44 Book Four Read Online Free Page A

sure if that really qualified as being a couple.
    But I wasn’t going to go into all that with David.
    “Ty’s good,” I said. “How’s your beautiful boyfriend?”
    He laughed and leaned up against the wall.
    “Wow, look at you,” he said, shaking his head. “It only took five months for you to warm up to me, but here we are. Abby Craig, I never gave up hope.”
    David always called everyone by their first and last names, like we were all stuck in a Stephen King story. I thought it was odd the way he did that, until I found out he was actually from Maine, just like King and most of the characters in his books and movies. I guess that was just how they talked back there.
    “Come on, now,” I said, smiling. “I warmed up to you at least a week ago.”
    He laughed again.
    “And by the way,” David said. “Eduardo DaCosta is just fine. You should come out with us sometime. We’re going to the clubs on Friday night.”
    David was a big partier and was always coming in looking like what the cat dragged in on Monday mornings, with lots of stories about his crazy weekends. He also had a hard time remembering that I wasn’t 21 yet and couldn’t get into the bars.
    He looked at me, his light eyes wide, waiting for an answer.
    “Can’t,” I said. “Not until the end of June anyway.”
    “Oh, yeah, I’m always forgetting that,” he said. “You just don’t seem 20 years old, Abby Craig. You’re much older and wiser. An old spirit or something.”
    I nodded. It made me kind of sad, David saying that.
     “Well, June’s not so far away,” he said. “We’ll paint the town red on your birthday weekend.”
    “Okay,” I said.
    At least I had a few months to figure a way to get out of it.
    “So I’m gonna go clock out,” he said. “You can always call me if you can’t take Mo anymo’. I’ll talk you through the rest of your shift.”
    I laughed.
    “We’ll be fine. We’ve done it before, you know.”
    “Yeah, I know. I remember. That’s why I’m saying it. I got your back.”
    I threw a towel at his head, but he ducked out of the way before it hit his face.
    Mo and I said almost nothing to each other after David left, even though we were working side by side. The music had gotten louder again.
    “Maybe we could close early tonight,” she said as I stood by the window, watching the steady rain fall. Most of the light had left the sky.
     “Sure, if you think,” I said. I was sure Mike would be fine with it. He did that sometimes too if things got slow.
    I yawned, stared over at her for a minute as I collected some packages of Guatemalan coffee to put out on the shelf. She had a small diamond stud in her nose. Her hair was different shades, shoulder length with lots of product so it could stand up in parts.
    I tried to think of something to say or something to ask Mo, but it was hopeless. I didn’t want to come across like those nervous customers who felt compelled to make small talk with her. I just let the silence sit and grabbed the broom and started sweeping as I heard the door bells chime and saw two women come in.
    “Looks like you two are having a good time,” one of them said. Mo didn’t answer, but cut the music as I walked over to the cash register.
    Most of the customers who came in were either attracted to Mo or scared of her. She never smiled or said much, but her piercings and tattoos earned her a certain amount of respect. Even the bank ladies and men in suits who came in at the lunch hour would be friendly, even if they looked at her with fear. They would ask her about where the best place to get a tattoo was in town, or if it hurt. Or if she was going to get more. Most of the time she would nod and not even respond.
    “Really, you’re seriously getting one?” she’d say once in a while, staring at them with her dark eyes until they squirmed.
    Although she was pretty scary looking, I knew she really wasn’t that bad. David didn’t need to tell me. I watched her slow, gray