Return by Karen Kingsbury Read Free Book Online

small amounts. “Reagan?” He hated the way he sounded fifteen again, as though all the progress he’d made in the past half a year had disappeared at the mention of her name. “Are you sure it was her?”
    “It was her, Luke. She apologized for not calling sooner, and she-“
    “Wait.” His voice rose a notch. “Start at the beginning. I want to know everything.”
    “I’m trying. We … we didn’t talk long.”
    Something ignited a warning flare in the desert of Luke’s soul. “Did you tell her about me? You know, that I was living with Lori?”
    His mother’s hesitation told Luke everything he needed to know. “What was I supposed to say, Luke? That you were upstairs waiting for her phone call?”
    Luke bent at the waist and rested his forearms on his thighs. “Please, Mom.
    Start at the beginning.”
    “Okay. She apologized for not calling sooner, and then she asked for you. I told her you didn’t live with us anymore, and that a lot of things had changed. She asked what I meant, and I told her.”
    “Told her what?” Panic joined the other emotions vying for position in Luke’s voice. “What exactly did you say?”
    His mother drew a slow breath, and when she spoke, her tone was stronger than before. “I told her the truth, Luke. That you’ve walked away from us and your faith and everything you once be33
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    lieved. That you never even stop by the house anymore, and that you are living with your new girlfriend.”
    The words hit Luke like so many bullets. “You told her that?” “Yes.”
    Luke sat back and tried to assess the damage. Reagan must’ve been shocked. She might’ve stopped loving him the night of September 10, but the news would still have been hard for her to hear. “What did she say?”
    “I think she was stunned, to tell you the truth. She said she hadn’t known. When I asked her if I should tell you she called, she said no.” His mother sounded sure of herself now. “In fact, she begged me not to tell you she called.”
    The room was spinning again. “She … she begged you not to tell me?” Why had Reagan called? What if the details about his new lifestyle were such a shock that she ran away again, maybe never to make another attempt to contact him?
    “Yes.” A sad sigh traveled over the phone line. “I almost didn’t tell you. But then … when you didn’t show up tonight, I thought you should know.”
    “Know what?” Luke couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t fathom the idea that Reagan had reached out only to draw back, probably further and more permanently than before.
    “The way your new choices are affecting people, Luke. People you used to love.”
    Luke heard a key in the door and a few seconds later, Lori entered the apartment. Her face was pale, and it looked like she’d been crying. Her shoulders bent forward a bit as she set her books on the table. She rested there for a moment and then joined him in the living room. Luke gave her a little wave, pointed to the phone, and held up a single finger. He covered the speaker with his hand. “Be off in a minute.”
    She nodded, stretched out on the opposite sofa, and closed her eyes. Whatever the seminar had involved, her aura and vibe level certainly didn’t seem stronger. Luke looked away from her and focused on his mother.
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    “Mom, listen …” Luke forced his head to clear. The desperation was gone from his voice, and he felt the room right itself. Why had he reacted so strangely?
    After all, Reagan had been out of his life for months. Thoughts of her now would lead nowhere. “You did the right thing. She had to know someday.”
    In the cat-and-mouse game he and his mom seemed to be playing, she was now the mouse again. “So … what are you going to do?”
    “About what?”
    “About Reagan. Don’t you think you should call her, Luke? At least make some kind of contact?”
    “She didn’t want me to know she’d called; isn’t that right?” “Yes, but-“
    “Look, Mom, I have