Devil Moon Read Free Page B

drummed her fingers. "You and your quotations. That's got to be Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night’s Dream? "
    He nodded. "You have to get up early in the morning to fool Maddie Harris."
    "Maddie Harris is pretty good at making a fool of herself." She sighed. "At least we have each other. And you always have your mother."
    Randy rolled his eyes. "O lawsy, isn't that the truth? Don't let me forget. I've got to pick up a box of Depends before we head back up the hill."
    "You're a good son." She spread butter on her wheat toast and nibbled. "When we were little and I visited over the summer at Grammy's, you were always next door taking care of Mother Bailey instead of running around with your friends. I remember watching you cook dinner for her when you were twelve and I was eight."
    "I've progressed from box dinners to gourmet cooking since then. My soufflés are to die for." Speaking of which, his eggs were getting cold. He dug in.
    "I know she takes you for granted, but there aren't many men who would arrange their lives around an invalid mother like you have."
    "As Noel Coward put it, My mother has an umbilical cord made of piano wire ." God, it sucked to be a stereotype. Gay man with dominant mother and no father figure. This is Your Life, Randy Bailey.
    "Well, I think Beaver Cove is darned lucky that a man with your talent is sticking around here to develop the high school drama department. I know this wasn't exactly your dream, but the kids in this town are a lot better off because of you." She spread marmalade on his toast, just the way he liked it. "I'm certainly glad I have you to run to when I come undone."
    He accepted the toast from her graceful hand. "Listen, dear heart, move on. You're not the first girl to take a tumble in the moonlight after a few glasses of wine. Just don't make a habit of it. You're lucky this fisherman wasn't a throat slasher. Bolt yourself inside your house the next time you hear the call of the wild. Or better yet, call me and we'll watch the late, late show together. I always can use an excuse to escape Mother."
    "It's a deal." She squeezed his fingers.
    Randy covered his hand over Maddie's and went into an Irish accent. "Now, my child, go and be sinnin' no more. Say three Hail Mary's , take two aspirin and call me in the mornin'."
    Maddie smiled. "Thank you, Father. Oh, Randy, what would I do without you?"
    "You'd muddle through, but life would be dull, wouldn't it?" He leaned back in the booth. "Certainly, school wouldn't be half as fun without me there to rescue you from unwanted suitors like Phineas Manchester."
    Maddie made a face. "Ugh. Don't remind me." School was starting in two weeks and that meant the beginning of meetings and preparation. "Have you gotten the new seats for the theater yet?"
    "No. Promises, promises, all I hear are promises, promises. McCall told me he had it in the budget and was just waiting for the okay, but I haven't heard more."
    "Have you pressed him?"
    Randy lowered his head, a lock of hair falling over his forehead. "Ah, Maddie, you know I'm kind of scared of McCall."
    Maddie's eyes snapped, the Woodbridge starch coming back into her sails. "Well, I'm not. The budget meeting is next week. I'll find out where your new seats are or my name isn't Madeleine Woodbridge Harris."
    Randy winked at her and did his best Bette Davis imitation. " Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night ."

Chapter Two
     
Men seldom make passes
    At girls who wear glasses

Dorothy Parker
    The following week Phil Wilcox pulled out of the McDonald's drive-through with his usual Egg McMuffin and black coffee. He pushed aside the leavings of last night's dinner from Taco Bueno to make room for breakfast. His morning drive to the school took about twenty minutes from leaving his apartment complex, making the detour for food and pulling into his parking place marked "Coach" at Beaver Cove High.
    His cell phone beeped the most annoying tune in its repertoire. Seemed only fitting