Page 171 of Moon's Promise

Kendra picked up her wine glass to take a drink then stared down into the burgundy depths as she continued to talk. “When she moved in with a Bryer, I was so happy for her. I thought she finally found someone who saw how special she was. Other than a girl who she grew up with, Larissa didn’t have friends.” The slight trembling of her lips revealed the inner emotions Kendra was containing. “Finally, I thought she would be able to live a normal life. However, it didn’t take long before I found out she was doing the majority of his schoolwork, and as soon as that degree was in his hands, it came out that he had been having an affair. He didn’t even have the balls to break it off with her; he let his side piece do the dirty work for him.”

Setting the glass down, she pinned him with her gaze again. “Do you know why she doesn’t work in a hospital?”

Moon had to clear his throat. “She told me it’s because she prefers being more personally involved with her patients.”

“That’s true.” She nodded. “But it isn’t the only reason. Larissa couldn’t take her patients dying. She could never reach the level of detachment needed to work in a hospital. When she worked with patients who were dying and they reached the point where nothing could be done for them and the patients were ready to give up, she couldn’t. My daughter is a fighter, and she couldn’t handle failing her patients. With each death, I saw a part of her die inside as well.”

Kendra picked up her glass to finish her wine. Standing, she then looked at him across the table. “Enjoy whatever game you’re playing with my daughter. Larissa is the daughter who is most like me.” Her face filled with amused mockery. “You don’t believe me? It’s the truth. I was just like Larissa. Oh, I don’t have her intelligence, but I was too empathic to a fault. You want to know what changed me?” She didn’t wait for him to answer her question. “My children. Where they are concerned, they became my priority. Don’t underestimate me, and certainly don’t Larissa. I might not have the physical strength to take you on in a fight, but don’t think I can’t take you down another way.”

“Are you threatening to destroy my relationship with Larissa?”

“No, I won’t have to. I think you’re going to sink your own battleship.”

Kendra walked to the kitchen, where she washed the wine glass then placed it to the side.

“Kendra …” Moon rose to his feet when he saw Kendra start around the counter, about to leave. “I know how to protect my young, too. You would be wise not to underestimate me.” Moon saluted her with the beer bottle then lifted it to his lips.

Kendra halted in place, giving him a small nod. “Don’t worry; I won’t.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Unable to take watching another episode of Love on the Rocks, Larissa turned the television off. As she stared around the clean living room she had dusted and mopped that morning, she was at a loss as to what to do next. After going on a cleaning spurt for the last couple of days, there was nothing left to do.

Drumming her fingers on the arm of the couch, she debated working on the mound of paperwork on the table. Nah … she preferred to work on that in the early evenings.

She got up and wandered through the house, trying to find something to do. You could have gone to lunch and movie with Mom, Lana, and Priss, she reminded herself. But she’d turned down the invitation, because she had looked forward to some me time. Moon would be at work during the day, and her mother would be out of the house, giving her free reign to do whatever she wanted to do.

When she found herself back in the living room without anything to do, she went into the garage. Disappointed, she was about to give up when her eyes settled on the car. Both Moon’s car and hers could use a washing.

Happy, she gathered everything she would need then opened the garage door, Backed both cars out, then got busy.

After cleaning the inside of Moon’s car first, she switched to hers. Of the two, hers needed cleaning the most. She didn’t know why he owned a car, anyway. Unless they went somewhere to together, his main mode of transportation was his motorcycle.

A couple of times, she had asked if they could take his motorcycle when they went out, to which he had used the excuse of her being pregnant but promised to take her for a ride once the baby was born. It was one of the things she was looking forward to the most, ranking higher than the baby no longer being wrapped around her bladder.

Humming, she crawled out of the back seat of her car. She brushed her sweat-dampened bangs away from her eyes and pressed a hand to the middle of her back. Thank goodness she was wearing a pair of blue jean shorts and a tank top which Killyama had given her that read “Mama Knows Best.”

She went to the spigot at the side of the garage to turned on the water hose. After wetting each car, she turned the water off, dipped her mitt into the soapy water she had prepared, and then started scrubbing Moon’s car.

As she sang along with the music coming from the radio in the garage, it didn’t take long before she moved on to her car. With her back to the road, she heard a motorcycle coming down the street. She must have been outside longer than she supposed for Moon to be coming home.

She leaned over the trunk to reach a couple of twigs that must have blown down, then turned to greet Moon when his bike pulled up next to the car.

As he turned his motorcycle off, she said, “Hi, I didn’t realize it was getting so late—”

“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He didn’t let her finish her sentence.

Larissa frowned at him. “I’m washing the cars.”

“Your mother and sisters have been calling you. I called. Why didn’t you answer the fucking phone?”

“I must have left my cell phone inside.”

Moon was too angry to care about her excuse. “They’re worried sick.”

Larissa straightened off the car as Moon took out his cell phone.

“She’s fine. She was outside. There’s no need for you to come. I’m here. I took off the rest of the day.”

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