Enchant the Dawn Read Online Free PDF

Street on her way to work Tuesday. Besides, that time, she’d got enough of a glimpse of red hair under a grimy cap. And an all-too-cocky smile. He’d known who she was. If she wasn’t badly mistaken he’d been one of the group that had greeted the dawn with Daron West.
     
    The man seemed to inspire a fair bit of loyalty. It seemed that she had been adopted into the club without ever having signed up for admittance. Wasn’t there a secret handshake or set of magic words she’d need? And where was the man of the hour to take credit for rescuing the damsel in distress? Apparently, he cultivated the “mystery man” image to the greatest possible extent. Either that, or he just wasn’t interested.
     
    By Thursday she was in a foul mood. She’d had a restless night haunted by visions of running through forests outside Newbury, Ohio, chasing Jimmy but never catching him. She’d felt him getting further and further away ’til she couldn’t feel him or anyone. Not even herself. She’d had that dream a million and one times, waking up afterward with eyes wide open to stare at the ceiling and try to remember the shape of Jimmy’s smile. This time had been different though. Jimmy had come out from behind a tree and given that bashful smile she’d loved. He’d been grown then, not just thirteen and ready to steal a kiss. He’d been grown and in his Army suit and he’d waved goodbye, dirty blond hair blowing in the breeze. This time, she woke up and didn’t feel empty. She felt fallow, like she was waiting for something to happen to her. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
     
    So, she was running dreadfully late for work and she’d rushed around madly trying to find a decent pair of stockings. But she wasn’t so hassled that she couldn’t feel the presence at her door or the sound of a deft hand working the lock. Sophia jerked open the door and clapped her hand over a thin wrist. Sure enough, it wasn’t Irene or Mary, or even the redheaded fella. It was a girl.
     
    Well, not a girl exactly but certainly a woman younger than her own twenty-six years. She didn’t remember seeing her on Sunday morning but that wasn’t hard to imagine. This was a woman who had made a study of how to fade into the background. She pulled back with surprising force against the grip that Sophia had on her wrist but she wouldn’t raise her eyes to challenge for her freedom.
     
    “If I let you go, will you talk to me for a moment?”
     
    A pause and then the softest of replies. “Yes ma’am.”
     
    Sophia let go and the desire of the petite woman to flee was palpable, even without Sophia’s heightened sensitivities. Her abilities didn’t include reading minds but when a body wants to be somewhere other than it is, it gives off a definite aura. This woman kept her eyes on the floor, or staring at the red skin of her hands and forearms. She looked like a couple of thousand other women in this part of town, her hair tucked up into a white cap, her serviceable gray print dress and the starched white apron of a housemaid. “Are you a friend of Mr. West, miss? And don’t call me ma’am. You ain’t young enough and I ain’t old enough for any of that kind of talk.”
     
    The woman looked up. Sophia repressed the desire to gasp. The girl…no, the woman was beautiful. A heart-shaped face, huge eyes that were a cornflower blue and wisps of hair a soft pale gold. She looked like the heroine of every pulp novel or like what every movie actress wanted people to think they looked in real life. She wasn’t an innocent though. That same defensive loyalty flashed for half a moment in those brilliant blue eyes when Sophia had mentioned “Mr. West”.
     
    “I know Mr. West. What’s it to you?” There was a surprising amount of fight in a voice that was so very quiet. There was no way of telling by the accent where the woman hailed from but it wasn’t New York. Between that and the eyes, Sophia knew that she’d seen more pain than