Page 42 of Moon's Promise

“Not too bad today. Yesterday was worse. Where are you heading so early?”

“Puck must have forgotten coffee when he went to the grocery store yesterday,” Moon told the new prospect.

“I’m out of cigarettes; you mind picking me up a pack?”

Moon reached into his pocket and handed him the smokes. “I’ll grab me another pack. Text me if you want anything else.”

The icy steps were no joke as he went down. And if he hadn’t been awake when he straddled his motorcycle seat, he was when he sat down.

“Motherfucker,” he hissed. “I need to get another life. I’m getting too old to freeze my balls off.”

At least the roads were in good shape, and he made it to the gas station without a problem. Parking at the gas pumps, he fueled his bike before heading inside the convenience store.

Finding the coffee on the shelf, he decided to grab a ready-made cup as the tantalizing aroma filled the store.

He grabbed a lid after making a to-go cup, then went to the front of the store. There was a woman already in line, checking out. Recognizing who it was, he almost decided not to get in line behind her.

Fuck me, he inwardly groaned at seeing the woman from the day before.

“Your advice came in handy last night. I had dinner ready for Mandy after she got off work and did the dishes without her having to ask,” the cashier was telling the woman. “She didn’t cry once before going to bed.”

“That’s good to hear. Being a first-time mother is overwhelming. She needs all the help you can give her. Parenthood is a partnership. It’s not fair to put all the responsibility on her.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m going to do better. I don’t mind telling you it shook me up seeing her crying like that.”

“Pretty flowers and a night out would do wonders, too,” the woman suggested.

“I’ll do that,” Joel told her.

Jesus, breakfast would be over before he could get back to the club with their jibber-jabbering.

“You mind giving Joel marital advice after I check out?”

The woman turned her head, a strange expression crossing her face when she recognized him. “Excuse me. I didn’t realize someone was behind me. I’ll get out of your way.” She picked up a plastic bag and a cup of coffee then maneuvered away on her crutches, out of the way. “I better be going, Joel. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Have a fantastic day, Larissa!” Joel called after her.

Balefully, Moon stared at the cashier.

Turning red, Joel started ringing up his purchases. “Anything else?”

After adding two packs of cigarettes, Moon paid after Joel gave him the total. Taking his items, he started to leave, but then Moon raised an eyebrow to the cashier. “You aren’t going to tell me to have a fantastic day?” he mocked.

Joel turned a brighter shade of red. “Sure… have—”

Shaking his head at the embarrassed man, Moon walked to the door. He would kiss Joel’s ass if the fucker had actually cooked and did the dishes for his wife.

Mandy worked at the factory and had just come back from maternity leave a couple of days before. He had heard her talking during their lunchbreak, complaining about Joel. Moon didn’t need to be a psychic to see a divorce in Joel’s near future.

Coming out of the door, he raised his cup to his lips to combat the cold, which was about to attack him.

“Watch where—”

Startled at the female voice directly in front of him, Moon started to lower his cup at the same time his body came into contact with the woman who had just left.

“What the fuck?”

The force of their bodies coming into contact had his coffee tilting toward her before he could stop. In a split-second, he had to decide to keep the coffee from spilling or saving her from falling on the crutches. If he let her fall, she would trip over the step and hit her head on the corner post right behind her. He had just tasted the lukewarm coffee; she was better off getting wet.

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