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painfully aware of why the Baxter parents had been on their knees lately. Kari gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t stop praying for him, Mom. Luke’s going to be okay. I feel it in my heart.”
    “So does your dad.”
    “And Dad’s always right.” Kari’s smile was sadder now, the sparkle in her eyes dimmer. “If Luke calls, tell him we missed him.”
    When Kari was gone, Elizabeth dragged her feet up the stairs, one slow step at a time. She found John sitting near the fireplace in their room, staring at a photograph. As she came closer, she saw what it was. A framed picture of Luke and John on a hiking trip, taken a few years earlier when Luke was earning his Eagle Scout badge. The photo showed father and son, tired and happy at the end of the trip, their faces smudged as they stood side by side, their arms around each other’s necks.
    John must have sensed her presence. He stood and returned the picture to the shelf near their bedroom closet. After a beat, he turned to Elizabeth. “He should’ve been here tonight.”
    “Yes.” She went to rest her hands on his shoulders and soothe her thumbs against his neck. “It’s okay to miss him.”
    He said nothing, merely hung his head.
    “You’re always saying everything’s going to work out and that Luke’ll come home in God’s timing and that these things happen.” Her voice was soft. She knew her words were reaching the private places in his soul. “But you can’t fool me, John Baxter. You’re worried sick.”
    John gritted his teeth and lifted his head just enough so that their eyes met. “I…I feel like a part of me won’t start breathing again until we get him back. The way he used to be.”
    Elizabeth didn’t want to voice the obvious, that sometimes children make a choice to walk away and never return. That truth had hung like a sword over every conversation about Luke since he moved out. Instead she remembered once more her talk with Luke’s old girlfriend.
    “Reagan called the other day.”
    John straightened at the news, and his eyes searched hers. “Reagan?”
    “Yes. She…she said she wanted to talk to Luke. She had something to tell him.”
    “Did you tell her? About how he’s changed?”
    Elizabeth nodded. “I had to. It didn’t seem fair after all these months to let her think he was the same.”
    John opened his mouth, but only uttered a tired sigh. He took Elizabeth’s hand and led her to the love seat near the fireplace. Two logs blazed just beyond the fireplace screen, and the heat warmed the room. “Are you going to tell Luke?”
    “That’s just it.” Elizabeth stretched out her legs, enjoying how her body felt next to her husband’s. Three decades, and she still reveled in the quiet intimacy of being alone with him. “Reagan practically begged me not to tell Luke that she’d called.”
    “I thought you said she called because she needed to talk to him.”
    Elizabeth leaned her head on John’s shoulder. “That’s what she said at the beginning of the call, but by the end—after she knew the truth about Luke—she didn’t want me to say a thing about her or the phone call.”
    “Hmmm.” John was quiet. “Makes you wonder what she had to say.” He angled himself so he could see her better. “Are you going to tell him?”
    “I don’t know.” Elizabeth slid to the edge of the sofa and held her hands closer to the fire. She looked at John over her shoulder. “Should I?”
    He bit his lip. “Normally, I’d say no. If the girl doesn’t want Luke knowing that she called, so be it.” He turned and gave a long look at the photo of him and Luke. “But right now I’d do anything to get Luke’s attention. Anything at all.”
    Elizabeth stood and faced her husband. It was the answer she’d hoped he would give, because ever since dinner she’d been desperate for a reason to call Luke. She felt the corners of her mouth lift in a tentative smile. “So, I should tell him?”
    John stood and pulled her