Page 110 of The Luminosity of Loriana Harper

A very irritated cat sat there. He blinked up at her, stuck his nose in the air, and sauntered into the room. He then leapt onto the bed and nosed his way over to Mitch’s side. He threw Loriana a caustic look before lying down on his side so he could clean his paw.

She scooted back under the covers. “Always good to know where I stand with my little fiend.”

Mitch chuckled, coaxing her back into the circle of his arms. This time, when she pulled up the blankets, he allowed her to cover them both. He reached over to scratch the cat’s ears.

A loud purr emanated from the rotund beast.

Loriana snorted. Then, as she rested her head on Mitch’s chest, her own constricted. “I need to tell you something.”

“That sounds rather ominous.”

“Not really. Just…something from my past. Something that’ll likely never come up, but something I think it’s fair you know”

“You don’t have to—”

She pressed her hand to his abdomen. “Yeah, I kind of do.”

“Then I’m all ears.” Said in a kind and gentle manner.

“I was engaged.”

To her surprise, he didn’t stiffen. He couldn’t have known what to expect, but he also didn’t seem perturbed by the news. He held his silence—giving her permission to tell the story in her own time.

“University sweethearts. God, I loved him. He was an engineering student, and I was an English major who planned on becoming a librarian. We were just the perfect match of right brain and left brain. Plus, I was decent at chemistry and he loved Shakespeare. We were happy. So happy.” She ruthlessly thrust down the memories, but they continued to resurface. “He came from a lower class. I mean borderline poverty. His aunt took care of him the best she could, but she was getting on in years and wasn’t able to hold down a job because of a disability. He was at UBC on a full scholarship, and worked part-time. All while dating me. I felt honored to be part of his life.”

“And your parents?”

God, he knows me so well.

“Never knew. Wouldn’t have approved. He understood that. Said it didn’t bother him. Once he had his engineering ring, he planned to buy me an engagement ring. When I finished my MLS the next year, we were going to make it official.”

Mitch rubbed his fingers up and down her arm—encouraging, but not demanding. “I take it things didn’t end well.”

She wanted to snicker. To make some offhand comment. To laugh it off. Yet she couldn’t, because even after almost twenty years, emotion clogged her throat. “One ordinary Sunday night I was waiting for him at my dorm. Sunday nights were our night—no work, no school—just a chance for us to reconnect before the craziness of the week ahead.” She swallowed. Hard. “He didn’t show. He just…never showed up. At first, I figured he was delayed. Then I worried. By midnight, I panicked. I considered calling around but didn’t want to look like the needy girlfriend. I didn’t sleep, and the next morning I showed up at his class. His best friend was there, and he was surprised as well. We reconnected at the end of the day, and Todd still hadn’t appeared. Understand, he never missed classes. He once had walking pneumonia, and he didn’t miss. In retrospect, going to school while contagious wasn’t the best thing to do, but…well, we didn’t really know better.”

“What happened?” Gentle again. A way to pull her back from the vortex of memories.

“I went to the campus police. They did a welfare check in his dorm room. Keys and wallet were missing, but everything else looked to be in place. No signs of anything amiss.” She blinked rapidly, although Mitch couldn’t see. She was essentially looking at their blanket-clad feet. “I went to the Vancouver Police Department. I called all the hospitals and all the morgues. He must’ve been somewhere, right? But injured…or dead.”

Mitch pulled her even tighter. As if he sensed what was coming.

“He never turned up. Just disappeared. And yeah, we’re talking the early two-thousands. No cell phones with GPS. No Wi-Fi.”

“Did his aunt know where he was?”

“He’d never invited me to meet her. Something about her disability and not being capable of handling strangers in her home. I never understood fully, but it didn’t matter. We had each other, and that was good enough. Him walking away didn’t seem plausible—but it looked like that’s what happened. I call the VPD every year on the anniversary of his disappearance. He’s still in the missing-persons database, but I’ve been assured he’ll likely never turn up. They’re sure he walked away.”

“But you’re not so sure?”

“He was a semester away from finishing an engineering degree. To walk away from all that work? I mean, if he tired of me, we could’ve just broken up. I’d have been heartbroken, but I wouldn’t have been mean about it. I, of all people, wouldn’t have wanted to be in a loveless marriage.” She rubbed her forehead. “Not that I’m saying my parents don’t love each other. Perhaps they do. But ambition always comes first.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing to say. They’re shitty parents.”

A rumble in his chest. “I meant about Todd. I have plenty to say about your parents—and none of it complimentary. I hope they stay in Costa Rica and let you live your life in peace. Except that their silence hurts you.”

“It doesn’t,” she protested.

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