Morning Light by Catherine Anderson Read Free Book Online

up.”
    â€œBoise is a good-size community. I’m sure you could shop there to your heart’s content.”
    â€œLet’s just hope it doesn’t come to your having to move again,” Aislinn replied. “Do what you must, and if it all goes sour, we’ll deal with it then. Just be sure to call your sister, Loni. It isn’t safe for you to drive yourself anywhere right now. In the meanwhile, my rosary beads will be clacking.”
    As she broke the connection, Loni was smiling. She always felt better after talking to Gram.

    Thirty minutes later Deirdre arrived at Loni’s house. She breezed in without knocking, her short, dark hair tousled from the wind, her blue eyes snapping. Loni glanced up from where she sat at the kitchen table.
    â€œI can’t believe Gram talked you into this.”
    Loni had briefed Deirdre on the situation over the phone. “She didn’t talk me into anything. She only reiterated what I already know. I can’t run from this. I can’t deny who and what I am. This is something I have to do.”
    â€œDoes Mom know?”
    Loni had just found Clint Harrigan’s address and number in the Crystal Falls phone book. She jotted down the information and tucked the folded paper into her purse. “Of course Mom knows. She has the eye, remember? There’s not much that gets past her.”
    â€œHas she telephoned?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen she doesn’t know. She’s probably busy cooking supper. Later tonight, just about the time Daddy starts snoring in the recliner, she’ll touch something of yours, tune in, and have a fit of hysterics. You know how she’s going to react.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Loni acknowledged wearily. “I do know, and that’s precisely why I’m not calling her. We’ll only argue, and I can’t handle that right now.”
    Deirdre held up her hands. “You need to talk to her before you go through with this. Once it’s done there’ll be no turning back. You have a right to a life, Loni. Think of yourself for once.”
    â€œIt’s my decision to make, and I’ve made it,” Loni replied. “Nothing Mom says will change my mind. There’s a little boy out there who’s going to die if I don’t talk to his father. How would you feel if it were Kirk or Kinnon? Would you want me to turn my back on one of them?”
    â€œThat’s not fair.”
    â€œIf I think only of myself, will that be fair to Trevor?”
    â€œLonikins, I love you for your kind heart, and I know how you feel. I’d want to help Trevor, too. But at what cost? Do you want reporters and desperate parents breathing down your neck again? Try to look at it from my perspective. You’re my little sister, and I love you.” Deirdre flopped down on a chair, her lightweight jacket parting at the front to reveal her trim figure. “I can’t bear to watch you go through that again. I want you to meet some nice guy, get married, and have a family, not live on the run, trying to piece your life back together again and again.”
    Loni circled the table to hug her sister. “Marriage isn’t for me. You know that.”
    â€œIt could be.” Deirdre returned Loni’s embrace, her body taut with the intensity of her emotions. “Just ignore these visions, Loni. Pretend you didn’t have them. Please, won’t you just try? If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for me.”
    â€œI can’t pretend I didn’t have the visions. Two people died, and a little boy may yet. Try to understand.”
    Deirdre drew back, tears swimming in her eyes. “Being your sister totally sucks. You know it? Watching what you go through has broken my heart a thousand times.”
    â€œThat’s why your name is Deirdre Lavena, meaning sorrowful joy,” Loni replied. “And why mine is Loni Kendra, meaning lonely clairvoyant. We all