The Hiding Place

Chapter Five

“Michael?” Janet said, moving closer. “Is that-Michael?”

When she said his name, he pushed himself up off the car. He didn’t smile, but his eyes brightened. “Hey.”

“It’s you,” Janet said. “It’s really you.”

They came within arm’s length of each other, and the awkward moment descended in which she didn’t know if they were going to hug or if he even wanted to hug her. But he held out his arms, so she went for it, felt herself folded up against his body, triggering, as if by raw instinct, a flash of heat on the back of her neck and a tingling of desire in the pit of her stomach. She inhaled his rugged scent-a touch of sweat and a tangy cologne or deodorant.

When the hug broke off, she examined him up close in the sunlight. It had been how long? Five years? More? He looked thinner, older, the lines at the corners of his eyes and on his forehead more pronounced and deeper. But he finally smiled, and the old Michael was there, the one from childhood and high school. The Michael she really knew. And that familiar desire was there-desire for him-as strong as it had been in the past.

“I didn’t know you were back,” Janet said.

“I wanted to see my mom,” he said.

“Did you just get back?”

“It’s been a little while.” He seemed evasive, which told Janet that he’d been back longer than he wanted to let on. “A few weeks or so.”

“What have you been doing? Where were you living? We heard you might have been in Chicago for a while.”

“I don’t want to keep you from work,” he said.

Janet made a dismissive wave toward the office. “They don’t need me now,” she said, feeling awkward, like a teenager again. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she crossed her arms, then uncrossed them. She did this twice. “Why don’t you come in and we can talk somewhere?”

“I won’t keep you,” he said.

“Okay. But you were in Chicago?”

“That was a couple of years ago,” he said. “I was on the West Coast for a while, then Columbus.”

“You were in Columbus?” Janet said. “Just an hour away?”

“The last year or so,” he said. “I was working for this guy, but-the economy, you know?” He looked around the lot, not letting his eyes rest on Janet.

“But you’re here now,” she said. “For a while?” She heard the hopeful, almost pleading tone in her voice and didn’t like it. But she couldn’t help it. She’d be lying to herself and anyone else if she said she wasn’t thrilled to see him, if she said she didn’t think, from time to time, about the possibility of Michael Bower coming back to Dove Point for good.

“There’s another reason I’m back,” Michael said. He turned to face her. “Do you know what it is?”

“Your dad?”

Michael frowned. “No, not him.” He shook his head. “Twenty-five years, Janet. I know the date. I saw the paper today. Twenty-five years.”

“I didn’t know if you’d remember,” she said.

“Of course. I was there.”

“I know,” she said. “It’s just-we’ve never really talked about it, you and I. But there’s a reporter coming over to interview me after work today. They’re doing another story.”

“How are you doing with all of this, Janet?” he asked. “I thought you might need the support. You shouldn’t have to go through it alone, you know.”

“You should come to the house today,” Janet said. “The reporter asked me if I was in touch with you. We can do the interview together.”

Michael looked away again, but this time he glanced behind her. She turned to follow his gaze and saw Madeline coming out of the back of the building, her hand raised to shield her eyes from the sun.

“There you are,” Madeline said. “I thought you’d run off. The provost’s office is on the phone. They need you.”

“Okay. Just a minute.”

“I think they have a question about the budget.”

Before Madeline went back in, she cast a last, long look at Michael, and Janet knew she’d have more questions to answer about the man in the parking lot.

“I have to go,” Janet said. “But come to the interview. Really. You must be thinking about this a lot. We can talk about it.”

“You must think about it a lot, too,” Michael said. He stared at her, studying her face. “What do you remember from that day, Janet?”

For a long moment, Janet stared at him. Her mouth was dry, and the sounds of the passing cars amplified, like rushing wind. Before she could say anything else, Madeline stuck her head out the door and called her name again.

“You’ll come today, right?” Janet asked. “Two o’clock.”

“We’ll talk,” Michael said.

Janet looked back once before she entered the building, but he was already gone.