Sounds of Silence Read Online Free PDF Page B

and the back side of the fabric was as neat as the front.
    Suddenly he was aware of Mercedes standing in the doorway. Her damp hair hung in wavy hanks around her shoulders, and she had on a pink nightie with lace edging just brushing her bare feet. He smiled as the little toes curled.
    When he crooked a finger, Mercedes sidled toward him. She came as far as Isabel’s mahogany rocker and sat down, where she continued to watch Eli with sober brown eyes.
    Mercedes made the sign for woman, then pretty. She pantomimed sewing and brushed her hands down the front of her gown. Clearly she was proud of the garment.
    “Isabel made it for you?” he guessed aloud. “Isabel?” he repeated slowly, as she watched his lips.
    Mercedes nodded, beaming, and made the sign for beautiful again.
    Eli grinned. “Oh, yeah. She is.”
    He’d love to know what was going on behind Mercedes’s intelligent expression. He’d been using every spare minute to study an American Sign Language book he’d checked out of the library. This would be a good time to practice.
    But before he could do more than ask Mercedes how old she was, and discover that she was seven, Isabel came back into the room with Danilo riding piggyback.
    “Eli!” shouted the little boy. “Let’s play baseball!”
    “Maybe next time, cowboy.” Eli glanced at Isabel. “It’s already dark outside.”
    “You’re on your way to bed, Nilo,” said Isabel. “Tell Eli good-night.” She held out a hand to Mercedes. “You, too, sweetie.”
    Mercedes let Isabel pull her to her feet. To Eli’s astonishment, the little girl blew him a kiss before heading for the bedrooms.
    Isabel’s eyes widened, too, but she leaned over to let Danilo and Eli high-five over her shoulder. The subtle, spicy scent of roses, along with the sweetness of bubblegum toothpaste, gave Eli an odd, familiar pang from his childhood that made him wish he could kick the recliner back and stay indefinitely.
    He suddenly understood Isabel’s flustered behavior when he’d sat down in the recliner. It must have been Rico’s favorite place. The husband chair. The daddy chair.
    Eli jumped to his feet.

Chapter Three
    I sabel looked up at Eli, noting with interest that his ears had turned scarlet. She had no idea what she’d done to make him bolt to his feet, but she knew she was glad he’d vacated Rico’s chair. Trying to analyze her feelings, she decided she wasn’t exactly angry. Maybe just…uncomfortable.
    Aware.
    A good-looking single man sitting in Rico’s place seemed disloyal somehow. Because for a split second, when she’d opened her front door and found Eli standing there, she’d felt a dizzy sort of elation that he’d come by.
    Danilo wrapped both arms around Isabel’s neck, nearly strangling her. “Come on, horsie, back to the ranch,” he said, bouncing against her back.
    Isabel met Eli’s blue eyes and again experienced that disconcerting feeling of falling down an elevator shaft. “I’m sorry,” she stammered, “can you stay a minute? I’ll be right back.”
    “I’ll be here.”
    Isabel tucked Danilo in with his favorite plastic action figure, then crossed the hall to the guest room. Mercedes had climbed into bed, but the overhead light was still on. Isabel had discovered that her little guest didn’t much like the dark.
    Sitting on the edge of the bed, Isabel turned on the night-light and kissed Mercedes’s brow. “Good night, angel,” she whispered, smiling as Mercedes released a contented sigh and closed her eyes. What would it be like to have no reference of sound for the normal activities of everyday life?
    Isabel flipped the wall switch off and left the door ajar so that the hall light would filter into the room, then returned to the den. She found Eli still on his feet, examining a family photo on the bookshelf beside the kitchen door.
    “The obligatory Alamo picture,” he commented, setting the frame back in its spot.
    Isabel came to look, though of course she’d