Looking Through Darkness Read Online Free Page B

the trading post early and used her keys to enter through the back door next to the loading dock. It was Saturday and Jo would be gone all day; she usually spent Saturdays with Rudy Brownhat, studying to become a medicine woman.
    Leigh Ann flipped on the storeroom lights before crossing through the back offices and into the front room. The first thing that caught her eye was Melvin Littlewater’s newest sculpture. She smiled at the sight of the mountain lion, depicted in midstride. That elusive, almost mesmeric lifelike quality had become his signature style and drew the gaze of anyone nearby. Jo had purchased the piece and kept it on view as a sample of Melvin’s work, believing that it would lead to more commissions for him. The Outpost collected a fee every time they set up a deal for the sculptor, and even though the lion had only been on display for a short time, Jo had told Leigh Ann that buying it had been a good business decision. Leigh Ann knew, though, that Jo wouldn’t have bought it if she hadn’t loved it.
    Her Saturday routine always began the same way, with checking the coolers to make sure everything was working, then walking down aisles verifying that shelves and merchandise in the main room were free of dust and attractively arranged. A year ago she’d run the cash register, now she was manager. The promotion hadn’t come with much of a raise, but it had given her ego a much-needed boost.
    Her life had unraveled after Kurt’s death. Finding a video that had graphically revealed one of her husband’s affairs had nearly destroyed her. Though a cheating husband was nothing new, she’d never seen it coming. After that, she’d questioned everything about herself, from her taste in men to her sex appeal.
    Hurt, she’d avoided the opposite sex … until she met Melvin. Though blind, he could always tell when she was near. Every time he came to The Outpost, he made a point of coming over to talk to her. He made her feel special, a woman who had something more to offer than a nice rack, long legs, and a tight butt.
    He was a complex man, and lately he’d become moody, reverting back to something she’d noted a year ago when they’d first met. Melvin was not only a talented artist, he was also very proud. He disliked anyone showing what he considered “excessive” sympathy.
    Hearing footsteps behind her on the tile floor, she jumped and spun around. “You scared me half to death, Regina!” she said when she saw the woman at the other end of the short hallway.
    At five-foot-seven, Regina Yazzie and Leigh Ann were almost the same height, but that’s where the similarities ended. Regina’s ebony hair was long and flowed freely down to her waist when it wasn’t in a single braid.
    Leigh Ann still retained her Texas high school cheerleader “big hair,” teased, full, and mostly blond. Hair spray was her friend and she bought it at Costco in bulk. Today, instead of jeans and the turquoise polo, she had on a denim skirt just above the knees and a sleeveless white blouse. An Outpost name tag identified her as staff.
    Regina had that natural look, with rich skin tones and a hint of copper lipstick. Today the young Navajo woman was wearing dark slacks and the polo with the trading post’s name over the left pocket. They all had matching shirts that they could wear whenever they pleased. The simple silver cross Regina always wore around her neck shimmered against her turquoise top.
    â€œSorry, Leigh Ann, I didn’t mean to startle you. I came in early hoping to catch you before the others got here.”
    â€œIs something wrong?” Leigh Ann had learned about Regina’s marital problems a while back, accidentally overhearing her talking to her estranged husband on the phone. Regina had thrown him out when he threatened physical abuse.
    Regina sat down on one of the stools, picked up a foam coffee cup from the stack