Leaving Yesterday Read Online Free PDF

had grayed his blond hair and life had crushed his spirit. “I’ve spent the last couple of hours sick to my stomach at the thought of what my son had become.” He rested his forehead against his palm. “Are you sure about the rehab?”
    “That’s what he told me. He said he’d just come out of detox, and would spend the next six to eight weeks in a residential setting, getting the help he needed.”
    Rick rocked his head up and down. “Part of me is almost afraid to hope.”
    I knew how he felt, but Kurt was my son and I was always willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. This time I gave in and put my arms around Rick’s shoulders. “I know. But he really is going to make it this time. Just you wait and see.”
    He made a sound in his throat, which might have been a laugh; I wasn’t certain. “That’s exactly what you said when I was teaching him to ride his bike. Remember that?”
    “I was right then, too.” I smiled as I thought back to that warm summer day. It was a Saturday, and we’d walked Kurt’s bike over to the school so he could learn on the large, flat blacktop play area. Rick ran behind him, bent at the waist, holding Kurt up as he wobbled and failed over and over again. Finally, Rick stood up and rubbed the small of his back. “My back is killing me. I think we’ll have to call it a day.”
    “Please, Daddy, just one more time.” Kurt’s eyes were lit with determination.
    “Please, Rick, he’ll make it this time, just you wait and see.”
    He rubbed his back and nodded, then proceeded to try again. And again. Not once did he mention his back, and it was an hour later before Kurt finally got the hang of it. Rick spent the next month on muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories, but with a smile of satisfaction on his face. “It was worth it,” was all he ever said. That was the Rick I loved. The one who loved his family so completely.
    When he looked at me now, I recognized the torment in his eyes. “Did you tell him … about us?”
    I shook my head. “I didn’t see any reason to add any more to his burdens.”
    He reached for my hand and squeezed it. For a moment, the last few years of anger and bitterness were overcome by the silent togetherness that far transcended our usual depth of communication. It felt so … right. I found myself remembering the smell of burgers on the grill, the sound of laughter in the midst of water fights, and the taste of happy tears after the sun set on another day so perfect I couldn’t stand to see it go.
    The spell was broken when he pulled his hand away. “I told that detective I’d call him if I had any information about Kurt. I can’t believe how relieved I am to call and tell him that Kurt wasn’t even in town when that guy was killed.” He pulled Detective Thompson’s business card from his wallet, picked up the phone, and punched in some numbers.
    He held his finger over the last digit. “When did he go into rehab, anyway?”
    “I, uh, don’t know. He said he’d been there a little bit.”
    “A little bit? That’s all you got?”
    “His call caught me off guard. We didn’t talk for all that long. There are several things I wish I’d thought to ask, but I didn’t.” I turned back to the rice in the steamer. “He’d already finished the detox process. That takes several days, right?”
    “Which rehab is he in?”
    I poured the rice into a large bowl and walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Caroline, time for dinner.” I walked back to the kitchen, miserable with my lack of information. “I don’t know. He had to get off the phone before I could find out. The caller ID showed private, but I know it’s in Orange County somewhere.”
    Rick smacked the phone back onto the charger. “A lot of good that’ll do us. A phone call from our son, coming from who knows where, claiming that he’s in rehab. It could just as easily be a cover-up because he thinks he’s in trouble. Until we can prove where he is, and when he got