The Twin Moon (The Moon Series)

The Twin Moon

Published by Buffy Christopher

(C
opyright 20
12
Buffy Christopher)

All rights reserved.  eBooks are
not
transferable and cannot be given away, sold or shared.  No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, faxing, forwarded by email, recording or by any information retrieval and storage system without permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, as this is an infringement on the copyright of this work.  Brief quotations within reviews or articles are acceptable.

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.  Any resemblance to a person or persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.

ISBN:
978-1-4661-8569-2

Cover by Buffy Christopher

Tiger photo byRTP411

Golden Gate Bridge by porbital

Couple in Shadow by piyaphantawong

Contact Buffy @

www.buffychristopher.com

www.facebook.com/buffy.christopher

http://twitter.com/#!/buffychris

To Victoria Roder for coming up with the title The Twin Moon.

Thank goodness for Facebook friends and fans.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Virginia Nelson and Piper Anderson who both helped tremendously on this book. They are both rock stars!

Thank you to all those who wanted another book in the Moon Series even though it took me forever to get it together. I appreciate your patience.

Thank you to my family who loves me unconditionally and

puts up with me when I’m writing and ignoring them.

Thank you to Lisa
Pietsch for being totally amazing and

one of the most supportive friends I have.

And last thank you to Lisa, my old coworker at my daytime job, who wanted a story about a girl our size. Big is beautiful.

The Twin Moon

By Buffy Christopher

Buffy Christopher

Chapter One

Andy Garrett braced her feet
wide
apart on
the
tile
floor
of her foyer.
B
ack
against the wall across from the front door of her
small
house
in a derelict
neighborhood of San Francisco she sucked a deep shaky breath
in
throug
h her nose and blew it
out through her mouth
. H
er
sto
mach
ached
with nausea
and
she fought the
bile rising up the back of her throat
with one more controlled breath
.
With her right arm bent
and her index finger along the guard of
the shot gun
that was
wedged against her shoulder
,
she eyed the blue front door through the sight on top of her new gun.
The sight shook as her arms trembled
from fear and the weight of the shotgun
.

“If he comes through that God damn door, it’ll
be the last thing he ever does,
”
Andy mumbled.
Her finger rested
next to the trigger, just like the guy at the range had showed her.
The
broken arm
had
healed
,
but she wouldn’t allow
Rich, her ex-boyfriend,
close enough to hurt her again.
Andy
called
the police
the last time he
’d
violated his restraining order, but by the time the
y
finally made it to her house
Rich
had disappeared
.
All she could do was make a report as the seasoned officer rolled his eyes and the rookie kept his hand on his gun as he eyed her “historical” neighborhood.

“Andrea
.
Let me in you bitch
.
”
The booming male voice was followed by
a heavy bang that made the old wood
door creak and vibrate.
Andy
shook with
trepidation
and anger causing a
hysteria inside her that
quick
ened her
pulse
.

“It’s called a restraining order for a reason
….it restrains you. S
o
g
o away, Rich.
”
Andy
had to shout through the door.
I can do this. I’m stronger than that asshole.

“Come on baby, I just want to talk to you.
I miss you.”
His voice gentled.
Andy snorted.
This was his false calm.
She’d seen it that night right before he’d pushed her backward off the por
ch onto the concrete sidewalk.
Before he
’d
wretched her arm hard behind her back and
she’d heard
the ominous snap
of her bone
.
She shivered
as she
remembe
red
the pain that burned through her arm
and
into her chest where her broken heart wept in silence.
But that was another night, and tonight she was prepared

“No.
Get back in your car and leave before I call the cops.”
Andy’s throat hurt from
shout
ing
, but
she was
strong for standing up to him even if the door that separated them and the gun she held was her real protection
.
She really would have called the police
,
too
,
if
it hadn’t meant she would have
to put down her
new
shotgun.

“I’ve been yelling through the door for five minutes.
When are you going to open up?”
Rich punctuated his statement with a series of deep bangs.
Andy winced.
She hoped the door could stand up to the abuse.

If she’d lived in a better neighborhood, it might have occurred to her degenerate neighbors to actually call the cops instead of turning a blind eye.
Andy glanced down at the phone
,
a surge of guilt going through her
.
She could call the police, but she’d have
to do it one handed.
The gun c
ould slip out of her hold.
Damn
.
Maybe she’d accidentally shoot him.
Andy’s lip quirked
in
a small smile.
That would solve her Rich problem.

“Andy, baby, I know you miss me too.
You still want my cock in your bed.
Come on let me in.”

Andy rolled her eyes.
The memory of his insignific
ant manhood flashed in her head.
The arrogant ass sure
thinks
a lot of himself
.
She bl
ew out an exasperated breath and cussed
him
to hell and back
under her breath
.
She wanted to tell him how his vanity made her sick, but she bit her lip and kept her mouth shut
,
afraid to make the situation worse with a sharp comment
.
Sh
e didn’t want to provoke him
.

“Andy?
I know you can hear me.”

She waited knowing what would happen next, even as her body trembled
in
anticipation of the worse.
This
had happened so many times now
.

“Open up you fat ass bitch
.”
He
kicked the door and pounded on it
repeatedly
.
Andy jumped almost dropping the shotgun, a
s the old w
ooden door protested in outrage
.
S
he closed her eyes
pretend
ing
she could merge with the solid wall at her back.
Tears burned at the backs of her eyes at
the violent
reminder
of why she'd finally kicked him out.

I’m stronger than
tears
.

She swallowed hard
at
the lump in her throat
from
the names he called her
and blinked her eyes rapidly to clear them.
As hard as she tried to ignore him, he still affected her
.

His true self always came shining through bright as the northern star.
Rich
continued to rage at the door, cursing her, while the door groaned under the onslaught.
Andy took a deep breath trying to steady her hands.

“Please, God, just let
it hold.
D
on’t make me kill him.”
If he came through that door she would shoot him.
No matter what
,
he won’t put his
hands on me again.
The broken arm healed and the bruises were all gone, but the emotional scars were etched deep into her soul.
If Andy killed him she’d go to jail for murder, even if the restraining order said he was a danger to her person.
Andy’s heart raced as he kept up the shouting and kicking.
Then it went
eerily quiet
.
Andy stilled then
tiptoed over to the peephole and looked out as
a chill crept up her spine, goose bumps rose on her arms.

“Oh
.
S
hit.”
Her body tensed at the silence.
Rich was no
w
h
ere in sight.

The
kitchen window exploded
and Andy jumped nearly dropping
the shot gun on her foot
, catching the
barrel
as the rifle slipped out of her hold.
L
ittle shards of glass tinkled into her porcelain sink.

“Don’t think these fucking bars will stop me bitch.”
His face was pressed to the bars and his hands tried to shake them.

Andy sent up a silent prayer as she swung the gun in the directi
on of the kitchen window.
The gun shook in her hands, as her
angst had her struggling
for control
of her body and mind
.

“This isn’t over Andy.
I’ll be back, lard ass.”
Andy closed her eyes as the demea
ning name deflated her a
little and her shoulders slump
ed.
She opened her eyes at t
he wail of a siren
approaching
, hope flared for a moment as
Rich
glance
d
quickly over his shoulder
before
trotting
to his car.

His piece of shit ‘79 Camero grumbled to life, then the tires squealed and he was gone.
Relief flooded Andy and she sagged against the wall.
A few seconds later a cop car
came
roaring
toward her house… and right down
the street.
Figures.

Andy
slipped
the shot gun
down to
droop in her
shaky
hands
and slowly
slid
down the wall.
She landed with a thump on her rear end.
Her body continued to shake and hot tears blurred her vision.
She was so sick of the mental abuse that eroded her
self-esteem
like acid
on
skin.
She picked up
the
cordless phone that l
ay
next
to her foot and dialed the non-
emergency number for the police department.

“Police Department.
Wh
at can I help you with?”
The
dispatcher
on the other end was way t
o
o perky
.

“
My
ex just broke his restraining order and I’d like to make a report.”
Andy wiped her hand over her tear streaked cheeks.

“Yes, Ma’am.
And is he there now?”

“No, he’s gone.”
She breath
ed
deep
, in through her nose and out through her mouth,
in an attempt
to calm her raging heartbeat and throbbing head.

“Why didn’t you call sooner?”

“I couldn’t.
H
e would’
ve broken in the door.”
Andy petted the wood st
o
ck of the shot gun
.
She was comforted to have the fire arm at her disposal.

“Well, ma
’am, there’s not much we can do if he is not currently threatening you.”
The
dispatcher’s
sweet voice went slightly tart.
“It’s your word against his.”

“I am aware of that I’d just like to make a report.”
Andy sniffed away the last of her tears and squared her shoulders against the wall.

The
dispatcher
sighed
gustily
, like Andy
had ruined
her who
le day
.

“Fine.
Name.”

Andy took in a big breath and recited her information.
She’
d done this so many times
the reporting was almost
second nature.
When did all this happen?
When did I
lose
complete control of my life?
Tears threatened again making her eyes burn, but she fought them back as she talked to the
dispatcher
.

The
officer
promised someone
would call her back later.
By the end of the call she was numb all over
.
Are my
feet still attached?
She looked down.
Her feet were still there and
,
with some serious determination and effort,
s
he stood up
.
Her feet touched the floor, but she couldn’t feel the hard wood under her shoes.
S
he leaned the shot gun gently against the wall in her bedroom.
Andy
walked back to the kitchen sink and
carefully
cleaned
the glass out it, tossing the shards
into the trash can then washing the rest down the drain.
Andy sighed
;
her shoulders sagged
with
her
relief when she saw
the evening light touching the horizon.
A
t least the
day
wasn’t completely lost
.
She’d just settle
d
into the couch
to
breath
e
for a minute
when t
he phone rang,
startling back to
her feet
.
She snatched the phone o
ff the table and answered
.