Sunset: 4 (Sunrise) Read Online Free PDF

to the days when they first moved to their house near Indianapolis.
    Maybe it was the pressure of the new job, knowing that Dayne was counting on him, or dealing with the struggles Reagan was having at home with their kids every day. Whatever it was, Luke had started taking trips to New York. “I didn’t have to go. I could’ve gotten the details about the meetings later, in an e-mail or a conversation.” He kept his tone even. “The trips were helpful, but they weren’t necessary. That’s the first thing.”
    Reagan kept looking straight ahead, as if she was preparing herself.
    Luke sorted through the next pieces of the story. None of it would get any easier. “The girl at the office, she wasn’t anyone special. Just a new hire who gave me extra attention. I wanted to think she saw something in me, but . . . probably it was all about Dayne being my brother.”
    He held his breath for a few seconds. He was like a man in the middle of Times Square, bombarded on every side by noise and chaos and options, not sure which way to turn. But as he exhaled, the next part of the story came in a rush. “I started pulling together theater nights. Anyone in the office could go.”
    Reagan’s look changed and fell just short of accusatory, but still she didn’t speak.
    Luke blinked. “She . . . she always came along.” He explained that sometimes the excursions included other lawyers from the firm, and sometimes they didn’t.
    He was midstream talking about how he’d let himself believe that no harm could come from hanging out with a woman on the road, someone who was kind and complimentary and seemed to enjoy his company, when Reagan turned and interrupted him. “Did you kiss her?”
    He pictured the young paralegal, how close he’d come two different times. “No.” He ran his tongue along his lower lip and felt his heart ricochet hard against the walls of his chest. “Almost . . . a couple times, but no. There was nothing physical between us.”
    Her look grew more intense, as if she were seeing beyond the details of Luke’s story to the part he wasn’t saying, the part about how he’d sat next to the woman in the theater, their arms touching, and how he’d thought about her long after he’d returned to his hotel room. But if she was thinking that, she didn’t say so. “I guess the real story is Randi Wells.”
    “Yes.” Luke suddenly felt like someone was standing on his shoulders. He crossed his arms and tried not to look as defeated as he felt. How had he allowed such a crazy thing to happen? And why hadn’t he thought about how his actions would harm his marriage?
    Reagan was still waiting, still watching him. She took another drink of her coffee. “You know what makes me mad?”
    Luke could only imagine the list.
    “That you would let everyone think it was Dayne in that picture.” Her voice was quiet, controlled. But it held both anger and bewilderment. “I mean, how low is that?”
    Luke hadn’t wanted to defend himself, but he couldn’t resist. “You have to know something.” He rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled hard, his frustration showing. “I didn’t go to Mexico looking for a fling with an actress.” But even as he said the words, he recalled his reaction when he saw Randi the day Dayne drove him from the airport to the film location. He released the memory and reached for the coffee mug beside his chair. Honesty. I have to be honest. He swallowed. “What I mean is . . . I didn’t go looking for an affair, but I didn’t have the right attitude either. That’s the truth.”
    Reagan stared into the flames. “Go on.”
    Luke wasn’t sure either of them was ready, but they had no choice. His actions had brought them here, and it was too late to do anything but come clean. The story moved ahead like a car with engine trouble, in jerky fits and starts. He told Reagan how he’d been on the beach that night, sitting around a campfire, and how Dayne had been called away to