His Touch Read Online Free PDF Page A

the baby climbed on the sofa beside Kara and made a grab for the iPhone, but Kara was too quick. “Uh uh. This isn’t a toy. This is Mommy’s. Where’s your phone?” She’d given Nadia her old Blackberry to play with. Nadia scanned the room, pointed to the shelf where the TV was.
    “Go get it.”
    Kara put her phone to her ear. “Ring, ring! Hurry, Nadia. Answer your phone.”
    Nadia took the Blackberry, cradled it between her ear and shoulder.
    “Hello? Who’s on the phone, Nadia?”
    “Ay nuh.”
    “Oh, hi, Elena!” Kara pretended. “Tell Aunt Elena about your show.” She watched, amused, as Nadia walked around the room, muttering words only she understood and making hand gestures to go with them. Kara picked up her working phone and recorded her daughter’s pretend game, sent the file to her sister’s phone. Elena would enjoy it. She sipped her coffee and settled back against the sofa, hoping Nadia would go down easy for the morning nap.
    The baby coughed and Kara went tense. Her eyes searched for something, anything that might be wrong, but Nadia’s color was fine, her eyes were clear and bright and she’d finished her breakfast. It was likely nothing but Kara couldn’t help worrying. After all, she was still new at this mommy thing.
    Her stomach rumbled and she took her coffee back to the kitchen, popped a few slices of bread in the toaster and found a container of yogurt in the refrigerator.
    “Me.” Nadia joined her.
    As they shared the yogurt and the toast, Kara relaxed. Her baby girl couldn’t be coming down with something and have this much of an appetite. With a sudden yearning that almost stole her breath, she wished her mother were there to offer advice. Mom was often on Kara’s mind but even more so since Nadia’s birth. “Wait until you have kids of your own,” her mother had often said. “Then you’ll understand.”
    Kara’s lips curled. Oh, she understood. And oh, how she wished her mother were there to say I told you so . She rubbed her chest, tried to soothe away the ache that thoughts of her mother always caused, only to be superseded by guilt when she remembered it wasn’t just about her. Her whole family and their friends—they’d all suffered the same loss. Her brothers had been so young and needed a lot of attention. Her father had been adrift and chose to move the family from state to state. Her sister was perhaps the one most deeply affected by their mother’s death.
    Everyone was better today. Not over it , never that. But better. Anthony and Stefan had adjusted well. Both had finished grad school and were planning to start a business. Her dad finally settled in Florida after he found an old list her mother had written about her favorite places. Elena married Lucas, the man she was convinced was a sign from her mother. Everyone had gotten a sign from Mom.
    Except her.
    Kara used to tell herself it was because she didn’t need help the way Dad, the boys, and Elena did but that was a lie. She needed help badly. She needed a sign from Mom. It just seemed like Mom wasn’t in the sign-sending business anymore.
    The last sign she’d sent was Lucas, though it had taken Kara ages to convince her sister Lucas wasn’t punishment for the fight she and Mom had had the night before her death. Wait, no. That wasn’t quite right. The last sign Mom had sent was her room number at the hospital, the day Nadia was born. Six-eighteen. Her mother’s birthday. When Elena noticed that, that was when she finally believed that Lucas was a sign of forgiveness and not punishment.
    With a pang of guilt, Kara lunged for her cell phone and checked the date.
    Today was June eighteenth.
    “Okay, Milk Dud. We’re going to visit Nana in the park.” They hadn’t been to the September 11th Memorial since December, when Elena and Lucas had gotten married in an intimate evening ceremony.
    With a plan in place, Kara put Nadia down for her morning nap and then pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. She