With This Heart(59)

“ Do you have any pictures of him?” I asked.

The expression that passed across her features was impossible to discern. “Oh, um, no, we don’t.”

Strange.

I nodded and tried to think of another question that wouldn’t reveal the fact that I actually didn’t know her son in any way.

“ Could you tell me about him? If it’s not too painful?” I had no clue where my question landed on the spectrum of red flags, but she furrowed her brows and set her lemonade down on the counter.

“ I thought you said you went to school with him,” she answered, not meeting my gaze.

“ Right. Yeah. I’m sorry.” She wasn’t going to make this easy and I couldn’t blame her.

“ He was on the basketball team, did you know that?” she smiled as if recalling a memory. “He was the star of the team and all of the girls loved him, as I’m sure you know.” She winked.

I smiled and nodded reassuringly as if all of that was old news. So he was an athlete.

“ He was a giver. Everyone said he had the biggest heart.”

I choked on my lemonade, spewing clear liquid across her coffee table.

“ Oh dear, are you okay?” She leaned over and patted my back before I jumped to my feet.

I wiped the remaining lemonade from my mouth with the back of my hand.

“ I’m so sorry. Let me grab some napkins.” I darted into the kitchen only then realizing how awkward it was to be running around her house without her approval. I had no clue where she kept the napkins and my head was still spinning from her ‘heart’ comment. What are the odds that she would use that phrase? It was destiny. I was supposed to meet her.

“ Ma’am,” I began, twisting on my feet and starting to run back into the living room. I grabbed a towel from the counter as an afterthought. “Colby was my donor. He gave me his heart. Your son saved my life.”

The woman was leaning over the table, moving papers out of the way of my lemonade spill. When I said my spiel, her gaze lifted to mine and she looked as if she’d seen a ghost. “Oh, sweetie. I’m not Colby’s mom. His family moved out of Odessa shortly after his death.”

What?

My shoulders slumped in defeat and I dropped her towel onto the coffee table. What did she mean they moved? Why hadn’t they updated their address with the hospital yet?

“ What? Do you know where they are?” My hand flew to my mouth. Crap. This was just a random stranger. I was lying, spilling lemonade, and now crying in front of a total stranger.

“ I don’t have any idea. They didn’t tell anyone. I was just a neighbor of theirs. We moved into this place so we could have more space for our family.” Her family that did not include Colby. What the hell.

The front door opened. “Alright, Abby, the tow truck driver is on his way, but I think I figured out our problem. It looks like the alternator was short circuiting with the cable that leads to the ignition. I just swapped it out with…a spare we had in the back,” Beck rambled awkwardly. He really was a terrible actor. I don’t think any of those sentences actually made sense.

“ Colby’s family doesn’t live here. This isn’t his mom,” I muttered, feeling the tears starting to build behind my eyes. I could hardly look up toward him. Beck grimaced, eyeing the woman apologetically before walking over to me. He wrapped me in his arms and I stuffed my face in the crook of his arm.

“ I’m so sorry, Abby,” he whispered into my ear.

“ It doesn’t matter,” I tried to cover up my sadness, but it felt like the treasure at the end of my hunt had been stolen by thieves without me even realizing. I’d needed this light at the end of the tunnel. I’d dragged Beck across the state for absolutely no reason. What a colossal waste of time.

Then I thought of something. “So you didn’t really know Colby?” I asked the woman, pulling away from Beck. I needed to know if her story about him having a big heart was true or if it was just hearsay.

The woman frowned and shook her head, unable to meet my eyes.

I nodded and then reached down to wipe the lemonade off the table with the towel. It was the least I could do after barging into her house and feeding her lies.

“ Oh, you know what! We have a neighborhood newsletter that comes out every few months. I keep them all in a little folder so I can stay up to date with community stuff,” she shook her head clear of her tangent, “Colby was in a few of them. Let me grab them for you.”

She hustled into the kitchen and I could hear her shuffling through papers. I studied the towel that had soaked up all of the excess lemonade before looking back toward Beck. He was watching me with worried eyes and I gave him a crooked smile to let him know I wasn’t going to breakdown on the spot. I’d wait until we were alone.

“ Did you really call a tow truck?” I asked.

He wiped a hand down his face. “No, and I felt terrible lying about it.”

“ Here you go!” the woman sang as she reentered the room with a folder held safely in both hands. “These are the ones I think you should have,” she said, offering them to me. I didn’t even hesitate; I took them from her and lunged forward to give her a massive hug. I felt guilty for lying to her, but now she’d given me another chance at completing my goal. I needed to know about Colby. About the boy who gave me his big heart.