The Accomplice(76)

Luna returned with the key and told Griff that the room was on the second floor. He asked which suitcase she needed. Both, she said.

Inside the room, Griff and Luna put their ferret-tainted clothes in plastic bags. After that, they showered and changed. Then they stripped the bed of the duvet, which they’d determined to have had a beyond-shady past. Luna sat back on the bed and finally filled her lungs without feeling like a sandbag was resting on her chest. She looked so relieved, it registered as pure joy. Griff couldn’t decide if it was the air or the distance from her mother. He located the bourbon and poured two drinks into plastic cups.

“You okay?” Griff said.

“Question is, are you okay?” Luna asked.

“I’m confused. And a little worried about your breathing and wondering what we’ll do for dinner. Most things are closed Christmas Eve.”

Luna opened up the second suitcase, revealing a complete spread of charcuterie, cheese, chips, crackers, chocolate, wine, cookies, as well as plates, forks, knives, and plastic tumblers. A feast that would not require a flame or refrigeration. Luna passed the wine and corkscrew to Griff.

“Open that, will ya?” she said.

Griff reconsidered the events of that day and before. “You knew this would happen?” Griff said.

“I thought it was a distinct possibility,” said Luna.

“Wow. Okay. Let’s recap what went down today,” Griff said. “We drive eight hours and cross a border to spend Christmas Eve with your mother and her cranberry-sauce-making boyfriend and we’re at her house all of fifteen minutes because you have a life-threatening allergic reaction to her menagerie of ferrets.”

“She only had two the last time I saw her,” Luna said.

“Were you always allergic?”

“We moved to Canada when I was sixteen. She got two ferrets a few months later. She kept them in the basement back then and we had a system. I could manage. But then my aunt and uncle in Seattle invited me for a visit. They didn’t have any kids. Or ferrets. It was easier to finish school in the States. My mother didn’t argue.”

“So, your mom knew you had this allergy and she still got more ferrets?”

“I haven’t lived with her in years. It didn’t really matter how many she had.”

Luna placed a blanket from home on top of the bed and began organizing the spread. Griff uncorked the wine and poured two cups. He handed one to Luna and raised it for a toast.

“To this feast,” Griff said.

“To Motel 6,” Luna said.

“To ferret-free air,” said Griff.

“To my inhaler,” said Luna.

“To not having to stab you with an EpiPen.”

“Yet,” said Luna.

They tapped cups and drank.

“I’m glad you’re here,” said Luna. “I’m sorry it was so weird. I did warn you.”

Griff didn’t respond right away. His brain snagged on a detail he couldn’t reconcile. “I’m confused,” he said.

Luna knew what confused him, but she didn’t feel like spelling it out. If his worldview prevented him from arriving at the obvious conclusion, wasn’t it for the best? Luna built a small army of cheese-salami-olive crackers and delivered them to Griff, who deconstructed Luna’s perfect stacks and ate the cheese and crackers first, then the olive-salami combo.

“You’re eating it wrong,” Luna said.

“Can we revisit the ferret experience briefly?” Griff said.

“What about it?”

“Remember the first two ferrets I met—your mom called them your brother and sister?”

“They’re not actually my brother and sister. You get that, right?” Luna said, deadpan.

“Yes. But are they brother and sister?”

“I think so. If I remember correctly, they were the last two in a litter.”

“And she named sibling ferrets after the lovers Lysander and Hermia? That’s weird, right?”

“They’ve been fixed if that makes you feel any better,” Luna said.

“It does. Sorry. I won’t mention them again.”

“Good,” Luna said.

A few minutes later, Griff finally pieced it all together.

“Oh, I see,” Griff said. “She doesn’t want you to visit.”



* * *



—

Ferrets and falls were the theme of the holiday. The falls part did not disappoint. In fact, it more than made up for the disastrous ferret segment. Griff finally understood why Luna insisted they visit Niagara on the return trip. When you stood out on the walkway, gazing at Horseshoe Falls, at the overwhelming power of it, your own thoughts didn’t matter. It was cleansing, in its way.

They walked up and down the promenade for hours in the bitter cold. It was too incredible to step away. Eventually they needed to warm up. Griff had booked the hotel. When they entered the room, Luna saw that it had a full view of the falls.

Griff ordered room service while Luna stood in front of the window, feeling so happy it started to turn on her. Happiness could easily shift gears into guilt or shame. She was on the precipice of the shift. Griff could see it happening. He stood next to Luna, put his arm around her.

“You think it’s just going to be bullshit, a cliché, a tourist trap from hell,” he said. “And yet it’s—”