Return by Karen Kingsbury Read Free Book Online

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.
    “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 to go. Lori’s home. Thanks for telling me; you thought that was the right thing to do and I appreciate that.” They were out of things to say, and Luke wanted to get away. If Lori was sick, then maybe she needed him—and that had happened only a few times since they’d been together.
    His mother ended the call with a flurry of declarations—that his father sent his love, how much everyone missed him, and of course the point she never failed to make: everyone was praying for him.
    When he hung up, Luke turned to Lori and studied her for a moment. She was small and well built, and he was used to sharing a bed with her. But he’d never really been attracted to her, not the way he’d been to Reagan.
    She rolled on her side and opened her eyes. “What’d your mother want?”
    “Just an update.”
    For a few seconds Lori looked like she wanted more details, but she let it go. A low moan escaped her, and she reached around and pressed her fist into the small of her back. “My lower vertebrae are killing me. I did a self-assessment and visualization on the way home, but the pain’s still there.”
    Luke wasn’t sure what to say. Couldn’t she talk like a normal girl, just once? As intriguing as he’d found her in the beginning, these days more often than not she came across as a self-righteous, academic snob. Reagan never would’ve been so—
    He caught himself, stopping the train of thought before it picked up steam. Breathe, Luke…forget about her and just breathe. “How was the seminar?”
    Lori cast him an indifferent glance. “I didn’t go.”
    Luke stared at the woman he was living with. “I thought you took off class to go.” He waved his hands in the air. “It was supposed to be this big deal, remember?”
    “So…I took off class and went to the doctor instead.” She pulled herself up and locked eyes with him. “Is that okay with you?”
    He drew in a steadying breath. “Listen, Lori, if something’s wrong, you should’ve told me. Maybe I could help.”
    “I’m fine, Luke.” She crossed her arms, and for the first time since Luke had known her, she looked young and helpless, more like a little girl than a college coed intent on changing the world. “It was just a doctor’s appointment.”
    “All day?” He wasn’t trying to fight with her, but she didn’t look well. “What is it, the flu? a virus?”
    “Look…” She was mad now. Her eyebrows came together in a sharp V as she stood and stared at him. “It’s my body, okay? I find it offensive that you would even ask.” She gave a sharp breath through her nose and turned toward their bedroom. Near the doorway she tossed him a final look over her shoulder.