Free The Awakening: A Sisterhood of Spirits Novel by Yvonne Heidt Page A

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    Sunny couldn’t stand it. “Agnes? Breathe, please.” She talked soothingly to her until small hiccups replaced the crying. Her mother got up from the desk, giving her a seat, and left the room.
    “Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? I’m Sunny.”
    “Okay,” Agnes said in a tiny voice.
    “Uh-huh. Yes, I know the place. Uh-huh.” Sunny took notes while listening. “Well, let me talk to my team and I’ll get back with you, okay?”
    Sunny winced when Agnes started crying again. “I promise. Good-bye now.”
    Her mother handed her a bottle of water. Her displeasure was obvious in her expression. “If you keep working on your days off, you’re going to burn out like I did.”
    Sunny knew it was concern that had her mother all tied up in knots. When her mother had disappeared into the gray fog, Sunny had experienced it right along with her. She went around the desk and kissed her. “I’m fine. She needs help. The poor woman is terrified. I couldn’t get a sense of anything but her fear.”
    Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but Sunny cut her off. “I’m taking care of myself, getting plenty of sleep. Please stop worrying about me.” Her mother nodded and left again.
    Sunny stared at the notepad and felt the little hairs on her neck rising to attention.
    Change is coming.
    She found Tiffany in the war room talking on her cell phone while she gathered her purse and sweater. “I don’t see how—Yes, of course. I’ll be right there.” She turned, and Sunny could see the unshed tears in her eyes before she looked at the floor. “I have to go and pick up the baby. It seems the preschool frowns on her”—she made little quote fingers in the air—“overactive imagination.”
    Sunny crossed the room to comfort her. “What happened this time?”
    “Apparently, she was talking with a classmate, and according to the teacher, she told him that his daddy’s spirit was in the room with them and said he was sorry about leaving him and his mother alone.”
    “Uh-oh. Where’s his dad?”
    “He’s a marine stationed overseas. The boy is in hysterics.” Tiffany pushed her glasses back. “So he gets mad, tells the teacher, who dragged my daughter to the office, where she is now sitting alone. A feeling I know quite well, and my heart is breaking for her.”
    “I know, honey.” Sunny felt the empathic tears coming on. “Go and get her. Take the rest of the day off and go to the park or something.”
    Tiffany shook her head. “I have appointments.”
    “Well, I’ll reschedule them for you. Go on.” Sunny hugged her.
    “Okay, thank you. Sometimes this is all so freaking hard, you know?” Tiffany rushed out of the office, and Sunny heard the bell sound as she left.
    Shade’s desk was clean, without any of the usual electronic paraphernalia present when she was working. Her computer screen was still dark. Sunny picked up the schedule that her mother placed on each of their desks in the morning and saw that Shade’s first appointment wasn’t until late in the afternoon. Shade was notorious for sleeping in, usually because she partied so hard.
    She pushed the worry away. Shade was a big girl, and Sunny refused to butt into her personal life, even if she saw the path she was going down. She wanted to warn her and help, but Shade refused to listen, putting up mental bars and barriers that even Sunny couldn’t get through.
    Sunny heard the phone ring in the silence, then went back to reception when her mother called her name. “Yes?”
    “Tara called to cancel her reading today. She said something came up with her family and she’d call later to reschedule.”
    “So I’m free for the rest of the day?”
    Her mother checked the book. “No. You have a client coming in ten minutes. After his reading, you’re done.”
    Sunny checked her watch. “Then I’ll call Agnes back and go to see her later.”
    “I don’t want you to go alone. I’ll go with you.”
    “Mom, I’m fine. It’s just