Page 87 of Claiming What's Mine

“That's easy,” I said, my voice filled with nothing but determination. “I'm going to go get my family.”

Leaving Beth, I drove to Blue's house. Standing outside her door, I rang the doorbell and waited.

No answer.

Knocking, I made sure I was loud enough so that she would hear me. Leaning closer, I tried to listen for footsteps. Nothing.

Where the hell is she?

“She's not home,” an older lady called out from the yard next door. “She left about an hour ago.”

Glancing to my right, there was a woman standing in the bushes, with a big floppy sun hat and dark purple garden gloves. Her hair was silver, her face marked with deep wrinkles and years of smiles. Thick smile lines edged her lips, and her eyes held two, maybe three crows if I was counting their feet.

She was short and plump, round like a melon in the middle, and had skin that was so tan she looked like she had been partially baked.

Walking through the grass, I stepped up to the fence dividing the yards. “Do you know where she went?” I asked.

“Maybe, but I'm certainly not going to tell someone I don't know. You could be a stalker or something.”

Giving her a gentle smile, I placed my hand on my chest. “Let me ease your fears, I'm not a stalker, I promise.” Holding out my hand, I said, “I'm Jayden, Blu—Betty and I have known each other for years.”

“Jayden, you're Jayden Henry?”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

“She's talked about you.” Taking a moment to look me over, she let her eyes move back to her flowers. “Quite a bit too, you must be special, because she doesn't talk about anyone else but her daughter.”

“Well, we've known each other since we were kids, and I just got back into town not long ago, so—”

“No, no, before that. She's talked about you for as long as I've known her, and that's been about six years. I'm sorry to hear about your father. I didn't know him personally, but Betty told me he passed.”

She talked about me? A lot. . .The thought sent chills down my spine and a smile across my lips.

Every single day since I left, Blue was still there in some way. In the beginning, it was the little stuff that really stood out. If I heard someone order a raspberry iced tea, I'd think of her. If I saw an apple pie, I thought of her. If I saw flowers, bugs, wind chimes; fuck every time I passed a barn, it made that night with her explode in my head.

But as time went on, I got better at limiting how often she took over my brain. I couldn't erase her completely, and I never really wanted to, but getting control over my thoughts about her was important.

Knowing that she had talked about me to someone else, that made those moments not seem so crazy to me. I used to think that I was losing my damn mind, because it couldn't possibly be normal to think about someone so much, especially someone I had left behind.

Maybe I was wrong.

“Thank you,” I said, forcing a solemn smile. Tucking my hands into my pockets, I dragged my toe over the top of an ant mound, collapsing the entrance. “You said she mentioned me before, I'm hoping that it was all good.”

The woman was pruning a rose bush against the fence. She stayed quiet for a second, reaching out and palming a huge red bloom, rotating it softly to look at it from all angles. Releasing the bloom, she chopped the stem beside and watched it fall to the ground.

Standing up straight, she rested her arms over the fence and fiddled with the sheers in her hand. “If you're asking for specifics, you won't get them. But I can tell you this, you're just as handsome as she made you out to be. If I was a few decades younger, I'd give ya a go myself.” Going back to her plant, she clipped dead branches and wilted buds as if she hadn't just told me that. “My question for you is, where've you been all these years?”

Lifting my eyebrows, I shrugged.

“Well, you're here now, so I guess that's all that matters. It seemed like every time I saw her, she was waiting for you.”

Really? If she was waiting, what stopped her from actually looking?

“So, do you know where I can find her?” Teetering on my heels, I flashed her the best set of innocent eyes I could. “I really need to see her, it's important.”

“Now, it wouldn't be right of me to tell you. For all I know she doesn't want to see you.” Hanging my head, I nodded with understanding. “But. . .” Pausing, she drew out the word, her eyes twinkling with some lost love memory. “If you happened to drive down Colvin Road, you might get lucky.” Giving me a wink, she smiled big.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” Taking off in a half jog, I looked back over my shoulder and said, “Wish me luck.”

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