Celtic Moon by Jan DeLima Read Free Book Online

forest and lakes remained forever wild in a valley under a snowcapped mountain—and where Dylan waited not too far away.
    “How much longer?” her mother asked for the twentieth time in the last half hour. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
    Sophie kept her eyes on the winding dirt road pitted with puddles. “We’re almost there.”
    “You said that an hour ago.”
    “You didn’t have to come,” Sophie reminded her, immediately regretting her impatience.
    Joshua groaned from the backseat, recognizing his mother’s error.
    “I’m tired of hearing that tone from you,” Francine snapped, her voice like boiling water over thin ice, a warning that Sophie had stepped too far and was about to fall in. “When you came to me just after your father died, hurt and pregnant . . . and you told me that . . .
that man
wanted to take the baby from you, what did I do? When you told me that I either had to come with you or go into hiding and forget you—
what did I do
?”
    “You’re right, Mum. I’m sorry.” Sophie tried to defuse the lecture that she knew had only just begun.
    “I completely relocated my life, that’s what. Without question. To be with you and my grandchild. I changed my name to
Brown
, for the love of God. Do you think I’ll walk away now that you’ve decided to face whatever demons you need to face?”
    “I said I was sorry.” She ground her teeth. “And Joshua doesn’t need to hear this right now.”
    Francine sniffed, her posture going rigid. “Then don’t bring it up again.”
    “I won’t.”
    “We’re a team.” It seemed she wasn’t quite done yet. “Don’t ever forget that. And if
that man
even tries to keep me away from my grandson, then he’ll know what it’s like to face the wrath of two Thibodeau women at once.” She blew out a breath of air, fanning herself. “Now look what you’ve gone and done . . . My blood pressure’s all upset.” She gave a low laugh, starting to calm down. “I must admit, it felt good to say my real name again.”
    Sophie patted her mother’s arm. She almost felt sorry for Dylan.
Almost.
“Did you take your pills this morning?”
    “Yes, at the rest stop.”
    Sophie nodded, recognizing the last turn up ahead. “This is it. We’re here.” She braced herself as the car bounced over roots and holes in a driveway of sorts, protected by a canopy of tall pine trees. She parked her Ford Taurus alongside a black Chevy Avalanche.
    Her heart pounded so hard she felt physically ill.
    The truck, no doubt, belonged to Dylan.
    Sophie forced herself to get out of the car; the scent of pine and forest assaulted her senses and her memories. She tried to calm her emotions, tried to keep those memories at bay, but in the end, her pitiful attempt to shut out the past crumbled under the weight of a simple sound. The soft rush of Wajo Stream could be heard in the distance, the water high from melting snow, bubbling over rocks and fallen trees, taking her back to the last time she’d been in these woods . . .
     * * * 
    T
HE STENCH OF SKUNK SURROUNDED HER, MAKING HER EYES
water and her lungs burn. Sophie pressed her cheek against the rotting walls of her narrow shelter. How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? It was quiet, too quiet, as if someone,
or something
, had silenced the forest.
    She dared not move, dared not breathe.
    The soft padded steps of a four-legged beast soon closed in, circled around her—and then paused.
    Sophie was trapped, unable to move; her hiding place became her prison. She tried to scramble out but her position was awkward, and the wolf had anticipated her move; the log crumpled just before a sharp pain ran down her side.
    Her breath lodged in her throat, stunned as nerve endings screamed. Her vision blurred as she plunged forward onto the wet forest floor. Pine needles and leaves stuck to her face, the cold earth keeping her lucid, reminding her to fight and not give up. She rolled onto her uninjured side, using her