Shirlee McCoy - Missing Persons

“I know what you mean. It’s hard to forget what we had.”

“And how it ended.”

“That, too.” He smiled again. “Are you here with your sister? Or do you need a dinner companion?”

Was that an invitation? If so, Lauren had no intention of acknowledging it. “I’m here with Dee and a few friends.”

“Let me guess—Steff, Jen, Cassie and Kate.”

“That’s right.”

“Then I’d better get you inside the ballroom before they miss you and come looking.” He reached for her arm, but Lauren sidestepped, avoiding his touch. Seeing him was bad enough. Feeling the warmth of his hand would be a hundred times worse.

“I can manage on my own. Thanks.”

His gaze locked with hers, then dropped to the simple black cocktail dress she wore. She’d planned her wardrobe to reflect how she wanted to portray herself—elegant, in charge, independent. Strong. Much different than the shy young woman she’d been in high school and college.

Maybe he saw that. Surprise flashed in his eyes. Then speculation, as if he were trying to match the woman he was speaking to with the one he’d known so long ago. “I’m sure you can. It was nice seeing you again.”

She nodded, but didn’t say the same. Nice wasn’t the word she’d use. Uncomfortable. Strange. Even a little alarming. Not nice.

“Lola?”

She’d already turned away, but his voice, the pet name he’d used so often when they were young stopped her in her tracks. “Don’t call me that, Seth.”

“Why not? It’s how I think of you.”

“I’d rather you not think of me at all.”

“That’s a little cold.” He moved up beside her, relaxed and at ease. Confident. Just as he’d always been.

“I didn’t mean it to be. I just meant that we stopped thinking about each other years ago. There’s no reason to start again.”

He stared into her eyes for a minute, searching for something. Forgiveness? Acceptance? Neither was Seth’s style. At least it hadn’t been.

Finally, he nodded. “Point taken.”

“Good. Now I really had better go find my sister and friends. Enjoy your evening.” She smiled, hoping he wouldn’t see how shaken she felt, how off balance. Seeing Seth had been harder than she’d thought it would be, but it was over and the rest of the evening could only get better. Right?

Right.

Except for the part where she’d have to stand up in front of the ballroom while people bid for her chef services. And the part where she’d have to explain to Dee and the other girls why it had taken so long to get to their table. Not to mention the whole being-in-a-room-filled-with-people-she-didn’t-know thing.

At least she’d have Dee and the gang close by. They were always good for conversation, laughs and distraction. For now, she’d let that be enough.

Lauren had changed. That much was obvious. Seth watched as she moved to the front of the ballroom and took her place next to Steff, her fitted black dress hugging slender curves and long lean lines. Dark hair, longer than she’d worn in high school or college, fell past her shoulders in thick waves. She hadn’t tried to tame it as she had so often when she was younger. That in itself was a surprise. What surprised Seth more was her direct gaze, the confident way she held herself, smiling out at the crowd as if she enjoyed being there.

And maybe she did.

Seth had certainly grown and changed during the past decade. It shouldn’t surprise him that Lauren had, as well. Somehow, though, it did. When he’d heard that she’d be offering a week’s worth of her services as a personal chef at the auction, he’d wondered what it would be like to see her again, had wondered if she’d be married or single, changed or the same. He’d pictured her in loose sweaters and baggy jeans, hair pulled away from a pale makeup free face. He’d thought she’d stand quietly in the background, a little mousy, a little shy. What he hadn’t imagined was the self-assured professional she’d become, the stunning beauty she no longer tried to hide. Where she’d once been content to hide in the shadows of her sister’s popularity, she now seemed determined to shine, her understated sophistication exactly what Seth would have expected from any other woman in her profession.

He just hadn’t expected it from her.

As if she sensed his thoughts, she turned her head, scanning the tables, her gaze drifting from person to person and finally coming to rest on Seth. For a moment, their gazes held, a million memories passing between them. Then she looked away, her smile fading just a bit, some of the animation and vitality seeping from her expression.

He’d done that to her. And a lot worse. Though, as she’d said earlier, that had been years ago. He’d apologized for the way he’d broken off their relationship and then he’d put it behind him.

At least he’d thought he had.

“You’re going to bid on this aren’t you?” The stage whisper came from Jeannine Maynard, a retired employee of Magnolia College and Seth’s busybody neighbor. She’d been the one to tell him about the renowned chef from Savannah who planned to auction off a week’s worth of allergen-free meals.

“It’s why I came, Ms. Jeannine.”

“Then get to it before the auctioneer closes the bid and you lose out.”

Seth raised his card, topping the previous bid and noting the slight widening of Lauren’s eyes. She wasn’t happy, but he hadn’t expected her to be. Unfortunately for both of them, Seth’s son Jake’s dietary needs took precedence over anything else.

“You’re going to pay a pretty penny if you want to win this one, Seth. Quite a crowd showed up tonight.”

“There’s no surprise there.” An older gentleman seated next to Jeannine spoke up. “Everyone is hoping there’ll be some mention of the investigation into the body that was found at the college.”

“Skeleton. Not body. Buried under the sidewalk of all things. You’d think someone would have noticed while they were pouring the cement.” Jeannine flashed her own card, upping the bid and smirking at Seth.

“Not if the body was under a layer of dirt.” Seth flashed his card again, caught Lauren’s glare, but chose to ignore it.

“Do they have any idea whose body it was?” The woman across the table leaned in, her eyes wide behind thick-lensed glasses.

“If they do they aren’t saying.” Seth flashed his card again, driving the bid higher.

“From what I hear, they think it’s a woman. Young. Maybe a student who was attending the college.” Jeannine spoke quietly, and everyone at the table leaned toward her. Except for Seth. He’d heard the information before, had spent way too much of his time speculating about who it could be. A woman. Someone who’d disappeared ten years ago.

Ellen.

His half sister and his parents had had a big blowup the year Jake was born. Ellen had stormed out of the house and never returned.

That had been ten years ago. About the same time the first renovations had been done on Magnolia College’s library. About the same time the sidewalk had been poured. She’d had friends in Magnolia Falls and a job doing freelance photography for the public relations department at Magnolia College. And now she was gone.

Seth flashed his number again, trying to block out the conversation and his own morbid thoughts. Sure Ellen had had a lot of friends in Magnolia Falls. It was possible she’d visited there after the blowup with their parents, but that didn’t mean she had. It certainly didn’t mean her body had been hidden under a sidewalk for the past ten years.

Seth bid a final time, winning Lauren’s chef services and then following her progress as she made her way through the crowded room. She took a seat at her table, whispering to her sister, Deandra, who wasn’t quite as restrained. She shot Seth a look filled with malice. Obviously, she wasn’t going to let bygones be bygones. Jennifer, Cassie and Kate were at the table, too, and glanced in Seth’s direction before leaning forward and beginning what looked like an animated conversation.