“Billy,” she said, clearly surprised, but pleased, to see me. “Come in.” I followed her inside, and after she closed the front door, she smiled at me. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” Taking a step toward me, she opened her arms, and I pulled her into an embrace. It felt good to hold her—the warmth from her body warmed me from the inside out. “Did you see Hansen after I talked to you?”
She pulled away and shook her head. “No.”
“That’s good.”
“How was everything at Fox Run? Did anyone notice I wasn’t there?”
“Besides me?” I asked with a grin.
She laughed. “Yes.”
“Yeah. Lots of kids had heard that Mr. Cunningham had you moved to Brightwood because of all the trouble you caused.”
Satisfaction filled her eyes. “Maybe that will show them that they have to stick to what they believe in.”
“Yeah. Or maybe it will show them that they have to obey everything or they’ll be kicked out.”
She frowned. “You could be right.”
I pictured the woman standing on my porch. “I had a surprise today, too.”
Morgan’s eyebrows rose in question. “Oh yeah? What was it?”
“My mother came to see me.”
Her mouth fell open. “What?”
Grimly, I nodded, then told her what happened.
“So she thinks you’re faking it? That you’re not really Billy Foster?”
“I guess. I don’t know. I think she was just shocked to see me close up and to see that I look just like her son.” A small frown played around my mouth. “Anyway, it’s probably for the best that she saw me and realized I’m not her son.” I laughed, but even I could hear the hurt in my voice. “It will just save them the trouble of getting to know me and then rejecting me later.”
“Oh, Billy.” She put her arms around me and held me against her. “They would be lucky to get to know you. You’re wonderful, don’t you know that?”
Her words warmed my heart, even if I didn’t quite believe them. Returning her embrace, I soaked in the good feelings her closeness brought me.
“Did I hear you say something about your mother?” Morgan’s mom asked as she walked into the room.
We turned to look at her, and I nodded. “Yeah. Somehow she found me—I guess she must have seen me when the news showed that video from the assembly.”
“She came to your house?” her mom asked, eyebrows raised. “What did she say?”
I told her what happened, ending with, “I don’t know if I’ll ever hear from her again.” Then Morgan’s mom surprised me.
She walked over to me, placed her hand on my shoulder, then said, “You are always welcome here, Billy. Always.” When she smiled, warmth radiated from her eyes. “You’ve become part of our family.”
Unexpected tears rushed into my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away. I’d never been a crier, and I wasn’t about to start now, but the sincerity coming from Morgan’s mom was something I’d never experienced before. Ever. Embarrassed, yet deeply touched, I didn’t know what to say.
I looked at Morgan to see her reaction, and her eyes shone with unshed tears. All this emotion was too much for me and I wanted to lighten the mood. “Then I hope you’ll let me stay for dinner.”
Morgan and her mom both laughed, but her mom nodded. “Yes. Please stay for dinner.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I will.”
Chapter 46
Morgan
I was as surprised as Billy seemed to be by Mom’s statement, but really glad too. There was no doubt that he felt bad about what happened with his parents from this world, and I was glad Mom stepped in right at that moment to tell him that he was wanted.
“I know we have different homework assignments,” I said, “but we can still work on them together.”
“Okay.”
We settled into our usual spot in front of the coffee table and got to work.
At dinner Dad seemed really quiet, and I wondered if he was stressed about the presentation on SlenderBars that he was going to give the next day. Though I would have much preferred that he drop out of the campaign completely, I didn’t want him to be stressed about his job either. Mom must have sensed the same thing, because she asked him about it.
“Steve,” she said. “How’s your presentation coming along? Do you want to practice in front of us later?”
He smiled at her, then laughed softly as he glanced at me. “I don’t think it would be well received with this particular audience.”
“Dad,” I said, my voice showing that he was what was important. “I can still listen to it.”
His face softened as he looked at me. “I appreciate that, Morgan. But actually I’m not doing the presentation anymore.”
“What?” Mom asked, her face showing her confusion.
Turning to her, he said, “That’s right.” He glanced at me before looking back at Mom. “After a lot of thought, I decided I wasn’t the best person to promote that product, so I asked to be assigned to another project.”
Thrilled, I jumped up from the table and hurried over to him, then threw my arms around his shoulder. “Dad, you are the best.”
He placed a hand on my arm and gently squeezed. “You convinced me, honey.”
His change of heart was so unexpected, yet so encouraging, that I couldn’t hold back my grin. I let go of him and went back to my seat.
When I was seated, Billy reached for my hand under the table, and I slid my fingers through his.
“See,” he murmured. “You can change people’s minds.”
His words gave me hope. Dad had been kind of a hard sell, yet he’d come around, so maybe more people’s minds could be changed.
“Morgan, can you pour me some milk?” Brandon asked, interrupting my thoughts.
“Sure.” I filled his glass, then I looked at Dad. “What changed your mind, anyway?”
“Hmm.” Tapping his finger against his chin, he was quiet a moment. “I don’t think it was one thing, but more your passion and your conviction together with your argument that it’s not natural to stop our hunger using artificial means.”
“But we need to make sure and eat healthy foods,” Amy said, then her face lit up with a smile. “Just like I say in those commercials I’m doing.”
My gaze went to her, and an ominous feeling swept over me. She’d obviously bought the message Holly was putting out, and I was sure many others would as well. It wasn’t the basic message of eating healthy that I had a problem with. Rather, it was the added part—that the government was “helping” us to make healthy choices.
“Yes,” Mom said. “It’s important to make healthy choices, but that’s something you’re learning at home, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” she said. “But Holly said sometimes people aren’t good about picking the right things to eat, so that’s why they’re going to stop selling junk food at school.” Amy’s lips pursed in apparent disapproval. “Some kids only choose sugary foods, but if they aren’t there, they’ll have to have the healthier foods.”
Weary of trying to convince everyone of the danger of government control, I softly sighed. Billy must have known how I was feeling, because he leaned over to me and said, “Don’t worry. She’ll figure it out eventually.”
I hoped he was right.
Chapter 47
Billy
When Morgan and her dad dropped me off at Tasco’s house, I went inside and found Tasco in his office. “I’m back,” I said.
Looking away from his monitor, he met my gaze. “Were you at Morgan’s?”
“Yeah.”
He looked at the SlenderBars presentation he was working on, then back at me. “Did you hear that Steve dropped out of the SlenderBars campaign?”
I nodded.
He frowned. “He really put me in a bind.”
I had enough on my plate without worrying about Tasco’s work problems, so I just nodded, but didn’t comment.
“I have to bring the new guy up to speed now.” He shook his head, obviously upset. “I’ll be up late.”
“Well, I’ll be in my room.”
“Right.” He didn’t even glance at me.
Without another word I headed to my room, and when I heard the doorbell a while later, I ignored it. I wasn’t expecting anyone—I figured it might be the new SlenderBars guy—so I let Tasco get it.
I heard voices, but I ignored them—until Tasco called to me from the base of the stairs.
“Billy, come down here.”
Setting down the book I’d been reading, I stood, then headed downstairs to see why in the world he wanted me to come downstairs. I hoped he didn’t want my opinion on his latest brilliant idea.
“What’s up?” I said as I reached the bottom of the stairs, but I froze when I saw the couple sitting on the living room couch.
“Do you know these people?” Tasco asked as he gestured to my parents from this world.
My gaze went to the faces of the people on the couch. The woman looked sad, but the man looked stunned. The man jumped to his feet and took a step in my direction. Fearful, I took a step back, but when Tasco put his hand up the man stopped, and I relaxed slightly.
Ironically, Tasco seemed to be protecting me from my own parents.
“Not exactly,” I finally said in answer to Tasco’s question.
Tasco held up a photo and a newspaper clipping. “Can you explain these?”
I took the items from his hand and looked at a family photo of the man, the woman, and me—only it wasn’t me. It was Billy Foster from this world. And he looked identical to me. Identical. Then I looked at the newspaper clipping. It was the obituary for Billy Foster.
My gaze met Tasco’s and I had no idea what to say.
“These people claim that they’re your parents.” Tasco’s eyes narrowed. “But you said your parents are dead.” He glanced at the couple, then looked back at me. “They seem very alive to me.” He paused. “What do you think?”
“Uh, yeah. They’re definitely not dead.”
Tasco’s forehead creased in question. “Are these your parents, Billy?”
I looked at the woman and saw bright hope shining from her eyes and wondered how long it had taken her to decide I wasn’t a monster. My gaze slid to the man who still stood next to the couch. When our eyes met, my heart hurt. The look on his face was one of love and hope, an expression I’d never seen on my own father’s face. But then a note of skepticism began pushing its way onto his face and I knew that he’d been thinking of the son he knew and loved.
As much as I wanted them to be my parents, they weren’t. Not really. And deep down I feared that if I allowed myself to be a replacement for their dead son, I’d never measure up, and in the end they would reject me just as my parents had.
“No,” I finally said. “They’re not.”
“Billy,” the woman burst out, and her face crumpled as she began to sob. “Billy, please,” she cried.
The man looked at his wife, then sank onto the couch beside her and pulled her against him.
I didn’t know what to do with these people. The woman seemed genuinely distraught that my answer had been no. But what if I’d said yes? Would they have really taken me in? Would they love me? The idea of having parents who truly loved me was somewhat intoxicating and I nearly told them I’d changed my mind. But I couldn’t. How could I? They’d want to know how it was possible, and they’d never believe my story.
“I’m sorry,” Tasco said after several minutes. “But I’m afraid it’s time for you to go.”
The couple looked at him, then the man stood, and with his hand still on his wife’s shoulder, he said, “Mr. Tasco, I need you to look at the facts.” He pointed to the photo and obituary that now sat on the coffee table, then pointed to me. “That young man is the same person who is in the picture with us. He told you his parents are dead, yet here we are.” He paused. “Something’s very wrong here, and we have a right to know what it is.”
Tasco looked at me, his gaze steady.
I stared back, not knowing how to defend myself.
After a moment he looked away from me and toward the couple. “Rest assured, Mr. Foster, I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Thank you,” the man said, then he helped his wife to her feet. He took out his wallet and extracted a card, then handed it to Tasco. “Please call me.”
“Of course.”
As the couple began walking toward the door, I walked backwards up the stairs several steps, not wanting to give the woman a chance to lunge at me as she had earlier that day. She stared at me, devastation written in her eyes. A moment later they were gone, and Tasco turned to me with a frown.
“Okay, Billy. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Nothing’s going on.”
He said almost to himself, “I don’t have time for this.” Then he looked at me and sighed. “I let you live with me for the last two months as a favor to Steve Campbell and it’s actually been nice to have you around—” He laughed. “Having you here has made me miss my kids less, and you’ve helped out a lot—fixing things and carrying your own weight.” He shook his head. “Up until now it’s worked out fine. But now I have a lot of questions. Questions you don’t seem willing to answer.”
An ominous feeling grew within me, and I waited to see what he was going to say.
“I need you to be straight with me, Billy, or I’m . . .” He frowned. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Straight with him? I imagined telling him that I came from a parallel world, and could see him calling the police to have me arrested for—well, I didn’t know what, but it wouldn’t be good.
“Well?” he asked.
I clenched my jaw, then shook my head. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I never met those people before today.” At least this world’s version of them, I silently added.
“So you’re telling me that you have no idea how you are in their family picture? And why you have the exact same name as their son. A son who died? Come on, I wasn’t born yesterday. What kind of scam are you trying to pull, Billy?”
Scam artist. That’s what he’d have me arrested for. “I’m not trying to pull a scam. I’m just trying to live my life.”
He made the sound like a buzzer on a game show, and I could tell he was losing any patience he might have had. “Wrong answer.”
“Tell me what the right answer is then.”
He laughed, but the sound was tinged with anger. “Don’t you get it? The right answer is—here’s a novel idea—the truth.” He nearly shouted the last two words. He stared at me. “I have too much work to do. I don’t have time to stand here and deal with you. You have an hour to tell me what the hell is going on, or . . .” He shook his head, then he turned and headed towards his office.
Briefly closing my eyes, I let my thoughts settle for a moment, then I went up to the room Tasco had been letting me use. Looking around the space, sadness welled up inside me. This place had begun to feel like home, but deep inside I think I’d always known it couldn’t last. And now it was ending.
Telling Tasco the truth was not an option, so without a doubt I would have to leave.
“At least I don’t have much to pack,” I muttered as I began pulling my clothes out of the dresser and down from the closet. Once I’d stacked everything on my bed, I looked at the small pile, then glanced around, trying to figure out where to put it.
My backpack was too small. Besides, I still hoped I could attend Fox Run, so I didn’t want to get rid of my school things.
A garbage bag. I can put it all in a garbage bag.
Quietly, I went out to Tasco’s garage and took out a yard bag, carried it up to my room, then loaded my things into it. When I saw how much space was left, I frowned at how little I had to my name. Overwhelming loneliness began in my heart and spread through my body, and I slid to the floor next to the bed. Pressing my back against the bed,
I rested my head against the soft comforter.
I thought about all that had happened since I’d come to this world. Good things, as well as bad. I’d really liked it here, but I didn’t belong. I realized that now. As much as I’d tried to make it work, it just didn’t.
Closing my eyes, I considered what I must do, and as much as it would hurt Morgan, I knew I had no other choice.
I had to go back to my world.
Chapter 48
Billy
My world was where I belonged. It had been in the back of my mind since I’d arrived, but I’d ignored it. Now the truth of it stood squarely in front of me. No one would question my existence in my world—I would even have a purpose. I could help Nick and his group with the resistance. That was where I was needed. That was where I belonged.
The thought of going back to my home—Nick’s home, really—filled me with hope. As much as I loved it here in Morgan’s world, it was just too complicated. I craved the simplicity my world would bring. There, I knew who was who, and what was what. True, the Enforcers would love to have my head on a platter, but at least there I knew where I stood.
Then I thought about Morgan. How would she react to me leaving? Would she try to follow me? No, I didn’t think so. She hated my world. Besides, she’d found a purpose here—to reroute the way things were headed.
She would be disappointed when she discovered I’d gone, and I would miss her terribly, but we’d both be okay. We’d both go on.
I thought about getting back to my world and what that involved. I would need a flashlight, and I would have to find my way to the hut. Though my sense of direction was about a hundred times better than Morgan’s, it had been over two months since I’d come through the tunnel. But I thought I remembered how to find the hut.
I closed my eyes as I visualized the hut and then the path I’d taken to get from there to Morgan’s house. Yes, I could find it.
After (Parallel Series, Book 4) Page 20
