Read Online A Gift of Wings by Stephanie Stamm - Free Book Online Page B

An unvoiced apology was in his eyes.
    When he stood and held out his right hand, Aidan took it, closing his fingers firmly around his brother’s.
    “I’m glad you’re back,” Kev said.
    Aidan nodded. “Me too.”
    “Well, now that that’s out of the way,” Zeke said, “we should get down to business. Would either of you like more tea?”

CHAPTER 6

    Lucky needed a walk. After the events of the morning and early afternoon, she wanted fresh air to clear her head, wanted to feel her body moving. It only took her a few minutes to slip out of her Chuck Taylors and into running shoes. Then she grabbed a light fleece and was out the door. She jogged down the steps and took off at a brisk clip when she reached the sidewalk.
    Without a conscious decision, she found her steps taking her east, toward the lake. There was something about looking over the water, watching the movement of the waves and the changing reflections of light, that had always soothed her. Lake Michigan was a huge piece of nature on the edge of the city, and being in its presence helped her to think, to relax. And she did think of it as a presence. The lake was a kind of being, always there, always watchful, always changing, yet ever the same, a constant along the city’s eastern boundary. Lucky had come to realize that the lakeshore provided not just a natural haven for her but a kind of spiritual solace as well. It reminded her that there was something larger than herself, larger than the city in which she lived, something that wasn’t made by human hands. As she had walked beside it, swam in it, communed with it over the years, she had also come to realize that it weathered whatever came at it, greeting blue and gray skies, hot summer sun and icy winter winds, with the same acceptance. The lake simply was , and because it simply was, it gave her permission simply to be.
    That was something she desperately needed right now. Someplace where she didn’t have to worry about G-Ma’s failing memory or her own crazy visions. Whatever was going on with her, being at the lakeshore would help her find a way to deal with it.
    At 51st Street, Lucky walked up the ramp to the overpass bridge above Lake Shore Drive. Sometimes she went through the underpass at 55th Street, but today she wanted to be above ground, to have nothing over her but sky, and she wanted to be able to see the lake as soon as possible. She reached the top of the ramp and paused. There it was in all its liquid, blue beauty. Her shoulders instantly relaxed a bit. She stood there long enough for another couple of breaths.
    Her steps a little slower now, she headed down the other side of the ramp and turned south toward Promontory Point. There were several other people on the path—walkers, joggers, bikers. Lucky navigated around them while keeping her gaze toward the lake as much as possible. When she reached the Point, a part of Burnham Park that jutted out from the rest of the shoreline, she took the track that looped south. A couple of people—college students, probably—were flying kites in the fall breeze. She watched the primary-colored shapes swirl and loop in the blue sky for a few moments, before her eyes moved on to the leaves that were beginning to show their own more muted yellows and reds. Then she turned back toward the walking path.
    After rounding the edge of the Point, she stepped off the path and made her way over to the stone boundary at the edge of the shoreline. She climbed down a couple of levels, and locating a rock that offered the perfect combination of view, sunlight, and breeze, she sat down and wrapped her arms around her bent knees. She gazed out at the water and let her mind relax, drift with the lapping waves. No need to worry, to think, to plan. This was exactly what she had needed. Releasing her knees, she leaned back on her arms. The breeze tugged at the long curls she had pulled back into a braid, blowing a loose strand of hair against her cheek. She brushed