Return (Coming Home #1) by Meli Raine Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Meli Raine
Her voice has a catch in it, like she needs to tell me something. Urgently.
“Stand slowly but do not turn around. Let’s go to the bathroom,” she hisses.
“But I don’t need to,” I insist.
She rolls her eyes upwards so hard I think they’ll dock at the i n ternational space station. “Come!” she groans through her teeth.
Confused but obedient, I follow.
Thebathroom is a single-use, multi-sex rest room with a sign that insists everyone wash their hands after use. Amy opens the door and shoves me in.
I protest. “Someone mig h t see us and then—”
She interrupts me. “It’s better to be thought lesbia n s than to have Claudia see you. Not yet,” Amy sa ys , shaking her head.
“What are you talking about? No one will think we’re having sex in a coffee shopbathroom! ” Amy was never a drama queen, but I’m starting to wonder.
“ It’s a college town, Carrie. People have sex in dumpsters. You think a coffee shop bathroom is exempt?”
Why are my best friend and I talking about lesbian sex in bathrooms during our first meeting in three years? Life is increasingly surreal.
A bzzzz from her pocket startles her. She pulls out her phone. “Damn. A client.I have to go.”
“What about Claudia ?” I ask as she opens the door and pulls me out, steering us to the exit. We’re both holding ou r coffees, still, but my stomach is so cl e nched I don’t want it anymore.
Bzzzz! If cell phones could sound urgent, this one would win the prize.
Amy walks me to a car parked on the road, a new little Mini Cooper with a convertible top.
I gape as she beeps it openand starts to get in. “What happened to your Astrovan?” Amy’s mom gave her the family m inivan our sophomore year, right after she got her license. The van was twelve years old then, and was missing fenders and rear-view mirrors, all taped on with purple duct tape the week before annual inspection.
“Gone. New job pays well enough for this,” she says, smiling wide. The grin fades fast as she opensher window and looks up at me.
“Carrie, I’m guessing you don’t know.” Her eyes darken with worry.
“Don’t know what ?” Her cloak and dagg e r act is starting to wear on me. I finish my lukewarm coffee and pitch the cup in a green metal trash can next to the parking meter.
“The dean. The old one resig n ed to take a faculty job somewhere else. You have a new boss.”
My blood runs like ice water ather expression. Light fills my eyes and my hands and feet go very, very cold suddenly.
“No,” I whisper.
“Yes,” she says as she starts her car. It purrs. The old van used to belch.
“Professor Landau is the new dean? You’re serious? ” I can barely get the words out.
She reaches for my hand again. “You look white as a ghost.”
“I feel haunted,” I reply. I can’t keep the edge out of my voice.
Bzzzzz . Amy ignore s her phone, but I see her fingers switch, eager to check.
“Just don’t get hunted ,” she warns.
She pul l s out of her parking spot and comes to an abrupt halt. “And pizza. To morrow night . Your place! I want to see the palace!”
And with that she t akes off into broad daylight, her little car fading into silence as I st and there, my heart taking over all the space for sound asit slam s against the edge of the world.
My new boss i s the man who killed my father.
Chapter Eight
“ Daddy! Daddy, no!” I shout. I’m facing a long, dark tunnel. My eyes see no light. It’s pitch black and cold. I’m wearing my pajamas. I have no shoes. There is no breeze, but it’s damp. The chill feels like it’s licking my bones.
I don’t know where my dad is. I call out to him, over and over. H e never answers. I know he is here, though. Why won’t he answer?
“Carrie,” says a voiceI do not know. It comes from above me, and I look up. All my eyes see are blackness. There is no light now. Not behind me, not in front of me, not above. The only way I know I even exist is by
“Stand slowly but do not turn around. Let’s go to the bathroom,” she hisses.
“But I don’t need to,” I insist.
She rolls her eyes upwards so hard I think they’ll dock at the i n ternational space station. “Come!” she groans through her teeth.
Confused but obedient, I follow.
Thebathroom is a single-use, multi-sex rest room with a sign that insists everyone wash their hands after use. Amy opens the door and shoves me in.
I protest. “Someone mig h t see us and then—”
She interrupts me. “It’s better to be thought lesbia n s than to have Claudia see you. Not yet,” Amy sa ys , shaking her head.
“What are you talking about? No one will think we’re having sex in a coffee shopbathroom! ” Amy was never a drama queen, but I’m starting to wonder.
“ It’s a college town, Carrie. People have sex in dumpsters. You think a coffee shop bathroom is exempt?”
Why are my best friend and I talking about lesbian sex in bathrooms during our first meeting in three years? Life is increasingly surreal.
A bzzzz from her pocket startles her. She pulls out her phone. “Damn. A client.I have to go.”
“What about Claudia ?” I ask as she opens the door and pulls me out, steering us to the exit. We’re both holding ou r coffees, still, but my stomach is so cl e nched I don’t want it anymore.
Bzzzz! If cell phones could sound urgent, this one would win the prize.
Amy walks me to a car parked on the road, a new little Mini Cooper with a convertible top.
I gape as she beeps it openand starts to get in. “What happened to your Astrovan?” Amy’s mom gave her the family m inivan our sophomore year, right after she got her license. The van was twelve years old then, and was missing fenders and rear-view mirrors, all taped on with purple duct tape the week before annual inspection.
“Gone. New job pays well enough for this,” she says, smiling wide. The grin fades fast as she opensher window and looks up at me.
“Carrie, I’m guessing you don’t know.” Her eyes darken with worry.
“Don’t know what ?” Her cloak and dagg e r act is starting to wear on me. I finish my lukewarm coffee and pitch the cup in a green metal trash can next to the parking meter.
“The dean. The old one resig n ed to take a faculty job somewhere else. You have a new boss.”
My blood runs like ice water ather expression. Light fills my eyes and my hands and feet go very, very cold suddenly.
“No,” I whisper.
“Yes,” she says as she starts her car. It purrs. The old van used to belch.
“Professor Landau is the new dean? You’re serious? ” I can barely get the words out.
She reaches for my hand again. “You look white as a ghost.”
“I feel haunted,” I reply. I can’t keep the edge out of my voice.
Bzzzzz . Amy ignore s her phone, but I see her fingers switch, eager to check.
“Just don’t get hunted ,” she warns.
She pul l s out of her parking spot and comes to an abrupt halt. “And pizza. To morrow night . Your place! I want to see the palace!”
And with that she t akes off into broad daylight, her little car fading into silence as I st and there, my heart taking over all the space for sound asit slam s against the edge of the world.
My new boss i s the man who killed my father.
Chapter Eight
“ Daddy! Daddy, no!” I shout. I’m facing a long, dark tunnel. My eyes see no light. It’s pitch black and cold. I’m wearing my pajamas. I have no shoes. There is no breeze, but it’s damp. The chill feels like it’s licking my bones.
I don’t know where my dad is. I call out to him, over and over. H e never answers. I know he is here, though. Why won’t he answer?
“Carrie,” says a voiceI do not know. It comes from above me, and I look up. All my eyes see are blackness. There is no light now. Not behind me, not in front of me, not above. The only way I know I even exist is by