everyone in town does. I'm real sorry for your loss. I remember your wife, she was Head cheerleader, but a real nice girl, never acted like queen of the school or anythin' like that; you just take it easy now."

Joey looked puzzled.

"How do you know...?"

The girl grinned.

"This is a small town, Joey Anderson; everyone knew why you were here the day after you arrived; my mama told me; Lord knows who told her. Don't sweat it, no-one's gonna disturb you; I hear Jonah put the word out about leaving you be, but anytime you wanna talk, come on down; I don't charge for listening, and I guess I owe you at least that much for keepin' shut about my brother."

Joey looked up to see Luna threading her way through the tables toward him, smiling at the girl as she took her seat again.

"Hey Lou, how's your mom?"

Lou grinned at the pair of them as she picked up her tray.

"She's fine, Luna, and thanks for askin'. I gotta go now, but just nod if you want anythin'. See y'around, Joey Anderson!"

*

The evening was as much fun as any Joey could remember; the band was good, a sound somewhere between West Coast country-rock and Chicago urban blues, good dance music, and Luna made him dance with her, Joey shuffling self-consciously as he held her with a chaste space between them until she pulled herself close to him, holding his hips and making him sway with her.

As he danced, he found himself remembering dancing with Karen this way. Strangely, this time the memory didn't sear him; instead, it left only a gently poignant, warm sadness, but also an appreciation of just how alive and vital the girl he was dancing with really was. Almost against his will, he found himself enjoying her lithe curves and the graceful way she moved as she danced, all the more alluring because she was unconscious of his scrutiny.

Luna eventually announced she was all danced-out, and led Joey back to their table to sit, drink a cold beer, and share Chilli cheeseburgers and fries. For Joey it was the crown of the best time he'd had in what felt like forever. The food was good, the beer was better, and the company was exquisite, and he hadn't felt so alive and relaxed in a long, long time. The healing process had begun, and Luna had helped him get there, he suddenly realized, the thought making him wistful rather than guilty.

Luna took him home, then drove away. As he turned to open the front door, he saw Jonah's Ford pickup also pull away from the side-street opposite, following her home, and grinned at the thought of her uncle making sure she got home safe and unmolested; Lou Hood had been right to tip him the wink about Jonah and his brothers. Still smiling at Jonah's protectiveness, Joey went to bed, and, for the first time in months, his sleep was untroubled and he woke feeling rested and refreshed, ready to face the world.

That evening, he was unsurprised to hear that familiar tap at the door, Luna there once more, taking him out bowling this time, followed by pizza in Roseville. Thereafter, the pattern was set. Seven o'clock sharp brought that tap on the door, and there would be Luna, a fresh adventure planned; sometimes all they would do was grab a burger in Roseville, or Piedmont Heights, or maybe catch a cult movie in the old grind-house movie theater on Harvey Street.

Luna loved those over-the-top slasher flicks, 1980's horror movies, and ludicrous creature features. Joey enjoyed sitting there in the dark with her while she giggled and gasped and clutched at his arm at the outré antics and bad acting on screen, although most of them made him squirm. Watching movies like 'Re-Animator', 'Basket Case', 'Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers' or 'Hellraiser' was never going to be top of his evening entertainment hot-list, but he endured them because Luna liked them; he just never got why the stupid-ass teen girl always went alone into the cellar/attic/woods/closet and got shredded, eaten, or zombiefied .

And so they drifted along. Luna made sure Joey had no time to brood or mope; she kept him busy, and on those evening when she was unable to come over, somehow Jonah would happen to be in the vicinity and would drop by 'in passing', and he and Joey would chat about Sarah, about 'young Frank' and how mad he'd get if anyone called him 'Frankie', about the day he'd accidentally pushed Frank over in the school-yard and Sarah had descended on him like all the furies and 'beat him real good' for hurting her little brother, and how he and Sarah had called a cautious truce, said truce gradually growing into friendship and trust.

Jonah also talked about his days in the corps, as a Staff Sergeant with the 2nd Recon Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC, retiring when Luna was thirteen so he could look after her after her mother had died. Joey learned that both Jeremiah and Jethro were Gunnies, US Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeants, Jethro with 1st Recon at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, and Jeremiah with 3rd Recon, stationed at Camp Schwab, in Okinawa, Japan. Jonah seemed quite smug about the fact he'd made Staff Sergeant long before either of his brothers.

Talking to Jonah (and Joey thought he could detect his mom's hand in Jonah's concern for him), Joey gradually came to understand how things had worked in Springfield.

On the surface, it had seemed just another small mid-Western town under the thumb of the local robber-baron, but under all that there was a different town entirely, one where respect, kinship, obligation and duty held sway. It was almost with a sense of shock that he realized, because of his connection with Sarah, and through her, the Moran, Hennessy, Donnelly, and Mason families, and even a distant family connection to the Hollisters through their mutual Mason relatives, he was an integral part of that whole other community.

It had nothing to do with who was a power in the town, and everything to do with who had respect and standing in the eyes of the populace; it was just a little weird to think that, because his mom was held in high regard in the real town, so was he.

Joey knew how the Hollister family felt about the Dolans and their myriad hangers-on, so made no mention of his parentage; talking with Jonah he came to understand that the Dolans walled themselves away because they were not, and had never been, part of the real town; they had no respect in the eyes of the townsfolk. People sang low in their presence, because they had the power to decide whether or not their children ate, but it was precisely because of that power, and the contemptuous ease with which they wielded it, that they had no respect. Not a soul in town had shed a tear or marked in any way the passing of Jerry Dolan or his son, Steve, Joey's real father.

As the days slowly slipped by, turning to weeks, Joey and Luna began to develop that closeness that only true friends ever do; Joey became used to, and eagerly looked forward to, Luna coming and going as she pleased, or turning up unexpectedly with a picnic lunch or a pizza and cokes, and they spent many an evening sitting companionably on the couch watching TV and commenting on the absurdities of the shows they were watching.

Joey was still addicted to cop shows, and couldn't survive an evening without a fix of NCIS or 'Law & Order', something Luna conceded to him if she could watch Jerry Springer or the gross-out wedding and Prom shows on MTV. As the days progressed, he found it easier and easier to open up to her, telling her about his life with Karen, his son, his extended family (although he never went into the convoluted family relationships; it was too complicated, and still too personal for him to share easily).

As a side-effect of his blossoming relationship with Luna, and at her gentle prodding, the tone of Joey's calls and emails home changed, letting his mother know he was okay, telling her about his days, and how he'd found a friend in Luna. He began calling Casey on Skype instead of just emailing her, talking to little Joe, letting him hear his father's voice, and smiling at his little boy's peg-toothed smile and almost-words as he tried to touch Joey through the computer screen.

Chapter 2: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever - John 24:16

Gradually, imperceptibly, both Joey and Luna began to realize that being apart from each other made them uncomfortable, and it puzzled them both. Joey found himself waiting for that turn of the door handle every evening, unable to relax properly until Luna was there. Luna was feeling the same thing; her day wasn't complete until she'd seen, sat, and eaten with Joey, and it puzzled her even more.

Neither of them recognized the growing attraction between them, Joey because his feelings and emotions were still blunted by his loss, and Luna because she'd never really been stirred by anyone before.

Finally, one evening, instead of claiming a corner of the couch to watch TV with him, Luna, for reasons she didn't fully understand, plumped down next to Joey, tucking her feet under her as she slipped her arm through his. Joey was surprised at first, but said nothing; it felt good to have someone he liked and trusted cuddled up against him as they watched Maury Povitch and the procession of cuckolds, plastic surgery addicts, and unconvincing sex-change weirdo's trotted out in the name of entertainment.

Finally, Luna yawned and stretched, stating that she'd better get home, Jonah was expecting her and would start worrying. Joey was reluctant to let her go; their evening together was the best and most comfortable he could remember, and he wanted that feeling to continue. Luna also was reluctant to leave, but she had to get home.

Joey compromised by offering to drive her home, and Jonah could drop her back the next day so she could collect her truck. Luna agreed, and so Joey drove her back out to the Hollister place, near the state line, neither of them speaking, but exchanging glances and smiles all the way. It was almost a shock when the house came into view. The twenty mile drive had passed in what felt like an instant, and now he had to face the prospect of the drive home alone.

Luna leaned over, and, to his surprise, kissed him, a short, gentle, 'thank you' kiss, but it was on the lips, and it galvanized him. His eyes widened, as did hers as she pulled back, blushing prettily in confusion, before climbing out of the car and leaning down to once more smile at him. Joey's lips tingled from the slight pressure of her lips, and he watched her go indoors, waiting until she'd closed the door before driving away, the memory of that kiss filling his head as he drove home on auto-pilot.

Sleep came hard to him that night. Over and over again, the memory of that kiss, Luna's eyes and her blushing smile replayed in his mind's eye. Joey was at a loss to explain why such a simple thing had had such a profound effect on him, but he realized with something akin to shock that he'd liked it, and would like to do it again, and again.

That thought rattled him; once again, thoughts of Karen and their life together came flooding back, but now the hurt and loss were tempered with the realization that he was probably ready to move on; while he could never forget or replace Karen, maybe he could start again, and maybe, just maybe, Karen would understand, and, wherever she was, she would maybe be OK with it, and let him finally let her go.