Page 37 of Stay Away from Him

Bringing her son to see a suspected murderer was not something a responsible person—a responsiblemother—would do.

Then again, a park was a public place. It would be safe.

Maybe, Melissa reasoned, she could do one more meeting with Thomas. One more opportunity to figure out what she really thought of him.

She tapped out a response.

Okay. Tell me when and where.

Chapter 9

In the rearview, Melissa saw Bradley’s eyes light up when she drove up to the park where Thomas had asked to meet. It was an epic construction, not the standard-issue set of slides and swings and merry-go-rounds Melissa grew up with, but a whole multicolored plastic wonderland full of zip lines and obstacle courses, forts and bridges, climbing walls and rubber lily pads for jumping on. It looked more like an amusement park than a playground. The price of an amazing playground was a big crowd, though, and this place had one—dozens upon dozens of children clambering over every piece of equipment, parents chasing or standing at the edge under shade, fanning themselves against the late-summer heat and craning their necks to keep eyes on their kids.

“This place isamazing,” Bradley said as Melissa pulled up to the curb, and he was unbuckling himself from his seat and straining against the door as the car whined to a stop. As soon as she got it in park, he opened the back door and tore across the grass to the playground.

“Wait for me!” Melissa shouted as she climbed out of the driver’s side, afraid of losing him—but he was long gone, sprinting ahead of her. She followed, the car horn chirping as the doorslocked behind her. From the crowd below, a man detached from the scrum of parents and came to intercept Bradley. It was Thomas. He sank to one knee and talked to Bradley for a second, then raised a hand for a high five. Bradley jumped to give it a slap, then ran the rest of the way toward the playground.

Thomas rose from the grass and came toward Melissa. God, would she ever be able to see him without an excited flutter in her chest? In sunglasses and a tight polo that hugged the bulk of his chest and shoulders, he looked like a movie star of the silver fox variety. The evening sun highlighted the gray in his hair, but it made him look distinguished rather than old, and his smile had to be the brightest thing for miles.

“Hey,” he said as he came close, then leaned in for what Melissa thought was going to be a friendly peck but then turned out to be a real kiss—just long enough to get her heart rate up, his lips and hers parting only slightly, his hand coming to her hip and sliding down, not so far that he was grabbing her butt in public but far enough to let her know he wanted to.

Melissa felt a little dizzy as they parted, but then she remembered the crowd of parents around and another feeling came in behind the flutteriness: paranoia. Was it her imagination, or were people watching them? Were any of the people there part of the Facebook group? Did they recognize Melissa, know her name? Were they texting each other right now?Oh my god, he’s here, it’s Dr. Danger and that woman, he just mauled her right in the middle of the park. She cringed to imagine it, cringed to think of strangers lurking at the edges, snapping more furtive photos that would end up online.

Melissa took a step back, put a bit of distance between her and Thomas.

“Everything okay?” he asked, a flash of hurt passing across his eyes.

“Fine,” Melissa said.

“Push me!” Bradley shouted from a distance. He was sitting on a swing at a dead stop below the bar, kicking his legs uselessly.

Thomas moved toward him, but Melissa walked quickly and got there first.

“I want Thomas to do it!” Bradley whined, but Melissa was already pulling his seat back into the air. She let go and gave him a few pushes until his feet flew high into the air on the upswing.

“Stop!” Bradley yelled as the swing creaked back and forth. “I don’t want you to do it!”

Thomas stepped close to her elbow. “Can I?” he asked.

Melissa shook her head. “I got it.”

But Bradley kept whining, and after a couple minutes she let him off the swing.

“Why don’t you go run and find something else,” Thomas suggested. “Your mom and I will watch you, okay?”

Bradley scampered off, and Melissa was alone with Thomas.

“Is something wrong?” he asked. “You seem a little distracted.”

“It was a weird day,” she said.

“Yeah? Because I’m feeling worried it’s something I did. I know in your text you said you felt this was going a little fast, and—well, we can slow things down if you want. Honestly. I just want to keep seeing you.”

“I know,” Melissa said. “You’ve made that clear.”

Thomas was quiet a beat. Melissa was watching Bradley on the other side of the playground, clambering through a contraption made of webbed rope knotted for climbing. She wasn’t looking at Thomas, but she could feel him looking at her.

“Is this about last night?” he asked. “You know, I didn’t intend to push you. I honestly thought—it seemed like something you wanted. You kissed me at the wine bar, then asked me back to your place, so I figured… But maybe that was a mistake. If so, I’m—”

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