Read Online Goodness and Light by Patty Blount - Free Book Online Page B

And she had an addiction to Nestle Crunch Bars.”
    “There you go. Look for those signs. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll see those signs when you actually look for them. What else?”
    “Jeez, I don’t know. Oh! She loved to bake. I used to help her bake Christmas cookies. And architecture. For some reason, she was always reading books on architecture, even though that wasn’t her field.” Elena turned slightly, looked up at One World Trade Center.
    He turned, faced the same direction and stared out at the new building, the one designed to honor the country and its victims. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
    Her eyes snapped to his. “Beautiful?” How could a structure that was essentially a grave marker be beautiful?
    “Well, yes. It’s full of symbolism.”
    Impatient, Elena nodded. “It’s 1776 feet tall, yes.” She’d heard all about the tower’s design.
    Undaunted, Al continued. “With the spire. Without the spire, it’s 1368 feet tall, the same height as Tower 1 before it collapsed.” He waited, but she said nothing. “And look there, at the top? That’s called a square anti-prism.”
    She blinked, waited for him to make his point. “So?”
    “You know what a prism does, right? Splits up light into its colors? So maybe, an anti-prism does the opposite.”
    Elena thought about that. “It...sucks in color?”
    “Exactly.” Al’s grin widened and then he turned back to face the building. “Our new tower is a nexus of color and light. I think that’s a fitting tribute to all those we lost—and maybe to someone who loved architecture?”
    “Come on. It’s just the by-product of all those politicians debating,” she argued.
    “Probably,” Al admitted. “But so what? It doesn’t matter how you explain it. It only matters because it matters to you.”
    She blinked, thought about that for a moment and gave up. She’d already spent a ton of money on therapy and she really didn’t need more even if it was free. “Thanks, Al, but I think I’ll just stick to not thinking about it.”
    Al laughed. “Jeez, you sound just like Lucas. No faith. You two are hand-picked for each other. Where is he anyway? Are you meeting him?”
    She shook her head. “Not until later. He had to do a breakfast thing this morning.”
    Al’s eyebrows shot up. “He told you about the soup kitchen? Whoa, he really does like you.”
    Elena’s heart fell. All Lucas had told her was he had a breakfast thing. Soup kitchen? Of course. He was probably up at dawn, serving breakfast to dozens of homeless people while she—oh! She shut her eyes and let go of the dream she was hardly aware she’d been nurturing. She was a fool. She’d known all along that Lucas was simply too good for her. What the hell was she doing?
    “Uh oh. He didn’t tell you about the soup kitchen, did he?” Al turned.
    “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I really have to go.” She walked briskly away.
    “Elena. Elena, wait!”
    She walked faster, dodging the lighter-than-usual pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks and tore the stupid hat with its stupid wreath off her head after a third person wished her a Merry Christmas. It wasn’t merry. It hadn’t been merry since she was fourteen. Her eyes blurred and she blinked furiously, annoyed with herself. It was that kiss, that soul-touching, toe-curling, life-changing kiss. Just thinking about it put a hitch in her stride.
    It was her own fault. She’d been enthralled by his smile from the second she’d seen it. She kept telling herself she was leaving soon, so stay uninvolved, keep things casual but did she listen? No, she kissed this man with the beautiful smile, beautiful eyes, and beautiful heart like she actually deserved some of that beauty for herself.
    It was so ludicrous, it was laughable.
    She unzipped her purse, found her phone, tapped out a quick message.
    L., thanks for all your help yesterday but I think I need to focus on Kara right now. I’m leaving soon and don’t