Now or Never

into the wall; her gaze falling to the floor.
    A fat white cat sat at her feet and purred, his heart-shaped face turned up towards Grayson.
    “Where did you come from?” She leaned down and picked up the furball. Her heart settled back into place. “You must have been hiding in mom’s room.”
    Feeling much calmer, Grayson turned on the kitchen light and glanced over the room. A cereal box she’d noticed on top of the fridge earlier in the night was now on its side on the linoleum, and tiny circlets of cereal were scattered across the floor. She laughed again; too elated to find there wasn’t an intruder to care that now she had a mess to clean up.
    As she did a walk through of the house just to make sure all was calm, two more cats came out of the woodwork. How many cats did her mother have? Had she become the crazy cat lady at the end of the street?
    She cleaned up the spilled cereal and returned the box to the top of the fridge, then paused at the back window while the small white cat entwined about her ankles. She could barely make out the lush greenery of the backyard; tree limbs swaying beneath ethereal white moonlight. It looked peaceful and calm and worlds away from Arizona. When was the last time she had really felt safe? Certainly not since the first-time Josh’s temper flared.
    Well, she was sick of being scared all the time. She was stronger than that.
    It’s time to take my life back , Grayson thought firmly.

CHAPTER 7

    The next morning, Grayson was able to enjoy a quiet breakfast alone with the cats. She checked in with her mom who was in the middle of a class on “using doilies in scrapbooking”, and then she called her brother, Ethan, to set up a time to visit. She tried calling Luna, but got her voicemail. After shooting her a voicemail to let her know she was at Mom’s house, Grayson laid down on the couch in front of the TV and stayed there all day.
    The doorbell woke her up from a nap later that afternoon. Groggy, she rolled off the couch to answer it, the hardwood cool beneath her feet. When she swung the door open, she found the mirror image of her own face: long strawberry blonde hair, a sprinkle of freckles, clear blue eyes set in an oval face with full lips.
    Grayson’s twin pulled her into a crushing bear hug.
    “I can’t believe you finally dumped that jackass.” Luna’s voice was muffled in Grayson’s hair.
    Pulling back from the hug, Grayson grinned. “I figured you’d approve.”
    “Damn straight!” Luna shoved past her and kicked the door shut. “And now for the first time in your life, you are going to have some fun.”
    Grayson groaned. Her twin sister was her polar opposite. Luna was outgoing, outspoken, and always the life of the party. She rarely settled down with a guy for longer than three months, her reasoning being life was too short and there were too many men to experience.
    Not slutty at all , Grayson thought with a laugh.
    Grayson had always been slightly envious of her sister’s carefree ways, but it just wasn’t her style. They looked the same, but they were wired differently. Her mother claimed it was because Luna was left-handed and Grace was right-handed. Just another one of her mother’s quirky theories.
    “I called you earlier. Where were you?”
    “Work. Gotta pay the bills, you know.” Luna looked around the living room. “Where’s Mom?”
    “Some scrapbooking retreat.”
    “Ah, I forgot about that. She’s had it planned for ages. Well, that works in our favor.” Luna said with her devilish smirk. “We don’t have to explain why you won’t be returning home tonight.”
    Grayson slanted her eyes at her sister and frowned. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”
    “Grace, have you looked around this town? It’s a hot bed for sexy beasts. They are everywhere . This town is crawling with soldiers, and half of ‘em are just passing through the base for training.”
    Grayson liked the sound of hot guys just “passing through.” If there was one thing she knew, it was that she wouldn’t get into another long-term relationship—at least, not for a very long time. She needed to work on herself.
    Luna breezed into the kitchen. She never missed anything, immediately honing in on Grayson’s discarded Starbucks cup from the night before. Luna picked it up from the counter and spun it in her hands. “Who’s Derrick?”
    Grayson’s face flushed as the memory of last night’s Starbucks meeting crossed her mind. The harder