Share the Moon, page 1
Share the Moon
Synopsis
Jamie Carr recently inherited her aunt’s struggling vineyard, nestled in the picturesque hills of Northern California. With help from Jamie's slightly out-of-control best friend, Kali, and her aunt’s surviving lover, Kate, the vineyard is about to get a makeover.
Being stuck on a fifty-acre vineyard for over a century can be a bit mind-numbing, especially for Ruth, the resident ghost, who never wanted to be there in the first place. Fortunately, as time has passed, so has the ownership of the property, and if the three friends who now live in the old Victorian house are any indication, things are about to get much more interesting.
Intrigued and entertained, Ruth decides to introduce herself to Jamie on a beautiful full moon night. The attraction that surges between them is immediate…but seriously, a relationship with a ghost? That’ll never work.
Share the Moon
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Share the Moon
© 2021 By Toni Logan. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-843-2
This Electronic Original Is Published By
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, NY 12185
First Edition: February 2021
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Barbara Ann Wright
Production Design: Susan Ramundo
Cover Design by Tammy Seidick
eBook Design by Toni Whitaker
Acknowledgments
A heartfelt thank you to Radclyffe, Sandy, and the incredible team at Bold Strokes Books. You’ve turned a lifelong dream into one of the best rides of my life. I am forever grateful.
To Barbara Ann Wright, editor extraordinaire, for reeling in a head-hopping first draft and putting it on the right track. I am a better writer because of you.
A special shout-out to Tammy Sedick, for capturing the essence of the story and turning it into beautiful cover art.
A huge thank you to my amazing and wonderful friends who joined me on this journey. Especially Jenn, who patiently listened to endless story ideas as I monopolized our dinner conversations.
And finally, the biggest thank you goes to you, the reader, for taking a chance on this book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Cheers.
Dedication
To Mom and Dad. Always loved and forever missed.
Chapter One
1904
“Run!” Lillian’s scream echoed in Ruth’s head as she sprinted across the open field. Fear surged through her veins as adrenaline propelled her forward. Her heart pounded, and her labored breathing became raspy as she tried to push her body beyond its physical limits. She needed to reach the woods on the far side of the clearing. There she could hide in the shadows of the trees. There she would be safe. But the full moon, that only moments ago had made the perfect romantic backdrop, now betrayed her, like a lantern held high over her head. She was too exposed in its silvery glow, too easy of a target. Run! The word continued to bounce around her head as she cursed her stiff new boots. Not a good choice for a quick escape, but running was the last thing she thought she would be doing right now.
She bowed her head and pumped her arms as she willed her body to move faster. Faster, Ruth, you—A sharp pain stabbed at her side, causing her upper body to lurch to the left. She tried to massage away the side stitch. She took a few quick shallow breaths, but a wave of nausea hit her hard. She skidded to a stop, bent forward, and placed her hands on her bent knees. Saliva dripped from her mouth as her stomach began heaving up the meal she’d eaten just moments ago. Ruth gagged and choked with each gut-wrenching spasm. When it was over, she wiped her sleeve across her mouth and took a moment to glance behind her. Two men were on horseback, silhouetted against the moon, galloping full speed in her direction. Rifles held high, they whooped in a battle cry.
“I didn’t know,” Ruth yelled through gasping breaths. “I didn’t know!” She squinted into the night, hoping her words would make the approaching party pause, but they didn’t. The men kept coming.
Run! The word welled up inside her, but this time, it was her own voice screaming. A new fear took hold as she started sprinting again. She cleared her mind as much as possible and concentrated on a single tree that marked the entrance to the woods. Make it to that tree, she promised herself, and this nightmare will be over. She pumped her arms twice as fast as before, determination replacing fear. She was going to make it. She was going to be okay. The sound of her short rhythmic breathing echoed in her head and became the cadence her feet responded to. Come on Ruth, you can do this…you’re almost there. She smiled as the distance between her and the woods diminished. A few more yards and she would be home free, I’m going to make it, she thought as a giddy feeling made her smile.
Then the world spun around her. Ruth’s back arched as her upper body twisted to the right, legs stumbling out from under her. She fell hard, facedown, and for a moment, she wondered what had tripped her. But when she tried to get up, searing pain shot through her shoulder, causing her to crumble to the ground. Ruth slowly rolled on her back, cradled her left shoulder, and felt the warm liquid oozing out of the hole in her flesh. She brought her hand close to her face and examined her fingers. She looked quizzically at the bright red blood dripping from them. The thought of actually being shot seemed so implausible.
Run, she heard the voice scream in her head once more, but as the horses galloped upon her, she knew there would be no more running. Ruth flopped her head to the side and focused on the thin legs of the animals dancing around her as they protested the heavy-handed way the men pulled on their reins. I didn’t know, she tried to announce, but the words never rose above her gurgled breath.
Ruth turned her head back and looked up at the stars. Such a beautiful night, a night that started out with so much hope and promise. “I…didn’t…know,” she pleaded through gasping breaths as the men sat silent, their agitated horses stomping close to her body.
The sound of a deep whinny mixed with leather creaking as one man leaned over and spit on her. Tears welled in Ruth’s eyes as she began to sob. “I didn’t know.” She coughed.
Her pleas were answered by the click of a rifle being cocked. “No,” she cried. “I didn’t—” But her next word was drowned out by the sound of a shot ringing in the silent night.
Chapter Two
Present Day
The cool evening was a welcome relief from another muggy, late summer day. Kali Parker rode her 2008 Kawasaki 1400 GTR up the long dirt driveway toward the dilapidated old Victoria house that overlooked a neglected fifty-acre vineyard. She cut the engine at the base of the wraparound porch that was in desperate need of a fresh coat of wood stain, straddled the bike, and waved off the last of the dust that settled around her. She removed her smoky black helmet and placed it on the handlebars as she gently rubbed her fingers through her short hair, coaxing it back into a fashionable messy style. She jabbed the heel of her well-worn brown leather boot at the kickstand, and it obediently sprang forward, allowing her to dismount. She took a moment to brush off a thin layer of dust that clung to her tight, white, V-neck T-shirt and just as tight faded blue jeans.
Kali grabbed her backpack out of the saddlebag and took a moment to admire the full moon sitting low on the horizon. Beautiful. She smiled as she walked to the front of the house. She took the porch steps two at a time, pulled the squeaky screen door open, and bounded into the house. She used the loud slam to announce her entrance into the main room.
Jamie Carr and Kate Spalding looked up from the overstuffed sage couch that took up a large portion of the spacious vaulted room. Jamie was leaning over the coffee table made of old oak wine barrels, cutting slices off a block of cheddar cheese. Glasses of red wine sat in front of them, and a murder was being solved by the best forensic scientists on the flat screen TV.
“Ladies.” Kali let her backpack drop to the floor by the end of the couch, as she glanced at the two most important people in her life. Jamie, her best friend, who had brought her back from the depths of despair after her last breakup, and Kate, the woman who stepped up more than once to fill the void of a motherly role. “Pour me a glass. I just need to get something from my room. Be right back.” She bounced up the old wooden staircase.
Her bedroom was at the end of the long narrow hallway, and as she entered the modest-sized room, she back kicked the door with her right boot. The force was not enough to completely close the door, just change its position and provide more privacy. Good enough, she thought as she brought her legs up one at a time, hopping the few short steps to her dresser as she peeled off her boots and socks and let them fall haphazardly on the floor. She pulled out her cell phone and absentmindedly flung it on the dresser. She opened the top left drawer, retrieved a matchbook, and ripped out one of the two remaining paper sticks.
As she closed the cover
She ran the tip of the match over the strike track and let chemistry do its thing. A romantic glow filled the room as she quickly touched the flame to the wicks of two medium-sized, lavender candles. What was the name of that woman? Paula? Lisa? As her mind continued to draw a blank, she replayed the memory of the woman pressed against her back, her hands reached around Kali’s chest, caressing her breasts as the water tumbled off the boulders and splashed over them. Damn, that night was erotic as hell. What was her name? Kali blew out the match and walked over to her bed. Oh well, it doesn’t matter.
She sat and reached into the top drawer of her cherry walnut nightstand. She pulled out her wand massager, plugged it in, and flopped on top of the unmade bed. She unzipped her jeans and tugged them down far enough to position the ball of the vibrator comfortably between her legs. She had been horny for the last hour, and she needed release. She took a meditative breath, closed her eyes, and hit the button.
“Buddy! Jeezus!” Kali grunted as an overweight, fifteen-year-old, orange and white tabby cat pounced on the wand. “Go on, get.” She shuffled her legs enough to cause the old feline to give up the attack and reposition himself at the foot of her bed. A flick of his tail expressed his annoyance.
“Good boy,” Kali whispered, half-irritated and half-amused by the interruption. Now then, where was I? She closed her eyes tight and returned the apparatus to the spot that had just begun to satisfy her ache.
A woman in her late twenties appeared on the side of her bed. “Hi, babe. You look gorgeous tonight,” Kali said in a hushed breath as she licked her lips.
The woman smiled. “Hi, babe,” she whispered. She wore a black dress with a V-neck cut low enough to expose most of her C-cup breasts. Her dark skin was flawless. Her body tight and muscular. She had a thin chiseled face with a slight cleft in her chin, piercing green eyes, and a voice so soft it could still any restless heart. She was stunningly handsome with just the right touch of feminine flare.
Her dark hair parted on the left side and delicately draped over her opposite cheek. “No wait, parted in the middle,” Kali requested as the woman ran her fingers through her hair until each piece fell perfectly down the middle. “Better?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kali answered, “much sexier. Now I can see both your eyes.”
The woman nodded as she repositioned herself on top of Kali. “What do you want me to do to you tonight?”
“You know what I like.”
“Yes, I do,” she whispered in Kali’s ear, causing a chill to tickle down Kali’s spine. “You’re mine now. Every…single…inch of you.”
Kali shivered. “I’m all yours.”
The woman’s fingers lightly touched Kali’s skin as they slowly made their way closer to the vibrator. Another chill caused Kali’s nipples to harden. She placed one hand on her breast and squeezed the ache from the tip.
“Those are mine to play with,” the woman protested as she placed her hand over Kali’s.
“I know they are,” Kali said.
The woman smiled that smile that Kali knew so well. That smile that said she knew what Kali was after. That smile that could make Kali come on the spot. That smile that belonged to the only woman who never failed her.
“Right there, baby, keep going. Don’t stop…don’t…stop.” Kali tensed and tightened her thighs as the woman began rubbing a finger around Kali’s clitoris, using her wetness to stroke her up and down.
“Go in, baby, please go in. I want to feel you inside me,” Kali said out loud as she arched her back and pressed the vibrator more forcefully against her.
“Like this?” More as a statement than a question. She leaned forward over Kali, took her first two fingers and slowly slid them into her. Kali began to thrust into the vibrator. Harder. Faster.
“Don’t stop.” She bit her lower lip as the words groaned from someplace deep inside. “Oh…baby…don’t—”
The dark-haired woman vanished. “What the fuck? Not again.” Kali grabbed the end of the vibrator and frantically twisted the cord in an attempt to revive life back into the old toy. It sputtered twice, then nothing. “Shit, not now. Not now.”
A slow, acoustic folk melody filled the bedroom as Kali’s cell phone came to life. “I know, Jamie…I know.” Kali groaned as she glanced at the blinking green glow from her screen that overpowered the dim light from the candles. She knew her vibrator caused the house’s electricity to flicker, but right now, she didn’t care. She continued to twist the cord as she let the phone ring itself to silence. “Come on old faithful, don’t fail me.”
The vibrator sputtered and teased before finally roaring back to life. Finally! Kali took a moment to take another deep meditative breath and closed her eyes, hoping the mood was not ruined. “Ah, there you are.”
The beautiful, dark-haired woman appeared from a dense fog. “Miss me?”
“You know I did, now finish me. I’m so close.”
“You know I always do,” whispered the woman as she pressed her muscular body onto Kali’s. She kissed Kali in a hard, possessive way, then slowly let her fingers glide down Kali’s body until they were once again covered in wetness. “I’ll be back,” the woman whispered as she licked her way down until her tongue and fingers became one.
✥ ✥ ✥
“Damn it, Kali,” Jamie mumbled to her cell phone as it floated to voice mail. “She needs to find herself a girlfriend before I kill her.” She tossed the phone back on the coffee table, tugged at the dark blue cotton T-shirt that clung to her, and pressed into the cushion of the couch as she pouted. She glanced at the flickering TV screen and sighed. Frustrated, she blew at a strand of her hair as it tickled its way across her face. All she could do now was wait.
From the opposite end of the large, C-shaped couch, Kate looked over and smiled. She uncrossed her ankles and slid them off the coffee table as she leaned forward. She grabbed the bottle of Merlot and topped off the half-empty glass that sat in front of Jamie. “In my opinion, both of you need to find yourselves a girlfriend.”
“I’m over women,” Jamie insisted as she grabbed her glass.
“You know, they’re not all assholes.”
“I know.” Jamie sighed. I’m just ass-holed out. And tired of giving so much of herself to women who didn’t think twice about throwing her under a bus when the relationship got a little rocky. Why were some women so painfully addictive? She shook the thoughts away as she took a gulp, closed her eyes, and welcomed the perfect blend of smooth and oaky semi-sweetness. Damn, that’s good. She smiled as she opened her eyes and glanced at Kate.
Kate, the surviving lover of Jamie’s Aunt Nora, was a sixty-eight-year-old hippie who looked and dressed as if she was still living in the 1970s. She was tall and lean and had long, gray-streaked hair that was always pulled back in a tight ponytail, exposing a face that had a gentle glow and light brown eyes that sparkled with kindness. Jamie was sure each wrinkled line on her tan and weathered face was the beginning sentence to an amazing story. Kate was well traveled, held certificates in Viticulture and Enology, and never seemed to have a bad day. If only you were younger. Jamie coughed loudly as she choked. Oh my God, I can’t believe I just thought that. She leaned forward and placed her wineglass back on the coffee table.
“You okay?”
“Um…yeah…just went down the wrong way.” She made a fist and thumped on her chest as she coughed twice more. She waved her hand in front of her face in an attempt to clear the thoughts away. Ew, that was a bit incestuous.
“And…we’re back.” Kate nodded at the TV as it returned to normal.
“That was—”
The sound of Kali bounding down the stairs made Jamie look over her shoulder. Buddy was in the lead, his sagging stomach swaying as he waddled down each step. He slipped a bit when he hit the hardwood floor but quickly regained his footing. Seconds later, he was on top of the coffee table checking out the food. “Oh no, you don’t.” Kate grabbed him and a slice of cheese and put both on the floor. “There you go, sweetie.”
