Read Online Breath of Dawn, The by Kristen Heitzmann - Free Book Online Page A

his own hands with paper towels. “Is the photo inside?”
    Quinn went still. “You know about the photo?”
    “RaeAnne told me. At length.” Especially how overwhelmed she was by Quinn’s willingness to search, and wasn’t she just the sweetest thing, bless her heart.
    Quinn stared at the locket. “I guess to be sure, I have to look.”
    “To be sure,” he said. She was dying to look. “Go ahead.”
    She pressed her nail into the seam, freeing the latch with her other thumb. The locket sprang open and revealed a photograph in one side, a lock of hair in the other.
    “Wow,” she breathed. “Do you think that’s her dad’s?” She pointed at the hair.
    “DNA would tell.”
    She looked up, her striking eyes making contact. “Morgan, she could actually know.”
    Emotion welled visibly in her over this thing she’d done for a practical stranger, something he and Livie had played a part in. A strong conspiratorial energy passed between them. They stood a long moment, basking in whatever this was; then he forced a neutral tone. “You should call, tell her you have it.”
    She drew a breath. “I will. Right now.” Clutching the locket to her chest, she pulled out her phone.

    As Morgan moved out of the kitchen with Livie, she called RaeAnne at work, laughing at the prolonged and muffled squeal. “Morgan’s little girl found it in a mousehole in the kitchen. A mousehole, RaeAnne. I’m sorry, but I would not have looked there.”
    “Are you sure it’s the one?”
    “It has a man’s photo.”
    RaeAnne breathed hard. “How does he look?”
    “I only glimpsed it to make sure he was there.”
    “Oh, I can’t take it. If he’s a horror I want to know.”
    “He’s not.” She laughed. “And there’s something else. A lock of hair.”
    “For real?”
    “Looks real. I’ll mail it—”
    “No! What if something happens in the mail?”
    “I package very securely. I can FedEx it overnight, if you want.”
    “Is that the one that crashed in that Tom Hanks movie Castaway ?”
    Quinn scratched her jaw. She shipped items all the time, and yeah, things happened, but hardly ever. Still, with the possible DNA . . . “What do you want to do?”
    RaeAnne groaned. “I can’t take time off. Randy’s breathing down my neck—in a predatory way. If I don’t bring this project in on time . . .”
    “I’ll keep it safe until you decide.”
    “Oh, Quinn, what would you do?”
    “I’d say send it insured—except compensation won’t matter if it’s lost.”
    “Have you had things lost?”
    “A very tiny percentage, but yes, it happens. I’d hate for it to wash up on an island and be used for cooking oysters.”
    RaeAnne laughed, a hard nervous release. “Oh, Lord, what should I do?”
    She couldn’t say. But then she thought of Morgan and his resources. “Let me check something and get back to you.”
    “I don’t know how to thank you.”
    “It may not pay off.”
    “I’m just so blessed you’d try.”
    A lump formed in her throat. It had been a long time since someone had considered her a blessing. “No problem.” Heading for the living room, she said, “Morgan,” then looking around, called, “Morgan?”
    It seemed he’d used up his words and left before he turned into a real boy. Luckily for her, she knew where he lived.

    Noelle joined Liam, who’d answered the door with greater eagerness than a butler and only slightly less noise than a watchdog. Surprised to see Quinn standing there, she smiled broadly and said, “Hi.”
    “I hope I’m not bothering you.”
    “Not at all. Come in.”
    Stepping inside, Quinn looked up and around the high-ceilinged space dominated by the huge stone fireplace with a half-log mantel. “Wow. Feels like a giant honeycomb.”
    Noelle scrutinized Rick’s handiwork. The pine log walls and ceiling were like a golden beehive, in spite of the colored throws and watercolors she’d used to soften it up and add color.
    “Do you play?” Quinn indicated