Little Lost Things

by Eleanor Chance

  Call when you wake up.

  He called instead of replying. “Hey, Jen, what’s up?”

  “You’re already awake? Or did I wake you?”

  “Steph just called,” Johnny said and smiled. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he liked that his sisters worried about him. “How are you feeling?” he asked to avoid the reason she was calling. “Thanksgiving wasn’t the same without you and Jason.”

  “I’m as big as a house. I don’t know if I’ll survive the four weeks until these babies arrive. I don’t know how my mom did this.”

  “Focus on how great it’ll be. I’m excited to be an uncle again, especially since it’s boys. I love Mark and Valerie’s kids, and the Emersons are great, but there are too many girls.”

  “You have Fisher and Graham, but Jason agrees with you. So why did you run off and scare all of us to death?”

  Johnny gave Jen the same excuses he gave Steph and told her he was sorry. “I’ll see you when we come up to DC before Christmas. Hang in there. It’ll go by fast.”

  “Doubt it, but thanks. Behave yourself and apologize to Grace. You broke her heart.”

  “I will. I promise.”

  “Love you,” Jen said and hung up.

  Johnny smiled at his phone, waiting for Mark or Valerie to call until he realized they’d be at the restaurant in the middle of brunch service. He decided to get up and face the inevitable.

  * * *

  “Did you sleep?” Ryan asked Grace as he came into the dining room. “Every time I woke, you were staring at the ceiling.

  Grace pushed her notepad aside and gave him a weak smile. “You must have only done that twice, because I slept most of the night, surprisingly. I guess I’ve finally trained myself to sleep through a crisis.”

  “I’d hardly call this a crisis. It’s just typical family turmoil. What were you writing?” he asked and glanced at her notes.

  “Just putting a few thoughts down to keep them straight for our peace summit. It helps keep my emotions in check.”

  “I’ll get Johnny so we can get his over with and enjoy the rest of our day. It’s back to the real world tomorrow. Hopefully, he’s awake, so we can avoid that battle.”

  “I heard him on the phone a few minutes ago. He sounded in a good mood, so there’s a glimmer of hope.”

  Grace gave her notes one last check but closed her notebook. Maybe she was making too much of what Johnny had done. Though Ryan didn’t excuse their son’s behavior, he didn’t seem too worked up about it either. Grace decided to take a cue from Ryan and not make it a big deal. Parents of teenagers dealt with these situations all the time. She and Ryan were fortunate that Johnny rarely gave them trouble.

  She turned her focus to the highlights from the past few days. Their Thanksgiving weekend had gone by fast and hadn’t exactly been the break she’d hoped for. Thanksgiving Day had been pleasant, though. She’d been glad that Mark, Valerie, and their kids had joined them for the feast. They saw too little of them because of the demands of their restaurant. Even though Jen and Jason hadn’t been able to come to dinner because Jen was too close to her due date, Grace was thrilled that two new members would be added to their clan when the twins were born. She couldn’t imagine managing twins, but she couldn’t wait to meet her grandsons.

  She was smiling at the thought when Ryan came into the room with Johnny following close behind.

  “That wasn’t the look I expected,” Johnny said.

  “I was thinking about Jen and the babies. I can’t wait for them to arrive,” Grace said.

  “I was just talking to her. She feels the same way, but for different reasons. She said she’s as big as a house.”

  Ryan took out his phone and pulled up his latest text from Jen with a picture. “More like a toothpick with an olive on it. I don’t know how she keeps from tipping over.” Grace and Johnny laughed when Ryan showed them the picture. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and said, “Let’s sit in the living room. It’s more comfortable.”

  Once they were seated, Grace said, “Let me see your phone. I’ll take the tracker off with you watching.”

  Johnny smirked as he handed it to you her. “Guess you know the unlock PIN.”

  Grace ignored his comment. She uninstalled the tracker and gave him back his phone. “I should have talked to you before installing that app. I hope you’ll believe that it wasn’t because I don’t trust you. It’s a dangerous world. I worry about you after all we’ve been through. I’m sorry.”

  Johnny stared at his phone for several seconds. Without looking at her, he said softly, “Don’t apologize to me, Mom. You should have talked to me, but what I said to you last night was so bad. I didn’t mean it. I promise not to say that to you ever again. You know I love you. You’re a great mom. You do so much for me, and I never thank you. I’m so sorry. I hope you’ll forgive me, and that this won’t ruin things between us. Oh, and I shouldn’t have run off without telling you.”

  Grace ignored the tears rolling down her cheeks. His words were genuine and far more than she’d hoped to hear. She went to him and put her arm around his shoulders.

  “Thank you. You’re forgiven. I’ve dealt with some tough things in my life, but one thing I couldn’t bear was the idea of you not loving me. Our relationship has been rocky lately, but I promise I’ll try harder if you will.”

  Johnny wiped a tear off the end of his nose before he nodded. As much as he tried to be grown up, he was still her little man.

  “Shortest peace summit in history, but we’re not finished,” Ryan said. “There’s still your punishment to deal out.” Johnny groaned but looked Ryan in the eye. “Your mom and I agreed last night that you can’t have or go to any sleepovers until after Christmas break. As sorry as I know you are, what you did was dangerous, and you need time to think about it. You can still have friends over and go to their houses, but no sleepovers, and we expect you to be honest about where you are at all times.”

  “Fair enough. I deserve that.”

  “And we’d like you to spend a little more time with us,” Ryan said. “I know we’re your boring parents, but you’re only fourteen and family is important. It’s no more than I expected from my kids when they were your age. You can ask them.”

  Johnny grimaced. “How much more time?”

  Grace chuckled and said, “Is the idea that painful? Just a few hours a week. We’d like to start today. Decorate the Christmas tree with us.”

  Johnny’s eyes brightened. Decorating the tree had always been one of his favorite holiday activities. Grace had fond memories of his eyes lighting up as they took each ornament from the box and reminisced about where it had come from on their travels or what it represented.

  “Can we start now?” Johnny asked.

  Ryan rubbed his hands together and jumped up to get the boxes of ornaments from the basement, leaving the two of them in awkward silence. Even though this skirmish was resolved, getting back to normal would take time. Grace watched Johnny pick at a thread on his hoodie and wondered again how time had passed so quickly without her noticing.

  “We good?” she asked softly.

  He jerked his head up and stared at her. “Yeah, Mom. Can we just forget all this drama?”

  “Please,” Grace said and smiled. “I’m too old for drama.”

  Chapter Six

  You guys want to come over and finish our game marathon? Johnny asked his friends in a group text when he got home from school the following day. Already did my homework and parents won’t be home for hours.

  Darnell texted back a minute later. Thought you were grounded.

  Only from sleepovers.

  Ty chimed in next. You got off easy. I’m grounded from life until Christmas. I’m lucky they let me keep my phone.

  Johnny was surprised. Ty’s parents were usually pretty lax, and it had been his brother that drove them to Charlottesville.

  That sucks, Johnny typed. Anyone else?

  When no one responded after
several minutes, he gave up and went to get a snack. He was relieved to see there were still a few leftovers from Thanksgiving. He didn’t know what his mom was fixing for dinner, but he knew it wouldn’t be near as good as anything Auntie Alec made.

  He heaped the food on a plate and maneuvered to the table, wishing he could take the food to his room and eat while he played video games. He reminded himself to talk to his dad about coming up with a way to carry things to his room that couldn’t go in his backpack.

  After he wolfed down his food, he carried his game console to the basement to play on his dad’s big-screen TV instead of the small one in his room. It took five grueling trips up and down the stairs, but once he got it set up, the graphics and sound system made the hard work worth it.

  He played for half an hour before a message popped up saying his controller batteries were dying. He tossed the controller on the couch and bent down to get his crutches so he could look for batteries in the storage room. He noticed a book sticking out from under the sofa, but all he could see was a picture of a baby in the corner of the cover. He picked up the book, wondering why his dad had a book about a baby in his man-cave.

  He studied the cover. A photo of his mom when she was younger stared back at him. The title read, Baby John Doe. his gut tightened, and his heart started to pound. At the bottom of the cover was a blurb that read, “The true story of one woman’s harrowing battle to save a life.” The author, Alexandra Emerson.

  Dread crept up Johnny’s spine. Logic told him to shove the book under the sofa, but the temptation to open the book drown out his logic. His hands trembled as he flipped through the pages to the first chapter. The chapter heading said, “Grace Ward – The Beginning.” Johnny skipped past that part to where his story began.

  What he read for the following two hours tore what he thought was the truth about his life to shreds. He was kidnapped the day he was born. The kidnappers were never caught. His mother died giving birth to him. His father was alive, living in New Mexico and knew about him. He’d lived with his father for a few months before his father rejected him and gave him up to Grace and Ryan. Worse yet, Ryan and Grace, Alec and Adam, all of them, they’d known the truth all along.

  Johnny slammed the book shut and stared at the cover. Alec’s name jumped out at him. How could she keep those dark truths from him? She was always spouting off about the importance of honesty. Nothing about their relationship was honest. And there was Steph, Jen, Mark. These people were nothing to him. They’d pretended to care, to want to be a part of his life, but they’d kept the biggest secret about who he was from him.

  His parents must have forced them to lie. No, not his parents. Ryan and Grace Walker, the imposters he’d loved and trusted. They were strangers to him now. They were liars. Grace most of all. Waves of nausea washed over Johnny when the magnitude of her betrayal sank in. He collapsed into the cushions, too numb to cry or scream or flee.

  * * *

  Grace walked into the kitchen through the garage and set her purse on the table. The house was silent and dark. The back of her neck prickled. Johnny usually flipped on every light and had at least two TVs blaring by the time she got home from work.

  Grace went through to the hallway and nearly tripped over Johnny’s backpack. She was about to pick it to take to his room, but she left it where it was. He’d never learn to put his things where they belonged if she always did it for him. She wanted to call him to come get it, but their truce was fragile, and she didn’t want to jeopardize it. There would be time to train him later. Instead, she pasted on a smile and went to ask how his day had gone.

  He wasn’t in his room, but it only took seconds to figure out where he was. Perfect outlines of dust rested on the empty shelf where his game console usually sat. Since Ryan had remodeled the basement to create his man-cave, Johnny had spent almost as much time there as his dad. She tossed the wet towel he’d left on the floor after his shower that morning into his clothes hamper and headed for the basement.

  While she descended the stairs, she rehearsed how she’d deflect him if he asked about the DNA testing. The promise she’d scribbled down to talk to her colleague had been sitting on the end of Johnny’s bed. She pushed the basement door open and found Johnny hunched over on the sofa with his head resting in his hands. The familiar knot of dread tightened in her gut.

  As she rushed to his side, her eye caught Alec’s book lying at Johnny’s feet. She froze as the dread of a different sort washed over her. She dropped to her knees and picked up the book. “Johnny,” she whispered, “We were going to tell you. Please, let me explain.”

  He looked at her with his face twisted in a pain she’d never seen there before, not even on his worst days. Without speaking, he grabbed his crutches and raised himself off the sofa. His legs shook, but he managed to hold himself upright.

  “Stay away from me! I don’t want any more of your lies. You knew! You knew my mother was dead. You know who my father is and where he lives. You knew I’d been kidnapped. Kidnapped! And the kidnappers weren’t caught.” He lowered his face close to hers and between gasps for air said, “That’s why you were tracking me. That’s why you always kept me on a short leash. You’re afraid they’ll come back for me, and you didn’t even warn me.”

  “Johnny, calm down. You shouldn’t get so agitated. It could bring on a seizure. I’ll tell you the whole story but sit down and get control of yourself.”

  She put her hand on his arm, but he jerked it away. “Don’t touch me,” he hissed.

  “You two down there?” Ryan called from the top of the stairs. “What’s all the shouting?”

  “We’re here,” Grace said, just loud enough for Ryan to hear.

  He stopped and the smile slid from his face when he saw Grace and Johnny facing each other with Alec’s book on the floor between them. “No,” he whispered.

  “Why did you bring that down here? I told you I wanted it locked up in our room. Look at what you’ve done,” Grace said.

  “I thought is was hidden under the couch, but don’t hang this on me. I’ve been the one begging you to tell him the truth. This is all on you.” He stepped closer to Johnny. “Take a few breaths and sit down. Let’s talk this out.”

  “Shut up!” Johnny screamed. “One of your stupid talks won’t fix this. Nothing will fix this. You’re liars, and you’re not my parents. You’re nothing to me. Stay away from me.” He locked his eyes on Grace. “I hate you. I mean it this time. I never want to see you again, ever!”

  He turned on his crutches and started for the stairs.

  "Don’t leave like this, please,” Ryan pleaded. “Where will you go?”

  Johnny ignored him, and Grace started to follow but Ryan stopped her. She fought like a mad woman to break free, but Ryan held her tighter.

  “Let him go, Grace. He needs time to process what’s he’s just learned. Nothing we say now will reach him. Just let him go.”

  When Grace stopped struggling, Ryan loosened his grip, and Grace dropped to the floor, too stunned to move. Johnny’s crutches thumped on the floor above their heads until the front door slammed. Then all was quiet, and Grace knew it would be the last she’d ever see of her precious little man.

  * * *

  Mara climbed out of the shrubs where she’d been crouching near the corner of Grace’s house listening to the argument taking place on the other side of the wall. She grinned as she rubbed the stiffness out of her thighs and walked her dog to the front of the house on his short leash. She waited in the shadows for Johnny to come through the front door. Her patience was rewarded less than a minute later.

  “Can you and Jason come get me, Ty?” she heard him say. “I don’t want to talk about why, but it’s pretty bad. I’ll need to stay at your house for a while.” Mara watched Johnny and listened for a few seconds. “None of that matters,” he finally said. “Just come get me now.”

  The emotion in his voice was clear. He was losing it. Pay dirt, she thought. The long hours of crouching
in the cold, waiting for her ideal moment had paid off. She scanned the street to make sure it was empty before casually stepping onto the sidewalk and heading away from Johnny. She had the urge to run but forced herself to walk like any dog-owner out for a leisurely stroll. Johnny was too distraught to notice a woman walking her dog.

  She picked up her pace once she rounded the corner. Her car waited halfway down the block. She got in and tossed the dog into the backseat. She estimated that she had less than a minute to get to Johnny before his friends showed up. She had to time it right or her perfect chance would be wasted.

  * * *

  Johnny faced the direction Ty’s brother would come from, wondering what was taking so long. For a second, he worried that Ty’s mom wouldn’t let them get Johnny since Ty was still grounded. He was also afraid his mom had called to warn them. The thought made him freeze. Grace wasn’t his mom. He didn’t have a mom. His mom was dead.

  His legs went weaker than usual, so he transferred his weight on his arms before lowering himself to the top step of the stoop. His body shook uncontrollably. He was afraid he’d pass out before Ty got there to rescue him. He couldn’t let that happen. He steadied his breathing, taking slow even breaths the way Tony had taught him. That helped a little, but he was going to need something much stronger to survive the nightmare he was facing.

  He turned to look for Ty just as a blue car slowed and came to a stop near the driveway. A woman Johnny didn’t recognize was driving. She smiled and rolled down the passenger window.

  “Johnny?” she asked. When he nodded, she said, “I’m Ty’s aunt, Mara. He said you need a ride.”

  Johnny was up and had his backpack over his shoulders before she could escape. He crossed the lawn to her car in record time.

  Once they were moving, he said, “Thanks for picking me up. I didn’t know Ty had an aunt around here.”