Devil Moon Read Free Page A

are you this bright Sabbath morning?"
    Ah...Randy, her best friend and light-in-the-heels drama teacher at the school. He could make her laugh with his sweet, naughty ways. An image of his merry brown eyes under the shock of wavy dark hair cheered her.
    She really needed a shot of Randy about now. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. How would you like to take me out to breakfast?"
    "Ooo, a confessional! I can hardly wait. Get on your best bonnet and Father Randy will be there in half an hour."
    Maddie sighed as she hung up. Thank God for Randy. The one person who knew all her foibles and loved her anyway. Of course, she kept Randy's secrets under lock and key in her mind. That's what lifelong friends were for.
    She heaved her bones off the bed, decided she'd get organized, go to another town and take blood tests, deal with whatever the consequences of her actions might be. Then her mind tripped on that word again, "test." Grimly, she realized she'd have to add "pregnancy test" to her list.
    Oh, that damned Devil Moon.
    * * *
    Maddie and Randy drove to their favorite greasy spoon, the Hillbilly Heaven Café, nestled in the rocky Arkansas hillside. Randy always expected the stuffed animal heads on the wall to start talking like Disney characters. And he winced at the bad art for sale on the walls. Still, he wouldn't trade this hole-in-the-wall for the finest New York bistro. He loved the strong coffee served in sturdy mugs and the vinyl tables topped with vases of tacky plastic flowers.
    They huddled in their favorite booth, speaking softly. Randy listened to Maddie's disjointed tale of her erotic escapade, patting her hand when she entered into self-berating. My, my she'd been quite the free spirit . Personal peccadilloes came as such a shock in the harsh morning light. Randy well understood the power of sexual urges and emotional overload. He'd had his share of morning-after regrets. Still, she was coming down too hard on herself.
    "You know what you had, don't you?" he whispered.
    "Temporary insanity?"
    "Well, that, too. But I'm thinking of Erica Jong's 'zipless fuck' from Fear of Flying ."
    Her blue eyes widened. "My God, you're right. That's exactly what it was. But I'm not the kind of person who goes to bars and picks up strangers. I was in my own back yard!"
    He smiled at his Maddie, dressed in her pert matching short set, her sleek blond hair perfectly combed. Those startling blue eyes of hers could really nail you to the wall or shine with happiness. The straight nose tilted high when she chose to put on her Mother Superior act; the mouth smiled with beguile or thinned to a grim line, as befitted her mood. And whether she liked it not, Maddie was a moody miss.
    "Listen, doll face, you need to cut yourself a little slack. You don't have to play Perfect Assistant Principal twenty-four seven. You're human. You got a little drunk and had a tumble on the grass. It's fortunate this guy wasn't some psycho-slasher. He didn't hurt you, did he?"
    "Oh no." Her eyes softened. "If it had really been a dream, it would have been the best dream I ever had." She lifted her cup and flushed as she sipped.
    He whistled softly. "I get it. Well, goody for you. It was a short, but satisfying romance. Which is more than I can say."
    Maddie lifted an eyebrow. "So how is your mystery man in Little Rock? Are you ready to tell me about him yet?"
    A knot formed in Randy's stomach. "There's nothing to tell. We've gone our separate ways."
    "What was wrong with this one? Too loud? Too quiet? Too anal? Too casual?"
    "Too perfect. I couldn't find anything wrong." He fiddled nervously with the spoon on the table. "Scared the hell out of me. I ran."
    Maddie lowered her coffee cup. "Aren't we a fine pair? Both running away from perfect men. At least you know the identity of your perfect man."
    Randy placed on hand on his chest and struck an orator’s pose. " And therefore is Love said to be a child, because in choice he is so oft beguiled ."
    Maddie