Chapter 9

As soon as Robert arrived at Middletown, he drove straight to The Gazette building.

He found his son in the backroom, standing beside an old printer. Janice was explaining to Benji how the local paper was made. He was asking a lot of questions about the process. They looked good together.

“Benji! Thank God, you’re okay!” Robert exclaimed, on the verge of tears. “I’ve been dead worried about you. Don’t do anything like this again! Come and hug me.”

He opened up his arms, and Benji ran into them. Father and son hugged for a long while and they cried together. Janice began to shed tears, too.

When they finally broke the embrace, Robert took a good look at Janice. A woman he had loved with all his heart; a woman he thought was dead. A woman he never forgot.

“Janice?” Robert whispered, shivering from head to toe. He looked as if he had seen a ghost. “Is it really you?”

Janice looked into the eyes of the man she had once loved with all her heart.

“It’s really me,” she said, blushing.

She felt a combination of love and anger toward Robert. The two emotions tangled and fought within her.

“You are truly alive,” Robert muttered under his breath.

“Last time I checked, I was,” she replied curtly.

“Let me look at you,” he asked.

Janice was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Nothing had changed in that respect. Emotions swirled through him, tenderness, and compassion for what she went through, the need to hug her, tell her that he still loved her...

“You haven’t changed a bit,” Robert finally said, mesmerized by her beauty.

Janice planted her hands on her hips. “Did you just insult me, or compliment me?”

“Go with the compliment angle. Can we talk?” His lips pressed into a tight line. “Please?”