Broken Heart 03 Because Your Vampire Said So Read Online Free PDF Page A

dozen compliments and a six-pack of Budweiser. Next thing I knew, I was in l-o-v-e.
    It took four years to have a child: Wilson. Ten months after he was born, Lynnie came along. She stayed with us for seven weeks, nine days, eight hours, and thirty-seven minutes. Crib death. After that, I had three miscarriages, so I went to the doc’s and had my woman parts removed. No more babies. No more losses.
    I don’t know if losing our daughter and babies exacerbated the wounds Sean already had, but the drinking got worse. I justified his boozing and bad behavior. For a while, I could point to the good intentions he had and the nice things he did.
    Yeah, he drinks, but he supports his family.
    After ten years, he lost his job at the Tulsa Bus Plant due to absenteeism. Work was cutting into his drinking time. After that, the man couldn’t keep a job longer than a month or two.
    Yeah, he drinks, but he’s a good father.
    He stopped playing catch with Wilson, dropped out as Boy Scout leader, forgot birthdays, slept through Christmas mornings, and left me to do the emotional cleanup.
    The years passed and the disease of alcoholism did its work; the good man was destroyed inch by inch until only the monster remained. Whatever love and sympathy I had for him was worn away until only grief and anger remained.
    One morning, as I cleaned up Sean’s vomit for the umpteenth time, I decided fifty more years of this bullshit was more than I could take. The man’s first love was booze, and not even losing his home, his wife, and his son was enough motivation for him to stop. We hadn’t seen him since the day we signed the divorce papers.
    I tried not to think about Sean or about what I had been like with him. We’d been better off without him, but finally giving up and filing for divorce felt like peeling off my own skin with a cheese grater.
    I couldn’t rely on Wilson to stay in his room while I slept, but he couldn’t leave the town without running into one of the wolves. Yet, even without access to the outside world, he was still finding a way to get drugs. I wasn’t too keen on asking the Consortium any favors, but they were efficient problem solvers. I’d been thinking lately I would swallow my pride and ask for their help.
    I tugged on my oversized football jersey and crawled into bed. There was something to be said about vampire sleep. Worry and guilt couldn’t keep me tossing and turning.
    The undead sleep like … well, the dead. When the sun rises, we have no choice but to shut our peepers and lie down. And when the sun sets, we wake up ready for a blood breakfast.
    Ever since I got undead, I haven’t dreamed.
    Until tonight.
    In my dream, I sat at a small table that was one of many in an outdoor café. Daylight slanted across the marble surface and I touched it with one finger. I inhaled the scent of strong coffee and cinnamon rolls.
    Across from me sat a young woman wearing a halter top and jeans. She had the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. Her skin was creamy, her lips rose red. Her dark hair hung in careless ringlets. She took my hand and turned it over, tracing the lines.
    “You must follow your heart, Patsy. Don’t let past disappointments shape your future,” she said with an Italian accent. “You have a great destiny, one that you share with Gabriel.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “You will.” She winked at me.
    The dream shifted… .
    I stood at a picture window in a room I didn’t recognize. I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge, four-poster bed. The covers were messed up, as if whoever slept there had just gotten up. A fire crackled in the big, stone hearth, where two red wing chairs faced its warmth. I returned my gaze to the window.
    Outside, the full moon danced along the treetops. I was dressed in a luxurious silk robe. I could feel my lungs fill with air and my heart beat steadily in my chest.
    My belly felt heavy. I looked down and gasped. I was pregnant. Impossible. I pressed my hands against my