Morna's Legacy 04 - Love Beyond Measure Read Online Free

but stopped midway, turning a mischevious smile at him. “No, I doona think so. Ye need to start building yer strength here as well, and walking across the room willna rip ye open from temple to toe. I’ll leave ye to get it for yerself.”

    *

    Jerry grasped at Morna’s arm as soon as she closed the bedroom door behind her. “Ye are much too good at making up lies, love. It unsettles me a bit.”
    Morna looked at him incredulously. “I doona know what ye mean by that.”
    He stopped and faced her, blocking her path down the hallway, staring at her with one wiry eyebrow raised, waiting to speak again until she smiled guiltily. “Ach, look there. See, ye do know perfectly what I mean. Ye told the lad that ye doona choose where he ends up. If that were true, I wouldna have had to speak to a Mr. Perdie in America about the money that we will give him to get the lass here, would I?”
    “Have ye taken to spying on me, Jerry?”
    “I’ve always spied on ye. Ye get yerself in far too much trouble without me supervision. But I doona believe I knew until today just how well ye could lie.”
    His wife leaned in to kiss him reassuringly on the cheek. “Life isna worth it without some trouble now and then, but ye shouldna be surprised that I am a good liar. ’Tis a trait of women and the fault of men that we must be so. The folly of ye all has required it of us. I dare ye to find one woman that isna capable of it.”
    Giving his cheek a quick pat, Morna pushed past him, moving down the hallway ahead of him, leaving Jerry rather stunned and open-mouthed.

Chapter 3

    LaGuardia Airport, New York City
    Present Day

    An hour spent in line at airport security, mixed with the general hectic chaos of the airport, was enough to damper the anticipation of even the most enthusiastic traveler. For all his excitement, Cooper had mellowed dramatically from the bouncy, ecstatic boy he’d been this morning by the time we finally sat down at our gate to await boarding.
    “Are you nervous?” I nudged him lightly with my elbow, eliciting a trademark lift of an eyebrow as he squirmed in his seat to face me.
    “Nah. Why would I be nervous? I’ve always wanted to fly. I was born to fly, Mama.”
    I chuckled, glancing down at my watch to check the time. “Oh you were, huh? Well, you’ll get to shortly. Only an hour until take off now. I bet we start boarding within the next fifteen minutes or so.”
    “Fifteen?” For a brief second his voice held a slight whine, but he checked it quickly, knowing it wouldn’t be tolerated. “I don’t think I can even last another five.” He held up four fingers, but silently counted as he looked over his hand and quickly extended his thumb so it displayed the correct number.
    “Oh, I bet you can. Let’s do something to pass the time. Want to work on your reading?” He loved for me to read to him and, no surprise, he was catching on quickly.
    Enthused, he immediately reached to the floor to grab his backpack so that he could pick a reading choice.
    “Can we read the book Dad gave me last night?”
    “Sure.” I responded reflexively, but I watched him rummage through his bag apprehensively. Jeffrey was in no way much of a reader. I couldn’t, for the life of me, imagine Jeffrey going to a bookstore to find a book for Cooper. I anticipated him pulling a comic out of his backpack. That was fine. It just wouldn’t be the reading material I knew Cooper would want. He didn’t enjoy pop-up and sticker books; he wanted more words than pictures. Just another trait that made him anything but the typical child.
    “This one.”
    Surprising me, he extended The Little Prince by Antoine deSaint Exupery. So much more than a simplistic children’s story, this tale had just the sort of depth that Cooper would enjoy, although I would have to explain some of the meaning to him, he wouldn’t mind. He loved to learn.
    “Dad gave this to you?” I couldn’t mask the doubt in my voice.
    “Yeah, but Bebop