Free Unsafe Haven by Char Chaffin Page B

recipe. I’m going to ask Wendy for it. I promise it’ll be good.”
    “I won’t like it.” Luna stuck out her bottom lip. “Besides, I don’t like Wendy, either. She wants to marry you, and so I don’t like her.”
    “What?” Denn shook his head to clear out his clogged ears. He must not have heard correctly. “What are you talking about? Why would you say such a thing?” Half shocked and half amused, he sank onto the empty seat next to her.
    Luna smirked at him. “I see the way she looks at you.” Her smirk faded into a fierce frown. “She wants you. I know she does.”
    “Luna, you can’t go around making up stuff. Besides, you’re too young to understand the significance—”
    She surged to her feet. “I’m not too young. I’m almost fourteen! I’m not making it up, either.”
    “Luney-Boo, calm down.” He tried to pull her back to her chair, but she wrenched away and paced the kitchen, her arms wrapped around her middle.
    “I see her looking at you, Denn. She’s always checking you out when she thinks nobody’s watching. She’s got a notepad in her kitchen, too, and whenever you go see her, she jots down the day and time. She draws little hearts and flowers around the edge of the page.”
    “Luna, come on.” This creeped him out. Wendy, lovesick? Over him? Ridiculous.
    And yet, hadn’t he just noticed the other day, the changes in her? Hadn’t he wondered about it? The newer, softer hairstyle, the makeup. Hell, the perfume she now wore. Wendy Chang had never been girly. She dressed in men’s jeans and loose shirts, her hair always stood on end in those short, stiff spikes. In all their years as friends, he’d never seen her wear any makeup. Wendy was just one of the guys.
    Because of her new look, he’d figured she finally got herself a boyfriend, and vaguely speculated on who in town it might be. Not that the pickings in Staamat were anything to brag about. Not that eligible bachelors came out of the woodwork, and—
    “Are you listening to me?” Luna’s high, thin voice broke into his musings, and Denn focused on her face, her dark eyes, so much like their mother’s, right down to the worry, the concern. Thirteen-year-old girls shouldn’t have any kind of worry in their eyes. Thirteen-year-old girls shouldn’t be thinking about anything but fun, school, and thirteen-year-old boys.
    He sighed and snagged her around the neck, pulling her close. She came into his arms and curled up on his lap like a woebegone kitten. With soft emphasis, he said, “I’m listening. Now it’s your turn. Wendy is my friend. She likes me but not the way a girl likes her boyfriend. You understand?” He lifted her chin and gave her a pointed look.
    She shook her head emphatically, her braid slapping him in the face. “She likes you. I bet that girl who’s coming for dinner likes you, too.” Another pout.
    Denn hid a smile against his sister’s silky hair and gave her head a quick nuzzle. This sudden show of possessiveness didn’t surprise him. He was all Luna had left for family. Of course she’d worry herself simple over the possibility one day he’d get married and leave her. Which was ridiculous, but it wasn’t always easy to reason with an emotional teenage girl.
    He gave her a hard, fast hug, then stood and set her on her feet. Her arms reached around his waist and clung. Denn stroked her back and chose his next words carefully. “I have to go over to Wendy’s place right now and grab the recipe. You want to come with me?”
    Another violent headshake. “Ugh, no. I told you, I don’t like her.”
    “She’s good to you, Luna.”
    “Only ‘cause she thinks if she’s nice to me, then she’ll score points with you.”
    Her frank, surprisingly mature retort took him aback. “Where did you come up with such cockeyed logic?”
    “I saw it on an episode of Friends.”
    “Oh, jeez.” He pushed her away and pointed to a bag sitting on the counter. “Make yourself useful if you’re