Read Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2) for Free Online

asked, horrified.  
    “I never heard anything that sounded mind-blowing coming from your bedroom, so I just figured.”
    Lucy blew out a breath and laughed. “You’re terrible.”
    “Ain’t roommates grand?” Grace asked, wagging her perfect eyebrows, and took another bite.  
    “So grand,” Lucy said, and headed over to greet a customer.
    She took the customer’s order for a raspberry white mocha. As the machines began to blast the ear-piercing sounds she had grown accustomed to, she blew out a breath that lifted the blonde hair from her blue eyes. Grace came to visit her at the café just about every day on her way home from the night shift. Once in a while, they would get to talking, making Lucy feel as though she was merely hanging out with her girlfriend over a cup of coffee. Each customer who approached the counter seemed to yank her out of this little fantasy, reminding her exactly where her life was now.  
    It was a long way from her nights as a nursing student. Here she was, a twenty-four-year-old barista with tons of student loans.  
    Grace had graduated and landed a job at the same hospital Lucy had left behind that horrible night. The only thing Lucy regretted was the fact that she hadn’t really made another plan after being a total failure in the nursing program. Thank God for Lydia, who insisted that Lucy help out at the café for a little while until she could get back on her feet. Unfortunately, a little while had morphed into a full year. The one thing she was sure of, however, was that serving coffee was not her future; it was simply her right now.  
    She swiped the customer’s card and gave him his receipt before heading back over to Grace, who was at the counter, silently buried in her cupcake.  
    “I’m going to wipe down tables in the dining area,” Lucy said, and laughed when Grace didn’t respond.  
    She moved from table to table as she picked up tiny pieces of paper and then wiped each table clean. She swept the piles of change that customers had left behind into her purple apron pockets and hoped the pennies and nickels weren’t left out of courtesy. Gee thanks .  
    Back at the counter, Lucy attempted to throw her towel into the bucket of bleach and water, but missed, spilling the water instead. She bent to clean up her mess, which had expanded to the floor.  
    “Uh, Lucy,” Grace said from the other side of the counter.  
    Lucy looked up and narrowed her eyes at Grace’s strange expression. “What?” she asked, confused.  
    “You have a customer,” Grace answered, her voice barely a whisper.  
    Lucy groaned as she got to her tired feet and approached the register. She was exhausted and it was only nine in the morning. “How may I—oh.”
    It was only right then, when she looked into those familiar eyes, that she understood Grace’s look. “It’s you,” she said absentmindedly. Her mouth was wide open; she could feel it, but she just couldn’t seem to close it.  
    “Hello,” he said.  
    “Hi,” she said, still staring.
    He slowly cocked his head to the right, his squinted eyes taking her in. “I see you at the park, don’t I?”  
      Heat rushed over her face, her cheeks bursting with each rise in temperature. She felt Grace’s eyes on her, but she wasn’t worried what Grace thought at the moment. She nodded slowly, but couldn’t find any words to go with it. That small movement of the head would be her response.  
    “I thought so. Uh, anyway, I have a question for you,” he began. “I normally drink my coffee black.”
    “Okay,” she answered carefully.  
    “But I got into a bit of trouble last night with my brothers and I’m not feeling the hot coffee right now, you know?”  
      “Okay,” she said, still baffled.  
    “I guess I need something cold, but with a kick.” He raked his fingers through his light brown hair before locking those green eyes with hers. “I need caffeine, but I need it cold. I’m not up on the current