Lost Wanderer Awakened - Book One of the Airendell Chronicles (34 page)

“Just work it out however you two want. If
you start running low on money, just call me on my cell. If for
some reason you need to hunt before we get back, just drop Mac off
at The Bridge. Morna can let them know that Mac might come by to
spend the night now and then.” He gets up to retrieve a pad of
sticky notes from the drawer, sits down and writes down their cell
phone numbers and hands them to Damian, all of this takes about two
seconds. Morna just shakes her head and mutters, “Show off.” Mac
giggles and plays with her napkin.

I don’t have a cell,” Damian replies. “Never
have anyone to call.”

“Well you do now,” says Morna as she reaches
over to pat his hand that is resting on the table. “Get a good one
today and call those numbers so we will have your number.”

Damian leans back in his chair, looking at
Morna and Luca. It’s obvious that he respects Luca a great deal,
but his regard for Morna is little more intense. Morna is mildly
concerned, but decides not to dwell on it and says nothing.

Luca stands up and loads Morna’s dishes in
the dishwasher, then turns to get Mac’s, but she gets up and copies
Luca’s actions, before looking expectantly at Luca. Luca rewards
her with one of Morna’s favorite lopsided grins and says, “Nice
work Mac.” Mac responds to him by looking him directly in the eyes
and smiling.

Luca hands Damian the set of keys to his Jeep
and says, “Well, it is time for us to go,” he shoulders Morna’s
monster purse and an umbrella for her, and indicates the
stairs.

Luca opens the garage with his remote on his
key, indicates an identical remote on the key ring that Damian is
holding. When the doors open, Damian’s eyes bug out. The garage
holds a sleek black BMW and a huge green Jeep, obviously designed
for off roading. Morna giggles because she regards the reaction as
pretty typical for a teenage boy, vampire or not. “Boys and their
toys!” She smiles happily at his completely normal reaction in the
midst of all of this strangeness.

Once they are on their way, Morna takes out
her cell and calls Sandra Dickerson at The Bridge to give her a
heads up that Damian might need to bring Mac by there for a night
or two while they are gone, and to tell them that she may leave
town as early as tonight. “Oh, since I am not sure how long I will
be gone, you can call Carlisle at the firm if you guys need
anything before I get back, and for salaries, etc. We are also
trying to hire additional help for you guys. Our most likely
candidate is a lady named Rinda Fine. She‘s very bright and loving
and an excellent therapist.” Sandra thanks Morna and assures her
that everything is under control and wishes them a good trip.

Morna then dials Carlisle to have him watch
out for The Bridge while she is gone, the lawyer is authorized to
provide for any expenses the halfway house might have in her
absence. Morna also tells her attorney that she is trying to
procure the services of a lady named Rinda Fine to act as therapist
for the girls, and that they should be prepared to offer her a
generous salary if she should contact them. Carlisle chuckles and
says, “I know Rinda well, Morna.” Morna is quiet for a minute and
then says, “Yeah, I forgot. I guess you would know who Rinda Fine
is. Sorry. Bear with me, my memories of this life time seem to
supersede memories of past lifetimes.”

When she gets off the phone she turns to
Luca, “Do you want to go tonight or wait until Sunday night? It
will probably cost a fortune to change the tickets.”

Luca scoffs, “I think that’s pretty
irrelevant, don’t you?”

Morna nods and replies, “I guess you are
right.”

“I’ll call and change all of our reservations
while you are in your 9:30 meeting. Just call me when you are done
and I can take you for a quick lunch before your evaluation
appointment at Noon.” He says as he reaches over to rub her
shoulder. “Morna, I can see you getting tense. Are you sure that
you want to meet this child today?”

“I really can’t ignore every disabled child
on the planet just because it might make me miss my son. Almost
everything under the sun makes me miss my babies. I just have to
deal with it Luca. But thank you for being so concerned. I will be
fine. Besides you will be there with me,” she reminds him.

By now they are parking in front of the
administration building that houses Sharon’s office and several
conference rooms. Luca reaches over and takes her face into his
hands and kisses her softly, and then looks searchingly into her
eyes. “Yes, I can see you can handle this.” He kisses her again,
more deeply and passionately this time. “I will be waiting eagerly
for you. Call me when you are finished with this meeting.”

The early meeting went by quickly, as
expected the child’s mother didn’t come. Morna always feels sad
when a parent chooses to skip meetings and conferences. But she
knows there’s nothing she can do about it, that‘s just the way it
is, sometimes. The school district cannot force a parent to attend
a meeting, and after the parents attend the initial meeting and
sign off of the child receiving specialized services, the IEP team
can make decisions to provide whatever the child needs. She thanks
heaven for that. She enjoys working with the IEP team to review the
child’s progress and firm up plans for continuing services. Once
everyone signs off on all the necessary forms, the meeting breaks
up. Morna is on her way out of the administration building when
Sharon catches up with her and asks if she has a minute to
talk.

Once seated in Sharon’s office, Morna wonders
why Sharon is acting so nervous. “What’s up lady?” she asks.

“Well, I want to ask you something, and I
know I probably shouldn’t. It really isn’t any of my business,”
begins Sharon. “Oh my, I guess I will just jump in! The gentleman
that dropped you off this morning…”

Morna smiles happily, she just can‘t help
herself. “His name is Lucian Michaels. He’s a very dear
friend.”

Sharon blushes slightly and says, “Yes, I
rather gathered that. But did you know… Well, I mean… I saw him
hanging around your hospital room when you were… I mean after the
crash.”

“I’m sure you did see him at the hospital. He
volunteers there part-time as a grief counselor. But that’s not how
I met him.” Morna lies. “I met him about five months ago, we became
friends. And for the last month or so we have become closer
friends,” said Morna. All the time hoping lightning doesn’t strike
her where she sits. But how in heaven’s name could she possibly
explain the truth?

“Deidra I know it was rumored that you and
Rolan had been separated long before the crash. Now I am not
judging, but was this man the reason?” Sharon asks.

“Sharon, you are right, this is none of your
business, but I will answer your question anyway. I didn’t meet Mr.
Michaels until five months ago, just like I said,” Morna replies in
a stiff voice.

“Deidra, I am sorry. I should have kept my
nose out of your business. It’s just hard to know a friend is going
through so much, and knowing that friend won’t ever talk to you
about it,” Sharon offers by way of an apology.

“Sharon, you have known me for over twenty
years. What in heaven’s name makes you think I would ever do
something like that?” Morna asks in exasperation.

“Nothing really, I am sorry, I shouldn’t have
been so nosy,” Sharon blushes crimson.

Morna stands up and walks over to her friend
and gives her a hug. “You are a good lady Sharon and I guess I
should be pleased that this is the one and only time you have ever
stuck your nose in my personal business.” She chuckles. “No hard
feelings, but I need to scoot. I will be back in plenty of time for
the evaluation this afternoon. By the way, will that be a team
evaluation or will I be doing it solo?”

“Solo. Mrs. Alfheim asked for you
specifically. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when you said you
could do it. Mrs. Alfheim didn‘t want our other contract
psychometrist.” replies Sharon.

“Hmmm, that name sounds familiar,” says Morna
thoughtfully. “Oh well, I will know soon enough when I meet them, I
guess. Bye Sharon.”

Morna is still trying to place the name when
walks outside and finds Luca already waiting for her. After she
settles into the car and they are leaving school grounds, it occurs
to her that the name is familiar to Morna, not Deidra. She turns to
Luca and asks, “Why does the name Alfheim sound familiar to me, to
Morna?”

“Because that is the name of the home-world
of the light elves, from whom the Spell Weavers are descended,”
Luca supplies.

“Huh. How odd. Sharon just told me …

“Morna, I heard. I have been trying to figure
out what is going on. I think this is a meeting for Morna, not
Deidra,” Luca says.

“Yes, that thought occurred to me as well,”
admits Morna. “I am really glad you will be there. We have two
hours before the meeting and I am not really hungry right now. What
would you like to do?” She wags her eyebrows at him
suggestively.

Luca gets a wicked gleam in his eyes and
says, “Well since Breena hasn’t called us… We could go get some
luggage for you and a real coat. Chicago winters are much colder
than it is here in southern Oklahoma.”

Morna chuckles, “I do believe that I am
corrupting you, Man of Light.” She kisses him passionately,
stroking his face with loving hands. “Yes, I guess I do need
luggage, and it’s sure to be colder in Chicago. Sure, that sounds
fine. What time will our flight leave tonight?”

“10:00,” Luca replies. “We will get there
early enough to allow you to get some sleep and then we can meet
Brigid at her offices at 10:00 the next morning. She wants to do a
full work up before we get together with our friends from
Airendell.”

The shopping goes well enough. Morna is a
little aggravated by the time they are finished though because Luca
wants her to buy more than she needs. She is driving back to school
because Luca didn’t want the busy-body, (Sharon), to wonder where
he had ducked out to when he weaves the hiding spell. Luca was very
put out that Sharon would even ask Morna if she had been a
faithless wife. Morna, however, took it with a grain of salt, and
says, “You know, I did consider it one time, so I guess she wasn’t
too far off the mark after all,” Morna admits.

“Really? Morna, I find that hard to believe,”
says Luca. He quickly weaves the hiding spell as she drives under a
double overpass.

She looks over at him to respond to his
question and says, “Great! Now I look like the crazy lady talking
to myself.” She chuckles, and then says, “Yes Luca, I thought about
it once. Rolan and I had been split up for a little over three
years. A single father of one of my students expressed an interest
in me, but it just never felt right, so I never allowed it to go
beyond a professional relationship. But I did seriously think about
it.”

“Well, that proves my point. You and Rolan
were split up, and still you didn’t go through with it,” he
asserts.

“Luca, I didn’t go through with it because he
was the parent of a student of mine. Not because I am such a
virtuous woman. I was lonely, and I admit I thought about pursuing
a purely physical relationship with the man. Sorry, to disappoint
you, sweetheart,” Morna admits.

“That’s not possible,” he assures her as he
strokes her face. Morna smiles and thinks this strange to be
caressed by her mate when she can’t see him. Luca says, “I guess I
just really don’t like Sharon that much, sorry. I saw a lot of her
when I was learning what I could about you. She’s a meddling
gossip.”

“She’s bit of a busy body, but she’s okay.”
They were parking in front of the administration building by this
time. “I’ll come around and open that door, like I am looking for
something,” she says.

“No need love, just leave your door open for
2 seconds after you get out. That will be sufficient.”

“Show off,” she mutters.

CHAPTER 15 - ROYAL ENVOYS

As soon as Morna steps into the building she
is met by a very flustered Sharon. “Deidra, I am sooooooo glad you
came back early. Mrs. Alfheim and her son showed up forty-five
minutes early!” Sharon hisses.

“Easy Sharon, it’s not a big deal. If she’s
upset, I will smooth things over with her,” Morna soothes. “Come
on, let’s get this meeting started.”

As Sharon leads the way into the conference
room, Morna is shocked by what she sees; there are bright silver
auras around both of the persons in the conference room. Bright
silver auras mean magic. Powerful magic! She nearly staggers, she
is so surprised, but Luca gently steadies her with a hand on her
elbow. She has been seeing auras again since her memories returned.
But she knows these auras are special without anyone telling her,
very special indeed. “Deidra Montfort, I would like for you to meet
Mrs. Almeda Alfheim and her son Ari,” says Sharon.

Morna extends her hand in greeting to Mrs.
Alfheim, and then nods when the lady in question just watches her
with an amused expression and doesn’t take her proffered hand. Then
Morna moves her attention to Ari. She struck by what a lovely child
he is. He has curly sandy brown hair and green eyes, so much like
her own Aiden. It makes her heart constrict painfully to look at
the child. “Hello Ari. My name is Mrs. Deidra Montfort, so very
nice to meet you.” She waits several seconds to see if the child
speaks or uses other communication methods. She smiles again and
then looks to his mother. “Ari doesn’t talk,” his mother says
quietly.

“Okay,” Morna replies. “Ari do you use
another form of ‘talking to people’?” she asks. Ari smiles hugely
and laughs, “Hu,hu,hu,” and then looks to his left hand, holds his
gaze there for a second or two, then looks back at Morna and smiles
again.

Morna looks at Mrs. Alfheim, “I take it that
means yes? And when he looks to his right hand, he means no?”