Chasing Abby(31)

He smiles at me and I get a weird feeling as I recall how I once discussed his hotness with Amy when we were talking about handsome older men. That is so gross. I think Amy even talked about the things she would do with him. Blech!
“You know, you can call us whatever you want. You can call us Chris and Claire. You can call us Mr. and Mrs. Knight. You can just say, ‘Hey, turkey!’ whenever you see me. Whatever makes you comfortable.”
Claire smacks his arm then shakes her head. “You can call me Claire or whatever you feel most comfortable with. I… I grew up in the foster care system, so I never really knew how to address the foster parents who took me into their homes. I understand this is probably very weird for you.”
I nod and press my lips together to keep from getting emotional. How is it that these people whom I’ve never met already know me so well?
“Did my parents talk to you about me?”
Chris’s face screws up a little as he shakes his head. “No, they didn’t communicate with us at all after your first birthday. The only contact we had with them were the photos and videos we exchanged through a safe-deposit box.”
“I saw those,” I whisper, thinking of the picture I saw of my sister holding a photo of me.
Claire tilts her head. “Do you have the pictures with you? We can go through them with you, if you’d like.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have them.”
I don’t feel good about this lie, but there’s no way I could sit by and quietly listen as she explains to me all the happy memories that go with each photograph. But there’s no nice way to explain that. And, for some odd reason, I really want to be nice to them.
I want to be worthy of the love they have obviously carried for me all these years.
Chris nods toward the kitchen. “Come on. I’ll make you guys some lunch.”
Caleb finally speaks up. “We just ate a couple of hours ago.”
“Actually,” I begin. “Do you mind if I go outside to make a phone call?”
“You can make a phone call in here,” Claire replies quickly. “I mean, unless you want some privacy. Of course, go ahead. We’ll… be right here.”
I look up at Caleb then nod toward the front door. He leads the way and we head outside. I know she’s not behind me, but I can feel Claire’s desire to come after me. Even from across the room and with my back turned. Her desperation is palpable.
As soon as we’re outside and Caleb closes the front door behind us, I call Amy. She picks up on the first ring. When Caleb dropped her off at her house, I told her I would call her as soon as I opened the safe-deposit box. That was more than two hours ago and she’s probably freaking out.
“What happened?” she shrieks, unable to contain her excitement.
“Amy, I’m here… at my birth parents’ house.”
“WHAT?” she yelps.
I hold the phone a couple of inches away from my ear as I continue. “Their contact information was included on a memory card in the box, along with a bunch of pictures. I can’t tell you everything or you’ll freak out, but I need you to tell my parents that Caleb and I went to his apartment and he’s taking me back home tonight. Just tell them I needed some time to cool off.”
“Abby, what are you doing? Are you trying to buy some time so you can get a new identity and leave the country with Caleb?”
I laugh. “Just please tell them that. I just need some time to process everything. Okay?”
She’s silent for a moment. “Okay. But you’d better tell me everything when you get back. I hate being in the dark.”
We say our good-byes and Caleb is smiling at me. “What?”
“You… I don’t even know how to say this.”