When Night Falls by Cait London Read Free Book Online Page A

to concentrate on creating Everett’s travel brochure.
    Instead, she thought of Mitchell, of the darkness lurking around him, the coldness she sensed inside him.
    And then she knew he’d come back to close the past, to watch and relearn through a man’s eyes. He’d come to heal.
    Uma smiled in the shadows of her office, the colors soft and smooth around her, the fresh flowers from her garden scenting the room.
    She drew comfort from the gentle, whispering memoriesof her mother and grandmother in the same room. Here, she was safe .
     
    “I’ll dress how I want, go where I want, and if you don’t like it, I’m moving out. There are plenty of places I can stay—or go,” Dani stated stubbornly in Shelly’s small, neat living room. The sound system slammed loud hard rock music into the deadly space between Shelly and her daughter.
    Dani’s dyed black hair, styled in short, straight peaks, matched the black T-shirt, tight black jeans, and heavy eye makeup. With one leg slung over an easy chair, her boot thumping the wall, Dani sat in the chair Shelly had salvaged from the church sale and reupholstered. “You don’t love me anyway. It’s not like you wanted me, or anything. I’m just the aftereffect of when you were my age and running around—”
    “I did not run around. I loved your father. You’re a part of him,” Shelly stated, her heart aching for her daughter. Dani was hurt early, when Shelly’s grandparents refused to see her, to acknowledge her. Even now, her grandmother wouldn’t look at her—“the bastard child of Satan.”
    “Yeah, right. You loved him so much, you won’t even tell me who he is. And like he stuck around to be a parent.”
    “He didn’t know. I didn’t know when he left.”
    Dani shook her head. “Mom, don’t hand me this bull. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—you ran around and I might end up the same way—that’s what your old lady said.”
    “ She’s your grandmother. Don’t call her that .”
    “So when’s she ever been in my life? When’s she ever recognized me as her granddaughter?” Dani demanded hotly. “Well, I’m not going to end up like you, slaving at other people’s houses every day, cleaning toilet bowls, and washing and ironing shirts at night, scrimping for every dime—”
    “It’s good, honest work. You could try a little of it. Or at least finish school.”
    “It’s a waste of time. I want to live and have fun. You did—”
    “Dani, I was not hopping from bed to bed, and I’d better not find out that you—”
    Dani leaped to her feet and slammed down the fashion magazine she’d been clutching. “Or? Or? What will you do? Kick me out? Maybe that would suit me.”
    Despite her tough talk, there were tears in Dani’s eyes, and Shelly’s heart wept for her. “I’m sorry you grew up without a father, honey. I’m sorry my parents were cruel. But I love you so much and only want the best for you.”
    “Sure. That’s why you won’t tell me or anyone else who he is. I have a right to know my own father’s name.” Dani was sobbing now, a teenager battling growing up and life and her love for her mother. “Face it, Mom. I’m just like you. Only I’m not ever getting caught with a baby I didn’t want.”
    “ I wanted you. I wanted you with every bit of my heart .”
    Dani dashed her tears away, leaving rough black smudges across her face. The color of her eyes was dark, rich amber now, the same as Roman’s. “Sure. It wasn’t easy being stuck with a kid in this town, was it? Boy, I just can’t wait to get out of here.”
    After Dani stormed into her bedroom, slamming and locking the door, Shelly felt as if her strength was gone, too. She sank into the chair Dani had been sitting in and picked up the magazine from the floor, automatically replacing it on the stack of others.
    How could she explain that night to her daughter, all the depth of tenderness that had given her the most precious gift of her life?
    How could