My Boyfriend's Back by Maureen McCarrie (book club reads .TXT) 📕

She tried topicture Jack, fix him in her mind. Sobs racked her as she failed.She sensed motion nearby and raised her head.

John Lydon wasstanding there, his blue eyes filled with pity and pain. She wantedto hate him. He was beautiful. She wanted Jack back.

Rori flew intoa rage and lunged at John. He grabbed her upper arms, pulled heragainst him, tried to stop her hands from pummeling his chest. Theworld tilted, and they fell, limbs flailing, into the pool.

Her entire bodyshook with the force of her broken sobs. She shoved John away,leaning back on her hands in the frigid water.

"Jack," shecried, the reality of her loss hitting her like a slap. "Oh god,Jack, it's too late."

"It's not toolate, Ror." John reached for her, and Rori had to turn her faceaway. "It's never too late."

Rori stared athim and hated herself for finding beauty in the symmetry of hisface. The past few days had left her utterly confused andconflicted. She didn't want to forgive John Lydon. But even as sheclung to her anger and resentment, she could see the concern in hiseyes. These past few days she had seen the change in him. She couldsee a little of Jack in him.

John shook thehair out of his eyes, and Rori went completely still. The gesturestripped twenty years away.

I'm righthere, Rori. See me.

"Are you okay,Ror? This water is freezing." He reached for her.

She lethim.

She wondered,as he pulled her from the fountain and led her to the truck parkednearby, if there had been something in the wine. The welt on herbehind, where the dart had struck her, felt a little too warm.Maybe it was infected. Maybe she was delirious.

She'd walkedfrom the hotel to the high school, and now she was letting JohnLydon take her home. Yeah, she thought, probably delirious.

***

Rori sleptfitfully. She had no memory of finding her way back to her hotelroom. Wet clothes were stripped from her, and she was bundled intoa thick, warm robe. Her hair was towel-dried, and her feet rubbedvigorously until they were pink and the chill had left her bones.But the face of her protector shifted. Jack. No,John. Then Jack.

She woke tofind an envelope had been slipped under her door with a messagefrom Kate Lynch. Doctors were going to shut down life support laterthat night, and Kate would like to spend the last hours of Jack'slife alone with him. Her final, cryptic message was scrawled at thebottom of the hand-written note.

Don't rememberhim as an empty shell in a hospital bed. Look for him in the facesof others, and Jack will live on.

She wept untilshe had no tears left.

In the lounge,at the bar, Norman poured coffee for her without being asked.

"Do youever go home?"

He smiled."How's your... ahh" he gestured to her backside.

"It's fine."The coffee was good, dark and rich. She leaned over the cup,savoring the coils of fragrant heat.

"You had meworried last night. I thought I saw you come back late, but I musthave been wrong. Concierge said you came in after we shut down withthe big guy, both of you soaking wet."

"I don't wantto talk about it."

She realizedher worst fear had just been confirmed. The concierge saw her comein with "the big guy." John Lydon had taken her clothes off,bundled her into a robe, and put her to bed. She wanted to throwup.

"Well, at leastyou didn't miss the big send-off party. I guess they are planningsome kind of tribute to Jack Lynch."

"Oh?"

"That's whateveryone is saying." Norman finally snagged her gaze.

"I don't knowif anyone else has heard, but his mother left me a message. They'reshutting down his life support tonight."

Norman reachedacross the bar and squeezed her arm. He was a funny little guy,Rori thought. He seemed so young, even awkward— but there was anold soul in there, somewhere.

"I don't thinkI can face a room full of people who never did anything butridicule Jack pretending to celebrate him. I came back here to seehim, you know."

"You seem verytroubled about things you left undone. That happens. We miss achance, we have regrets. But walking away seems, at least to me, tojust repeat that same mistake. If you leave, you might be missinganother chance. Maybe you could look for his spirit in others."

Rori's headcame up, she scowled. "You're like, the third person to saysomething almost exactly like that to me this weekend."

"Well, then"Norman said, "it must be good advice."

Chapter 15

Lily Spense'snasal whine echoed through the PA system of the function room wherethe final hurrah of Hammond High School's Class of 1991 TwentiethReunion was grinding to an excruciating close. Rori had skipped theearlier part of the evening, unwilling to subject herself to thefake-sorrow of her classmates as they eulogized a man they neverknew.

She'd wanderedin after the awards, missing out on the charming ceremony duringwhich hand-made trophies for such towering honors as "most improvedbod" and "best nose job" were dispensed amid gales ofalcohol-enhanced laughter.

Thanks, but nothanks.

John removedthe microphone from Lily, to the profound relief of every dog in aten mile radius.

The roomdimmed, and the music stopped. Behind John, on a big-screentelevision, a photograph of Jack Lynch at a recent technologysummit appeared. He looked so different without his glasses, Rorithought, swallowing a hard knot in her throat.

John bowed hishead for a moment before speaking.

"I recently hadword from Kate Lynch, Jack's mother. He is not expected to survivethe night." A murmur rolled through the room in a wave, dying outwith a hiss.

"I know theplanning committee had a few words said throughout this farewellgathering, and I'm not going to take too much of your time. To behonest, it would be time wasted."

More murmurs.Rori sat up, suddenly riveted. Whatever she had felt about JohnLydon in high school, she could not deny the angst on his face now.She had to be fair. He was clearly speaking sincerely.

"Jack Lynch wasa multimillionaire. He was the ultimate success story. From thenerdy kid everybody picked on, to one of the most influential menof his age, Jack went on to reach amazing heights— not because ofhis high school experiences, but in spite of them."

The room wassilent. Rori was stunned.

"The only thingI