See Me in Your Dreams Read Free Page A

office, outfitted with more black lacquered furniture and a couple of overstuffed
black love seats. The only color in the room came from the Oriental carpet and
a few well-placed pieces of art work on the walls. "My sister Aileen, on
the other hand, continues to charm the socks off the old man, and I'm sure we
can enlist her aid when Dad gets back from Washington."
    Raymond
McKenna being a U.S. Congressman from Chicago.
    Relief swept
through Keelin. "I dreaded doing this alone."
    "Hey, cous , I'll do whatever I can for the cause," Skelly
said with a wicked smile that dimpled one cheek.
    Keelin
started. " Grandad ."
    "What?"
    "Your
smile...you reminded me of him just then."
    "That's
right. You knew old Seamus."
    "That I
did."
    And with his
black hair, blue eyes, that smile, dimple and all...Skelly looked exactly like
a young Seamus McKenna.
    "You knew
Moira pretty well, too, right?" Skelly asked, settling a hip on the edge
of his desk.
    "Of
course."
    "Was
she... okay just before she died? I
mean here." He tapped his forehead.
    Putting Keelin
on edge. The spacious office suddenly seemed to close in on her. "Gran was
the wisest woman I ever had the privilege to know," she informed him
stiffly. "And that, until the day she died."
    "Well, after she died, I got this strange
letter..."
    "Ah, the
legacy." She relaxed.
    "You know
about it, then?"
    "I
received the letter, as well, as did my brother and sister. I believe she wrote
what was in her heart for each of her nine grandchildren because her own
children had acted so unwisely."
    "Nicely
put," he said, a cynical note in his tone.
    And why
shouldn't he be a bit cynical? Keelin thought. An anchor for The Whole Story , a televised tabloid
news show, Skelly reported stories that often laid open people's terrible
secrets for all to dissect. Though she didn't care for tabloid journalism
herself, neither televised nor print, Keelin was not about to judge this cousin
she'd just met. Who knew what road had brought him to his place in life?
    "You'll
have to tell me more about Moira later," Skelly said, rising. "But at
the moment, I need to get to make-up. I'm taping this afternoon's show in a
quarter of an hour."
    "Well,
then." Keelin stood. "I'm at the Hotel Clareton –"
    "Hey, I'm
not chasing you out. Stay and watch the telecast. We'll do lunch."
    Do lunch? Realizing Skelly meant they should eat
together, Keelin thought Americans certainly had some unusual ways of
expressing themselves.
    "You're
certain I wouldn't be in the way?"
    "You're
too polite to get in anyone's way."
    So, a short
while later, Keelin found herself sitting in a back corner of the busy control
room. Having lived a simple life mostly close to the land, she was a bit
intimidated by all the technology and the fast pace that was part of Skelly's
world. Looking through the plate glass window to the studio, she could see
technicians adjusting lighting and sound equipment. In the control room, others
talked over headphones, while images flashed across the monitors, some at
double speed.
    One particular
image caught her interest. A man's face filled the screen. His features were
handsome, strong, magnetic, his expression intense. From the pale eyes looking
out at her as he spoke – the sound was down, so she couldn't hear his words –
Keelin sensed both strength and heartbreaking emotion. She couldn't tear her
gaze from the monitor, and so when the next image flashed across the small
screen, she felt as if she were suddenly sucked inside.
    A young girl,
barely a teenager, her light brown hair flying around her pretty face.
    Something
about the girl... Keelin felt a strong connection.
    Then the
monitor went blank.
    And Keelin sat
staring, heart pounding loud enough to drown out the raucous voices in the
booth.
    She didn't
know how long she sat there in stunned silence, mind spinning away. It couldn't
be. She was in denial as the show began. Teasers introduced the day's stories,
but the words didn't mean anything to Keelin