Free Goodness and Light by Patty Blount Page B

wanted to shout back and wished he had a clue what to do to make it better.
    Just listen.
    He scooped Elena up at the knees and took her into the living room. He sat in the middle of the sofa, cradling Elena in his lap, running his hands down her hair to soothe. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
    “The signs, Lucas. They’re everywhere.” She clutched him, shaking.
    He swallowed a curse. He would kill Al first chance—abruptly, he refused to finish that thought. Damn. He shook it out of his head and sighed heavily. “Right. You were talking to Al. I’m sorry he upset you.”
    “No. I’m sorry.” She shook her head, wiped her eyes and shifted, moved away from him. He recognized her move to the opposite end of the sofa as an attempt to put distance between them.
    He met her eyes head on, refusing to hide the pain he hoped she could see in them. He needed her to know she could—she was —able to hurt him. “You keep saying that and then keep right on doing the things you’re sorry for.”
    She blinked, surprised, and he knew she hadn’t considered that. That gave him an idea. But first, he needed the details. “Tell me about the candy wrappers. Why did they upset you?”
    Elena covered her face for a second. “They were my mom’s favorite thing. She used to keep bags of them hidden all over the house.” She managed half a laugh over her tears. “When we moved the first time, away from the city, we found a bag stuffed inside the vacuum cleaner attachments case which is funny because we never would have looked there.”
    Lucas listened but didn’t say anything.
    “I saw Al on my way to the market and he told me how he loves to be here because his father sends him signs. He showed me this baseball card and—” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I thought he was nuts and then I went to the market. Nestle Crunch Bars were on sale—two for a dollar. Right at the freakin’ entrance. I walked by them. Coincidence, I tried to tell myself.”
    He nodded, his lips twitching into a smile. “Yeah. Felt the same way when Al did this with me.”
    “I wandered around the store, found the Queen of Hearts stuck to the milk carton.” She demanded with a swish of an arm. “I mean, who delivers milk to the markets of New York City with a deck of cards in his pocket?” She curled her legs under herself, wrapped her arms around them. “I got chills, Luke. I didn’t finish my list—just got the hell out of there. And on the walk home, picked up wrapper after wrapper after wrapper.”
    She looked at him, all enormous frightened eyes and he felt a pull on his heart.
    “What about the Queen of Hearts?”
    Elena managed half a smile. “My mom loved to play cards.”
    He nodded and drew in a deep breath. “You know what my mom loved?” He shifted closer, put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a seashell, dropped it into Elena’s hand. When she sent him a questioning look, he only shrugged. “I don’t get it either, but she loved seashells. Every trip we took, she bought a seashell.” He smiled, rolled his eyes. “Really drove my dad nuts. ‘You can get one for free on the beach! Why do you have to pay for a damn shell?’ She got them from the beach, too. Our house has dozens of seashell projects she made over the years—picture frames, lamp shades. I found this one on the train, right after I walked you home the other night.”
    Elena’s eyes went round. “And you think it’s a sign?”
    He opened his mouth and abruptly clamped his lips together.
    “What?” She pressed, but he only shook his head.
    He’d nearly told her about the snowflake ornament he’d given to a frightened little girl. He would never tell her, not now. Not after learning how much this talk about signs upset her. He moved closer. “Elena, what if Al’s right? What if the baseball cards, the seashells, the candy wrappers—what if they all really are signs? I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” He took the seashell,