The Other Half of the Moon

By Katie Marshall

For Aphrodite Miller life has been a never-ending push to avoid finding a husband. When she manages to avoid her best friend, Jessica's need to set her up on blind dates with her cousins, she gets cornered by her mother who thinks she should marry the town dry cleaner. Despite the avoidance, Aphrodite manages to find herself in an unusual situation when she meets Jake in one of her dreams. Now Aphrodite is left to figure out the difference between reality and fantasy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katie Marshall
• Release date: Nov 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005965228

Katie Marshall

Katie Marshall is a graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington and author of 6 books in varying genres. She lives and works in Maine

Book preview

The Other Half of the Moon

By: Katie Marshall

The Other Half of the Moon

Katie Marshall

Distributed by Smashwords

Copyright©2021 Katie Marshall

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Dedication:

To all of the beautiful dreamers of the world

Table of Contents:

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

About the Author

Prologue:

Once upon a time, in a magical woodland called Maine, lived a fairy princess and her little woodland creatures. Okay, so maybe I’m not a fairy princess and maybe my woodland creature is a fat, gray cat named Emerson, but I do live in a small house in Maine. And I have something even better than a princess name. I am Aphrodite, for the Greek goddess of love. Why they decided to pick her out of all of mythology is still a mystery to me. One would think that it would be pulled from our Greek heritage, but my parents seemed to forget that we aren’t the least bit Greek. My mother is Celtic so they could’ve used Ἀine, but they decided it was too hard to pronounce. Then my father is German. Personally, I kind of like Freya. She’s not only the goddess of love but also the goddess of war, which I find very fitting for my past experiences with relationships. As the fantastic Pat Benatar says, love is a battlefield. My mother didn’t think her daughter should be associated with war and death so Freya was vetoed. Oh, sure somewhere down the line my great-great to the millionth grandmother could be Greek, but Aphrodite Miller doesn’t exactly ring off the tongue. In high school, the clique girls called me Phro Phro, kind of like Froufrou’s ugly sister. Mom calls me Apphie which makes me think of fluffy bunnies and kissing babies. It’s just that precious. I prefer Dite, pronounced like Die-Tee, not Diddy. I really don’t want to be connected with a famous rapper. My friends call me it and I use it for social media and such, but it still doesn’t completely cancel out the fact that I must write Aphrodite on a check.

My parent’s explanation was that they hoped the name brought me love and happiness, as much as they had in marrying each other, the perfect high school sweethearts. It’s a really cute story about two band geeks that meet while playing

trumpet, fall in love, and have that one perfect child of theirs, me. Ever since I was a child, they had hoped the same would happen for me, but it turns out that I’m about as good with men as I am with tending the greenery at my parent’s flower shop. I’m not sure why this should be such a problem but, to my mother, being single at thirty is a mortal sin. It could be that my awkward teenage phase never left me or my aversion to stupidity. Regardless of the cause, I am lacking in the social calendar department. My best friend Jessica says it’s all the strict rules I have for dating, but I think she’s crazy. I mean is it too much to ask to find a tall, light-haired, handsome man who likes sports, poetry, and knows every book Stephen King ever wrote? Not to mention that he has to be loyal, intelligent, and understand my fabulous brain. Of course, my mind is constantly changing, but he’ll keep up. After all, Prince Charming could do it so why can’t other men? I guess we’ll have to wait and see until then I am single, thirty, and still waiting but not desperate,

Ms. Aphrodite Miller

Chapter One:

Aphrodite hesitated before entering her parent’s flower shop. It wasn’t anything against her parents. They could be a little difficult at times, but she had special maneuvers to dodge them. She hadn’t perfected the technique for Mrs. Simon.

There you are, Apphie dear, Mrs. Simon said, pulling the front door open before Aphrodite could grab the handle. I was just telling your mother what a good time Auggie had talking to you the other day.

Augustus Simon was about as interesting as a bag of bricks, but his mother had tried, from the time they had entered preschool together, to arrange their marriage. Time had not reduced Mrs. Simon’s tenacity.

I did too, Mrs. Simon, Aphrodite tried to sidestep her way through the door, but Mrs. Simon wouldn’t subside.

I knew you would feel that way, she continued, thrusting her robust chest forward to squish Aphrodite against the doorframe. The crooked point of her nose protruded in Aphrodite’s direct line of sight making it impossible for her to look into her eyes without drawing attention to it. That’s why I’ve invited your parents and you for dinner tomorrow night. It’d be good for my Auggie to spend time with his friends.

That’s really nice of you Mrs. Simon but unfortunately I already have plans for tomorrow night. Aphrodite squeezed herself out of the door. She took several long strides to escape the pursuing woman and her long manicured fingernails.

Oh, but you must come. I’m making my world-famous pot pie. It’s to die for.

Great, we’ll all be buried by dessert, Aphrodite mumbled.

What’s that dear?

Oh, I can’t wait Mrs. Simon. You better hurry down to the store. Bud’s is having a sale on carrots and veggies and stuff. Aphrodite walked her back to the door. She opened it and gave Mrs. Simon a little nudge. The woman waved vigorously as she rushed down the street. Aphrodite watched her from the window until she rounded the corner. She sighed with relief when it appeared Mrs. Simon wasn’t going to backtrack as she had a tendency to do. She closed the door behind her before almost smacking into her mother.

Apphie you really shouldn’t be so picky. When are you going to find a good husband to take care of you? Her mother wagged her finger at her, her chestnut hair bobbing on her shoulders.

Oh, Mom. I just got here. Do we need to do this now? She rubbed her forehead with her fingers and sighed.

"And you should be