Land of Careful Shadows by Suzanne Chazin Read Free Book Online

stood there awkwardly, trying to summon the words that would have flowed so effortlessly all those years ago. She was supposed to be living in the Midwest somewhere—an alternate universe alive only in his dreams. Not here.
    Not here.
    The dog lost interest in the encounter and scampered off behind the door, her tags jingling until they faded away into another room, tinkling against her water dish. Linda stuffed her long fingers into the back pockets of her jeans the way she used to at seventeen as if they were scarf ends she might lose if she left them hanging. Linda Porter. Linda Kendall Porter. He wished he’d known the “Kendall” part before he found himself on her front doorstep. He couldn’t talk to her as a cop. He couldn’t talk to her at all.
    â€œIt’s so amazing to see you.” She stepped forward and hugged him, planting a kiss on his cheek.
    A kindness, he knew. Much nicer than “what are you doing here?”
    â€œI’m sorry, Linda. I didn’t mean to barge in like this. I came to talk to you and your husband, Scott. Except, I didn’t know it was you. I mean—I was looking for Linda Porter. Adele Figueroa sent me.” He was stumbling all over his words. He wished someone could have warned him. Just standing in her doorway, taking her in gave him the same sensation as eating ice cream too fast—that burst of something foreign and physical on the brain, that sense that your body can betray you when you least expect it. If she dared him to jump off Bud Point again, at this moment, he just might do it.
    He took in her features the way he couldn’t at first. She had always had an aristocratic face—not beautiful by traditional standards. Too much nose. Her eyes too small and pale a blue to stand out. Yet she had aged well, not like many natural blondes who grow pinched and waxy when the rosiness of youth begins to fade. Age had stripped her to her essentials and made her striking. Even in the simple V-neck sweater she was wearing, she would turn heads.
    She hooked an arm in his and led him inside her front hallway as if his coming were something she’d been looking forward to all day. She had always possessed the casual ease of the privileged. It’s what drew Vega to her and scared him at the same time. He could never be that comfortable in his skin.
    The house looked much better inside than out. From the double-height entryway, Vega could see a living room off to his right with a Persian rug and leather couches, and a formal dining room to his left with a pot of pink orchids on the center of the table. His boots were still muddy from the lake this morning and he felt embarrassed standing on her high-gloss red oak floors.
    â€œThis is sort of a shock for both of us,” he said. “I’m here on the job.” He fumbled for his badge. “I’m a detective with the county PD.”
    â€œReally?”
    â€œReally really. I’m here on an investigation.”
    â€œWow. I never thought you’d become a cop.”
    Her words pricked some delicate membrane inside of him. He felt himself deflate with the slow unalterable physics of a balloon.
    â€œI’m sorry, Jimmy. That came out wrong. I just assumed after—”
    â€œâ€”Hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right?” He said the words too brightly, hoping to put a period on that chapter in his life, to close it once and for all.
    â€œCome, let me hang up your jacket. Scott took our daughter to get new soccer cleats. They should be back any moment. You want something to drink?”
    â€œCoffee, if you have it, would be fine. Black with sugar.”
    â€œLet me make a fresh pot.”
    Vega followed Linda through the dining room into a large family room and kitchen all rolled into one. The kitchen was done in high-end cherrywood. The countertops were granite, the appliances, Sub-Zero. The Porters were doing well. He took a seat at