Page 32 of A Light in the Dark
“Take pictures of those running the stands and the crowd with your phone if possible. It’ll be tricky, as the stands will mostly be for refugees, but you should be able to get a few pictures at least. There is a planned event for local companies to meet with refugees, and you should be able to register up until Friday. They’re making announcements in the paper and on the radio, so I’d grab a paper to show your boss to get the ball rolling on that.”
As I had a reputation for reading early and often, me checking out the paper wouldn’t faze anyone who knew me. “I’ll figure something out. What should I do with my guest?”
“If he’s that tired, just let him sleep it off. Luna moths technically count as a prey species, so they’re most comfortable sleeping with someone nearby to keep an eye on things. He’s a bit of a loner, so he doesn’t get many chances to do that. Just let him outside once he gets up. He’ll be fine.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep an eye on him and send him home in a few hours if he doesn’t get up.”
“Just work your hand under his legs. The moths will move even if asleep to keep their toes from getting pinched.You can then bounce him a little to wake him up. He’ll fly himself home after that. The moths get sleepy if they’ve had a busy day.”
Add in the roses, and the probable Joel had no chance of maintaining a relationship with consciousness for a while. “That’s good to know. Are the other local luna moths going to pitch a fit if they can’t find him?”
Roger snorted on a laugh. “If they notice he’s MIA they might. It depends on how long you keep him for. Just set him loose before you go to bed, and I’m sure his visit will go unnoticed. If you keep him until morning, then some of the other local shifters might realize he’s been captured by an enterprising woman with a garden.”
Not just a garden, a rose garden, one of the ultimate temptations for luna moths. “I’ll make sure he gets up from his nap and heads home. Thanks for your help, Roger.”
“That’s supposed to be my line. Text or call if you notice anything at all amiss, okay?”
“I will,” I promised.
TWELVE
I choose the adventure.
After sendingmy winged guest home, I slept like the dead, getting out of bed far later than usual. As I had a vegetable garden to plant, I trudged to the street and headed up the hill to catch a cab. I discovered Joel hard at work in his front garden, turning it into a shrine to all things marigolds.
The local luna moths would swarm the place, of that I had no doubt.
“You look like I usually do in the morning,” Joel informed me with a rather lopsided grin. “Did you handle planting your entire garden or something yesterday?”
“I have zero self-restraint, even less self-respect, and I have to go back to the stupid store because I need herbs and vegetables. As planting from seed is cheaper, I am going that route.”
Joel rose to his feet, brushed his hands clean of most dirt, and asked, “Need a lift?”
“I was going to get a cab, but if you could use anotheradventure to the garden store, I’m not going to say no. I can pay for lunch this time to make up for the gas.”
“I’ll bring the SUV around in a few minutes,” he said, hopping out of his flower bed and heading to the door leading into his home.
I suspected the man had decided he would be participating in Sunday gardening due to having heard me discuss my gardening plans with Roger, working in his front beds to give himself an easy opportunity to go back to the store. As I’d been wise, I’d made a shopping list of things to get, and all top twenty of luna moth’s favorite meals were involved. I’d starred the ones that I would buy as grown plants ready to flower and entice my neighbor over for his evening visits.
Now that I had seen luna moths up close and personal, I would be going out of my way to lure them to my home to enjoy their ethereal beauty. With luck, I’d get the entire lot of them visiting.
Trellises were on my list, and I planned on acquiring more than a few species of climbing roses notorious for plentiful, large blooms and strong vines. To maximize my odds of acquiring an entire swarm of luna moths, I intended to get an arching trellis, install a bird bath underneath it so the shifters could drink, and train the vines to completely cover the trellis.
Then I would place my patio furniture on the other side of my garden to observe them getting higher than kites on the bounty.
Joel pulled up, and I hopped in, buckled up, and then closed the door.
To my amusement, he pressed the lock button to keep me from fleeing his custody. “You have a choice to make. We cango to the boring garden store nearby or we can go on an adventure to the super-secret and special garden store. The only thing I am promising is that I will return you to your domicile a minimum of ten hours before you have to go to work tomorrow.”
Ten hours would let me sleep, although I would not be planting any of my acquisitions until the following evening. “I choose the adventure.”
Joel grinned. “Excellent. As you are choosing adventure, I am responsible for fuel and feeding. You can pretend you have been kidnapped and protest for my amusement.”
Bursting into laughter, I considered the man, raising a brow at his antics. “Did you add sugar to your coffee this morning?”
“After the third accidental teaspoon, I decided to find out what syrupy coffee tasted like. Disgusting yet delicious. I have a disturbing understanding why people buy weird drinks at coffee shops now.”
As commenting about getting high off roses and marigolds would reveal I knew a little more about his probable tendencies than I wanted to admit yet, I allowed myself to giggle over the thought of him riding a sugar high. “Dare I ask what is at the better garden store?”
