Chasing His Kickass Luna Back by Jane Above Story

#Chapter 100: Mushroom Hunting
Abby

The weight of failure feels almost physical, like there’s something sharp and heavy literally lodged in

my chest.

I stare at the computer screen displaying “Truffles Unavailable” in blunt, red letters. I’ve sent countless

emails to suppliers, spent hours scouring online marketplaces, and I’ve even visited local storefronts to

browse their selection, all to no avail.

A part of me wants to give up on the recipe altogether, to throw in the towel and declare the universe

the winner in this sadi stic game it’s been playing with me. I could hope that this recipe won’t be chosen,

or at the very least, that I can read enough about it online to get a good idea as to how to make it.

But another part—perhaps the stubborn or perhaps the hopeful part—won’t let me settle for that. What

if this recipe is chosen for the competition? What if the online recipes just don’t do it justice? I need to

be prepared, and this could be my last shot at turning things around.

I close the laptop with a sigh, my eyes drifting to a framed picture of me and Chloe on a past

mushroom hunting trip. It’s not truffles, but maybe, just maybe, I could find something close, something

that’ll at least help me practice the textures and flavors.

…

“Going somewhere?” The voice slices through my thoughts, and I turn around to see Karl standing at

the doorway, his eyes lingering on my hiking boots and backpack. It’s early in the morning, too early for

anyone but me to be here. And yet there’s Karl, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as my grandmother used

to say.

“That’s none of your business,” I shoot back, my voice carrying a sharper edge than I intended. But

really, the last thing I need right now is more complications, more entanglement with him.

He steps into the room, the door falling shut behind him. “Abby, don’t be like this. I told you that I want

to help.”

but I don’t need help,” I

hunting since I

a moment, his eyes penetrating, like he’s looking right through me.

around here,

to do something, okay? I need to practice and

voice turning stern, his

you.”

of Alpha energy in his

Karl I’ve been dealing with lately. And in

way.

I hear myself

eyes meet mine, and for a split second, I

relief. “Good,” he says, his voice softening.

alone in my office, staring at the empty

just

…

soft beneath my boots, each step mu ffled by

earth.

air, casting the forest

through a dream. Or maybe a nightmare, if something were to come out

his footsteps softly echoing my own.

scanning the ground for any signs of

to a cluster near a huge oak tree’s gnarled

down to take

leaves to reveal the reddish-brown caps.

yes, they are edible.”

this way for a while, discovering various fungi sca ttered throughout the forest

colors, others more muted

a mini biology lesson as I identify them, and the tension

slowly begins to lift.

remember that time we went mushroom hunting while we were still married?”

breaking a prolonged silence. “You had to stop me from picking that

tinge of nostalgia sweeping over me. “You were

sauteed it right up and ended up in the emergency

the laughter, and for a brief moment, the forest becomes a sanctuary, a place where

and nothing else.

when I just lost my two best friends because

But then, something happens.

as a distant shout cuts through the mist, followed

echoing between the

pulling me behind a large oak. His