Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler Page 0,36
time to tidy up yet, he was going to say. (Several empty beer cans stood on the coffee table, along with a sheaf of junk mail and his cell phone.) But of course, what did Lorna care about how he lived? She kept her gaze fixed on his face. Two hairline cracks ran across her forehead, he was taken aback to see.
“Why on earth would he come to your place?” she asked.
“Oh, you know…”
This was going to be awkward.
“I gather he saw a photo of you and me in the old days,” he said.
She didn’t seem to comprehend.
“He was wondering about his dad, I guess, and he…”
Her eyes never left his face.
“I guess he thought I was his dad.”
“What?”
“Well, he was just casting about, I suppose.”
She felt behind her for the edge of the recliner chair and dropped into it.
“Of course I set him straight,” Micah told her.
“That doesn’t even…compute!” she said.
“I know. I told him that.”
“What would put such an idea in his head?”
“Well, maybe if you told him who his dad really was…”
“Did he say anything about school?”
“School? No. He just said he went to Montague College.”
“Montrose,” Lorna said.
Micah sat down on the couch, first moving the rumpled afghan aside. “How did you find me?” he asked.
“Well, I got your email, of course. I always check my office mail when I wake up. And I knew you had an IT service. Marissa Baird told me. She goes to all our college reunions and picks up all the news about people.”
“She would,” he said wryly.
Lorna sent him a reproachful look. It was almost like the old days. “So I Googled computer repair in Baltimore,” she said, “and I saw Tech Hermit. Tech Hermit was what the girls in my dorm used to call you.”
“Ah, yes,” he said.
“It’s not like there are a whole lot of Tech Hermits in the world,” she told him.
“I guess I’m pretty predictable.”
She didn’t disagree. “First I was going to phone you,” she said. “I was halfway through dialing your number, in fact. But then I realized how early it was and I decided I should wait, and then I thought, as long I had to wait anyhow, why didn’t I just come in person?”
“Oh, you could have phoned,” he said. “I’m up at crack of dawn, most days.”
“This was when it was still dark,” she said. “I haven’t been sleeping much lately.” She hesitated. “And also…well, I always find you get straighter answers from people face-to-face.”
“You thought I wouldn’t give you a straight answer?”
She shrugged.
“So, he looked you up,” she said, “he asked you if you were his dad…”
“I told him no, of course.”
“And then he left?”
“Right. Well, but then later he came back. I gather he didn’t have much of anything to do with himself. He ended up eating supper here. Spent the night in my guest room, ate breakfast the next morning…Didn’t seem to have a worry in the world.”
“Did he mention that his family had no notion where he was?”
“Not really, no. But I figured that out eventually on account of the texts coming in. I did say he should get in touch with you. Honest. That’s kind of why he left when he did; I said he’d have to tell you his whereabouts if he wanted to stick around.”
He had thought she might thank him for that, but instead she said, “He didn’t give you the slightest hint where he was going next?”
Persistent little creature. She was leading with her nose, she was drilling him with her eyes.
“Not a word,” he said.
“We haven’t called the police yet. I’m not sure they would agree he was a missing person, even.”
“No! God, no,” Micah said. “He’s eighteen years