“Sure,” he replied. “Let me get my shoes.”
The Mayer’s backyard was large, balancing the size of the house. A playset sat idle in the far corner, across a wide stretch of yellow grass struggling to recover.
The two walked into the middle of the grass and stopped. Evan watched Ellie struggle only slightly with her glove this time before holding it out and grinning back at him. The two had been spending more time together as Evan worked through what Dan Taylor liked to call his “rehabilitation.” He was pretty sure rehabilitation meant you were supposed to improve though.
Evan slipped on his own glove and tossed the green softball to Ellie. She missed and immediately ran after it. His lips curled with admiration. She was getting better.
After almost thirty minutes, Ellie decided she was done and ran to the playset. Evan followed and sat in the second swing hanging from a huge overhead beam, while Ellie swung back and forth next to him.
“You seem excited, Ellie.”
She grinned again and continued pumping her legs. “My mommy said I can go back to school soon.”
“Are you nervous at all?”
She cocked her head for a moment, thinking. “No.”
“Good.”
“How long are you going to stay with us?”
Evan looked back at the house. “I’m not sure. I guess I still need to work some things out.”
The young girl had a thought and stopped pumping. She straightened her legs and dragged herself to a stop. “Wait here,” she said, before darting across the grass.
Evan watched her disappear into the house. He took a deep breath and looked up at the trees around him. The morning air felt fresh.
A few minutes later, Ellie bolted back out of the house, remembering to stop and close the sliding glass door behind her. She then bounded across the grass and back to her swing.
“Where did you go?”
She peered up at him with concern. “I heard my mommy and Mr. Taylor talking about how you need something to help you remember.” She turned to him and opened her hand, revealing an oversized gold locket. She handed it to Evan. “You can use this. It helped me remember when I was with that bad man.”
He looked down at her softly and picked the locket up out of her palm. He turned it over in his hand and then split the side open, revealing two pictures inside: one of Ellie’s mother and one of her father.
“The bad man never found it because I kept it hidden.”
Evan was overwhelmed. She was such a sweet girl. And full of surprises. “Thank you, Ellie. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.” With that, she leaned back and started swinging again.
“Am I interrupting something?”
With naturally wavy hair falling over her tanned shoulders, Tania was dressed attractively in shorts and a light-colored tank top. She and Evan had developed a strong relationship over the last few weeks after she watched him risk his own life to rescue Shannon’s daughter, Ellie.
Only a year older than Evan, Tania had finally had enough with the shallow and materialistic guys that were constantly surrounding her. Instead, she found something remarkable in a slight, and somewhat shorter, guy. There was something in his character that she had never seen before at her age. Evan had more compassion and courage than any of the guys she’d met. To her, he was a diamond in the rough.
Evan turned and instantly rose from the swing when she spoke. “Uh, no.”
“Hi, sweetie,” Tania said, waving at Ellie, still swinging.
“Hi, Tania.”
She watched Ellie for a moment before turning to Evan. “Am I too early for our walk?”
“Not at all.”
Truth be told, it was Tania’s visits during the week that were keeping Evan sane. She had a way about her that he couldn’t quite describe. She was also beyond beautiful, which Evan wasn’t entirely sure she was aware of. But even more than that, there was something about her disposition that he could feel. Her mere presence elicited a strange calming effect every time he was around her. Each walk they took together left him looking forward to the next.
But he wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Was she just helping out given what he’d done for Dr. Mayer? He doubted he was her type, but they did have amazing conversations. He talked with her about things he never thought anyone else thought about, certainly not at his age. If she were interested in anything beyond friendship, he couldn’t tell. Wouldn’t the signs be more obvious? Sometimes she would touch him lightly on the arm, but did she do that with everyone? If he said something and was wrong, it would be the kind of rejection he really didn’t need right now. So he decided to say nothing.
After taking Ellie back inside, the two left through the front door and walked down the long driveway toward the street.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Were you two having a moment back there?” she teased.
“Kind of.”
“I think that’s very sweet. I’m sorry I interrupted.”
They reached the end of the driveway and let themselves out through a white metal gate.
“How about going to Montrose?”
“Sure.” Evan didn’t really care where they went. “I’ll buy you some breakfast.”
“I think it’s my turn.” His mood always lightened during their walks. And the walks were getting longer and longer. That had to mean something, didn’t it?
“How’s class?”
“Fine. It figures high school would finally get better now.” He wished he’d made his changes a long time ago. Changes that could have helped him avoid his injury altogether.
“No kidding.” Tania chuckled before reaching out and touching a flower as they passed a protruding bush. “Are you still feeling better?”
“I am. Thanks.” It was a half-truth, which was close enough. He didn’t want to add any unnecessary drama during their time alone. Especially when there wasn’t much either of them could do about it.
“How was work?”
She shrugged. “Good. Although Dr. Mayer had a couple weird clients in today.”
“Really? Weird how?”
“Well, one is a woman who’s an obsessive compulsive. She’s nice enough but watching her in the reception area is kind of an experience. She keeps a container of Clorox wipes in her purse and wipes down everything. The door handle, the chair, even the magazines.”
“The magazines? How do you wipe down a magazine?”
“Very carefully,” she smiled. “She doesn’t do it every time but it’s worth seeing when she does.”
Evan looked puzzled. “Why would she only wipe down the magazines sometimes?”
“Yeah!” Tania laughed. “Like I’m going to ask her that.”
“Good point.”
“The other patient is a man who has an addiction to exercise.”
“What?”
“Yeah. To exercise!”
“Is that even possible?”
“Sure, you can be addicted to anything.”
Evan thought it over. “Is being addicted to exercise even a bad thing?”
“Well, it can be when it becomes a problem. He’s been caught multiple times, running in place in the bathroom at work.”
This time he stopped and turned toward Tania. “Really?!”
She laughed again. “Really!”
Evan tried to imagine someone sneaking into a restroom to run. “Maybe my problem isn’t so weird after all.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” She grabbed his arm just below his short sleeve and pulled him forward playfully, continuing to walk. “You have to stop looking at this as a curse.”
Easy for her to say. He hadn’t quite told her everything yet.
“Okay, maybe curse is a strong word.”
“Evan, you risked your life to save Ellie, even after you knew what it might do to you. I’m not kidding. You didn’t save just one life, you saved three. You saved an entire family.
It’s not just about what happens to one victim, it’s about everyone else it affects. With Ellie, it was more than just her. It was her parents, her aunt Mary, grandparents, friends at school. I told you about what happened to my aunt last year. When she died, a part of everyone around her died too. No one ever thinks about the ripple effects.”
“I know. I guess it’s just hard to remember sometimes.”
“And it’s not just that, Evan.” Her hands were on her hips again.
“What do you mean?”
“I believe we all have a contribution to make in the world, no matter how small. Sometimes we know what it is and sometimes we don’t. But imagine how terrible it would have been if Ellie’s contribution just…disappeared, forever. I mean, what if she’s supposed to do something amazing, like invent something, or be the President someday? You just never know. Imagine all the contributions that have been lost forever because kids disappear. And then someone like you comes along.”
Evan stopped again. This time distracted by a blue car at a stop sign several yards away. In the back seat, he spotted the face of a special needs child. Curiously, he watched as the car pulled away with the child smiling and waving at him.
“What I’m saying,” said Tania, “is that you can’t save everyone. But you sure saved Ellie.”
“I think a lot of that was coincidence.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He stood, quietly staring at Tania for a long time.
She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she was beginning to wonder how many more times she had to touch him before he got the hint.
9
Evan sat quietly at the Mayer’s dining room table. He feigned interest as his mother and Dennis Mayer talked about politics and the country’s increasingly divisible party lines. Leaning back in his chair and from under a furrowed brow, Dan Taylor abstained from the discussion.
Evan kept his eyes down on the table, thinking. A few minutes later, Shannon returned from putting Ellie to bed. She passed them all briefly at the table and turned on a baby monitor on the kitchen counter. Ellie was still having nightmares, but thankfully they were steadily subsiding.
She turned back to the table and pulled a chair out for herself. She sat silently, listening to the conversation. Shannon then turned and looked at Evan to her right, who appeared to be deep in thought. Shannon watched him for a few long minutes before speaking.
“Evan, are you alright?”
He snapped out of his trance and glanced up. The others at the table stopped and turned to look at him. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Is something on your mind?”
He instinctively began to shake his head but caught himself. “Um…sort of.”
Shannon waited patiently.
Finally, Evan continued. “I’ve been thinking…about stuff.”
“You mean about the episodes, honey?” Connie spoke up.
“Not really. Well kinda. That and about school.”
“Did something happen?”
He shook his head. “No. I was actually thinking that…I’m gonna graduate in a couple weeks.”
When he didn’t continue right away, Shannon pressed forward in her chair. “Is there a problem, Evan?”
He leaned back in the chair, keeping his palms down in front of him on the table. “Not really. But I’ve been thinking about what’s after this.” He looked apprehensively around the table. “It’s been almost a month, and Mr. Taylor has helped me a lot. I mean, it’s not necessarily getting better but it’s definitely not getting worse. And he said over time it should slowly begin to get at least a little better.”
Taylor leveled his gaze at him. “I said easier, not better.”
“That’s what I meant.”
Shannon raised an eyebrow. “Are you uncomfortable here, Evan?”
“No. No. Nothing like that.”
“Are you thinking of leaving?”
“Not really-” he stopped himself. “Well, maybe. But not in the way it might sound.”
Connie moved to a chair closer to her son. She was now seated directly across from Shannon. “What is it, Ev?”
“I guess I’m just wondering what I do now. I mean, what’s next? It’s not like this problem is going to go away. So, once I’m out of school, what then?”
Connie opened her mouth to speak, but not having an answer, merely closed it again. The fact was that she and Shannon Mayer had thought a lot about what came next for Evan. She wanted him to come back home with her. As far as they could tell, his symptoms had seemed to have plateaued. And even if they hadn’t, if there were more surprises ahead, they lived closer to the hospital than the Mayers did. After that, they would take it one day at a time.
According to Taylor though, there was no way to really tell if things might get worse. All he could offer was that it would come down to what kind of person Evan was inside. A person’s true character was only revealed under real duress. And while Evan had managed to survive until now, the real fight lay in the years ahead, not the weeks behind him.
“What do you think should happen next, Evan?” Shannon asked calmly.
It had been two days since his conversation with Tania. And he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. “Well,” he cleared his throat, “I’ve been thinking, a lot.” He paused, considering how to phrase the rest. “I guess what I’m thinking…is that…since I, you know, helped find Ellie. Maybe I could help some other kids.”
It was the last thing anyone at the table was expecting to hear. Everyone’s mouth dropped slightly as they digested Evan’s words. Shannon instinctively placed her hand across her chest, genuinely moved.
Dennis Mayer’s eyes softened as he stared at Evan in awe. After everything this boy had been through, emotionally and physically, not to mention the pain that still lay ahead, he wanted to try to help others.
Evan’s eyes met Mayer’s. “I mean, Mr. Mayer was a police officer. There’s probably other people that need help, right?”
Dennis had to keep from rolling his eyes. Probably? That was the understatement of the year.
“No,” Taylor said flatly. He shook his head and crossed his arms. “Absolutely not.”
Everyone, including Evan, looked at him with surprise.
“Huh?’
“It’s a terrible idea.”
“It is?”
“Yes. It is.”
“But…”
Taylor cut him off. “Listen to me, boy. Surviving these episodes is one thing but instigating them is another. This is not some parlor trick. Any one of these episodes could be your last. I told you what really lies on the other side. No matter what you do, it will get closer and closer until it can reach you. The last thing you want to do is encourage it.
“And even if you can withstand it forever,” Taylor raised his voice and leaned forward, “and given how strong this is in you, I’m not sure you can, but even if you do, this curse cannot be hidden. If you go out there trying to help people with it, it’s going to draw attention to you damn quick. And believe me, that is attention you don’t want!”
Shannon turned from Taylor and looked thoughtfully at Evan. Even as abrasive as he was, she had to concede Taylor’s point. “He’s right, Evan. It’s a wonderful thought, but it’s dangerous for you on multiple levels. We’re not out of the woods with this yet.”
Evan did not deflate. If anything, his resolve seemed to strengthen slightly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever make it out of the woods. And even if I do, how many kids could be found between now and then?”
Shannon didn’t let the smile out. But she marveled at what a remarkable kid he was. Such a quiet strength. With that, she merely turned and looked back at Taylor.
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” he growled. “You don’t know the type of people who will do anything to get what you have. You don’t understand what they’re capable of. I’m telling you, you don’t want this attention.”
Dennis spoke up. “You wo
uld attract attention, Evan. Probably a lot.”
Taylor nodded in agreement, next to Dennis. “It’s a nice idea, kid, but trust me, you’d bring trouble down on everyone around you. The worst kind.”
Evan blinked and dropped his gaze to the table again, thinking. Finally, he rose up and said, “I really want to try.”
Taylor threw up his hands and fell against the back of his chair. He turned to Shannon and pointed angrily at Evan. “You need to talk some sense into him, Counselor!”
Shannon was studying Evan again. She knew him well enough to recognize the look of determination on his face. She had seen it before. This was no longer a question or debate.
Shannon raised an eyebrow at Taylor. “And what would you suggest he do instead? Hide?”
Taylor’s eyes widened at the insult, and he glared at her across the table.
What no one had noticed was Connie Nash sitting quietly to the right of Evan. Motherly instincts would normally have had her objecting from the outset, but she knew her son better than anyone. She immediately recognized the look in his eyes. It was not just determination. It was something more.
She knew there was another reason Evan was doing this. And she was the only other person in the room who could understand.
10
Anne Keyes stared around her living room with a sense of both hope and dread. It was eerily quiet as the morning sun began to rise into the sky, shining through her front window. Over the next few hours, it would begin its work, thawing the winter morning frost and warming the air to a near balmy fifty degrees.
Keyes glanced down at her watch again. It was 6:50 a.m. People would be arriving shortly. She was hoping for fifty this time but worried it would be far less. The numbers had dwindled rapidly over the last month. She couldn’t blame them, at least not out loud. In her own mind, she herself battled between feelings of appreciation and disgust. Appreciation for those still dedicated to sticking it out and a secret— but guilty — disgust for the majority who didn’t. Who cared about the holidays?
The Unexpected Hero Page 4