BlackWind Read Online Free Page A

the tightening of Deirdre McGregor's hands on the steering wheel or the look of shock in her hazel eyes.
    “Mama, please?” Bronwyn beseeched.
    * * * *
    Deirdre chewed on her lip for a long moment, remembering something her older sister had once said about her own daughter: "When I forbid Siobhan to do something, she always finds a way to do it anyway. Saying no is like waving a red flag at her, like you're daring her to do whatever the heck she wanted to in the first place. Teenage-girls are like that, DeeDee, especially where boys are concerned. Forbid them to see a boy she thinks she can't live without and she'll end up pregnant just to spite you! I've learned to let her date whomever she wants and just hope he does something to show her his true colors before it's too late."
    “Mama?” Bronwyn pressed.
    “This is against my better judgment,” Deirdre said.
    As she pulled in front of the ten-cent store, Deirdre clenched her jaw. She was not good at parallel parking and breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she managed to angle her car into the slot.
    Bronnie leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you!”
    She was out of the car before Deirdre could reply.
    * * * *
    He was sitting at the lunch counter when Bronnie entered. He did not look at her as she took the seat beside him. “We'll have trouble with your mother and father,” he said, poking his straw up and down in his Cherry Coke.
    Bronnie nodded. “You may be right.”
    “I know I am and you know it, too.”
    She swiveled her stool to faced him. “How does that make you feel, Sean?”
    He turned his gaze fully upon her. “It doesn't matter. I'm used to people telling me what I can and can't do. What I can and can't have.”
    “What is it you want?”
    He smiled. “To be with you.”
    Bronwyn blushed and ducked her head. “I want to be with you, too.”
    “We'll be together one day, Bronnie. I swear.”
    She looked at his unsmiling face. “Do you believe in destiny?”
    He leaned his arms against the counter. “I believe what is meant to be will be.”
    “So you think you and I were meant to meet?”
    “As surely as the wind blows, a ghrá mo chroí."
    Bronnie grinned. “That's Gaelic.”
    “Aye. Do you know what it means?”
    “ Chroí means heart,” she replied, proud of her knowledge.
    “ Ghrá means love,” he said softly. “The phrase is ‘love of my heart.'”
    Her eyes widened. “Love of my heart.”
    “As you will always be,” he said, holding her gaze.
    She folded her hands in her lap. “I love you, too.”
    He looked down the counter and his eyes narrowed. “Hey!” he called out. “You have a customer down here. You think you can tear yourself away from lover boy long enough to take her order?”
    The waitress turned away from the uniformed Air Force serviceman with whom she was flirting. “Hold your water, sonny. I'm coming!”
    “Did you hear me?” Bronnie asked, a little embarrassed by his rudeness to the waitress, but exhilarated by his show of authority. She was not prepared for his answer.
    “I have loved you from the moment I saw you. You are mine, Bronwyn McGregor.”
    A chill went through Bronnie; she shivered. “You think so, do you?”
    “You understood that long ago.” He glanced at her. “Didn't you tell your mother so?”
    “Soul mates,” she agreed, liking the sound of the words. “Destined to be together.” She didn't question how he knew what she had told her mother, even though another chill traveled down her spine.
    He reached out to cup her right cheek. “Never fear me, Bronnie. For as long as we draw breath, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
    “What can I getcha?” the woman behind the counter asked as she sidled up. Popping her gum, she pulled the order pad from the pocket of her apron.
    “A Cherry Coke to go,” Sean answered for Bronnie. He wasn't looking at the waitress, but through the front window of the variety store.
    “Is my mama staring at us?”