Return to the Shadows Read Online Free

several weeks?
    She would be devastated. I promised I would
never leave her.
    The alternative to that was obvious—I could
take her with me. A laugh bubbled at the mere thought of that one.
No. Things had to be the way they were and for good reason. My
daughter had a life in Seattle and I had no right to jeopardize or
disrupt that. Maybe later—some far off day when things were
different—I would see them again, Mark and Aries and Faith. I
thought about Aries almost as frequently as I thought of Mark. It
was impossible not to hope that she was safe, to pray every day
that the guards had not caught up with her that day.
    I poured yogurt into a plain white bowl and
took a seat at the kitchen island. It was just after nine in the
evening, and Ashley was safe and sound in her bed for the night. I
briefly thought about calling Mike, but just as quickly decided
against it. If anyone was capable of understanding how I felt and
what I had been through, it was my brother. After all, he had lived
through it with me. But even a year later, I still knew better than
to bring up Aries around him. She had remained a sore subject
between the two of us. I suspected that he was in love with her,
but—
    “Hey, Claire, are you home?”
    “Well speak of the devil. I’m in the kitchen,
Mike!” I called out.
    “You forgot to lock your front door again,”
Mike admonished as he popped his head around the kitchen
doorway.
    “So? I’m still awake. What’s up?”
    “I was just on my way home from the museum
and figured I would stop in to see how you and Miss Ashley are
faring.”
    “We’re faring just fine.” I couldn’t help but
smile. “Help yourself to a snack; I’m having one,” I offered,
gesturing to my yogurt.
    “Don’t mind if I do. So I heard you quit your
job at LanTech today.”
    “Good news travels fast. Megan?”
    “She called me earlier. Is it true? Did you
really quit today? Without notice?”
    “You bet I did. I got an offer that was too
good to pass up. It’s a lot more money than I was making at
LanTech.”
    “Since when have you cared about money,
Claire?”
    “Hey, I like money,” I protested around a
mouthful of vanilla yogurt. “No, I love money. So there.” I waved
the spoon at him triumphantly.
    “You don’t care about the money and we both
know it.”
    “No. You know it. Rather, you think you know.
Which you don’t. In fact, you can leave now if all you’re going to
do is stand here and criticize me in my own kitchen.”
    Mike ignored the invitation to leave, just as
I figured he would. Instead, he parked his rear end in one of my
kitchen chairs and calmly lit a cigarette.
    “You can’t smoke in here. When did you start
smoking?”
    “I don’t smoke,” he shrugged.
    I shook my head, exasperated, and held his
pack of cigarettes high in the air. “May I present Exhibit A?
Really, Mike, I thought you had quit.”
    “I did.”
    “Well so did I. Mostly. Now get that thing
out of here. I mean it. It’s not good for Ashley.”
    “I’ll take it outside, calm down.”
    I poured two cups of coffee, added liberal
amounts of cream and sugar to both mugs, and followed him out to
the front porch.
    “Thanks.” He sipped his coffee and gazed at
the star-strewn sky above my house. “You want to tell me what’s
really going on?”
    “Not really, no.”
    “Smoke?”
    “Why not?” I sighed, and shook a cigarette
out of his pack, lit up, and leaned back to prop my feet on the
porch rails.
    “Claire, just tell me that you’re okay. Tell
me that you’re happy. That this is what you want. That’s all I’m
asking.”
    “It’s the best thing for us. For me and for
Ashley. She needs me at home more often.”
    “Agreed. But what would have been wrong with
cutting back on your hours at LanTech? You make a good salary
there. And you had a lot of time on that job. You know we will help
take care of Ashley. Me, and Mom and Dad, Megan and Juan. We are
all here for the two of you.”
    “Thank you,