Sleep With The Lights On Read Online Free PDF Page A

enough you pick a fragrance worn by a third of the women who shop at Bath & Body Works?”
    She straightened, and I pasted a smile on my face and hoped my eyes weren’t doing anything stupid. Sandra and others had assured me that they didn’t, but I didn’t believe them, which is why I am rarely seen without sunglasses. I mean, why tell me, right? It’s not like I could check in the mirror and prove them liars.
    “How are you, sis?” she asked softly.
    My sister, Sandra, was my only claim to normal. She was a soccer mom in the best sense of the word. She had twin teenage daughters bearing the ridiculous names of Christy and Misty—no, I am not kidding—and a husband named Jim who worshipped at her feet. And why is it every great husband I know is named Jim? Anyway, this particular Jim was a pharmacist. Sandra was a real estate agent. Independent. Office in her basement and doing pretty damn well for herself. She and her family were so perfect, it was amazing I didn’t have to check my blood sugar around them.
    “Bruised rib and a concussion,” I said. “Nothing big, but they want me overnight and they took my fu — ” Oops. Cop’s still sitting there. “They took my darn glasses.”
    “Did you give them hell?”
    “Only a little,” I lied.
    “We need to get you home before you destroy your career.”
    “You’re right. I’m not even gonna argue. I was going to go hunt the glasses down myself as soon as Officer Bob here finishes with me.” I tilted my head his way. “That was your cue,” I whispered.
    He laughed a nervous laugh. “Okay, I have all I need. And, uh—here.” He moved again, getting up, and then a plastic bag rattled. “It says personal effects, and I see some sunglasses in the bottom of the bag.”
    I took it from him, and felt my glasses in the bottom. “Hey, thanks. I guess I should have asked you to begin with.” I fished them out fast and pushed them onto my face. My relief was so intense I felt like I melted in the bed a little.
    “I hope you recover fast, Ms. de Luca.” Sincere and mildly amused. He thought I was cute. I hated being thought of as cute.
    “Oh, I know I will,” I told him. “I’ll just raise my vibe until my body has to rise up to match it.” Oh, my agent would have kissed me for that one. Funny how no one ever responded with the obvious question: “Why the hell are you blind, then?” Maybe they did, behind my back. Who knew? I didn’t care, as long as they kept buying the books. And the affirmation cards, and the annual calendar.
    The cop should have left then. He really should have.
    But instead he said, “If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to call.”
    “I need my brother found, Officer. I think I’ve told you that already.”
    “I know, I know. Look, it’s not my case, but I’ll see who I can nudge, all right?”
    “No. It’s nowhere near all right.”
    My sister swung her hip sideways, bumping my bed hard enough to shake it.
    “But it’ll do for now,” I added. “Thanks, Officer.”
    “You’re welcome, Ms. de Luca.”
    I waited until I knew he was gone. It’s funny how you can feel a person’s presence or absence. Human beings give off some kind of...I don’t know, energy or force field or something. You can sense it clearly and easily if you aren’t too busy looking for them with your eyes. At least, that was my explanation for it. I didn’t remember noticing it until I’d gone blind. Then again, who remembered details like that prior to age twelve?
    “So?” Sandra took the cop’s former chair. “What happened?”
    I told her what she already knew from my phone call. “Got run over by a cop. Not that one, though. A much better-looking one, according to my built-in TV. A detective, even.”
    “You should sue,” she said. She reached out to take my glasses from my face, then put them back a second later. “Crooked,” she said. “You’d get a zillion.”
    “I already have a zillion. You know, give or